Quran 24:30 – Evil And Our Actions
Listen brother Every hardship has 2 parts: How it happened and how we deal with it How it happened: this is out of our control weather we want it or not it’ll happen cuz in quran Allah has said in many places that we’ll be tested with hardships “We will surely test you with fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives, and fruits…” (Surah al-Baqarah 2:155) “He created death and life to test you as to which of you is best in deeds.” (Surah al-Mulk 67:2 ) “Do people think they will be left to say ‘We believe’ and not be tested?” (Surah al-‘Ankabūt 29:2) Now the issue is that we are humans when something happens to us we are desperate to lable that situation ‘ was it my fault?’ or ‘ was it not my fault?’ This is human nature nothing wrong with it we just want to categorize our situations in one of thes option so we can unburden the load of uncertainty but thats not how life work Living in the uncertainty itself is a test of patience and endurance and a difficult one. U asked how can we know if the hardship is a test or a consequence But bro it cannot be decided here lemme give u an example A wealthy man suddenly becomes poor It could be due to natural cause effect he did a mistake and all his company got bankrupt Or it could also be due to him earning it the wrong way by haram methods Or just some external reasons he got sick or any other issue Now in all these three situation it could be a consequence or just a pure test but this isn’t the whole thing Here comes the 2nd part of the hardship ‘how a person deals with it’ If that man just sit there and start blaming other or external issues and use other haram ways to get back his company Then the hardship functions as a means of punishment And if he fears Allah and realizes that it was due to him doing things haram way or it was due to a mistake or some external reasons and keep trying and keep going through that rough time of his life Then the hardship functions as a means of elevation I hope u r getting it Ik when we are in tough situation we are just desperate to know if it was my fault or the situation was bad so we can either but the blame on the situation or just feel guilty for being a bad person Allah doesn’t simplify reality for the comfort. It describes ot preserve the truth In easy words Consequences explains how hardships come Test explains what the hardship asks of you now We humans are responsible beings not the victim of fate If allah only labeled the hardship with test then we humans wouldn’t have taken it seriously and deny the responsibility If it was just labeled as consequences then people would’ve drowned in guilt Our response to hardships decides what the hardship does to us I hope this helps Dont search for labeling your situation Allah wants u to stay in that discomfort and hold both the truths for your growth not to harm u or punish u