PROBLEMS: A SOURCE OF SELF-DEVELOPMENT

man is expected to be responsible for his actions. Accountability is a strict requirement for the humankind. Man can exercise his freedom but he cannot change the course of nature. Those who follow the course of nature meet with success, while those who deviate from it will suffer. This suffering is nothing but a consequence of one’s own wrong choice. Now the question is, how should one face a problem? The answer is that one should follow divine guidance. Man is free, but he is free only as regards his own actions. He has no power to create a new world according to his own desires. So man must exercise his freedom within the framework of nature. He must understand divine guidance and must apply it to his own life. The rest of the world is also following this course, but is doing so under compulsion. It is only man who has been given the privilege of following divine guidance by his own choice. We have a good example from the Prophet’s life. The Prophet of Islam started his mission in the first quarter of the seventh century in Arabia—an age of religious persecution. The Prophet’s mission was based on the oneness of God, while the people of that time were polytheists. So they became hostile to the Prophet and in consequence the Prophet and his Companions became victims of various kinds of problems. It was obviously an unfavourable situation for the Prophet and his Companions. At this critical juncture, God revealed a meaningful piece of guidance which is recorded in chapter ninety four of the Quran. This divine guidance is as follows: So, surely with every hardship there is ease; surely with every hardship there is ease. (94: 5-6) In this Quranic verse the same phrase is repeated twice. From this repetition, the Prophet drew a very meaningful inference. That is, according to the law of nature, the situation of ease is double that of the situation of difficulty. So he formulated this principle: “Two situations of ease will surely prevail over one of difficulty.” Man must exercise his freedom within the framework of nature. He must understand divine guidance and apply it to his own life. The rest of the world is following this course under compulsion. It is only man who has been given the privilege of following divine guidance by his own choice.