Today, the Muslims are undergoing great oppression throughout the world. This can easily lead to loss of hope in the mercy of Allaah Ta'ala. Therefore, this booklet has been prepared to grant some encouragement to distressed hearts, to remove doubts from diseased hearts and to explain to us what should our reaction be to such conditions. Even more difficult conditions passed the Muslim ummah before, but they arose and became even stronger.

If we study Islamic history, we will find that Muslims suffered greatly on many occasions, but this was soon replaced by Allaah’s help and divine assistance. We should remember that many a times, these conditions are actually the beginning of a bright future.  Understand this by means of an example:

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He feverishly made du’aa for Allaah Ta'ala to rescue him. Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect himself from the elements, and to store his few possessions. One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger.
He cried out, ‘Oh Allaah! How could you do this to me?’ Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island! It had come to rescue him! ‘How did you know I was here?’ asked the weary man of his rescuers. ’We saw your smoke signal,’ they replied.

The Moral of This Story: It is easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn’t lose heart, because Allaah Ta'ala is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain and suffering. Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground. It just may be a smoke signal that summons the Mercy of Allaah Ta'ala and it may be the beginning of a bright future.

In this book, we will discuss three incidents wherein the Muslims underwent great difficulty, but eventually Allaah Ta'ala changes conditions for the better.