‘Whatever Good Befalls you is from Allah and Whatever Evil is from yourself’: Ramadan, Growth and Witnessing

Peace, one and all…

Ramadan is such a beautiful time. Although it is a very busy month, I have always found such blessing in Ramadan. Time seems to flow differently. Our hearts just seem more gathered, more focused. Praise be to God in every condition and state!

Leaving Ramadan behind brings a certain kind of sadness. Although Eid al-Fitr is a joyous occasion, I miss the fast and look forward to the next one. May we all arrive safely there!

There is also what we might call a post-Ramadan come-down, a return from the more exalted world of late night prayer, of pre-dawn meals and of Quranic recitation, to the mundane reality of work and school and life, in all its messiness. We can sometimes land gently, and we can sometimes land heavily. Either way, we return to our ordinary selves and that can cause a certain distress, as old behaviours resurface once more. I have certainly found that within myself this year. Distractions return, and they serve their purpose – to turn us away from our real goal. In reality, however, this is so that we might hold on to our aspirations more tightly, that our resolve might be tested, and thus be made stronger!

In the midst of these returning distractions, as I began to feel a bit sorry for myself, I encountered the following passage from the Quran:

Whatever good befalls thee, it is from God, and whatever evil
befalls thee, it is from thyself. We sent thee as a messenger unto mankind, and God suffices as a Witness. (Quran 4:79)

These words hit home, and I felt an instant lightening of the load. What my heart heard was: I am the cause of most of my own problems, and being able to realise that is a cause for great joy. Being shown ourselves is such a blessing. Reality is better than illusion.

As I sat with this ayah, two things came into view. Firstly, this path of purification is the prophetic way, it is the living  sunnah. The process of surrendering to the Divine is the very meaning of Islam itself. Secondly, it seemed important that the ayah concludes with ‘and God suffices as a Witness’ (wa kafa billahi shahida). We are allowed to experience our own limitations so that we might understand our true Source. We are allowed to taste our own mortality that so we understand that life is not actually about us. I am not the centre of the world. This understanding is an emptying out of my self, a letting go of illusion. By understanding my essential emptiness, I can begin to witness something of His infinite fullness. By understanding my weakness, I can begin to witness a small part of His strength. Our weakness, our need, is thus a place of manifestation for His power, His needlessness. That is, by letting go, we are invited to see, to see that Hu is the Living Source of All.

As I ‘stared’ at this realisation in a deep sense of awe, the following hadith came to heart:

 عَنْ صُهَيْبٍ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ “‏ عَجَبًا لأَمْرِ الْمُؤْمِنِ إِنَّ أَمْرَهُ كُلَّهُ خَيْرٌ وَلَيْسَ ذَاكَ لأَحَدٍ إِلاَّ لِلْمُؤْمِنِ إِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ سَرَّاءُ شَكَرَ فَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ وَإِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ ضَرَّاءُ صَبَرَ فَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ ‏”‏ ‏.‏

Suhaib reported that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said: ‘Wondrous are the ways of a believer for there is good in every affair of his and this is not the case with anyone else except in the case of a believer for if he has an occasion to feel delight, he thanks (God), thus there is a good for him in it, and if he gets into trouble and shows resignation (and endures it patiently), there is a good for him in it’.
(Sahih Muslim 2999; see this beautiful post)

This is a beautiful and famous saying of the Prophet (as). In previous years, I have read it simply as an instruction to be grateful and patient, as mere moral instruction. Whilst it is certainly that, in this new moment a window opened onto a much deeper truth. Each moment of a believer’s life is good. Each moment is an occasion to see some new facet of God’s infinite creativity. Each new thing, each new moment can be experienced as a fresh epiphany. We can know this intellectually, which has great benefit. Or, we can begin to see this with our own inward eyes. We can witness this truth for ourselves.

Seeing life in this way, as an unending epiphany, can also help rebalance our hearts, providing a much-needed pivot. As such, they are helping this heart to re-evaluate the wider categories of ‘good’ and ‘evil’. And with God is the end of every journey.

And our last prayer is praise of God, Sustainer of all the worlds.