that trials cease only when they enter the abode of recompense; before that, there is testing and trial.

When people are deprived of the light of prophethood, they fall into the darkness of tribulations. Religious innovations and wickedness arise, and evil spreads among them. As authentically reported, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“I asked my Lord for three things. He granted me two and withheld the third. I asked Him not to destroy my community through a widespread famine, and He granted me that. I asked Him not to give an enemy from outside their ranks power to wipe them out, and He granted me that. I asked Him not to turn their violence against one another, but He withheld that from me.”

The word ba’s (violence) is derived from bu’s (misery). Allah Most High says:

“Say: He has the power to send punishment upon you from above you or from beneath your feet, or to divide you into factions and make you taste one another’s violence.”

The two Sahīh collections report concerning the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“When the words of Allah Most High were revealed, ‘Say: He has the power to send punishment upon you from above you,’ he said, ‘I seek refuge in Your Face.’ At ‘or from beneath your feet,’ he said, ‘I seek refuge in Your Face.’ At ‘or to divide you into factions and make you taste one another’s violence,’ he said, ‘These two are less severe.’”

This demonstrates that they will inevitably be divided into factions and made to taste one another’s violence, while the Messenger has no part in this state of affairs, and they are then in a state of pre-Islamic ignorance. Thus al-Zuhrī said: “Civil strife broke out while the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, were still numerous. They unanimously agreed that any case involving blood, property, or sexual relations