Striving in the path of Allah leads to taraqi/spiritual progress. When a father intends to gift his toddler a sweet, sometimes, he will hold it tightly in his fist. He will instruct the child that if you want it, open my fingers and take it! This child will pull and twist his fingers, trying his hardest to grab the sweets. It gives the father joy watching his efforts, so he holds on even tighter. Of course he plans to give it eventually, maybe even more than just one sweet. But for that moment, he likes to watch his child try.

Likewise, is our relationship with Allah. He does intend to give you and I the bounties of the heavens and the earth, but it doesn’t come at a cheap price. You have to strive and that is exactly what he wants to see. Sometimes when we go through a difficult phase, it is Allah’s silent way of telling us to turn to Him more. That is all. He wants to see effort and sacrifice. He wants us to prove that we really want His mercy, closeness and grace. Once we do that, in a short while he will open the door to his endless bounties.

— Hazrat Ml. Dawood Seedat حفظه الله

Above is an article taken from www.islaahiadvices.com. It is an extract from Hazrat’s talk on 7/3/2016 in Masjid-ut-Taqwa, Pietermaritzburg. To listen to the full audio, please-click here.