Question
Ever since I have grown up every time something happens that is good, it immediately follows with something that undoes all the happiness. I almost feel scared to feel happy, as it will be taken away from me. I used to have faith… so much faith… I would counter what everyone would say to me… that God is just separate. That religion is all right to a certain point but that it isn’t what your whole life is about. However I always felt that God loves His creation… that He would never leave them hopeless and helpless. But somehow I have lost all that faith. Everything I ever dreamed of has been taken away from me and I feel no desire to pray or believe in anything. I feel numb… faithless. Why does God do this? I believed that He loves us. Why are we hurt like this then? I did not lack in faith… for I never ever lost hope. But I feel abandoned. I almost feel stupid for being such a blind believer. Where do I go from here? Was my faith not important to Allah? I don’t know why I should believe in anything anymore.
Can you answer any of my questions or explain anything to me? I understand I am immature and people go through much worse. But I need to understand why I pray? Why are we required to pray? Why indeed am I here on this planet?
Thank you for your patience…
I do hope I hear from you.
Reply
My dear brother/sister,there is a general tendency among us – humans – to expect worldly benefits accruing from our faith in God and from submitting to His directives. That is not necessarily the case. It is not because God listens to our prayers and grants us what we desire that we should adore and worship Him or submit to His directives, but, merely, because He alone deserves all our adorations and reverence and all our worships and submissions.
It should be kept in mind,dear brother/sister, that adherence to faith and religion is not an elixir or a panacea for our problems and worldly sufferings. On the contrary, it is an unconditional submission to the truth. A voluntary submission, not for gaining any advantages in the life of this world, but for the sole reason that truth deserves to be accepted and submitted to.
The life of this world is a comprehensive test for us. We are being tested in a number of spheres during this life. This test is a temporary phase in our lives. It starts with our mental maturity and ends at our death or mental incapacity. The basic target to be achieved during this testing phase is to cleanse and purify our hearts, minds, bodies and souls from all such things that can defile and corrupt them. The fortunate among us, who shall succeed in their efforts of cleansing and purification, shall be the ones ultimately successful; while those who defile and corrupt their hearts, minds, bodies and souls, shall face the consequences of their defilement and corruption. Immediately after this test is over, we shall be faced with the results of this test. These results shall not be temporary. They shall be eternal. The consequences of failing in this test shall be in the shape of eternal and everlasting punishment; while that of success shall be in the shape of everlasting bliss in the life of paradise.
After my initial submission to the truth, i am subsequently tested in my commitment with this truth. I am required to maintain the prescribed relationship with God – entailing His continual remembrance in my heart, expressing my sincere gratitude for His countless blessings, remaining steadfast, under all circumstances, in His prescribed ways and submitting whole-heartedly to His directives and decisions.Truthful in their initial declaration of faith are those who accept and submit to all the decisions and directives of God, even if these decisions and directives translate into their apparent failure or in the undoing of their most valuable possessions in life. While deceitful in their declaration are those who are willing to accept only those decisions of God, which are according to their own wishes and desires. Such people by objecting to God’s decisions and directives, in effect, refute their initial claim of holding God to be merciful, wise, omnipotent, omniscient and just. It is due to this reason that the Qur’an has contemptuously referred to those whose faith is conditional upon God’s granting them their desires: The Qur’an says:
There are those who worship God from a threshold [of faith]. Thus they are content only if they are blessed with good, while if an ordeal befalls them they turn away [from faith]. They are the ones who are losers in this world as well as the hereafter. (Al-Hajj 22: 11)
If you look closely at the foregoing explanation you should be able to find the answers to most of your questions. However, you ask: “why are we required to pray?”.
Our prayers are actually an expression of our love, adoration and worship towards God. This expression, for a true Muslim, is not conditional upon the fulfillment of his worldly desires. It is independent of all our unfulfilled wishes and desires and is solely dependent upon our initial intellectual decision of believing in one God, Who possesses the stated attributes. Prayer is an expression of our servitude and submission to our Master. It is an expression of our gratitude and thankfulness for all the blessings that we enjoy in life. It is an acceptance of the fact that if our eyes see, our ears hear and our touch feels, it is because our Creator has allowed us these privileges. It is,without any shadow of a doubt,the expression of absolute submission for whatever He decides for us in His absolute wisdom and mercy.
I hope this helps.
UIUK team
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