Refresher & Advanced · Aqeedah Refresher

Righteousness and Trials in Islam

Explore how righteousness affects happiness and attitudes towards trials.

5 questions · Hard · about 3 minutes

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5 questions, about 3 minutes.

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Show questions and answers Spoilers: every answer and explanation for all 5 questions.

1. What is the relationship between righteousness and true happiness?

  • Righteousness brings true happiness in this world and the Hereafter, even if trials occur. (correct answer)
  • Righteousness guarantees a life with no hardship.
  • Righteousness only matters after death.
  • Trials prove that religious commitment causes misery.

Why

Faith and righteousness bring true happiness in the heart and in the Hereafter, but they do not mean that a person will be free from trials. This world is a place of tests, and even the Prophets and the most righteous people were tested. Hardship may expiate sins, raise a believer’s status, and draw him closer to Allah through patience, du‘a, dhikr, and good thoughts of Allah. Turning away from Allah’s remembrance is what leads to real misery and hardship.

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2. What should a believer remember when facing worldly difficulties?

  • This world is a place of trial, and difficulties should be met with patience, worship, and reliance on Allah. (correct answer)
  • Difficulties always prove that Allah is displeased.
  • A righteous person should never experience hardship.
  • A believer should stop worshipping when life becomes painful.

Why

This world is a realm of striving, stress, exhaustion, and trial. The righteous believer may face many hardships through which Allah expiates sins and raises status. The believer should respond with patience, du‘a, remembrance of Allah, worship, seeking forgiveness, and taking beneficial means. Difficulties should not lead to discontent with Allah’s decree or abandonment of duties; the Prophets were the most tested of people, and worship continues until death.

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3. Why may Allah allow a child to experience hardship, illness, or disability?

  • Because it may serve a greater wisdom that humans cannot fully comprehend. (correct answer)
  • Because Allah wrongs innocent children.
  • Because every child hardship is punishment for the parents.
  • Because children are tested for how much pain they can withstand.

Why

Allah is perfectly wise, just, and merciful, and He does not wrong anyone. Some hardships may contain wisdoms that humans do not fully understand. A child’s illness or disability is not necessarily punishment; it may be mercy, protection from future harm, a test for the parents, a means of expiation, or a way to raise status if patience and faith are shown. The believer submits to Allah’s wisdom while acknowledging the limits of human understanding.

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4. What is one virtue of weeping out of fear of Allah when alone?

  • It is among the deeds mentioned for those shaded by Allah on the Day of Resurrection. (correct answer)
  • It guarantees that a person may stop doing obligatory deeds.
  • It is only valid if people see it.
  • It replaces repentance and prayer.

Why

One of the seven types of people whom Allah will shade on the Day when there is no shade except His shade is the person who remembers Allah while alone and whose eyes fill with tears. Weeping out of fear of Allah comes from recognizing Allah’s greatness, reflecting on the Quran, fearing one’s sins and the Hereafter, and softening the heart through sincere remembrance.

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5. Who experiences the most severe tests?

  • The Prophets, then those strongest in religious commitment. (correct answer)
  • Only people who openly commit major sins.
  • Only disbelievers.
  • Only people who lack patience.

Why

The Prophets were the most severely tested, then those closest to them in righteousness. A believer may be tested according to the strength of his religious commitment. Trials may happen because of sins, as expiation, or to raise a patient believer in status. No one can know with certainty the exact reason for every calamity, but the practical response is patience, repentance, good thoughts of Allah, and seeking reward from Him.

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A note on these answers

These questions are for learning and self-testing. Explanations are drawn from the sources linked on each question and are not a fatwa. For a ruling on your own circumstances, please consult a qualified scholar.

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