World Faiths – Suffering and Affliction

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Whatever of good comes to thee is from Allah; and whatever of evil befalls thee is from thyself. And We have sent thee as a Messenger to mankind. And sufficient is Allah as a Witness.

Islam, the Holy Qur’an, 4:80

No fatigue, nor disease, nor sorrow, nor sadness, nor hurt, nor distress befalls a Muslim, even if it were the prick he receives from a thorn, but that Allah expiates some of his sins for that.

Islam, Saying of the Holy Prophet (sa), Sahih Al-Bukhari, Hadith 5641

When a person moves away from God, Who is the True Source of his life, and departs from the religion of nature, he is involved in suffering, and if his heart is not dead and retains its feeling, he feels the torment keenly. If this condition is not reformed, there is an apprehension that all spiritual faculties might gradually become useless, and a severe torment might ensue. Thus no suffering comes from outside; all suffering is generated within a person.

Islam, Saying of the Promised Messiah (as), The Essence of Islam – Vol. II, p. 441.

For misery does not come from the earth,

nor does trouble sprout from the ground;

but human beings are born to trouble,

just as sparks fly upward.

Judaism, The Tanakh, Job 5:6-7

But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated

Christianity, The Bible, 1 Peter 3:14

The Noble Truth of Suffering (Dukkha) is this: Birth is suffering; ageing is suffering; sickness is suffering; death is suffering; sorrow and lamentation, pain, grief, and despair are suffering; association with the unpleasant is suffering; dissociation from the pleasant is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering…in brief, the five aggregates of attachment are suffering.

Buddhism, Samyutta Nikaya lvi.11: Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth

Suffering is the medicine, and pleasure the disease, because where there is pleasure, there is no desire for God. 

Sikhism, Guru Granth Sahib, p.469