How can someone explain this?

format_quote Originally Posted by Studentofdeed

Often when talking and conveying the message of islam, some people get angry and say where was Allah when I needed him. Or where was he when I lost everything. The answer is that it is a test but how can explain that to them or show them it's a sign of allah love and not that he never abandoned them?
Please advise
Jazakallah khayran

Quran says:

We have certainly created man into hardship. [Quran 90:4]

Human beings will go through pain and hardships regardless of their faith and closeness to Allah. We see both, Muslims and non-Muslims, meeting accidents, getting afflicted with nasty diseases, going through severe trauma, becoming bankrupt, losing their close ones, etc.etc.
Whether we are good or bad, rich or poor, popular or unknown, educated or uneducated, ugly or beautiful, we cannot escape problems.

Difficulties, in a way, are a sign that we are alive and moving!

Hardships are sent to humans so that they could know about themselves—that how utterly weak they are, and how less control they have over what happens in their life. Tribulations remind human beings that they have no true helper—because essentially, our resources are so limited! And then, they turn to the One who can change destiny, One who can rewrite their fate.

So basically, hardships turn us toward God. They bring us closer to our reality and the reality of this life. We are put through problems so that we realize that this life is full of problems that we can't handle alone and we need God to wade past through this journey.

Quran also have several other verses which describe human nature:

خُلِقَ الْاِنْسَانُ مِنْ عَجَلٍ
Man has been created hasty.
[Quran 21:37]

وَكَانَ الْاِنْسَانُ عَجُوْلًا
And man is very hasty.
[Quran 17:11]

Man is a hasty being. He wants to attain his goal in a minute. He tries to have a taste of the prosperity of the Hereafter in this world. He says:

...Our Lord, give us (your bounties) in this world," and he will have in the Hereafter no share. (Quran 2:200]

Through tests Allah wants us to learn how to be patient and how to trust Him alone. The ultimate reality is not the happiness of this world but the prosperity of the Hereafter. It is not sensible to give away the diamonds of the Hereafter for the sake of the glasses of this world.

Allah is the only one who knows what is good for us and what is bad for us. We may think some worldly benefits (such as getting a particular job) are good for us but Allah knows that these may push us further away from God so He sometimes takes away pleasures of this world from us so that we can return back to Allah and work harder to be successful in hereafter. Some times Allah may test us with health and that could be a source for us to get more free time and learn about Islam.

It takes times for man to realize the benefits of trials and tribulations and these benefits can only be realized by those who truly believe in God. For example one may suffer from a life threatening disease in his/her childhood. On the surface it may look unnecessary for a child to go through such a test but who know this child may develop empathy for those who suffer from this disease. And who knows this child may end up spending his/her life to serve the people who suffer from such disease.
Those who have weak faith or don't believe in God, will always complain no matter how blessed they are in this world.

Allah knows the future and we need to learn how to put our trust in Allah alone. Many of us say " la illah ila allah" but do we truly believe in it and do we truly practice this? Our trials and tests can easy prove that how much trust we have in Allah.

May Allah give us patience and make our trials and tribulations easy for us! Ameen
May Allah make our trials and tests a source of increase in our faith and trust in Allah! Ameen!
May Allah make our trials and tests a source of great reward in Hereafter! Ameen!