rasheed, wa iyaak unfortunately i dont have a reference to it. I read it a while back somewhere, and i recently heard it quoted in one of Muhammad al Shareef’s lectures (cant remember which one)

african lion,

although i agree with u to some extent two things come to mind ‘ His (swt) Mercy prevails His Wrath’ and ’so verily after every hardship there comes ease, verily with every hardship comes ease (i.e two eases for one hardship)’

but yes, we should all expect to live a life of harship, because it is thru trials and tribulations that Allah cleanses our hearts of evil. And Allah knows best how much evil there is in within us. If the prophets, the sahabah went thru such tough trials and they were the best of poeple, then what about us who sin so frequently? Do we think that our good deeds alone will get us into Jannah?

Allah promises hardships, and he doesn’t keep any other promise wwith the same priority with which he keeps this one. It has no conditions, no strings attached. He will grant suffering no matter what we do. If we kill ourselves to escape them, He’ll burn us alive. If we take shortcuts and cheat to make things easier, he’ll punish us in this life or the grave or hell or any combination thereof.

In dunya, I advise Muslims to teach our children to not merely expect tests, but to not expect ease to balance it out. Be prepared for the worst, and teach them to select spouses who are prepared for the worst, too, because the Dajjal is coming, and he’ll harvest followers from even among the muslims. He’ll be hardship incarnate, commanding all the belongings of Muslims to walk out, guaranteeing wealth for the kaffirs and apostates along with poverty for the Muslims. After all, the system is already in place, and it’s here because we abandoned the one thing that would give us honor back, jihad.