If Allah afflicts you with any hardship, none other than He can remove it.
Firm and true faith is the hallmark of Islam. Muslims must have unflinching faith in Allah and know that every good or bad that happens to them or under trials and retribution are all a form of test from Allah. Those who pass the test will elevate to the highest plains of Jannatul Firdous.
We may recall the story of Prophet Yunus (may Allah be pleased with him). When he erred, he was swallowed by a big fish, he then repented, and Allah eased his sufferings. His mere swallowing up by the big fish and still being alive in its belly was an affliction caused to him by Allah so that he realized his mistake, and then it was Allah Who eased his hardship and had him delivered alive ashore.
This situation is an eye-opener to all of us who move their worldly gods upon being in a bad situation rather than invoking Allah’s mercifulness to deliver them of their hardships and bad days. We have selected the 107th verse of Surah 10, and Yunus points toward this vital aspect in which Allah assures the believers that all bad or good is from Allah and if He so wills, none can change or improve our situation.
Note: At the end of the verse below, two attributes of Allah Al-Ghafur (الغفور) – The Forgiving, The Pardoner and Ar Rahim (الرحيم) – The Most Merciful have been used. Please click the highlighted text to read more about these two attributes of Allah.
وَاِنۡ يَّمۡسَسۡكَ اللّٰهُ بِضُرٍّ فَلَا كَاشِفَ لَهٗۤ اِلَّا هُوَ ۚ وَاِنۡ يُّرِدۡكَ بِخَيۡرٍ فَلَا رَآدَّ لِفَضۡلِهٖ ؕ يُصِيۡبُ بِهٖ مَنۡ يَّشَآءُ مِنۡ عِبَادِهٖ ؕ وَهُوَ الۡغَفُوۡرُ الرَّحِيۡمُ
(10:107) If Allah afflicts you with any hardship, none other than He can remove it; and if He wills any good for you, none can avert His bounty. He bestows good upon whomsoever of His servants He wills. He is All-Forgiving, All-Merciful.’
Tafsir Ibn-Kathir:
This verse explains that good, evil, benefit and harm only come from Allah alone, and no one shares His power over these things. Therefore, He is the One Who deserves to be worshipped alone, without the ascription of partners.
Concerning His statement, ( وَهُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ and He is the Pardoning, the Merciful), this means that Allah is forgiving and merciful towards those who turn to Him in repentance, regardless of what sin the person has committed. Even if the person associated a partner with Allah, verily Allah would forgive him if he repented from it.
Yusuf Ali Explanation:
Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. Even when we suffer under trials and tribulations, it is for our good, and no one can remove them except He, when, in His Plan, He sees it to be best for all concerned. On the other hand, no power can intercept His blessings and favours, and His bounty flows freely when we are worthy and often when we are not worthy of it.
Qur’an Wiki:
God has set specific laws in operation whereby harm and benefit inevitably affect human beings when they expose themselves to their causes. So if harm afflicts you through the process of God’s laws, then no one can remove that harm unless you follow the right course of action.
You should cease to expose yourself to the causes of harm if you are aware of them or appeal to God to make them known to you if you do not know them.
Similarly, if you follow His laws which generate benefit for you, no one will be able to stop that benefit. God will always grant it to those of His servants who decide to follow the means to achieve it, and this is His general will and modus operandi.
Furthermore, He forgives past sins when one sincerely repents. Moreover, He is merciful to His servants, forgiving them for their errors and increasing their reward for their good deeds when they adhere to the true path.
May Allah help us understand Qur’ān and help us act upon the commandments of Allah contained therein.
