Modesty

Every religion has its distinct characteristic, and the distinct characteristic of Islam is modesty.

Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) – Collection of Sahih Ibn Majah

Al-Haya (modesty) does not bring anything except good.

Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) – Collection of Al-Bukhari, # 6117

No doubt, you are strong enough

Allah wouldn’t put something difficult in your life if He knew you weren’t strong enough to get through it.

Dr. Bilal Philips (via Twitter)

Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear.

Qur’an 2:286

The stronger your faith is, the harder the tests, and the greater the rewards.

Dr. Bilal Philips (via Twitter)

Humans are tested according to the levels of their faith.

Sunan Ibn Maajah

Why must there be suffering?

One may admit that love, compassion, truth, and other qualities bring the greatest joy – so why were we not created with these qualities from the start? It seems that we have arrived at where we began. Why were we not put into Paradise from the start? Why were these virtues not simply programmed into us?

The answer is almost obvious: virtue, if programmed, is not true virtue; it is always something less. You can program a computer to never make an incorrect statement but it does not thereby become a truthful computer; nor does a CAT scanner possess compassion, although it is made to help the sick.

[..] to learn to be truthful requires the option to lie, and hence the ability to choose and discern. A higher level of honesty is attained if we insist on speaking the truth in adversity, say at the threat of physical or material loss. To grow in compassion, there must be suffering and the choice to ignore it. And so it is with all the virtues: love, charity, justice, forgiveness, and the like. To grow in each of them, we must have the alternative to do otherwise and the possibility for the existence of hate, indifference, greed, vengeance, and, obviously, suffering.

Struggling to Surrender by Dr. Jeffrey Lang (page 55, 56)