WHEN the trials of this temporary life burden us, piling heavily within us, a need to release them, to complain, to call out for help urgently arises. It is a means through which we lighten the load and hopefully find some light.
The urge to release one’s complaints exists in us all, even a camel felt it. The Prophet (peace be upon him) entered the garden of a man from the Ansar (the people of Madina), and upon seeing him, the camel froze and its eyes watered. The Prophet (peace be upon him) came to it and rubbed its ears until it calmed down. He (peace be upon him) inquired about the owner and warned him to fear Allah, for the camel had complained to him that ‘he starves it and tires it by overworking it and using it beyond its capacity.’ (Ahmad and Abu Dawud).
Narrated to us over and over in the Quran are stories of men before us who were tested. They were great men chosen by Allah to carry messages of Truth, but their position did not deem them safe from facing the trials of this life, thus proving that indeed the world is a place of test upon test. For if it were not, Allah would have spared such a noble creation. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “The people who are tested the most severely are the Prophets, then the righteous, then the next best and the next best, and a man will be tested in accordance with his level of religious commitment; the stronger his religious commitment, the more severe will be his test.” (Ahmad).






