Perhaps what I have to say will offend many of you. But that’s your problem…not mine.

It could be that Muslims have no desire of being mu’mins. It could be that mu’mins have no desire of attaining completion in their iman….but it is only so rare that we are true believers in qadr, the last pillar in of iman, the lifeblood of humanity.

It is narrated on the authority of Yahya b. Ya'mur that the first man who discussed qadr (divine decree) in Basra was Ma'bad al-Juhani. "I along with Humaid b. 'Abdur-Rahman Himyari set out for pilgrimage or for 'umrah and said, 'Should it so happen that we come into contact with one of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) we shall ask him about what is said about taqdir (divine decree).' Accidentally, we came across Abdullah ibn Umar ibn al-Khattab, while he was entering the mosque. My companion and I surrounded him. One of us [stood] on his right and the other stood on his left. I expected that my companion would authorize me to speak. Therefore, I said, 'Abu Abdur Rahman! There have appeared some people in our land who recite the Holy Qur'an and pursue knowledge.' And then after talking about their affairs, I added, 'They [such people] claim that there is no such thing as divine decree and events are not predestined.' He [Abdullah ibn Umar] said, 'When you happen to meet such people tell them that I have nothing to do with them and they have nothing to do with me. And verily they are in no way responsible for my [belief].' Abdullah ibn Umar swore by Him [the Lord and said], 'If any one of them [who does not believe in the Divine Decree] had with him gold equal to the bulk of [the mountain] Uhud and then spend it [in the way of Allah], Allah would not accept it unless he affirmed his faith in Divine Decree.'

He further said, 'My father, Umar ibn al-Khattab, told me, "One day we were sitting in the company of Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) when there appeared before us a man dressed in pure white clothes, his hair extraordinarily black. There were no signs of travel on him. None amongst us recognized him. At last he sat with the Apostle (peace be upon him) He knelt before him, placed his palms on his thighs and said, 'Muhammad, inform me about al-Islam.' The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, 'Al-Islam implies that you testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, and you establish prayer, pay Zakat, observe the fast of Ramadan, and perform pilgrimage to the [House] if you are solvent enough [to bear the expense of] the journey.' He [the inquirer] said, 'You have told the truth.' " He [Umar ibn al-Khattab] said, "It amazed us that he would put the question and then he would himself verify the truth. He (the inquirer) said, 'Inform me about iman [faith].' He [the Holy Prophet] replied, 'That you affirm your faith in Allah, in His angels, in His Books, in His Apostles, in the Day of Judgment, and you affirm your faith in the Divine Decree about good and evil.' He [the inquirer] said, 'You have told the truth.' He [the inquirer] again said, 'Inform me about al-ihsan [perfection]. He [the Holy Prophet] said, 'That you worship Allah as if you are seeing Him, for though you don't see Him, He, verily, sees you.' He [the inquirer] again said, 'Inform me about the hour [of the Doom].' He [the Holy Prophet] remarked, 'One who is asked knows no more than the one who is inquiring [about it].' He [the inquirer] said, 'Tell me some of its indications.' He [the Holy Prophet] said, 'That the slave-girl will give birth to her mistress and master, that you will find barefooted, destitute goat-herders vying with one another in the construction of magnificent buildings.' " He [the narrator, Umar ibn al-Khattab] said, "Then he [the inquirer] went on his way but I stayed with him [the Holy Prophet] for a long while. He then, said to me, 'Umar, do you know who this inquirer was?' I replied, 'Allah and His Apostle know best.' He [the Holy Prophet] remarked, 'He was Gabriel [the angel]. He came to you in order to instruct you in matters of religion.' " ' "

So I ask you, what is the power that we gain from qadr? Would you believe that it could make you superhuman? Believe me, anyone who can truly believe and put in to practice this final pillar would be more than imaginable in the eyes of the human race.

I want you to flash back to any point in your life when things were terribly bad. Perhaps someone was in the hospital, a family member had passed away, you had fallen into money problems, you had gotten sick…and so on and so on forever. In reality, know that life was made for just that reason: to be less than perfect. Everything is transient…and so in the end…nothing in this dunya really matters. Applying that into action is what the pillar of qadarat Allah is all about.

The magic of this aspect of iman is that no matter what tragedy befalls you…no matter how hard the test you go through…you have patience. And that my friends is what will set you free. Now comes the test of your belief….do you think you can handle it?

The easiest and most accurate test of one patience, one’s ridda, one’s sabr and belief in qaddarat Allah in my opinion is….is....the amount of complaining one does. Trust me…you will find that it works. Let me give you the formulations behind theory this before I proceed any further.

1) When tragedy hits, we become depressed, angry, sad…any sort of emotion. This is a relatively uncontrollable response and should be expected.

2) The next step should be turn to Allah. Why? Is there any power or means other than him? Can anyone give you more or better help than Allah?

2 ½) After we have turned to Allah two things should be done:
a) We should try to understand the benefit or reason behind this trouble. Is this a punishment for some past action, or is this something for my own benefit such as keeping me from making the wrong decision or taking a wrong course of action.
b) One should turn to Salat, one should turn to Salat, one should turn to Salat…and if you really want help; fasting.

3) Step three is the result, test, and judge of everything preceding: How many times have I had such a terrible day and not until the very end of the night when everything is calm and I am at peace do I realize that all that was no more than a test of how patient I would be. Then I sit there kicking myself in the head wondering if I had failed or passed…and all I had to do was have some sabr, and realize that everything in this world is but nothing in the end.

So as I said before, your test will be your complaining. If you say “Hasbi Allah wa naam alwakeel” and complain about your problems, whatever the reasons may be, then there is no reason for you to be saying “Hasbi Allah” – as that would entail that Allah subhanna wa taala is all that is sufficient for you…an apparently it is not…as you must gain confidence/patience/peace of mind by making a big deal of something that is already written…by people who are as helpless to Allah subhannahu wa taalla as you are.

May Allah grant us satisfaction with whatever we are given.