Lesson 1 of 6 · The week nobody prepared you for
Hardship, named twice in one clause
Before anything else, one thing worth having in your hand. The Qur'an does not describe carrying and bearing a child as a serene business. It uses the word for hardship of the carrying and the word for hardship of the birth, in the same sentence, and elsewhere describes weakness stacked on weakness. Saying that this is hard is not ingratitude. It is the Qur'an's own vocabulary.
The lightening that lesson three is built on is put on the same footing. God wishes to lighten your burden; man was created weak. It is a response to what a person is, not a reward for what she has managed to bear.
The report below is often used to close a conversation down, as though the right response to suffering is to be pleased about it. That is not what it does. It says what affliction means. It does not say you should not be treated for it.
Qur’an and Sunnah
The Qur'an uses the word for hardship of the carrying and the word for hardship of the birth in the same sentence. This is that sentence. Saying that this is hard is not ingratitude. It is the Qur'an's own vocabulary.
وَوَصَّيۡنَا ٱلۡإِنسَٰنَ بِوَٰلِدَيۡهِ إِحۡسَٰنًاۖ حَمَلَتۡهُ أُمُّهُۥ كُرۡهࣰ ا وَوَضَعَتۡهُ كُرۡهࣰ اۖ وَحَمۡلُهُۥ وَفِصَٰلُهُۥ ثَلَٰثُونَ شَهۡرًاۚ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُۥ وَبَلَغَ أَرۡبَعِينَ سَنَةࣰ قَالَ رَبِّ أَوۡزِعۡنِيٓ أَنۡ أَشۡكُرَ نِعۡمَتَكَ ٱلَّتِيٓ أَنۡعَمۡتَ عَلَيَّ وَعَلَىٰ وَٰلِدَيَّ وَأَنۡ أَعۡمَلَ صَٰلِحࣰ ا تَرۡضَىٰهُ وَأَصۡلِحۡ لِي فِي ذُرِّيَّتِيٓۖ إِنِّي تُبۡتُ إِلَيۡكَ وَإِنِّي مِنَ ٱلۡمُسۡلِمِينَ
We have commanded man to be good to his parents: his mother struggled to carry him and struggled to give birth to him- his bearing and weaning took a full thirty months. When he has grown to manhood and reached the age of forty he [may] say, ‘Lord, help me to be truly grateful for Your favours to me and to my parents; help me to do good work that pleases You; make my offspring good. I turn to You; I am one of those who devote themselves to You.’
Qur’an 46:15
His mother carried him, weakness upon weakness. The Qur'an describes it in the same physical vocabulary a second time, which is why saying that this is hard is not ingratitude.
وَوَصَّيۡنَا ٱلۡإِنسَٰنَ بِوَٰلِدَيۡهِ حَمَلَتۡهُ أُمُّهُۥ وَهۡنًا عَلَىٰ وَهۡنࣲ وَفِصَٰلُهُۥ فِي عَامَيۡنِ أَنِ ٱشۡكُرۡ لِي وَلِوَٰلِدَيۡكَ إِلَيَّ ٱلۡمَصِيرُ
We have commanded people to be good to their parents: their mothers carried them, with strain upon strain, and it takes two years to wean them. Give thanks to Me and to your parents- all will return to Me
Qur’an 31:14
The lightening that lesson three is built on, put on the same footing. It is a response to what a person is, not a reward for what she has managed to bear.
يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ أَن يُخَفِّفَ عَنكُمۡۚ وَخُلِقَ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنُ ضَعِيفࣰ ا
God wishes to lighten your burden; man was created weak
Qur’an 4:28
Often used to close a conversation down, as though the right response to suffering is to be pleased about it, and that is not what it does. It says what affliction means. It does not say you should not be treated for it.
Narrated Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri and Abu Huraira:The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "No fatigue, nor disease, nor sorrow, nor sadness, nor hurt, nor distress befalls a Muslim, even if it were the prick he receives from a thorn, but that Allah expiates some of his sins for that
Sahih al-Bukhari 5641graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.