Am I Being Tested or Punished?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

Am I being tested or punished? I don’t feel the sweetness of faith anymore.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

No, you are not being punished, and everything is a test. Part of the test is the perseverance and patience needed to continue on our journey to Allah Most High despite the difficulties we may face.

Three Important Factors

It is crucial to (1) always turn to Allah Most High sincerely with all our difficulties and hardships, (2) beseech Allah Most High for help and strength, and (3) always maintain a good opinion of Allah Most High.

#1 – Turning to Allah

Allah Most High says, “Or ˹ask them,˺ “Who responds to the distressed when they cry to Him, relieving ˹their˺ affliction, and ˹Who˺ makes you successors in the earth? Is it another god besides Allah? Yet you are hardly mindful!”” [Quran; 27:62]

It is possible that one can draw nearer to Allah Most High through difficulties much greater than they can in times of ease.

#2 – Beseech Allah for Strength

One of the greatest examples of beseeching Allah Most High is the story of the Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and give him peace) trip to Ta’if.

“O Allah! I complain to You of my weakness, my scarcity of resources, and the humiliation I have been subjected to by the people. O Most Merciful of those who are merciful. O Lord of the weak and my Lord too. To whom have you entrusted me? To a distant person who receives me with hostility? Or to an enemy to whom you have granted authority over my affair? So long as You are not angry with me, I do not care. Your favor is of a more expansive relief to me. I seek refuge in the light of Your Face by which all darkness is dispelled, and every affair of this world and the next is set right, lest Your anger or Your displeasure descends upon me. I desire Your pleasure and satisfaction until You are pleased. There is no power and no might except by You.”

[Tabarani, al-Mu’jam al-Kabir]

#3 – Maintaining a Good Opinion

– The Removal of Sweetness

Feeling or experiencing one’s faith is a good sign. However, not experiencing or feeling one’s faith is not a bad sign.

Sayyidi al-Habib Umar bin Hafiz (Allah preserve him) mentions in his book, Signs of the Callers (Ma’ālim al-Du’āt) the following (paraphrased):

When Allah Most High sees the sincerity of His servant, He will bless them with a sweetness of faith in their heart. Thereafter, Allah Most High will remove that sweetness, causing His servant to yearn for it and long for it. Due to this yearning, they increase their efforts and strive more. Allah will then give them a greater sweetness of faith than that which they previously experienced. Again, Allah will take it away, and again, the servant will increase, and Allah Most High will continue to give greater and greater sweetness of faith. This will continue ad infinitum as the treasures of Allah Most High are infinite.

Summary

Difficulty does not equate to a bad standing with Allah Most High. In fact, both ease and difficulty for the believer are great opportunities.

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Amazing is the affair of the believer: if something good occurs to them, they are grateful, and it is good for them, and if something bad happens to them, they are patient, and it is good for them. This is only for the believer.” [Muslim]

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom Seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences.

He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he studied for three years in Dar al-Mustafa under some of the most outstanding scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib.

In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.