May God forgive me for being so confused and upset but, i don’t understand how a hafiz e Quran could get kidnapped and then murdered. we read ayats and suras from the Quran for protection. I am so disillusioned that I think what is the point of reading Quls and Ayatal kursi if our fate is doomed anyway.
On one hand i understand that God has told us to read these ayats for protection so we should just do it and not question it. On the other hand, misfortunes happen even when we read these ayats. My faith is so weak Dr. saab. please give me some dua to read so i may accept whatever Allah wills. I know my ignorance is my worst enemy. I am embarrassed to admit I was questioning the murder of an 18 year old…I have to resign to the fact when God tells us in Surah Kahf that we don’t have the patience to understand..and still it is very difficult to see so much suffering.
Answer
Let’s be clear about a few things: Even prophets got killed mercilessly in this world. This life is not primarily for reward or punishment; it is essentially for our trial. Therefore, the one who goes through difficult times in this life is not necessarily a failure; and the one who causes others to suffer is not necessarily successful nor is he going to be spared from punishment. The question of success and failure is going to be decided in the hereafter.
When we pray to God to be secured against worldly threats, we express our confidence in both His wisdom and might. We hope that His wisdom would decide what is the best possible condition for us; we hope from His might that what He decides through wisdom, He will be able to implement it. That’s why we quite often come across Quranic verses ending with the mention of His two attributes Al-Aziz, Al-Hakim: the Mighty and the Wise.
For this life to be a trial, it had to be a life of freedom which necessitated that God shouldn’t interfere in the results of what people do. He allows people to do good and evil to whatever extent they can. That’s how it was to be a trial; that’s how it was to be a place where people could earn the paradise and the hell. Had He stopped people from doing things every now and then, this life would have become mechanical, unworthy of being described as a testing ground for the next life.
We should therefore trust God when we see things happening against our expectations. He is wise and therefore cannot allow to let anything bad happen. In the meanwhile, we should focus on getting the best out of the trial of this life. If we start allowing the tensions of life to have the better of us, we are very likely to lose are focus on the real purpose of life.
It is always a good idea to seek protection in Allah by mentioning His attributes by reciting Ayatul Kursi and the last two surahs of the Quran.