Omar Suleiman – Does God Ever Give Us Tests We Can’t Handle

			So why don't you come work with Allahumma cattle spinarak mama Haman handed in
		

			salatu salam on our city and kitty mana and he he will be he was settled into * concealer. So
the title has got ever given us a test we can't handle? Or does God ever give us a burden? We can't
bear? And this is a subject that I want to reflect on inshallah, because it's, it's on the minds of
a lot of people.
		

			You know, have I gotten to a point where I've been tested too much? Or is this a test that I really
can't handle? And I really want to speak to this for a bit and just share some reflections and show
on how we approach this subject. Number one, fundamentally, a view of God, how we look at a lot how
we look at God, does a lot ever punish us? Or put us to test for no need or no benefit of our own?
Okay, so is God one who likes to see us go through hardship and suffering without purpose? And the
answer to that is absolutely no. And so the first rule, or the first way to sort of approach this
and get out of the way in approaching this discussion is that we know that a lot is a non Rahim,
		

			most compassionate, Most Merciful. We know that Allah subhanaw taala also said that some people are
deserving of punishment and punished, but there are some people that are tested, and some that are
punished by the exact same thing. So I don't really want to get into the whole theology of
punishment versus test. But certainly my effort alone, Dr. Levy come in Chicago from mental, you
know, God does not like to punish like to harm like to hurt. And it is not for us to see God as one
who is needlessly putting us to the test. Okay? Now, with that being said, and you kind of get that
out of the way, what I want to talk about is this a lie, you can live Allahu nevsun illa.
		

			Allah does not burden a soul beyond its scope, God will not test you beyond your scope. And what
that means and how you reconcile that with the idea that if God has given you a test, then he gave
it to you, knowing that you can handle it. And if God has given you a obligation and obligation,
then he gave it to you in accordance with your capacity, and how we sort of balance all of that, and
we're discussing this. And again, this isn't meant to be a lecture, this is more just a reflection
on the subject and how it comes up.
		

			Number one, you know, there are multiple sayings that you'll often hear to this effect, that if God
got you to it, then he can get you through it. And that he gives tests to those who he knows, can
can certainly Excel, and can certainly elevate themselves. This is a concept that the prophets lie.
Some of them mentioned, the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said that most tested people are the
prophets, and then the righteous, and those that are in righteousness, in order basically, so you'll
often find tests that correlates with righteousness. So God gives his greatest test to his greatest
servants, and that yields the greatest reward for them. And these are things that we come to right
		

			that God has not given you a test that you cannot handle. And if God got you to a test, then God can
get you through a test and God can ultimately give you the ultimate reward. Right. So that's sort of
the common things that you will hear about the subject and they are true, it's not that. However, I
want to give some perspective, I guess, based on this idea of how you can be for long enough certain
levels or how when Allah says in the end, that he does not burden you beyond your scope. One of the
arguments that the Muslim scholars use the early scholars used to refute the idea of Allah, not or
Allah forcing someone. So there was the first movement of the pundit to which the denied Divine
		

			Decree and said that a lot does not know what will happen tomorrow was not in control. And then
there was the opposing movement, a counter movement, which was the other extreme, which was a
jeopardy of that we are forced into whatever we do. So if we are wicked, then we're simply playing a
role because we were forced into that role. And we're put into the situation and so we have to deal
with the situation and there's no way to break it. And one of the things that the companions and the
early Muslims pushed back on was that if you look at how Allah subhanho wa Taala deals with us in
regards to our obligations, we are forgiven for things that are out of our control. Okay, so that's
		

			the first thing. So if we are forgiven for things that are that are out of our control, so you'll
find some of the early Muslim scholars talking about for example, a person that sleeps through the
prayer, a person that the pendant is lifted upon them.
		

			Because they haven't reached the age of puberty, a person that, you know, that's unable to pray
standing up a person that's unable to fast the person. So the point is, is that what's embedded in
our jurisprudence is the Spirit of God forgives what is out of our capacity. Okay? However, God will
hold us accountable for what is within our capacity, what is within our capacity? Okay? So if your
wisata if your capacity is this, then you're going to find that Allah will hold you accountable to
that capacity. The question is, though, do we really know our capacity until our capacity is
stretched? And I want you to think about this, like a person that's in that's in a gym, you know,
		

			that's working out, right, you learn to push yourself to the next one, and then the next level and
the next level and the next level. And sometimes as you're pushing yourself with weights, and you're
physically exerting yourself, you're realizing that your capacity is greater than what you thought
it was. And that you are actually expanding your capacity. The same thing is true for our
spirituality, what that means is that a test that you might have handled very poorly, initially, as
your capacity grows through your proper response to that test, which is your spiritual
weightlifting, your capacity will actually get greater. And the greater reward will equal that
		

			expanded capacity, even if you're not tested according to that full capacity. Okay, so you'll never
be tested beyond your capacity. But you also will not necessarily be tested to the maximum of your
capacity, right? So a lot customises blessings, he customizes trials that come our way, in
proportion, okay. So just as you're physically trying to move to the next level, to the next level,
to the next level, in this situation, when it comes to hardships and tests and things that come our
way, then sometimes we will actually rise in a way that we would not have thought we were capable of
rising and you meet people that have been tested in very severe ways. And they did not think that
		

			they would be able to realize or reach the level of patience that they were able to exhibit. In
those moments, they didn't think that they were able to reach this level, but somehow they were
empowered. And they reached that level. And there was an enormous character building in the process,
as well as of course, the reward is with a loss of habitat and the reward is with God and the
capacity expense, right, the capacity expands. Now, we talked about this in the previous night's we
don't seek out those tests, okay. But sometimes the tests will come as well, sometimes the test will
come regardless, and we have to trust that those tests will not go beyond our capacity. Now, of
		

			course, by the way to get to the to at least address the core of this that just as we said in the
spirit of our jurisprudence is a greater understanding of how we're put to the test. The wisata here
is referring to what's within our obligations, what's within our within our, our responsibilities,
okay? So it's up a lot of muscle partum
		

			means do the best that you possibly can. So if you can't pray, standing up, then you pray sitting
down. And if you can't pray sitting down, then you pray laying down. What that means is that just
because you can't pray standing up doesn't mean you immediately go to praying, laying down, you go
to praying, sitting down, and then if you can't pray sitting down, then you go to prayer laying
down. Now sometimes people mistake these two, or this Hadeeth with another headache, and it'll help
us get some more perspective on the subject. There's a difference between a person that praise
sitting down because they can't pray standing up. That person has the full reward of someone who's
		

			praying standing up, because they can, because that person is not sitting down as a matter of
choice. There's another Hadith where the Prophet Sly Stone said that the one who prays sitting down
gets half the reward of the one who prays standing up and the one who prays laying down gets half
the reward of the one who prays sitting down. This is referring to a voluntary prayer. This is
referring to the no effort not to the obligations, this is not referring to a person whose capacity
only allows them to pray sitting down, that person has the full reward as someone who's praying,
standing up. So just as you know, the early Muslims sort of, you know, used the spirit of our
		

			jurisprudence, the spirit of the way that a lot legislates within fit within jurisprudence. To
understand the theology better. in this situation we look at we look at it the opposite way. Okay,
we look at it the opposite way. You have a capacity in regards to your obligations and regards to
the things that God has legislated upon you. You act to the best of your ability and you have to be
able to stand on the day of judgment and say that you did your best, right? You're standing before
God on the Day of Judgment is that I did my best I tried with what was given to me I did my absolute
best. And in Charlottetown may last for her to accept from all of us. The second line
		

			Love that though with the trials and hardships where it's not as it's not as spelled out as if you
can praise standing up, you pray sitting down, we often will wonder, after a test whether we
actually did pass that test, we'll actually wonder, did we respond in the best way, some people
actually will have regret, and say, you know, wish I would have had more patience, I wish I could
have done this better, I could have said this instead. And they'll go back and they'll regret those
moments. That's not the point of this. The point is, is to think of our perspective, in this way.
		

			Allah is going to give us our share of blessings and our share of trials. And we're not really going
to be able to understand in this life, why we got that customized selection of blessings and trials.
I always hear people talking about how, when it comes to trials and tests, you know, I don't
understand why this is happening to me. But you know, some How will I do? Can I really come to
terms? Do I really understand why I've been so privileged and so blessed with what I do have the
others don't have? I can't understand that either, is it because I'm more deserving than that
person, that's in a difficult situation. So just as I'm not going to be able to understand my
		

			blessings, I'm not going to be able to understand my tests. But what I can do is make the most of
them, and do with them, what's best in terms of how I reach that next level? And so yes, there's
great wisdom, and if God brought you to it, then he'll get you through it. And instead of God
doesn't, you know, so nakida perspective, in the cradle perspective, God doesn't give you what's
beyond your scope. But also God does not oblige you with what's beyond your scope. And that's where
we start to hurt ourselves. So we start to hurt ourselves when we start to do more than what's
beyond our capacity. So a person that's dying, does not, you know, a person that's going to
		

			physically harm themselves by fasting should not fast, for example, right? Because God did not ask
that or require that of you. That's not in your wisa. That's not in your capacity. That's not the
point. Same thing is true that if a lot legislates in that way with us, then of course, surely Allah
subhanaw taala legislators Divine Decree with in the same spirit, right, that he's not going to give
us what we can handle, he's not going to give us tests that we can handle, he's not going to give us
blessings that we can handle. And that's the last point that I want to make here. Just because God
gave you blessings,
		

			or tests and you think, you know that and, you know, we come to the conclusion that there's no way
that I can, you know, or I can handle this because God does not test me beyond my scope. God also
doesn't bless me beyond my scope. What that means is that if a person is blessed, and then they
become arrogant and prideful, that's not the fault of God for giving them too many blessings. Right?
It's not the fault of God, that God gave that person so much money. And that's why that person is
prideful, conceited, arrogant, greedy, selfish, okay, a lot gave them enough perspective and
blessings would that well, for them to understand that that share of blessings was not meant to make
		

			them greedy, but to make them more generous, was not meant to make them more arrogant, but to make
them more humble, they failed that test, right? Same is true when it comes to hardship. Okay,
		

			if I fail the test, or if I'm not doing well, by the test, that doesn't mean that I can't handle the
test. That means that I need to figure out how to make the best of that test, I'm not going to
figure out the wisdom, but I can see what's in my capacity with the understanding that Allah will
not test me beyond my capacity, because God does not burden a soul beyond its scope. So again, those
are just some reflections on the subject. And I know that it's not as organized as a lecture and I
just wanted to sort of talk about it, because I know it's going through a lot of people's minds
right now. That if you're feeling like you have a great test in front of you think about the great
		

			reward that can come with that great test. And that a lot finds me worthy of that test, just as he
finds me worthy of that blessing. And I'm going to do the best that I possibly can with that test.
And that blessing, because Allah would not given me have given me that blessing or that test unless
he knew that I was capable of passing that blessing or that test in a way that would yield the
maximum reward and not put me in a worse situation. If I if I do end up in a worse situation that is
my own weakness and not because a lot did not put the strength in me to be able to do well with what
he has given me. So I pray that Allah subhanaw taala allow us to respond to our tests and our
		

			blessings in a way that yields the greatest reward. And just as a lot does not burden us beyond our
scope. I pray that we do not we do not minimize our own potential to please Him and to rise to the
occasion. May Allah subhanaw taala allow us to find strength in what he has given us. May Allah
subhanaw taala allow us to be humbled by what he has given us. And may Allah subhanho wa Taala allow
us to ultimately gain the greatest rewards possible through those things. The greatest
		

			All of those rewards being his pleasure may last pantai give us the best of this life, the best of
the hereafter as well. May Allah subhana wa tada accept this and again, I hope you all are doing
okay through all of this and making that for you and looking forward to continuously
		

			you know, connecting with you on a nightly basis does that hello hi Thomas. I want to learn