One of my closest girlfriends called me a few days ago.  Excited, she told me that her agency had just achieved the best regional performance for the recent quarter.  I was so happy, not to mention very proud of her achievement. She had worked so hard, devoting herself and putting in all her effort into her agency - sweat, blood and tears for a few years, and I know that the achievement was a well deserving one. Alhamdulillah.

 Indeed, Allah has reminded us to work hard in this world. 

 "Seek, amidst that which God has given thee, the Last Abode, and forget not thy portion of the present world; and do good, as God has been good to thee."

[Qur'an, Surat al-Qasas: 77]

Thinking of her achievement, I smiled in my heart. Again and again, I had seen evidence that proved that success needed focus, hard work and effort.  This fact was confirmed by one of the magazines to which I subscribed that featured an article 'The Secret to Greatness'.  In a few pages the author used examples to illustrate his point that hard work, commitment, persistence and determination to excel are the ingredients to success.

There is a phrase - Nothing comes easy in life. Interesting phrase, I must say. But, I have a question. If nothing comes easy in life, does that mean both success and failure are not easy to achieve?

In order to answer this question, we must explore the nuances.   First of all, the definition of success is very subjective and relative, and thus, everyone will have his own definition.  For Muslims, success also means success in the hereafter, not just the material aspects achieved within this life.  As Muslims, we believe wholeheartedly that the road does not end with death. We are moving toward the hereafter, to either Paradise or the Hellfire.  Only Allah knows.

Secondly, I said that both failure and success are not easy to achieve. No, really. To be a failure, you have to live with no desire for achievement. Not for yourself. Not for your family. Not for your Deen. No goals. No objectives.  No drive. Your life is stagnant. Nothing interesting ever happens to you because nothing interests you anyway. You complain without bothering to find a solution. You feel that everything and everyone is against you. And you just cannot do anything about it.  Instead of being proactive, decisions in your life get made by default.   Or worse, you let other people actively make decisions for you. You become the passenger instead of the driver of your own life. Your day today is no different than yesterday. And tomorrow will be exactly like today.

Kind of depressing, come to think of it. To become a failure takes certain character.  Only people who have those specific passive traits can fail. And they have to stick to those traits to ensure that they are always in that failing mode. Any desire to deviate themselves from those specific traits or characteristics will take them out of the failure mode.  Hence, they will not be called failures.  So, it is not easy to fail. It is a decision in and of itself.

And the same goes for the other side of the coin. You have to have certain traits to become successful. But, it takes slightly more effort on this side of the equation. More effort means more hard work. You have to work hard, set goals, find ways to achieve them, be committed, network with people, face adversity, overcome challenges, go against the odds, take less sleep, read more, spend time at night working. You have to walk, stumble, stand up again, fall into holes, get out of the holes, walk some more, climb a hill, roll down the hill, get up again, continue walking, trip, bandage the wound and keep on walking. This goes on and on until you reach your intended destination.

Sound tough?  The hard work is worth the entire struggle because Allah has promised us the reward.

For those who believe and work deeds of righteousness is a reward that will never fail.

[Qur'an Ha Mim : 8]

Those who believe and work righteousness, for them is forgiveness and a sustenance most generous.

[Qur'an The Pilgrimage : 50]

 I am beaming here with happiness. Seriously. Who does not want a sustenance that is most generous?

Say that you decide that you want to become successful in life. You refuse to be a failure in life. What now?  Well, next you must decide the level of success that you would like to achieve? How successful do you want to be?

What amazes me is that there are so many people in this world who claim that they want to be successful, and yet they are not willing to put forth the effort to achieve that goal.   Some people don’t want to even lift a finger, and others think that lifting a finger is enough.

As I told a friend, lifting a mere finger is not enough to achieve success;  we should be talking about mobilizing the entire body!

As an analogy, say I plan to reach for something just a few meters in front of me.  If that is my goal, then maybe lifting the whole arm is enough. Just move my hand muscle, stretch a little bit and whollah! I have arrived. And I am still successful, right? I have reached my goal.

But, what if I plan to move 10 miles ahead? Do you think lifting my arm is sufficient enough? Would it be as easy as the earlier goal I tried to achieve? Don't you think I need to lift myself up? Move not only my arms, but also both of my legs and my whole body? It takes a lot of effort to do that. Am I willing to go down that road?

I may sweat a little. The weather could be unkind and I have to run through a thunderstorm and rain, making me soaking wet. Perhaps that may cause me fever and flu. Or I may be running under a hot blazing sun, making me lose much water and become dehydrated. Or it could be snowing. I have to not only walk through the blazing cold wind and get frost bites, but also, to shovel the road too!

Perhaps while running, a nice driver would stop the car and drive me closer to my destination. Also, I might cross path with another runner who has some experience and share some survival tips with me.

 Perhaps, I might accidentally trip on some stones and bleed. Or my shoes might get torn. My feet might get a splinter or develop corn. There is also a good chance that I could get cramps. A wild animal like a wolf could eye me for its dinner. 

 Maybe I would discover a nice shady tree under which I could rest before I continue my journey.

And, after going through the hardship, I might finally see the sign saying I am almost there. I might run even faster because the end is already within sight.  At last, my legs could take their final stride to my destination.  Wow! That was tiring.

But then again, think of the wonderful adventure I have gone through to reach my destination. Think of the experiences I could share with others after such a struggle over so many obstacles.

IWA Home About the IWA Join the IWA IWA News Current - Archives IWA Members and Associates Member Showcases Special Projects IWA Blog IWA Bookshop IWA Catalog Islamic Ink A free quarterly on-line magazine of the IWA Writer Resources IWA Products IWA Sponsors Advertise with the IWA Contact Us