Need for struggles in Life

 

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a
small opening appeared. He sat and watched the
butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its
body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop
making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten
as far as it could, and it could go no further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took
a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit
of the cocoon.

The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a
swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because
he expected that, at any moment, the wings would
enlarge and expand to be able to support the
body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the
rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body
and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not
understand was that the restricting cocoon and
the struggle required for the butterfly to get
through the tiny opening were Allah's way of
forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into
its wings so that it would be ready for flight
once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in
our lives. If Allah allowed us to go through our
lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us.

We would not be as strong as what we could
have been. We could never "fly"!

I asked for Strength.........
And Allah gave me Difficulties to make me strong.

I asked for Wisdom.........
And Allah gave me Problems to solve.

I asked for Prosperity.........
And Allah gave me Brain and Brawn to work.

I asked for Courage.........
And Allah gave me Danger to overcome.

I asked for Love..........
And Allah gave me Troubled people to help.

I asked for Favours.........
And Allah gave me Opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted ........
I received everything I needed!

"fatabâraka-LLahu aHsanu-l khâliqîn"
"So blessed be Allah, the best of creators!"
Sura The Believer (23) verse 14

 

The message that this parable seems to be making is good enough, in fact we could even add it to our section on "the problem of evil", and use it as an example of something that we think is bad that turns out to be good. That's a good and true lesson in life!
But....
There's something that I don't like about this parable.
It suggests that we shouldn't help people who are suffering, that their suffering is good for them, and in fact by helping them we only do them a disservice. Of course there is a truth even in that. The misguided compassion for example that means we fail to punish criminals effectively for their crimes, or giving handouts to certain people who would be much better off being provided with a means of livelihood.
But we should be cautious about this cautionary tale!
I'd be interested to trace the origins of this little story. I think you might find its origins in some certain American Evangelical Christian groups, who hold just such ideas about poor and underprivileged people.

Comments

[Waranga]

As Salamalaikum,

ummm interesting, well I wonder if the fact that you know the origins of this story that it has influenced your weary view. The message I received from it after reading it for the first time was the importance of Sabr (patience) and Tawakkul (Trust in Allah swt), so I didn't neccessarily relate it to the relationships between people, since it highlights that wisdom is not really in our possession, we might be lucky to capture snapshots but the test is in riding out the hard times, trusting that we don't know and Allah swt knows. But this idea of not helping people and using the excuse of the 'will of God' is despicable and I think ibn Taymiyah gave some excellent examples in his 'Book of Emaan'of how ridiculous that is and I can certainly believe that some people may want to cut costs and take that view for their own gains.

Ohhh ARG, now look you've polluted my youthful mind with being weary of hidden messages, like some old codgers that I know of!!

ARG comment;
I didn't know the origins, I guessed. A quick search on the net seemed to prove me right.
Its also ridiculous to believe Allah became a man...but hey there's a whole religion based around that, that has more followers that any other!
And who are these old codgers giving you hidden messages? Sounds very unhealthy to me.

[Zimarina]

I think I can help with the 'old codger' mystery...begins with an 'A', rhymes with 'Clean'...! (no phone a friend here)

I kid, I kid.

Mash'Allah for pointing out the point you did- you put a whole new sinister slant to the whole tale..

I think we ought to all be a lil' weary of what comes a'knocking in our inboxes..

AsalaamuAlaiqum!

[Yahya]

'I asked for Strength.........
And Allah gave me Difficulties to make me strong.

I asked for Wisdom.........
And Allah gave me Problems to solve.

I asked for Prosperity.........
And Allah gave me Brain and Brawn to work.

I asked for Courage.........
And Allah gave me Danger to overcome.

I asked for Love..........
And Allah gave me Troubled people to help.

I asked for Favours.........
And Allah gave me Opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted ........
I received everything I needed!

"fatabâraka-LLahu aHsanu-l khâliqîn"
"So blessed be Allah, the best of creators!"
Sura The Believer (23) verse 14'

Beutiful.

[Nabeel]

'I asked for Strength.........
And Allah gave me Difficulties to make me strong.

I asked for Wisdom.........
And Allah gave me Problems to solve'

This is problematic for me. Though one becomes strong through difficulties, and wise through facing problems, one should not hope for difficulties and problems.

I remember once hearing that Ibn Taymiyyah said that one should not pray for patience without praying for well-being as well, as one who prays for patience alone may be afflicted with trials in order for him to become patient.

[wan]

Interesting anology, subhanallah. Made me think for some time.

Brother Abdur-Raheem Green, I was wondering where can I get your lectures online?

Assalamualaikum.

ARG comment:
I will have a one stop site for as many of my lectures as I can.
Watch this space! Until then you can trawl the net.
www.islamway.com
has some.

[Waranga]

As Salamalaikum,

In response to the comments posted by Brother Nabeel, I thought it would be appropriate to mention that pain and hardships are a form of purification of our sins, therefore some of the early muslims use to rejoice whenever a trial was sent their way. Also it is well known by many muslims that Allah swt tries the ones he loves, and it is through these trials that we can progress in our emaan. How else will we know that we are really depending on Allah swt alone unless we are deserted by all the good things of this life including the people we love, at least then we can say 'Allah is sufficient for me' and know we mean it. This may be a tremendous trial but it can potentially nurture that connection which will win us a beautiful eternity inshAllah.

Also with regards to what Ibn Taymiyah said, i'm confused...are you saying that when we make dua for something we are just given it gift wrapped and not by a process of learning, because in my limited experiences i've only gained the good things through a continual struggle and process, which has been overwhelmingly beneficial even if it never appeared to be at the time. However there are many things which I've received that are completely out of the blue and unexpected and miraculous but I don't know if this applies to everything?

Waranga