The Messenger of Allah, after being stoned by the children and the street riffraff of Taif until his blood drenched his sandals, on his return to Mecca, realising he could not return without Abu Talib’s protection, cried unto Allah and spoke of his difficulties. However, he said unto Allah that none of this mattered if He (SWT) was not displeased, as long as his suffering was not as a result of Allah’s displeasure. So this is the only thing you should fear from your trials/tests.

Many of you will have come to realise that brothers whom you considered close to you, no longer want anything to do with you and will deliberately avoid your family members. Those who swore time and time again that they would stand by you, have walked away presenting the most feeble excuses. Those on whose tongue Allah and His Messenger were mentioned seem to be the most tongue-tied now. My brothers, this is nothing new. It is the sunnah (way) of this Path.

At times you will seem to think that you cannot endure anymore, but through His wisdom Allah allows the trials/tests to continue to very difficult situations, like the tearing off of Bilal (RA)’s skin from his back. Today boiling water and oil is being used*. However to the viewer Bilal was toying with his life, as if to say, “Allah, this is my soul, the most valuable thing I have. It is Your creation, take it when You like, but just be pleased with it, nothing else do I ask you.”

*See Eesa Barot’s letter for further details of the brutal injuries sustained by him.

You are now in the same school as Bilal (RA), the madrasah of Prophet Yusuf (AS). So do not despair of the help of Allah.

Or think you that you will enter Paradise without such (trials) as came to those who passed away before you? They were afflicted with severe poverty and ailments and were so shaken that even the Messenger and those who believed along with him said, "When (will come) the Help of Allah?" Yes! Certainly, the Help of Allah is near! Qur’an 2-214

And know that when you are being driven close to your limits, shaytan (Satan) will want you to consider the trial/test to be too extreme to endure and he would have you believe that you have been pushed beyond your limits, then seek Allah’s assistance and take Him as your only trustworthy friend and protector.

It is this intimate relationship with Allah that the Sahabah desired, they used to be in competition with each other and they would envy each other in this regard. They wanted physical marks on their bodies, signs of sacrifice that they could present to Allah, their greatness was measured accoriding to their sacrifice, the muhajiroon the ansaar, the people of Badr, those of Uhud etc… 

Now is our time to prove ourselves to Allah, to prove our faith is true, to prove we love Allah more than anything else, to prove we have full trust in Him, to prove we can be patient.