When Tragedy Befalls

My heart feels very heavy. I casually asked an old friend how she was doing after over a year, via email, and her reply froze my stare at the screen in shock, only later to be melted by a tear.
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There is a lot going on in the world. People, as close to us as an easy phone call or email away, are suffering all around us. When the Light of deen first entered my heart, I felt very strongly that life could never be bad for a Muslim for even in trials and tribulations lay good! ‘Truly amazing is the affair of the believer. His affair only contains good. That realization only occurs for the believer. If he is blessed with good he thanks God and in that there is good. And if he is afflicted with difficulty he patiently endures and in that there is good.' (Sahih Muslim #7425)

However, I have recently been thinking a lot about how we all need not just a reminder of the Hikma behind trials, but more importantly, a helping hand through the trying times. Even with the knowledge that Allah swt does everything for the best, you often need the help and support of family, friends and people from the community to get you out of difficult situations you find yourself stuck in…to get you out of your suffering. Offering this support and help should be at the forefront of our minds as we interact with people.

Imam Dawud Yasin said at a retreat I recently attended, “feed people and open up your houses.” It’s time for us to open up our hearts and reach out to those who are suffering, lonely, tired, depressed, hurting…(and you will be surprised to find many such amongst us!) be it even in the smallest of ways, and alleviate their pain the best we can. It’s time to get back in touch with the world that exists outside of our own bubbled routines, the world that Allah swt has chosen to put us in the midst of, for a reason.