From the wisdom of Allah is that He made the emergence and matter of truth depend upon the steadfastness of men and their perseverance in the path of truth which they believe in. This is what is known from the human causes, even though Allah is able to send the angels that are with Him (to spread the truth instead of men), however, everything has already been created for what is easy and suitable for it.
The Sunnah of trials and tests will continue until Allah identifies the Mu`mineen (true believers) and identifies the Munafiqeen (hypocrites); and until He identifies the Saabireen (the patient and steadfast), and identifies the weak souls. And no doubt, Allah knows what has been and what will be, for every great and minor thing is written in the Lauh al-Mahfoodh (the Preserved Tablet); so this is the Believer and this is the Kaafir, this is the righteous and this is the wrong-doer. And Allah does not wrong even to the weight of an atom, for He will call them to account over what emanated from their actions, not over what He knows of their condition.
Allah said:** “We will not punish until We have sent a Messenger.” ** [Surah al-Israa, 17:15] And He also said: *“So whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom shall see it. And whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom shall see it.” * [Surah Al-Zalzalah, 99:5-6] So Allah sends the Messengers to call mankind to the worship of Allah and His Tawheed (Oneness of Allah in worship, attributes and Lordship), and submission to His order, and avoidance of what He has forbidden. Then Allah will test them and observe; are they patient and taking the trial into account, or do they regress, return and leave what they used to do? For that reason Allah reckons mankind over what issues from them from their actions in the world, and He makes it a condition of reward and punishment, despite His knowledge (of everything in the first place). And indeed it will be.
*(An example) for this, the test in the world, is the meeting place of the river which separates the two banks. One cannot approach the second bank except one who is good at swimming and perseveres, sustaining the hardship. So the state of mankind in this, is that they do not exceed two types; one type, where he begins swimming to the second bank, but he cannot persevere the continuation of the distance, so he preferred rest and ease and he returned half-way through; and (secondly) a patient type, wherein he has exerted everything in his capacity until he reached the other side of the bank safe and sound. So the example of this is like the one who believes and perseveres through the trials. He took the matter into account (in advance), so he got what he hoped for. *
*“Of mankind are some who say, ‘We believe in Allah’. But if they are made to suffer for the sake of Allah, they consider the trial of mankind as Allah’s punishment. And if victory comes from your Lord, (the hypocrites) will say, ‘Verily, we were with you.’ Is not Allah best aware of what is in the heart of the ‘Alameen (mankind and jinn)? * Verily, Allah knows those who believe, and verily, He knows the hypocrites.” * [Surah al-‘Ankabut, 29:10-11]
And if we looked to the stories of the Prophets, beginning with Nuh (Noah) , and ending with Al-Mustafaa (the Chosen One, i.e. Muhammad ), we would find that a necessary period passed by all of them, blessings of my Lord and His peace be upon them. And that is the period of tribulation and weakness.
So here is Nuh staying amongst his people for nine hundred and fifty years, and no-one believed in him except a few. But indeed he persevered and was gentle in his da’wah, and he followed different means of da’wah; by night and by day, secretly and openly – except those who transgressed, became proud and increased in disbelief and who said: "O Nuh (Noah)! You have disputed with us and much have you prolonged the dispute with us!” [Surah Hud, 11:32]
That was a grave trial and an arduous test, to stay amongst his people for this long period of time and (still) nobody believed in him except a few. And while he was certain that his people were plotting against him, he called on his Lord, as Allah said: He (Nuh) said: *"My Lord! Verily, my people have belied me. Therefore judge You between me and them, and save me and those of the believers who are with me." * [Surah Ash-Shu’araa, 26:117-118] So Allah saved him and those with him and he drowned those who disbelieved, and He settled Nuh (safely) and the party of believers who followed him.
*And here is Musa (Moses) , calling the Pharoah (Fir’own) and his people, and showing them the signs of Allah. So they said, ‘This is a learned magician!’ Fir’own constructed his plan and called on the magicians of every land, and he promised them, and tested them so they may become from his most closest (associates), and that they would have a reward if they were to emerge victorious. It was just a matter of moments until their magic left from before the Great and Powerful God, Allah : “So the magicians fell down prostrate. They said: ‘We believe in the Lord of Harun (Aaron) and Musa (Moses).’" * [Surah Taa-Haa, 20:70]
At that time, the period of affliction began for the party of believers with Musa and particularly, on the magicians who believed. Their response was not, at the time when Fir’own threatened and promised to cut off their hands and feet and to crucify them on the trunks of palm trees, except that they said: *“So decree whatever you desire to decree, for you can only decree (regarding) this life of the world.” * [Surah Taa-Haa, 20:72] So he killed whoever he killed amongst them, and Musa was saved along with the group of believers with him. Musa left with them by night, until they arrived at the sea. They said to Musa, *"We are sure to be overtaken." * [Surah Ash-Shu’araa, 26:61] So Allah sent revelation to Musa, to strike the sea with his staff – then the sea broke apart (into two), each part was like a tremendous mountain, and Musa and those with him departed through that path (between the two sides of the sea), which was a miracle from amongst the (many) miracles of Musa . So Fir’own and his armies pursued Musa, then Allah drowned them and took them because of their sins, and Allah saved Fir’own (in body as an example) and those with him; He concluded the battle and lowered the curtain - a declaration of the end of the most powerful of the tawaagheet (the oppressive rulers who have gone beyond bounds) of the earth of that time.
Verily, Allah has prescribed trials on the righteous slaves of Allah, and He is indeed able to seize the trouble-makers who put mankind to test on account of their religion, even if He delays in doing so. There is goodness in everything good that He has ordained – glorified is His prestige. And it may be that you detest something, but Allah produces much good from it.
So, the matter of this religion is in the Hand of Allah , if He wills it to be dominant in a time that He wills and however He wills. So he who thinks that his ability to enter into the battle and leave winning - without paying the price of adhering to the truth and calling towards it, then he does not know the nature of strife. Rather, whoever follows this path must know that the trial is very close, or that they are advancing towards it, and no doubt, it is not the first and it won’t be the last. The prophets and the righteous (people) have already been tested, and in an authentic hadeeth (it says):* “The most severely tried of mankind are the prophets, then the righteous, then the next best, then the next best. Man will be tried in accordance with the degree of his religious commitment; the stronger his religious commitment, the stronger his test.” Hence, the Sunnah will continue to remain, as long as the battle between kufr and Emaan still remains. And here we will mention some of what befell the Messenger of Allah from harm and outrage, from the polytheists of Makkah.*