Notes on Surat Maryam
When Maryam, alayhas-salaam, was in her room learning about and worshipping Allah in a state of relative ease she was granted fruits that were out of season.
When she was desperate, in the throes of despair and struggle, her relief was withheld until she shook the tree.
When we are in a state of relative ease, Allah may test us with extra bounties. Allah says in the Qur’an, “As for man, when his Lord tries him by giving him honor and bounties, then he says: My Lord has honored me. But when He tries him, by constricting his means of life he says: “My Lord has humiliated me,” (89:15-16).
Oftentimes when we are in struggle, we think, “What have I done to deserve this?” “This is so unfair.” “When will the relief of Allah come?” As parents, we want to quickly fix and help our children when they are struggling. “Let me help you with your shoelaces. Oh, the zipper is stuck? Let me get that.”
I was speaking to a friend and we were sharing our hajj stories- how these invitations came when we least expected them. We did not intentionally set our minds to performing hajj and yet it was gifted to us from Al-Wahhab (The Bestower of Gifts)- it was a fruit out of season for us. She told me the last time she had performed hajj was ten years ago and every year after that, she would make the intention to perform umrah. For whatever reason, it wouldn’t happen, except for this year when she was able to visit the House of Allah, azza wa jal, once again.
Her striving, her sai’, her ten years of patience knowing that she may not understand Allah’s wisdom, but there was definitely wisdom behind it, made her appreciate the fruit so much more. It made her focus on not losing a single opportunity for worship and helping others struggling to please Allah (swt). Csikszentmihalyi writes, "The best moments usually occur when a person's body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile."
Imagine how much sweeter the water and dates were to Maryam (as) because she had to work for it. Because her struggle was so real and so painful, the relief was also extraordinary. Sometimes Allah breaks us and withholds the bounty so we can become stronger slaves in our worship to Him. Sometimes we withhold helping our children so they can become capable, independent adults. Sometimes the bounty is withheld so we can appreciate the value behind it.
No matter our outside circumstances, we need to internally reflect on whether or not our relationship with Allah remains constant. Zakariya (as) was gifted with Yahya (as). He was shocked and elated and he was told to take an oath of silence. Maryam (as) was gifted with Isa (as) and feared the reaction of her people. She was also told to take an oath of silence. Their outside forms of worship were the same even though they were going through two markedly different emotions. They didn’t allow their emotional states to dictate their actions-
“But as for him/her who feared standing before his/her Lord and restrained him/herself from his/her whims, their abode will be the Garden,” (79:30).
May Allah allow us to master our emotions and grant us relief from our tribulations with a constant trajectory of earning His pleasure.