Thalaatha.

Hardships.


When we talk about hardships, I think everyone experiences hardship. (Life is a challenge and ups and downs and what not.) I had my fair share of hardship too. And during that time, I really could only think of how unfair it was for me, at such a young age, to be facing such troubles.

I couldn't understand why my family was broken apart. Why something I held so close to my heart, be taken away. I blamed everyone and everything for whatever happened to my family, to me. I blamed my sister, my mother and my father. I distance myself from my family members. If the people who you love dearly are the ones who hurt you, who else can you depend on?
"How do we live in a world so flawed, where people let us down, and even our family can break our heart?"

I didn't know who to look for and to trust.

(Fast forward.)

But my trials definitely made me stronger, and one way or another, contribute to who I am today. A firm believer that life is just temporary, and whatever happens on dunya is just temporary. That pain is temporary.

So who do we look for in times of hardship, when no other living on dunya can understand our pain?
"Allah swt is closer than our own life, than our own self, than our own nafs, and He is closer than the most important pathway to our heart (the jugular vein)."

"Nothing is difficult if you seek it through your Lord, and nothing is easy if you seek it through yourself."

"Our ultimate trust, reliance, and hope should only be put in Allah. Allah is the only hand-hold that never breaks."

Growing up, I used to question why. Why do I have to face such trials in life, while others don't. Why do they get to spend time with their family, while my own mother had no time for me, and my father was far away from me, and my siblings didn't care about me. I never understood any of it.
"Allah sends the trials, whereby we may be purified, strengthened and returned to Him."

"With every cruelty and every blow, it departs little by little from the heart's face, sometimes in sleep and sometimes in wakefulness. Sometimes we fail to recognize the direct connection between the pain in our lives and our relationship with Allah swt."
"Times of hardship can act as both an indication as well as a cure, for our broken relationship with our Creator."

Ultimately, I was given back what I craved for. But, in pieces and that's ok.
"In order to save us, something is taken away from us, or given to us in a way we don't want. Often Allah takes things away from us, only to replace them with something greater."

"It may happen that you hate a thing which is good for you, and it may happen that you love a thing which is bad for you. Allah knows, you know not."

Alhamdulilah for every trial that I'm given and I will be given.
"Hardship strips away the veil of comfort from our eyes, and remind us of what we are and where we're going. They remind us of how small we are, and how great He is."

"God is enough for us, and He is the best of protectors."
xx.