Divine Reset

When we read the stories of destruction in the Old Testament or in the Quran, we hear a narration that comes from a higher power who acts with a clear deliberation.

If we were to time travel to those times of destruction, however, we would witness events that we call "natural". So, understanding the natural events as divine interventions is a willful act. What is critical here is that the actual intention of God in those events may or may not be clear to those looking at the scene.

This vagueness imposes a great challenge even for those who see the natural events as divine interventions, because their dire consequences hurt the human conscience. To add to this complexity, we are told in the Quran that even the events in human social life have a divine deliberation. That is the economic and/or social crises have a dimension of being messages and interventions of God, no matter how we formulate them rationally:

And We sent to no city a prophet [who was denied] except that We seized its people with poverty and hardship that they might humble themselves [to Allah ].Then We exchanged in place of the bad [condition], good, until they increased [and prospered] and said, "Our fathers [also] were touched with hardship and ease." So We seized them suddenly while they did not perceive.(7/94-95)

And if it were not for Allah checking [some] people by means of others, the earth would have been corrupted, but Allah is full of bounty to the worlds. (2/251)

Natural or social, through these tribulations in life, believers are called to an adventure in faith, in which they are going to show patience in the face of hardship and suffering, and by which they can achieve a stronger foundation in faith. But of course, every adventure has its own double-edge sword. If you are not patient enough, if your conscience and reason are not strong enough, you may not be able to finish the entire journey. Then what?

In the traditional discourse, those who cannot fully finish the race are treated as losers. This is a whole-or-none type understanding, but it does not really resonate with the divine mercy:

That Day, the people will depart separated [into categories] to be shown [the result of] their deeds. So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it, And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it. (99/6-8)

Nevertheless, it is a fact that not everybody can finish the race, and the separation of people and revelation of their hearts during these faith adventures are divine will:

Or do those in whose hearts is disease think that Allah would never expose their [feelings of] hatred? (47/29)

It is He who has sent down to you, [O Muhammad], the Book; in it are verses [that are] precise - they are the foundation of the Book - and others unspecific. As for those in whose hearts is deviation [from truth], they will follow that of it which is unspecific, seeking discord and seeking an interpretation [suitable to them]. And no one knows its [true] interpretation except Allah . But those firm in knowledge say, "We believe in it. All [of it] is from our Lord." And no one will be reminded except those of understanding. (3/7)

Allah would not leave the believers in that [state] you are in [presently] until He separates the evil from the good. (3/179)

And of the people are some who say, "We believe in Allah and the Last Day," but they are not believers.They [think to] deceive Allah and those who believe, but they deceive not except themselves and perceive [it] not. (2/8-9)

Even for those who eventually are able to finish the journey successfully, the challenges can be very strenuous. For example imagine that prophet Moses pbuh was frustrated by the continued stronghold and wealth of the Pharaoh despite his animosity towards God and faith in general:

And Moses said, "Our Lord, indeed You have given Pharaoh and his establishment splendor and wealth in the worldly life, our Lord, that they may lead [men] astray from Your way. (10/88)

Or do you think that you will enter Paradise while such [trial] has not yet come to you as came to those who passed on before you? They were touched by poverty and hardship and were shaken until [even their] messenger and those who believed with him said,"When is the help of Allah ?"... (2/214)

Furthermore, the shaking of faiths due to the severity of these adventurous exams is proof that we, humans, cannot keep our faiths if God forces us to our limits:

[Remember] when they came at you from above you and from below you, and when eyes shifted [in fear], and hearts reached the throats and you assumed about Allah [various] assumptions. There the believers were tested and shaken with a severe shaking. And [remember] when the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is disease said, " Allah and His Messenger did not promise us except delusion," (33/10-12)

Although these examples are from the times of the prophets, such extreme examinations continued even after the end of the line of prophethood with Muhammad pbuh. Perhaps the crux of them was experienced at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. That period of time witnessed not only degradation of moral values but also abandonment of faith among Muslims. This situation was exacerbated by the supremacy of the non-Muslim West against the Muslims; a situation which also included countless unjust affairs and actions. But, similar to the case of Moses pbuh, the same God who gave power and wealth to those non-Muslim powers did not intervene and help the Muslim countries! This observation at first glance rendered many bewildered, and they chose to live in an agnostic or deistic way.

When we come to the present, similar events can be observed, and the God, who introduces Himself as the One who is not going to lead the wrongdoers to success, is seemingly silent! It is God who forbids us from despair of Him (12/87), and it is Him who consistently drives us towards believing that He is not going to interfere with the oppression! It is God who says that the believers are superior (3/139) and they will not be defeated (3/111-112, 5/56), and it is Him who empowers and elevates the disbelievers or hypocrites in various ways!

What does this mean? What are we to think and how are we to act? If you consider all of the above and ponder a while, you can realize that, unseen to us, there is an execution of events independent of us (3/140), but not regardless of us, by God, and that from time to time, God leads humans away from Himself! This observation actually leaves us with an insurmountable load that can crush our faith.

If you are in a similar situation and feeling yourself in void, that is probably what God planned for you to feel! That is you are invited to meet God anew. Restarting from basic questions of life and existence, assessing the events in social life and in your life and the transience of the world, you are expected to make a fresh start. And you cannot make a fresh start with the backbone of the past. It must be destructed. That insurmountable load is put on your shoulders for this purpose!

Construct yourself again with a friend of yours that you perhaps have been ignoring for long. Who is this friend? Give up the intermediaries you have assumed in the past, and meet God individually, read His words yourself, ponder over them, understand them, act upon them without caring for social pressures. Then you will realize who that close friend is:

Allah is the protecting friend of those who believe. He brings them out from darknesses into the light. (2/257)