An increased love for the Prophet ﷺ through a lived experience.
Recently went on a Muslim Alpha trip with some brothers, and it really gave me a sense of deeper love and respect for not only the Prophet ﷺ and the Sahaba, but also for people who lived before us:
Our parents.
Our grandparents.
Our ancestors.
Life has undoubtedly become more convenient with all its advancements, but at the same time it has made us weaker.
Even just a camping trip for two days taught me so much about how comfortable our day to day lives are, and how people generations before used to live with struggle, day in and day out. It was also a stark reminder that Allah tells us in the Qur’an:
لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ فِى كَبَدٍ ٤
Indeed, We have created mankind in ˹constant˺ struggle.
Surah Balad (90:4)
We are to take our share from this world and enjoy it, but it was never meant to be jannah. Trying to turn this world into jannah is one of the biggest deceptions we see all around us. If you notice the beginning of the ayah when Allah says ( لَقَدْ ), that is a double emphasis, meaning “absolutely without a doubt, We have created mankind in (constant) struggle.”
The Sahaba would be out in the fields tending their crops, tending their animals, and manually having to do all the work. They would travel long distances in brutal conditions with minimal food and drink…and then have to fight the enemy.
Subhan Allah.
This lifestyle naturally gave people more grit, endurance, and strength, and small, petty issues didn't fluster them like our modern, “first world problems” do:
“Oh my God! My dad only bought me an iPhone 18 and not an iPhone 18 Pro!”
“Ughh! What do you mean you ran out of oat milk for my coffee?!”
“Oh man! I missed the cut-off for same-day delivery! Now my 6th pair of shoes will come tomorrow instead!”
What is even more amazing is the residents of Madinah would consider themselves to be the more “soft” and civilized society and they would call the Bedouins rough and harsh! For our purposes, even the civilized, more well-spoken society of Madinah would be harsh for us, and the nomadic, Bedouin lifestyle would be unsustainable.
Making things too easy makes one weak, and doesn’t prepare one for tougher times. Too much convenience becomes a deception, turning minds and bodies into a rotten lump of neurons and flesh that gets wasted away. Just look at the smartphone epidemic and now the increasingly acceptable and rampant drug epidemic where everything is allowed.
How do you combat the bombardment of convenience that is shoved down our throats? You need to exercise your mind, body, and soul. Trying new activities exposes your body to new movements - movements that will exercise muscles you never knew you had. Challenging yourself and taking calculated risks become a recipe for success, because you will have one of two outcomes:
You will succeed
You will learn lessons (what people call “failure”)
The real failure - is not trying at all.
We have to remember that curating difficulty for ourselves, our families, and our communities is a form of love. You do it because you love and care for them. You want them to grow and flourish, but in order to grow and flourish, difficulty is a requirement. A seed can stay small and comfortable inside its shell, or it can go through harshness starting with a crack in its shell, get exposed to the elements, and flourish beyond its constraints, expanding far and wide.
Camping in the woods, bonding and riding on horses, doing archery, sparring with the brothers - all with the intention of reviving the Sunnah, pleasing Allah, and hanging out with righteous company, are all part of growing and maturing. Not only did we push ourselves and worked to revive the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, we also reminded one another of what our purpose is in this life - to make sure the word of Allah is the highest, and the character of the Prophet ﷺ is followed to the best of our ability.
In order to accomplish this mission, it requires one to be uncomfortable, for it was this discomfort that allowed Islam to spread, and allowed Islam to reach us.
Don’t get too comfortable in this dunya, because remember, your life and my life are a test, and tests are always full of challenges and surprises.