Today's Reflection [Ayah 49,50,51, Surah Al-Baqarah]

 وَإِذْ نَجَّيْنَاكُمْ مِنْ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ يَسُومُونَكُمْ سُوءَ الْعَذَابِ يُذَبِّحُونَ أَبْنَاءَكُمْ وَيَسْتَحْيُونَ نِسَاءَكُمْ ۚ وَفِي ذَٰلِكُمْ بَلَاءٌ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ عَظِيمٌ

(Quran 2:49)

And recall that We delivered you from the people of Pharaoh. They inflicted on you terrible persecution, killing your sons and sparing your women. Therein was a tremendous trial from your Lord.

 وَإِذْ فَرَقْنَا بِكُمُ الْبَحْرَ فَأَنْجَيْنَاكُمْ وَأَغْرَقْنَا آلَ فِرْعَوْنَ وَأَنْتُمْ تَنْظُرُونَ

(Quran 2:50)

And recall that We parted the sea for you, so We saved you, and We drowned the people of Pharaoh as you looked on.

 وَإِذْ وَاعَدْنَا مُوسَىٰ أَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةً ثُمَّ اتَّخَذْتُمُ الْعِجْلَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ وَأَنْتُمْ ظَالِمُونَ

(Quran 2:51)

And recall that We appointed for Moses forty nights. Then you took to worshiping the calf after him, and you turned wicked.

Here in all these three ayahs Allah asks the people of Bani israel to recall their blessing , we have to understand here that these blessings are not just for the people for whom this ayah is sent down but for their fore fathers as well. So Allah reminds them with three different incidents which are linked to one another , Allah saved them from the Pharaoh who tortured them mercilessly , Allah saved them by splitting the sea and making a path for them to cross the sea safely and drowning the people of pharaoh who followed them. Then in the next ayah Allah says after you were saved, you became ungrateful and when Musa as was called by Allah for forty nights the people of bani israel made a calf and started worshipping it ( shirk ).

In the 49th ayah Allah says that this is a trial for you.What was the trial for the people of Bani israel ? It was the inhumane torture that pharaoh was afflicting them with and secondly it is a test to see if they were grateful after Allah saved them.

So lets ponder over this as usually a question arises in our minds as to why are we tested even when we are on the right path. Allah is very merciful and he tests us in this life to wake us up, when we are disobeying him so that we can seek forgiveness. (So if you see it is a blessing in disguise) and we are also tested so that we remember Allah more and elevate our Ranks and some times it is the consequence of our wrong actions.

Have you heard some people saying that what ever afflictions you face in this world is a punishment from Allah? Is there any truth behind it? We should understand that there are certain things that are beyond our understanding , only Allah knows weather an affliction is a trial or a punishment but in general we can differentiate by saying that : The difficulties that take us closer to Allah such as if we become more humble, seek forgiveness from Allah etc are trials and the hardships or difficulties that take us further away from deen or Allah such as when we are afflicted we become more arrogant, we resort to shirk etc are punishments from Allah.