Incorrect ʿAqīdah, Hardship and Seeing Allah in a Dream

What should be done on seeing someone with incorrect ʿaqīdah? Run a mile, one might say. In truth, it has to be dealt with. If it can be explained, then explain it, and if it cannot, then leave it. Make duʿāʾ for them.

What is the reason for human beings experiencing hardship? Is it due to being tested in terms of faith? Some say it is punishment from Allah for our sins. Which of these is true, or are both true? And is punishment not to be served by Allah on the Day of Judgment?

No: punishment can come in this world. Allah has sent many punishments in this world. Whole communities have been uprooted. The people of Lūṭ were sent punishment. The people of Thamūd were sent punishment. There were many punishments; that is proven through the Qur'an. For some people, calamities are a punishment. Take, for example, a resort area of Thailand. There must be some people there who have been in evil all the time. For them, the calamity that came upon them may be a punishment. But there are others who are completely innocent. For them it may be a punishment for not having stopped the others, or it may simply be a way of raising their status. So one calamity can have very different effects and results for different people. So we do not insist that it is a punishment, or this, or that. We have to be very careful about saying that it is a punishment upon them, because sometimes we are in a worse state ourselves, and complaining about others. So we have to be really careful, because only Allah knows.

Can Allah be seen in a dream? It has been related from Imam Aḥmad and others that they saw Allah in their dreams, which does not basically mean that they actually saw Allah. They saw something which spoke to them as Allah. But it does not mean that one is now privy to how Allah looks. One has to be very careful about that.

Alhamdulillah, we have learned that Allah has created a cure for every disease. But would one who believes that an ill person will not be cured except by medical intervention be considered to have sound ʿaqīdah?

Somebody, that is, who believes that an ill person cannot be cured except by medical intervention. We can say that we believe these instruments have an ability, because Allah (swt) made this a sabab, made this a means. At that level, it is fine. But to say that he is only going to be cured by this, and that there is absolutely no way he is going to be cured otherwise, completely taking Allah out of the picture, completely taking recovery out of the picture, would be problematic. But using means is fine, while recognising that Allah (swt) is the one who is the Creator.