10. The Story of Sayyidnā Ayyūb عليه السالم
    10.1 The Nabī of Allāh ﷻ Known for his Sabr
    10.2 Allāh ﷻ Tested Sayyidnā Ayyūb with the Most Severe of Tests
    10.3 Sayyidnā Ayyub’s Du’ā to Allāh ﷻ when the Trial Becomes too much
    10.4 Allāh ﷻ Tests Us According to Our Level of Īmān

10.1 The Nabī of Allāh ﷻ Known for his Sabr

We’ll start now with the story of a Nabi of Allāh ﷻ who is not mentioned in reference to Da’wah. Allāh ﷻ, when He talked about Nūh عليه السالم , it was the Da’wah of Nūh. When He talked about Hūd عليه السالم , it was the Da’wah of Hūd. When He talked about Sālih عليه السالم , it was the Da’wah of Sālih. When He talked about Nūh عليه السالم , it was the Da’wah of Nūh, but with this particular Nabī, Allāh ﷻ did not talk about his Da’wah at all.

Sayyidnā Ayyūb عليه السالم . Allāh ﷻ, when He talks about Sayyidnā Ayyūb عليه السالم , He did not mention his Da’wah to his people, but Allāh ﷻ mentions the story of his Sabr – his patience, and that alone deserved his story to be mentioned twice in Qur’ān, in reference to his patience. So, it became later a proverb as ‘Sabr Ayyūb’. Whenever we want to describe patience, we say ‘patience of Ayyūb’ عليه السالم . He became the symbol of Sabr – patience. Allāh ﷻ says,

And remember Our slave Ayyūb (Job), when he invoked his Lord (saying):“Verily! Shaitān (Satan) has touched me with distress (by losing my health) and torment (by losing my wealth)!”(Sād – 38:41) And Allāh says, in Sūrah Al-Ambiyā, And (remember) Ayyūb (Job), when he cried to his Lord: “Verily, distress has seized me, and You are the Most Merciful of all those who show mercy.”(Al-Ambiyā – 21:83)

10.2 Allāh ﷻ Tested Sayyidnā Ayyūb with the Most Severe of Tests

Ibn ‘Abbās says, that Sayyidnā Ayyūb عليه السالم  was very wealthy, and he had a large family, and he was very healthy and strong. So, he had health, wealth, and family. And then suddenly Sayyidnā Ayyūb عليه السالم  lost his family somehow, lost his wealth, and he lost his health, and this did not happen gradually, it happened suddenly. He lost everything, he lost everything that a person loves in Dunyā. Allāh ﷻ says,

Wealth and children are the adornment of the life of this world.(Al-Kahf – 18:46) Whether you are Muslim or non-Muslim, this is something that Allāh ﷻ has put the love of in your heart. Your wealth and your family, it’s something that we love in this world and that is Zīnat – the adornment of this world. Ayyūb عليه السالم  lost these two. In addition to that, he lost his health. And his health situation became so bad that he was not able to move, he was not able to work. And then the particular type of disease that he had, was a disease that the people used to view in a form of Tashā-um – they used to have a bad omen or evil omen from, and they used to despise that particular disease. And anybody who’s inflicted with it, they would stay away from him. So, he became an outcast in the society, and it is said that they even forced him out of the village, so he was living outside of his town. He had no source of income, so it is said that his wife started to work. She would cook for people, serve them in their homes. But then the people did not want to interact with her because they were afraid that she could also infect them. So, nobody wants to hire her. So, the situation of Sayyidnā Ayyūb عليه السالم  was deteriorating, and this was over a span of years, it was not a matter of a few weeks or months.

10.3 Sayyidnā Ayyub’s Du’ā to Allāh ﷻ when the Trial Becomes too much

And it is said that even the close ones around him, his wife and his brothers and his family were saying, ‘If Allāh ﷻ has any love for him, this wouldn’t have happened to him.’ That was difficult for Sayyidnā Ayyūb to hear, and that is when Sayyidnā Ayyūb عليه السالم  made his Du’ā to Allāh ﷻ and said, “Harm has inflicted me and you are the Most Merciful.” And then Allāh ﷻ says, “Fāstajabnā Lahu – We responded to his Du’ā”. Allāh ﷻ accepted the Du’ā of Sayyidnā Ayyūb عليه السالم . How did it happen? Allāh ﷻ told him,

(Allāh said to him): “Strike the ground with your foot: This is a spring of water to wash in, cool and a (refreshing) drink.”(Sād – 38:42) So, he was commanded to hit the ground with his foot, so water came out. He was ordered by Allāh ﷻ to wash his body with that water, so it would heal him and purify him from the outside, and to drink it and it will heal him from the inside. So that replaced the health of Sayyidnā Ayyūb عليه السالم , and then the Āyah says,

And We gave him (back) his family, and along with them the like thereof, as a Mercy from Us, and a Reminder for those who understand.(Sād – 38:43)

So Allāh ﷻ gave him back his family, whether it was reviving the dead, or providing him with new members of family, Allāhu A’lam, but he had equal to what he had before, and even better. So now, his family was replaced. What about his wealth? We find that in a Hadīth, narrated by Al-Bukhārī, Rasūlullāh ﷺ says, “When Ayyūb was taking a shower naked, Allāh ﷻ sent on him grasshoppers made of gold that were falling over him. Sayyidnā Ayyūb عليه السالم  was gathering them and collecting them. Allāh ﷻ told Ayyūb, ‘Isn’t it Me who will provide for you, so why are you gathering all of this?’ He said, ‘Oh Allāh, this is your mercy and I want to have more of it.’”(Sahīh al-Bukhārī 279, – Sahih al-Bukhari 7493) It’s a miracle, Allāh ﷻ provided him with grasshoppers made of gold, as a reward for the patience of His servant, Ayyūb عليه السالم . Allāh ﷻ says, “And We gave him (back) his family, and along with them the like thereof, as a Mercy from Us, and a Reminder for those who understand.”(Sād – 38:43)

And in another Āyah Allāh ﷻ says, So We answered his call, and We removed the distress that was on him, and We restored his family to him (that he had lost), and the like thereof along with them, as a mercy from Ourselves and a Reminder for all who worship Us.(Al-Ambiyā – 21:84) And a reminder for who? Dhikrá Lil`ābidīna.

Allāh ﷻ is saying, that the story of Ayyūb عليه السالم  is a reminder for Al- Ābidīn. Al-Ābidīn are the worshippers of Allāh ﷻ. Notice the word Ābidīn. When you are worshipping Allāh ﷻ, you need to have a lot of patience, because worshipping Allāh ﷻ needs commitment, and discipline and persistence. It is very easy to suddenly go into an emotional outburst, and pray, and read Qur’ān, and follow the Sunnah of Rasūlullāh ﷺ. It’s very easy to do that. Sometimes, we find that people crash into the religion, and they start practicing, but it’s not easy to persist and continue with it, and that is why Rasūlullāh ﷺ says, “Shayyabatnī Hūd – [Surat] Hūd has made my hair turn gray.”(Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3297,- Ash-Shama’il Al-Muhammadiyah 41, 42) What is the Āyah on Sayyidnā Hūd عليه السالم ? Allāh ﷻ says, “Fāstaqim Kamā ‘Umirta – Stay firm on the straight path.” [Hūd -11:112] Allāh ﷻ is telling Muhammad ﷺ to stick on the straight path for all of your life, and that is why Rasūlullāh ﷺ is saying, “It made my hair turn gray”, because it is easy to worship Allāh ﷻ for a few days and night, but to discipline yourself to do it continuously, it needs patience. To pray Witr continuously, it needs patience, to fast it needs patience, to pray in Jamā’ah it needs patience, to make Dhikr of Allāh ﷻ it needs patience. That’s why Allāh ﷻ has closed the Āyāt of the story of Ayyūb with this final comment, Dhikrá Lil`ābidīna – It is a reminder for those who are worshipping Allāh ﷻ.

10.4 Allāh ﷻ Tests Us According to Our Level of Īmān

And this is a form of Balā’ [trial], a form of testing that Allāh ﷻ puts on the Ambiyā. Rasūlullāh ﷺ says, ‘Allāh ﷻ tests the Ambiyā with the most severe tests, and then As-Sālihīn, Fal Amthal Fal Amthal – and then the best of you.’ (Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2398) The stronger and firmer you are in your Dīn, the more difficult the test of Allāh ﷻ on you will be. Just like in school; the professors, when they write tests, or the teachers when they write tests, they write a group of easy questions, average difficulty questions, and then they put a few tough questions here and there to separate between the high segment of the class. So, you will have a group of questions which are easy, those will be answered by the majority. And then you have another group of questions that will be answered by a lesser group, and that is to separate between the, D and the C, and then you have questions that will separate between the B and the C, and then you have questions that will separate between the A and the B, and then you have one or two questions that will separate between the A plus and A minus. So, everyone is receiving questions according to his level, and that is to put them through this ranking. If you made all of the questions easy, everyone will get 100%, the full score, and everyone will pass. So, you have to put the questions in a gradual, step by step, level of difficulty to separate between these students. The same thing with the test that Allāh ﷻ puts on us in Dunyā. If your Īmān is weak, Allāh ﷻ will give you a simple exam. If your level of Īmān is strong, then you will receive a more difficult exam. And these tests that the Ambiyā of Allāh ﷻ go through are more severe. Not only are they severe in their tests in Da’wah, but even in their illness, it’s more difficult.

Abdullāh ibn Mas’ūd was visiting Rasūlullāh, ﷺ in his death illness. So, Abdullāh ibn Mas’ūd put his hand over Rasūlullāh ﷺ, the temperature was so high, Rasūlullāh ﷺ said,” “Na’am, innī ū’ak kamā yū’aka rajulāni minkum- I go through fever that two of you would go through.”(Sahih al-Bukhārī 5648) The fever of Rasūlullāh ﷺ was double. Why? Because of the level of Īmān of Rasūlullāh ﷺ, he had to go through more difficult tests from Allāh ﷻ.