"In our view, a person does not have an understanding of the religion until he thinks of a hardship as a blessing, and comfort and luxury as being a hardship."
- Sufyan at-Thawri
Sometimes people think it's difficult to turn to Allah (swt) in times of hardship. They think it takes stamina and strength to stay steadfast in His worship when the world has pushed you into the narrowest of corners and the darkest of places.
But it isn't true.
When you come to a point during a trial when there is literally nothing you (or anyone else) can say or do to lift the immense pain from your heart, turning to Allah (swt) for relief is your only choice. To turn to anyone or anything else in this time can only be a form of madness.
The true difficulty lies in turning to Him during times of ease. Those smooth times when everything seems to be going just perfectly according to your plans. Those are the true hardships because it's so easy to lose sight of He who sustains you, easy to forget that the enjoyment of this world is temporary.
"When harm touches man, he calls on Us, lying on his side or sitting down or standing up. Then when We remove the harm from him he carries on as if he had never called on Us when the harm first touched him..."
(10:12)
Times of ease require a type of patience that is difficult to master - patience in abstaining from evil and patience in performing that which is good. It requires a kind of consciousness and constancy that is challenging, even to the strongest among us.
How strange it is that a hardship is actually a blessing while ease is the true difficulty! May Allah (swt) make us from those who are constant in both ease and difficulty.
- Sister Asma Hussein