Trudging or Skipping?

BismIllah wa as salaamu alaykum wa Rahmat Allah wa Barakatuh.

Truly the life of this world (dunya) is a test and a trial for the believer. 

Hmm. Sounds like something that we should be trudging through, struggling to make our way with so many obstacles.

Consider the scenario where you are going somewhere you don't like...perhaps the dentist, to clean up a dirty mess, to meet someone you don't enjoy the company of, or to take a test you aren't prepared for.  You may move slowly, or find it hard to be cheerful and sincerely optimistic. When people have difficulties and hardships, they tend to trudge through life miserably, unsmiling.

Now consider when you are looking forward to something...perhaps going to the park, seeing a good friend, or attending a fun gathering. You probably walk quickly, with spring in your step, and find it easy to be cheerful and optimistic.  When people have pleasant things to look forward to, they tend to sail through life happily, smiling.

`Abdullah ibn `Umar, radhiallahu `anhu, said: "The life of this world is Paradise for a disbeliever and a prison for a believer. When a believer dies and departs from this world, he feels himself like a prisoner who was released to go freely on the spacious earth."

Well, aren't you looking forward to seeing Allah, subhaana wa Taala? Aren't you filled with awe at His never ending Mercy and Blessings? Aren't you filled with hope that He will be pleased with you and you will be elevated to those high places in Jennah where His Countenance will be seen?

On the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) say: Allah the Almighty said:

O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great at it.
(at-Tirmidhi & also by Ahmad ibn Hanbal)

What bigger hope?

On the authority of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said:

Allah will say to the inhabitant of Paradise: O inhabitants of Paradise! They will say: O our Lord, we present ourselves and are at Your pleasure, and goodness rests in Your hands. Then He will say: Are you contented? And they will say: And how should we not be contented, O Lord, when You have given to us that which You have given to no one else of Your creation? Then He will say: Would not like Me to give you something better than that? And they will say: O Lord and what thing is better than that? And He will say: I shall cause My favor to descend upon you and thereafter shall never be displeased with you.
(al-Bukhari, Muslim, and at-Tirmidhi)

 What greater anticipation?

On the authority of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Prophet (PBUH) said: Allah the Almighty said: I am as My servant thinks I am (or expects Me to be). I am with him when he makes mention of Me. If he makes mention of Me to himself, I make mention of him to Myself; and if he makes mention of Me in an assembly, I make mention of him in an assembly better than it. And if he draws near to Me an arm's length, I draw near to him a fathom's length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed.
(Bukhari, Muslim, at-Tirmidhi, and Ibn-Majah).

I'm not just walking with a spring in my step, I'm skipping, jumping, and running to Allah, subhaana wa taala! Come on, skip with me!