THE WORD OF GOD

No trouble arrives of its own accord. Every tribulation comes from God, and it afflicts man so that, through it, he should receive guidance. Trouble softens a man’s heart and jolts him out of his moral slumber. Trouble prods and sharpens a man’s mind. If he refrains from negative reaction, then trouble will become the best divine instruction for him. Believers! [Even] among your spouses and your children you have enemies: so beware of them. But if you overlook their offences and forgive and pardon them, then surely, God is most forgiving and merciful. Your wealth and your children are only a trial; God’s reward is great: so be mindful of God as best as you can; and listen, and obey; and spend in charity: it is for your own good. Those who guard themselves against their own greed will surely prosper: if you give a good loan to God, He will multiply it for you and forgive you, for God is appreciative and forbearing; God is the Knower of the unseen and the seen: He is the Almighty, the Wise One. (64:14-18) Man has the utmost attachment for his children. He may talk of principles on every other subject, but where his children are concerned, he becomes unprincipled. That is why it is mentioned in a teaching of the Prophet Muhammad that children cause their parents to be timid and miserly. In another teaching it is mentioned that on the Day of Judgement a man will be brought before God, and it will be said of him that his wife and children ate away all his virtues. Man, for the sake of his children, does not spend for the divine cause, though the truth is that if he spends for the sake of God, he will be recompensed by Him many times over. o Islam wants both the Man and the Woman to acknowledge natural realities and to keep their eyes on responsibilities rather than rights.