Hardships Can Make Us Shine

“Verily, with hardship, there is relief.”
(Surah 94. Al-Sharh, Verse-5)

Dear brothers and sisters,
Student life is a very tumultuous time for most teenagers. It’s a complex period of years when you’re trying to balance a lot of new experiences. Although there are some things that are a bit stressful too. Maybe you feel overly troubled if you afflicted with sickness, the death of relatives and friends, or a loss in wealth. The truth is, we all face hardships of some kind, and you never know the struggles a person is going through. Behind every smile, there’s a story of a personal struggle.
The Prophet (pbuh) was compelled to leave Makkah, but rather than quit his mission, he continued it in Madeenah – the city that took its place in history very fast. Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal was severely tortured and flogged, and yet he emerged triumphant from that ordeal, becoming the Imam of the Sunnah. Imam Ibn Taymiyah was put into prison; he later came out an even more accomplished scholar than he was before. Imam As-Sarakhasi was held as a prisoner, kept at the bottom of an unused well; he managed therein to produce twenty volumes of Islamic jurisprudence. Ibn Atheer became crippled, after which he wrote Jam’ey al-Usool and An-Nihayah, two of the most famous books in the Science of Hadith. Imam Ibn al-Jawzi was banished from Baghdad. Then, through his travels, he became proficient in the seven recitations of the Qur’an.
Therefore, if you are afflicted with a misfortune, look on the bright side. If someone were to hand you a glass full of squeezed lemons, add to it a handful of sugar. Life puts us under pressure, but if we rise to the challenge then we become better than we once were. We become stronger, wiser, and more compassionate to others. We begin to shine with a new inner light. Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. Everybody has to face some hardships. It makes one a better person.

Jobayer Al Mahmud
Student, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey