Stories of the prophets; the trials of Ayyub

Among the believers those most hardly tested were the prophets including the likes of Ibrahim, Ismail, Jacob/Yakub, Joseph/Yusuf, Musa, David, Solomon or Ayyub 20:40,37:106,38:17-49 and of course not forgetting Muhammad and the torments he patiently endured for 13 years in Mecca, before his migration. 

These tests, sometimes taking the form of a favor to train gratitude and God-consciousness, sometimes as hardships to train perseverance and patience, were meant at preparing them for the responsibilities and tasks they were burdened with. God in fact clearly demonstrated that higher reality to Moses when He reminded him of the favors, obstacles and hardships, sometimes life-threatening, from his infancy until adulthood, that he went through up to a point where he became ready to face his most important challenge, facing pharaoh himself 20:36-43. Those who chose to believe in and follow these prophets were not spared emotional, physical and material hardship, but in the end they were raised far above their oppressors in every aspect 

7:137"And We made the people who were oppressed to inherit the easts of the land and its wests, which We had blessed. And the good words of your Lord were fulfilled for the sons of Israel because of how they were patient; and We destroyed what Firon and his people were fabricating and what they were building". 

It is therefore wrong to generalize and consider hardships as an impediments along the path. They might prevent one from satisfying a personal desire considered beneficial from a limited scope, but might as well be necessary steps towards a better position down the line. The prophet Moses explained this principle to his narrow minded nation. He told them trials may bring about a beneficial change 

7:129"They said: We have been harmed before you came to us and since you have come to us. He (Musa) said: Perhaps your Lord will destroy your enemy and make you successors in the land, and He will see how you will do".

The prophets, because of their upright spirituality and clear perception of the higher realities were aware of that notion. Tests to them were necessary steps to spiritual betterment. David prays in the HB

 Ps26:2"Test me, O Lord, and try me; refine my reins and my heart" 

Ps94:12"Fortunate is the man whom You, Yah, chastise, and from Your Torah You teach him". 

Jeremiah too, as he was physically and morally persecuted, while waiting for God's help to come to him and the punishment befall the rejecters, endured his affliction 

Jer20:11-12"But the Lord is with me as a mighty warrior. Therefore, my pursuers shall stumble and did not prevail. They were very much ashamed for they did not succeed, a perpetual shame that will not be forgotten. And the Lord of Hosts tests the righteous, He sees the kidneys and the heart. Let me see Your vengeance from them for to You I have revealed my cause". 

Through Ayyub's example, the Quran teaches first and foremost that none is left to live a life devoid of trials. Stumbling blocks will always appear, whether in the form of ease or hardship, so the righteous believer must keep in mind the higher realities in both situations. When going through difficulties, he should not despair of Allah's mercy, but instead seek His help and invoke Him patiently, until the spiritual healing process is accomplished and one is elevated. This reality is echoed in David's prayer as reported in the Hebrew Bible 

Ps22:24-25"You who fear the Lord, praise Him..For He has neither despised nor abhorred the cry of the poor, neither has He hidden His countenance from him; and when he cried out to Him, He hearkened". 

In 21:83-4,38:41-4 the effect of the MSS/touching of the shaytan upon Job is nusb/distress and aadhab/suffering. In the Hebrew Bible, God says of Job (a recognized non-Israelite prophet according to their tradition) that 

Job1:8"there is none like him on earth, a sincere and upright man, God-fearing and shunning evil". 

Job in the Quran is a prophet, and a pious servant of God, patient in adversity. He is briefly pictured as turning to God, beseeching His mercy in moments of physical and spiritual duress. Instead of losing his temper and even blaming God as sometimes happens in times of complete despair, Job humbly describes these hardships as a light touch/MSS. Sorrow and inner pain in times of adversity are normal human reactions. What is important and what one learns from Job is the manner in which one is to behave in such situations. 

His sincere and patient prayers were answered in 2 forms:

- the sudden gush of cool, soothing water (apparently with medicinal properties) to drink from and wash with, followed by the command to "take in your hand a bunch of grass and beat with it" which would have had an awakening effect on the whole body, stimulating and invigorating it. The favor and advise were accompanied by a spiritual reminder to not fall into falsehood and sin, the implied meaning being to ever be aware of God's mercy "do not incline to falsehood/tahnath". Often times, and as the Quran frequently portrays, one forgets his Lord once distress is removed and prayers are answered. Then one returns to the sinful ways as if nothing had happened.

- the restitution of his ahl/family or people, along with others like them. This shows that Job was being assaulted by evil entities in a period of emotional weakness at having lost or been separated from loved ones. It had a physical toll on him considering the additional difficulty of being in a barren location at the time. But, contrary to his portrayal in the Hebrew bible, he never yielded despite the evil whispering that increased his pain. He endured his affliction with prayers, until it was removed. There is a moral lesson in this, for every person separated from his close people during difficulties, and that becomes overwhelmed with emotions. At that moment evil thoughts emerge, affecting one spiritually and even physically, through depression. Such a person should never listen to the calls of falsehood but remember God instead 7:201"Surely the God-conscious, when a circling of the shaytan touches them, they remember, then lo! they see". The stories found in tafsir literature about Ayyub promising to hit his wife for some misdeed are based on unreliable ahadith and do not conform to the information given in the passage.

Despite his lofty presentation by God which agrees with the Quran's depiction of him as an upright man, and the later praise by the prophet Ezekiel in Ez14:14, the Hebrew Bible differs from the Quranic account on several levels, including on the most crucial issue of patience. Throughout the book of Job, a long lamentation of Job is reported where he despairs at his situation of sickness due to the boils that the accusing angel inflicted him with, the loss of his family and social-economic status. He sees no hope in sight, questions God's purpose and justice. He puts his own idea of justice above God's, desires death, and finds no consolation. He doesnt heed the advise and admonishment of several non-Israelite prophets like himself -Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, Elihu- reminding him of God's wisdom behind an apparent affliction, the higher meaning of this life and the purpose of creation, ensuring him of a good ending should he bare his situation patiently and with God-consciousness. But they would eventually turn away from him on account of his inconsolable grief and bitterness towards God. Finally it is God Himself who would interject in the debate and humble Job into repentance, by affirming His authority, wisdom, justice and mercy. God would also acknowledge Job's suffering, and what led him to despair. For having intelligently argued and "almost" not sinned in the process, he was rewarded with the return of his close people around him, the increase in numbers of his family and friends, and a greater enrichment. Allthough it could implicitly be understood, nothing is clearly said about the removal of his sickness.