“I Can't Take it Anymore” - Life-Changing Islamic Motivational Speech! - Towards Eternity
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We all have different problems, hardships, right? Some have problems with their spouses, some struggle with loneliness, and some face problems in school. These problems make us sad. Along with these, there are also calamities that happen to us. At a moment when you are very happy, you get a phone call. You lose a relative. Or you get into a traffic accident, or you have some health problems for months, maybe even years. As if that weren't enough, these calamities arrive one after another, constricting your chest. It feels like you can't breathe. That's when you start thinking, why are they all coming one after another?
What I'm telling you now might not feel relatable to some of you, because you're probably feeling good right now. But if you're around 40s or 50s, you have experienced heavy calamities at least 4 or 5 times in your life. And you will probably keep experiencing them. It feels easy to talk about these when you're happy, isn't it? But I think we can all agree that it is not really that easy when you are going through these moments. In those moments, you can't enjoy the joke, you can't enjoy the food you're eating. There's something in your head and it goes everywhere with you. It doesn't leave you for weeks, for months. It stays in your heart like a flame ember.
So today we are going to talk about this with a few bullet points. We'll explore how to find comfort and strength during our most challenging times. First of all, we all should know this. Only Allah fully understands how deep the pain that are tightening your chest. This means that while friends and family can offer support, they may not fully grasp the depth of your pain. You can share your troubles with others, but no one can fully understand you. If you try to describe orange to someone who has never eaten it in their life, how much could they understand? Maybe he can understand 10% of it. Just like that, someone who didn't taste the fire in his heart cannot fully understand you.
Even if he understands, he can't do anything, he can't help. Only you, who is experiencing that problem, and the One who created that heart can truly understand it. The real solution can only be given by the One who gets that heart beating. So, the first thing we need to remind ourselves is this. Allah knows, Allah sees. On top of that, Allah loves me very much. You may ask, how do I know He loves me? He has given me thousands of blessings and gifts throughout my life, too many to count. Thousands of gift boxes every day. Like the ability to breathe, to see, to hear, to think, walk, run, feel joy.
For example, He put compassion in my mother's heart and in the hearts of all the mothers in the world. When my mother loves me so deeply that she would give up everything for me, how can the One who placed that compassion in her heart, how can He not love me? I know that sometimes calamities don't leave you alone. On top of that, no one understands you. So, you are alone in the crowd. And then the fire in your heart gets more intense. But at that very moment that you feel alone, you think, Allah sees me, Allah knows me. Allah knows the condition that I'm in right now. And there is a wisdom behind all these. You feel a slight relief.
Can someone walking in a maze have the same knowledge as someone looking at it from above? So, don't rebel just because you don't understand the wisdom behind it. Because the wisdom of the universe is not limited to your knowledge. You're not a God. Your inability to understand does not mean that there is no wisdom in it. This is life. A test. You may have received news that makes you upset. There may be fires in your heart that never go out. These have great wisdom in the long term, or maybe in the short term. You will understand some of these wisdoms in a year, some in ten years, and some only after you have gone to the eternal world.
And you will do sajdah in gratitude for some duas that were not accepted as you wish. In reality, your soul needs some surgeries. Of course, any surgery is painful. Those who undergo surgery, they know this. They prepare themselves psychologically. You must realize that you are being tested. In Surah Al-Ankabut, verse number two, Allah says, "Do the people think that they will be left to say 'we believe' and they will not be tried?" That was our first point. If you think of this at the first moment you are going through calamities, your burden starts to get lighter. You're going to think that, Allah knows me, Allah sees me.
Allah knows the condition that I'm in right now and there's a wisdom behind it. Let me explain the second point with a story. A young woman comes to a man who listens to people's problems and offers advice. The woman has some problems in her home with her husband. She starts to complain about the situation. There's an old woman who witnessed the conversation. She goes to her and says, "My child, let me give you an advice. Years ago, my house burned down. My house and my children in it burned down in front of my eyes. I lost all my children. I couldn't do anything for days, for months, even years. My heart was burning.
If death was on sale somewhere in those days, I would have given everything and bought death. But look, years have passed since then. My pain has eased. To put it simply, you have plenty of troubles now with your husband, but know that, time has a great effect on healing our wounds." Wow, such a sad story. This story means that whatever happens to us, sometimes it is the pain of separation. Sometimes it is receiving an unexpected direction from someone you love. Sometimes it is something bad done to you by the child you raised with a lot of effort. We must know that these wounds are powerless against time, and that time plays a big role in healing these wounds.
For example, remember something you were worried about in middle school, or any incident that has happened a few years ago. Now, your heart doesn't hurt as much as it did then, right? So, this is the second point. Know that, time will heal your wounds. The third point is to be able to manage information. What do I mean? According to a study, some of the families who came out of World War 2 were very depressed. They couldn't find any joy in life. But some other groups of people who experienced the same situation, they continued their daily lives and continued to enjoy life. Two groups of people experienced the same bad situation.
One of them has become unable to enjoy life, while the other is living a happy life. Sometimes it even happens that a rich person with very good living conditions can live in a depressed state, while a person living in poverty enjoys life very well. Take Edsel Ford, for instance. He was the son of Henry Ford, who founded the Ford Motor Company. Edsel Ford, at the peak of his career, despite having all the opportunities, he committed su**ide. Or Kurt Cobain, the lead singer of the American rock band Nirvana. Admired by millions of people. He was handsome, rich. He committed su**ide at the age of 27. Peace doesn't come with money, fame, and fortune. Everything depends on your mindset.
The following verse of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi summarizes the situation very well. He says, "The one who sees beautifully, thinks beautifully. The one who thinks beautifully, enjoys his life." Now let's look at our own troubles. One day, your girlfriend, whom you are on the eve of marrying, tells you that your relation is over. You should remain just friends. That word shatters your world. It turns upside down. Your heart is on fire. Depression sets in for you. So, you can't enjoy anything you do anymore. Do you realize how helpless we are? How one sentence has turned our lives upside down? But on the other hand, we look around and see that some people can overcome a calamity within days.
So, how does this happen? Let's explain with an example. Imagine a weight lifter. He develops his body so well before the competition that, when the competition time comes, he can lift the weight with all his strength. We need to work just like that weight lifter. And we should make ourselves spiritually and psychologically very strong. So when the calamity comes, we don't collapse immediately. So, how can we become spiritually strong? Let me explain in two points. For 20 years I've been giving advice to so many people, thousands of people. In two points. My first recommendation is to charge your battery daily. What do I mean?
Learn the truths of faith, either by watching Islamic videos or reading Islamic books. You should charge your battery daily. Secondly, get rid of your friends who call you to the path of Satan, and join the circle of people who are on the path of Allah. As you strengthen your belief in Allah, the Judgment Day and the truths of faith, you become more resilient in the face of calamities. One of the most effective solutions when we have challenges in our lives, is seeking guidance. That is, asking for advice from experienced people around you. There's an interesting story about this.
One day a truck driver was passing under a bridge, and he got stuck because he didn't pay attention to its length. When he tried to get out, he got himself stuck even more. The police and firefighters came to help. Then they each came up with a new idea on how to free the truck. Some said that, "Let's demolish a part of the bridge." Some said, "Let's cut a part of the truck." While they were talking about this for hours, a boy passed by. He looked at the people and he said, "Why don't you let some air out of the truck's tires?" Everyone was shocked. They followed the boy's advice and got the truck out of there.
What I'm saying is that, sometimes the solution for things that we think are very difficult to solve can actually be very simple. You know the saying, "Think outside the box." Sometimes we are inside of the box and we can't think outside the box. In other words, it's necessary to think differently. But when you are going through calamities, you may not be able to look differently. And that's when you need an intervention from outside. So the truth of the matter is that, as long as we don't change our point of view, as long as we don't stay focused on the matter and don't get any advice, we can be in the wrong way. Just like in the story.
Someone who sees a simple thing that you have missed and tells you from that side, he can solve the problem easily. In addition to this, a scholar once said, "The problem is one. But if you complain, it becomes two." Complaining about the calamity doubles the pain. Just like fighting with a broken hand. Isn't it really like that? Just think about it. Something bad happens to you and your heart feels like it is going to burst. At the same time, you see your atheist friend and he is enjoying himself, living a life of pleasure. No misfortune comes to him, no misfortune troubles him. You say, "Well, at least I'm praying 5 times a day, I go to Juma prayer. But misfortune never leaves my side.
Why is that nothing happens to him and all of that happens to me? Why does Allah give me these things?" With these two sentences, you would get to the point of rebelling against Allah. It's dangerous. But do these rebellions and complaints make the calamity go away? No, it doesn't. So this is not what you should do. Because when you do that, you're saying to Allah, "I'm not satisfied with what you have given me." And you are accusing Him of not acting wisely. And of course, Allah doesn't like that. This time the calamity starts to increase even more. This is like fighting with a broken hand. So our fourth point is, trouble is one. If you complain about it, it becomes two.
A question may come to your mind here. Why do these calamities come one after the other? Think of the biggest calamity you have ever experienced before, and think of the times when you were the happiest. Which time did you pray to Allah more sincerely? The answer most of you would probably give is the moments of calamity, right? The times when you opened up to Allah the most, when you never miss your prayers and even added tahajjud to your prayers, were the times of hardships. When you think about it, isn't it very clear why Allah gives us one calamity after another? Allah wants us to get closer to Him, to raise our standards of worship.
This can be by paying more attention to our prayers, by getting up for tahajjud, by memorizing verses from the Holy Qur'an. There's a very interesting statement in Surah Yunus, verse number 22 and 23. Allah says, "He is the one who enables you to travel through land and sea. And it so happens that you're on ships, sailing with a favorable wind, to the passenger's delight. Suddenly the ships are overcome by a gale wind, and those on board are overwhelmed by waves from every side, and they assume they are doomed. They cry out to Allah alone in sincere devotion. 'If you save us from this, we will certainly be grateful.' But as soon as He rescues them, they transgress in the land unjustly.
O humanity! Your transgression is only against your own souls. There is only brief enjoyment in this worldly life, then to Us is your return. And then We will inform you of what you used to do." There are many meanings here. One of them is that when a calamity comes, you come to your senses and remember Allah. When there is no calamity, you live blindly. While you are living blindly, if the calamity that would bring you closer to Allah does not come, maybe you will smile for a while in this world. But what about afterwards? Imagine that you have lived blindly in this world, and you are going to the Hereafter, and all your sins are in front of you.
Now you are aware of everything, but it's too late. Your regret is useless. That's why Allah sometimes gives us calamities, so that we realize what we have done before it's too late. Calamities also help us become the most pleasing to Allah. Think of an iron. It is not possible to shape the iron without heating and forging it, right? In the same way, we are moving towards the best way we should be through calamities. The following question may come to your mind here. Isn't this enough that Allah sends prophets, books, many scholars to help us reach the best state, that is, Taqwa? Isn't this enough? Why do we need calamities? Let me explain this with a story.
One day, while escaping from enemy soldiers, Napoleon took shelter in a grocery shop. The grocer hid him and told the enemy soldiers that someone had just gone that way. Later, when Napoleon's guards arrived at the grocery shop, Napoleon came out from his hiding place. Thinking he might never see Napoleon again, the grocer asked him a question. "Sir, what is it like to be so close to death?" Napoleon suddenly became angry. "Who are you to talk to me in such a mocking way?" he shouted. He ordered his soldiers to shoot the grocer. The soldiers blindfolded the man and lined up in front of him. They loaded their guns and they were ready to fire.
As the grocer thought to himself, "Oh, what have I done? Now I'm going to die! What a stupid question was that?" Suddenly, a pair of hands reached out from behind him, removed his blindfold, and there stood Napoleon. He answered the man's question with a single sentence. Napoleon said, "You asked, what is it like to be so close to death? That is what it feels like. This is the answer," he said. So what I'm saying is that, sometimes advice, books, they're not enough. You need to learn by living, experiencing. Maybe you're somebody who memorized the whole Qur'an, you could know the life of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) very well. But sometimes information is not enough.
You need to learn by going through hardships. It is not possible to shape iron without heating. And the calamities come again and again until we learn the lesson and heal our heart. Questions like, "Why does this happen when I pray five times a day?" Or, "Can religious people suffer from depression?" These kind of questions come to our minds. Let me ask a question. Can a Muslim break his arm? Yes. Can a Muslim fall when he is running? Yes, they can. Can they fall into depression? Yes, they can. Depression, like a broken arm, is a calamity that can befall anyone. Of course, consolations derived from religion, they can reduce the possibility of depression in many people.
But if fate has decreed calamity for you, you can't escape. In depression, even if you are so close to Allah, your heart has been sentenced to a period of imprisonment. No matter what you do, even if you travel around the world, your heart is imprisoned. By the way, the calamity that comes our way is not always to correct something wrong. It can also be to strengthen something good. Throughout history, thousands of prophets have come. As you know, prophets are sinless. In a hadith, one of the Companions asked the Messenger of Allah "Which people are most severely tested?" And the Prophet Muhammad (saw) answered, "The prophets, and then the next best, and then the next best.
A person is tested according to his religious commitment. If he is steadfast in his religious commitment, he will be tested more severely. And if he is frail in his religious commitment, his test will be according to his commitments. Trials will continue to afflict a person until they leave him walking on the earth with no sin on him." This means that those who are closest to Allah have been tested the most by Him. Since their limits of patience are very high, the hardness of their trials are accordingly high as well. For example, in a final year university math exam, you wouldn't ask an elementary school question. It would be too easy and useless. It won't improve that student.
So, the difficulties that come to us can be for three reasons. The first one, a warning for past mistakes. The second, a development to bring our souls closer to Allah. And the third one, preparation, discipline and training for the challenges we will face in the future. Allah has not promised a perfect life in this world. But if we endure the ups and downs of these temporary 50-60 years of life, and live within His commandments, He has promised perfect, eternal peace. A world where there is no bad news, where the chest does not feel constricted. A vast world. I came across a tweet in which someone was announcing his father's death.
He described this situation by saying, "My father completed his exile in this world." Wow. Exile. Actually, his father was not in exile. But compared to the Heaven, this is exile. And we have sorrows, we have problems. We have a lot of things in this world. And he said that he completed his exile. This world is filled with trials and sorrows. This is exile. It may be difficult to understand this at the age of 18 or 16. But doesn't it feel that way, especially after the age of 40? When you experience more and more problems, your relatives, your father, your mother pass away. You get ill. Life becomes unbearable. This is exile.
I want to get out of this exile and see Prophet Muhammad (saw), embrace Yousuf (as), Adam (as). Our real homeland is not here. It is the Hereafter. We only stay here for 50 or 60 years. And the Hereafter, we will live forever, Inshallah. Allah does not promise us that we will always be happy in this world, but He promises us eternal happiness and eternal life in the Hereafter. If we live this life the way He wants us to live it, we are going to go to that Paradise, Inshallah. So let's use the value given to us to earn eternity. Let's not spend it on temporary worldly pleasures that are not worth ten cents, when eternity can be bought with that value. Think of it this way.
I have an original and a very precious painting in my hands. If I take this painting to the junk dealer's bazaar, they will buy it for a few dollars, right? But what if I take this to an auction? They could pay millions of dollars. You are like that painting. Your value is high. But for the one who knows its value, it's high. And that is Allah, who knows your value. Remember, your Lord has not abandoned you. Your Lord has not left you. May Allah bless our faith. May we not be among those who sell their Hereafter for the sake of a worthless, temporary world. Omer, let me ask you a question. When do you think our exile is going to finish? By the way, do you think that this world is an exile?
Because you're a young boy, so you're not in your 30s, 40s. Is this world an exile? Are we exaggerating? Most of the times, it doesn't seem like an exile. Because many good things attract you to the life. But, as you said brother, if you are 35 or 40, at least 4 or 5 times, you get some hits from the life. Yeah. And you realize, yeah, this is an exile compared to Hereafter, compared to where our Lord waits. Yeah. The amount of calamities are much more after 40s. So indeed, this world is an exile. But you do not know until you reach a certain age. And after 40s, especially 50s, you don't have anybody. You don't have a father, you don't have a mother.
And you get used to going to hospital and have some medicine. And the pleasures that you have when you were young, you don't have that kind of pleasures. So then, you understand. Yeah, this world is an exile. And I'm looking forward for this exile to end one day. From a certain point, Allah makes you hate this world because you do not belong to this world. Because your homeland is Hereafter, the eternal life, not the temporary.
What I'm telling you now might not feel relatable to some of you, because you're probably feeling good right now. But if you're around 40s or 50s, you have experienced heavy calamities at least 4 or 5 times in your life. And you will probably keep experiencing them. It feels easy to talk about these when you're happy, isn't it? But I think we can all agree that it is not really that easy when you are going through these moments. In those moments, you can't enjoy the joke, you can't enjoy the food you're eating. There's something in your head and it goes everywhere with you. It doesn't leave you for weeks, for months. It stays in your heart like a flame ember.
So today we are going to talk about this with a few bullet points. We'll explore how to find comfort and strength during our most challenging times. First of all, we all should know this. Only Allah fully understands how deep the pain that are tightening your chest. This means that while friends and family can offer support, they may not fully grasp the depth of your pain. You can share your troubles with others, but no one can fully understand you. If you try to describe orange to someone who has never eaten it in their life, how much could they understand? Maybe he can understand 10% of it. Just like that, someone who didn't taste the fire in his heart cannot fully understand you.
Even if he understands, he can't do anything, he can't help. Only you, who is experiencing that problem, and the One who created that heart can truly understand it. The real solution can only be given by the One who gets that heart beating. So, the first thing we need to remind ourselves is this. Allah knows, Allah sees. On top of that, Allah loves me very much. You may ask, how do I know He loves me? He has given me thousands of blessings and gifts throughout my life, too many to count. Thousands of gift boxes every day. Like the ability to breathe, to see, to hear, to think, walk, run, feel joy.
For example, He put compassion in my mother's heart and in the hearts of all the mothers in the world. When my mother loves me so deeply that she would give up everything for me, how can the One who placed that compassion in her heart, how can He not love me? I know that sometimes calamities don't leave you alone. On top of that, no one understands you. So, you are alone in the crowd. And then the fire in your heart gets more intense. But at that very moment that you feel alone, you think, Allah sees me, Allah knows me. Allah knows the condition that I'm in right now. And there is a wisdom behind all these. You feel a slight relief.
Can someone walking in a maze have the same knowledge as someone looking at it from above? So, don't rebel just because you don't understand the wisdom behind it. Because the wisdom of the universe is not limited to your knowledge. You're not a God. Your inability to understand does not mean that there is no wisdom in it. This is life. A test. You may have received news that makes you upset. There may be fires in your heart that never go out. These have great wisdom in the long term, or maybe in the short term. You will understand some of these wisdoms in a year, some in ten years, and some only after you have gone to the eternal world.
And you will do sajdah in gratitude for some duas that were not accepted as you wish. In reality, your soul needs some surgeries. Of course, any surgery is painful. Those who undergo surgery, they know this. They prepare themselves psychologically. You must realize that you are being tested. In Surah Al-Ankabut, verse number two, Allah says, "Do the people think that they will be left to say 'we believe' and they will not be tried?" That was our first point. If you think of this at the first moment you are going through calamities, your burden starts to get lighter. You're going to think that, Allah knows me, Allah sees me.
Allah knows the condition that I'm in right now and there's a wisdom behind it. Let me explain the second point with a story. A young woman comes to a man who listens to people's problems and offers advice. The woman has some problems in her home with her husband. She starts to complain about the situation. There's an old woman who witnessed the conversation. She goes to her and says, "My child, let me give you an advice. Years ago, my house burned down. My house and my children in it burned down in front of my eyes. I lost all my children. I couldn't do anything for days, for months, even years. My heart was burning.
If death was on sale somewhere in those days, I would have given everything and bought death. But look, years have passed since then. My pain has eased. To put it simply, you have plenty of troubles now with your husband, but know that, time has a great effect on healing our wounds." Wow, such a sad story. This story means that whatever happens to us, sometimes it is the pain of separation. Sometimes it is receiving an unexpected direction from someone you love. Sometimes it is something bad done to you by the child you raised with a lot of effort. We must know that these wounds are powerless against time, and that time plays a big role in healing these wounds.
For example, remember something you were worried about in middle school, or any incident that has happened a few years ago. Now, your heart doesn't hurt as much as it did then, right? So, this is the second point. Know that, time will heal your wounds. The third point is to be able to manage information. What do I mean? According to a study, some of the families who came out of World War 2 were very depressed. They couldn't find any joy in life. But some other groups of people who experienced the same situation, they continued their daily lives and continued to enjoy life. Two groups of people experienced the same bad situation.
One of them has become unable to enjoy life, while the other is living a happy life. Sometimes it even happens that a rich person with very good living conditions can live in a depressed state, while a person living in poverty enjoys life very well. Take Edsel Ford, for instance. He was the son of Henry Ford, who founded the Ford Motor Company. Edsel Ford, at the peak of his career, despite having all the opportunities, he committed su**ide. Or Kurt Cobain, the lead singer of the American rock band Nirvana. Admired by millions of people. He was handsome, rich. He committed su**ide at the age of 27. Peace doesn't come with money, fame, and fortune. Everything depends on your mindset.
The following verse of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi summarizes the situation very well. He says, "The one who sees beautifully, thinks beautifully. The one who thinks beautifully, enjoys his life." Now let's look at our own troubles. One day, your girlfriend, whom you are on the eve of marrying, tells you that your relation is over. You should remain just friends. That word shatters your world. It turns upside down. Your heart is on fire. Depression sets in for you. So, you can't enjoy anything you do anymore. Do you realize how helpless we are? How one sentence has turned our lives upside down? But on the other hand, we look around and see that some people can overcome a calamity within days.
So, how does this happen? Let's explain with an example. Imagine a weight lifter. He develops his body so well before the competition that, when the competition time comes, he can lift the weight with all his strength. We need to work just like that weight lifter. And we should make ourselves spiritually and psychologically very strong. So when the calamity comes, we don't collapse immediately. So, how can we become spiritually strong? Let me explain in two points. For 20 years I've been giving advice to so many people, thousands of people. In two points. My first recommendation is to charge your battery daily. What do I mean?
Learn the truths of faith, either by watching Islamic videos or reading Islamic books. You should charge your battery daily. Secondly, get rid of your friends who call you to the path of Satan, and join the circle of people who are on the path of Allah. As you strengthen your belief in Allah, the Judgment Day and the truths of faith, you become more resilient in the face of calamities. One of the most effective solutions when we have challenges in our lives, is seeking guidance. That is, asking for advice from experienced people around you. There's an interesting story about this.
One day a truck driver was passing under a bridge, and he got stuck because he didn't pay attention to its length. When he tried to get out, he got himself stuck even more. The police and firefighters came to help. Then they each came up with a new idea on how to free the truck. Some said that, "Let's demolish a part of the bridge." Some said, "Let's cut a part of the truck." While they were talking about this for hours, a boy passed by. He looked at the people and he said, "Why don't you let some air out of the truck's tires?" Everyone was shocked. They followed the boy's advice and got the truck out of there.
What I'm saying is that, sometimes the solution for things that we think are very difficult to solve can actually be very simple. You know the saying, "Think outside the box." Sometimes we are inside of the box and we can't think outside the box. In other words, it's necessary to think differently. But when you are going through calamities, you may not be able to look differently. And that's when you need an intervention from outside. So the truth of the matter is that, as long as we don't change our point of view, as long as we don't stay focused on the matter and don't get any advice, we can be in the wrong way. Just like in the story.
Someone who sees a simple thing that you have missed and tells you from that side, he can solve the problem easily. In addition to this, a scholar once said, "The problem is one. But if you complain, it becomes two." Complaining about the calamity doubles the pain. Just like fighting with a broken hand. Isn't it really like that? Just think about it. Something bad happens to you and your heart feels like it is going to burst. At the same time, you see your atheist friend and he is enjoying himself, living a life of pleasure. No misfortune comes to him, no misfortune troubles him. You say, "Well, at least I'm praying 5 times a day, I go to Juma prayer. But misfortune never leaves my side.
Why is that nothing happens to him and all of that happens to me? Why does Allah give me these things?" With these two sentences, you would get to the point of rebelling against Allah. It's dangerous. But do these rebellions and complaints make the calamity go away? No, it doesn't. So this is not what you should do. Because when you do that, you're saying to Allah, "I'm not satisfied with what you have given me." And you are accusing Him of not acting wisely. And of course, Allah doesn't like that. This time the calamity starts to increase even more. This is like fighting with a broken hand. So our fourth point is, trouble is one. If you complain about it, it becomes two.
A question may come to your mind here. Why do these calamities come one after the other? Think of the biggest calamity you have ever experienced before, and think of the times when you were the happiest. Which time did you pray to Allah more sincerely? The answer most of you would probably give is the moments of calamity, right? The times when you opened up to Allah the most, when you never miss your prayers and even added tahajjud to your prayers, were the times of hardships. When you think about it, isn't it very clear why Allah gives us one calamity after another? Allah wants us to get closer to Him, to raise our standards of worship.
This can be by paying more attention to our prayers, by getting up for tahajjud, by memorizing verses from the Holy Qur'an. There's a very interesting statement in Surah Yunus, verse number 22 and 23. Allah says, "He is the one who enables you to travel through land and sea. And it so happens that you're on ships, sailing with a favorable wind, to the passenger's delight. Suddenly the ships are overcome by a gale wind, and those on board are overwhelmed by waves from every side, and they assume they are doomed. They cry out to Allah alone in sincere devotion. 'If you save us from this, we will certainly be grateful.' But as soon as He rescues them, they transgress in the land unjustly.
O humanity! Your transgression is only against your own souls. There is only brief enjoyment in this worldly life, then to Us is your return. And then We will inform you of what you used to do." There are many meanings here. One of them is that when a calamity comes, you come to your senses and remember Allah. When there is no calamity, you live blindly. While you are living blindly, if the calamity that would bring you closer to Allah does not come, maybe you will smile for a while in this world. But what about afterwards? Imagine that you have lived blindly in this world, and you are going to the Hereafter, and all your sins are in front of you.
Now you are aware of everything, but it's too late. Your regret is useless. That's why Allah sometimes gives us calamities, so that we realize what we have done before it's too late. Calamities also help us become the most pleasing to Allah. Think of an iron. It is not possible to shape the iron without heating and forging it, right? In the same way, we are moving towards the best way we should be through calamities. The following question may come to your mind here. Isn't this enough that Allah sends prophets, books, many scholars to help us reach the best state, that is, Taqwa? Isn't this enough? Why do we need calamities? Let me explain this with a story.
One day, while escaping from enemy soldiers, Napoleon took shelter in a grocery shop. The grocer hid him and told the enemy soldiers that someone had just gone that way. Later, when Napoleon's guards arrived at the grocery shop, Napoleon came out from his hiding place. Thinking he might never see Napoleon again, the grocer asked him a question. "Sir, what is it like to be so close to death?" Napoleon suddenly became angry. "Who are you to talk to me in such a mocking way?" he shouted. He ordered his soldiers to shoot the grocer. The soldiers blindfolded the man and lined up in front of him. They loaded their guns and they were ready to fire.
As the grocer thought to himself, "Oh, what have I done? Now I'm going to die! What a stupid question was that?" Suddenly, a pair of hands reached out from behind him, removed his blindfold, and there stood Napoleon. He answered the man's question with a single sentence. Napoleon said, "You asked, what is it like to be so close to death? That is what it feels like. This is the answer," he said. So what I'm saying is that, sometimes advice, books, they're not enough. You need to learn by living, experiencing. Maybe you're somebody who memorized the whole Qur'an, you could know the life of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) very well. But sometimes information is not enough.
You need to learn by going through hardships. It is not possible to shape iron without heating. And the calamities come again and again until we learn the lesson and heal our heart. Questions like, "Why does this happen when I pray five times a day?" Or, "Can religious people suffer from depression?" These kind of questions come to our minds. Let me ask a question. Can a Muslim break his arm? Yes. Can a Muslim fall when he is running? Yes, they can. Can they fall into depression? Yes, they can. Depression, like a broken arm, is a calamity that can befall anyone. Of course, consolations derived from religion, they can reduce the possibility of depression in many people.
But if fate has decreed calamity for you, you can't escape. In depression, even if you are so close to Allah, your heart has been sentenced to a period of imprisonment. No matter what you do, even if you travel around the world, your heart is imprisoned. By the way, the calamity that comes our way is not always to correct something wrong. It can also be to strengthen something good. Throughout history, thousands of prophets have come. As you know, prophets are sinless. In a hadith, one of the Companions asked the Messenger of Allah "Which people are most severely tested?" And the Prophet Muhammad (saw) answered, "The prophets, and then the next best, and then the next best.
A person is tested according to his religious commitment. If he is steadfast in his religious commitment, he will be tested more severely. And if he is frail in his religious commitment, his test will be according to his commitments. Trials will continue to afflict a person until they leave him walking on the earth with no sin on him." This means that those who are closest to Allah have been tested the most by Him. Since their limits of patience are very high, the hardness of their trials are accordingly high as well. For example, in a final year university math exam, you wouldn't ask an elementary school question. It would be too easy and useless. It won't improve that student.
So, the difficulties that come to us can be for three reasons. The first one, a warning for past mistakes. The second, a development to bring our souls closer to Allah. And the third one, preparation, discipline and training for the challenges we will face in the future. Allah has not promised a perfect life in this world. But if we endure the ups and downs of these temporary 50-60 years of life, and live within His commandments, He has promised perfect, eternal peace. A world where there is no bad news, where the chest does not feel constricted. A vast world. I came across a tweet in which someone was announcing his father's death.
He described this situation by saying, "My father completed his exile in this world." Wow. Exile. Actually, his father was not in exile. But compared to the Heaven, this is exile. And we have sorrows, we have problems. We have a lot of things in this world. And he said that he completed his exile. This world is filled with trials and sorrows. This is exile. It may be difficult to understand this at the age of 18 or 16. But doesn't it feel that way, especially after the age of 40? When you experience more and more problems, your relatives, your father, your mother pass away. You get ill. Life becomes unbearable. This is exile.
I want to get out of this exile and see Prophet Muhammad (saw), embrace Yousuf (as), Adam (as). Our real homeland is not here. It is the Hereafter. We only stay here for 50 or 60 years. And the Hereafter, we will live forever, Inshallah. Allah does not promise us that we will always be happy in this world, but He promises us eternal happiness and eternal life in the Hereafter. If we live this life the way He wants us to live it, we are going to go to that Paradise, Inshallah. So let's use the value given to us to earn eternity. Let's not spend it on temporary worldly pleasures that are not worth ten cents, when eternity can be bought with that value. Think of it this way.
I have an original and a very precious painting in my hands. If I take this painting to the junk dealer's bazaar, they will buy it for a few dollars, right? But what if I take this to an auction? They could pay millions of dollars. You are like that painting. Your value is high. But for the one who knows its value, it's high. And that is Allah, who knows your value. Remember, your Lord has not abandoned you. Your Lord has not left you. May Allah bless our faith. May we not be among those who sell their Hereafter for the sake of a worthless, temporary world. Omer, let me ask you a question. When do you think our exile is going to finish? By the way, do you think that this world is an exile?
Because you're a young boy, so you're not in your 30s, 40s. Is this world an exile? Are we exaggerating? Most of the times, it doesn't seem like an exile. Because many good things attract you to the life. But, as you said brother, if you are 35 or 40, at least 4 or 5 times, you get some hits from the life. Yeah. And you realize, yeah, this is an exile compared to Hereafter, compared to where our Lord waits. Yeah. The amount of calamities are much more after 40s. So indeed, this world is an exile. But you do not know until you reach a certain age. And after 40s, especially 50s, you don't have anybody. You don't have a father, you don't have a mother.
And you get used to going to hospital and have some medicine. And the pleasures that you have when you were young, you don't have that kind of pleasures. So then, you understand. Yeah, this world is an exile. And I'm looking forward for this exile to end one day. From a certain point, Allah makes you hate this world because you do not belong to this world. Because your homeland is Hereafter, the eternal life, not the temporary.