Paradise for patience with losing eyesight

📖Sunan al-Tirmidhi 2400
Anas ibn Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, Allah says: If I take the two noble eyes of My servant in this world, there is no reward for him with Me but Paradise.”

Description:
This profound hadith highlights Allah’s mercy and the immense reward reserved for His servants who endure the loss of their sight patiently in this world. Losing one’s eyes, a great physical and emotional hardship, is used here as an example of a severe test.

Why Would Allah Take Away Sight? Is It Injustice?
From a theological perspective, such trials are not acts of injustice but are part of Allah’s divine wisdom and mercy. Life’s hardships, including disabilities or losses, serve multiple purposes:

• Test of Faith and Patience: Trials distinguish true believers and develop spiritual strength and reliance on Allah.
• Expiation of Sins: Suffering can be a means to cleanse past mistakes and purify the soul.
• Elevation of Status: Endurance with patience leads to higher ranks in the Hereafter.
• Reminder of the Temporary Nature of This Life: Physical loss redirects the servant’s focus from the worldly to the eternal.

Allah’s justice is perfect, and such trials are balanced with promises of immense reward. The hadith promises Paradise to anyone who patiently bears such a loss, emphasizing that faith and patience alone are sufficient for great reward, without requiring any additional deeds.

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What We Learn Theologically:

• Allah’s mercy exceeds human comprehension.
• Hardships do not imply divine injustice but reflect a test and an opportunity for reward.
• Belief in Allah and patience in suffering guarantee ultimate success and eternal reward.
• Physical loss in this life is compensated by eternal bliss in the Hereafter.

Quranic Context:

📖Quran 2:155-157
“And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient, Who, when disaster strikes them, say, ‘Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return., Those are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy. And it is those who are the [rightly] guided.

Important Distinction: Tests from Allah vs. Human Wrongs

However, it is essential to differentiate between:

• Tests that Allah sends as trials to develop faith, patience, and reliance on Him (like illness, loss, natural difficulties), and
• Wrongdoings and forbidden acts committed by humans through their free will, such as injustice, oppression, and sins.

Although humans freely choose to commit sins and wrong others, Allah permits this within His divine wisdom and decree. If Allah were to stop all wrongdoing immediately, the meaningful test of free will would cease, and humans would lose the ability to choose obedience or disobedience, Thus, the presence of evil and sin is part of the larger divine plan and test, allowing humans to exercise free will, earn reward for good deeds, and face consequences for wrongdoing.

📖Quran 65:2-3
“And whoever fears Allah – He will make for him a way out, And will provide for him from where he does not expect, And whoever relies upon Allah – then He is sufficient for him. Indeed, Allah will accomplish His purpose. Allah has already set for everything a [decreed] extent.

Types of Provision

1. Provision Directly Decreed by Allah:
   Allah’s provision is already written and planned in a vast, divine “database” known as the Preserved Tablet (Al-Lawh Al-Mahfuz). This includes every event and outcome in life.

   • Example: If a person loses their sight, the record includes not only that loss but also the people who will assist them, the circumstances they will face, and the help they will receive. This perfect plan is maintained and controlled by Allah alone.

2. Provision Through Human Free Will and Effort:
   Allah provides through the actions of humans who choose to obey His commands. Helping the needy, giving charity, and supporting others are all ways humans become instruments of Allah’s provision.

   • Example: A person gives charity from their wealth, which Allah then blesses and multiplies, helping the poor and creating sustenance for the giver in return. While humans choose to give, the success and blessing come from Allah.

3. Provision as a Result of Human Responsibility and Cooperation:
   Provision also comes from collective human efforts such as work, trade, cooperation, and social support systems. Although Allah controls the final outcome, humans must actively engage in earning, cooperating, and caring for one another.

   • Example: A community establishes a support system to help the unemployed or vulnerable. Their combined effort creates provision that benefits many, showing how human cooperation plays a role in distributing sustenance.

📖Quran 76:8-9
“And they give food in spite of love for it to the needy, the orphan, and the captive, [Saying], ‘We feed you only for the countenance of Allah. We wish not from you reward or gratitude.'”