Life is just unfair

Last weekend, my family and I decided to pay a visit to my uncle's condominium in Damansara Damai. We were told that just the day before, a gentleman who lived there has decided to take his own life, jumping off from his balcony. He apparently had a quarrel, and when things got out of control decided to commit suicide.

I am against suicide. And I believe that a lot of people out there shares the same opinion. Understandably, the issue might get slightly complicated when one talks about suicide in certain circumstances, patients who are terminally ill, as an example. However, in principal, suicide is a major sin in Islam and the punishments for those committing such act has been mentioned in several ahadith by our Prophet PBUH.

“Whoever throws himself down from a mountain and kills himself will be throwing himself down in the Fire of Hell for ever and ever. Whoever drinks poison and kills himself will be sipping it in the Fire of Hell for ever and ever. Whoever kills himself with a piece of iron will have that iron in his hand, thrusting it into his belly in the Fire of Hell for ever and ever.” [Narrated by al-Bukhaari (5442) and Muslim (109)]

But that is not what I intend to dwell on in this post. Rather, such incidences sparked me into thinking about all the strange ironies of this world we're living in.

• How ironic is it, that when one who has a terminal disease tries every avenue possible to save his/her life, battling right till the very end, but yet there are people out there who just decided to succumb to their difficulties by committing suicide.

• How ironic is it, that there are a lot of couples out there who tried for years to get a child but failed, yet there are people out there who dumped their babies in front of a mosque, or in the bush, even worse in the garbage!

• How ironic is it, that we hear stories of parents trying all they could do to save the life of their child who suffers from a disease, spending whatever they have for the sake of their precious, but yet we hear of sad news about parents who abuse their child, to the extent of killing these innocent children?!

To the eyes of some people, life is just unfair. The aforementioned situations are just some of the examples. Criminals getting away with the crime they committed, people of power enjoying the wealth of his nation while his people suffer in poverty, and rich people gets richer while the poor becomes poorer.



Is life really that unfair?


If you ever need a good example of a so-called injustice, just look at the story of Alton Logan. He was convicted of a first degree murder of a security guard at a McDonald restaurant in Chicago back in 1982, a crime he never committed. Logan was given a life sentence in jail, and only after 26 long years in the prison did they find out that Logan was after all, not guilty.

But what was more shocking, was the fact that two attorneys involved in Logan's case knew all along that he did not kill the security guard, but stated that they were tight-lipped to reveal the true murderer. Why? --Because their client, Andrew Wilson, who they were defending for killing two policemen, confessed to them that he had also killed the security guard at McDonald's - the crime Logan was charged with!



For more story about Alton Logan, click HERE.


When Logan was eventually released in 2008, he was 54 years old. He had spent almost half his life in a place he didn't deserve to be in. The true culprit, Andrew Wilson had died and there was no way Logan could seek revenge for the late Wilson's crime.

If you were to put yourself in Logan's position, how could you put peace to your heart for such injustice?

I myself, can easily claim that life is unfair to me. When I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma back in December 2008, the doctors told me that it is one of the most treatable cancer in medicine. Some even went further saying that if you have to be affected with a cancer, then take Hodgkin's Lymphoma. I was given plenty of reassurance that my life will be back on track by the end of my treatment.

But the harsh reality is, I am still currently battling against this supposedly easily treatable cancer. In fact, it has gone worse than I could ever expect it to be. And yet, some patients I know of through my times in the hospital who suffered from supposedly more serious types of cancers, are now alive and kicking, being in remission from their disease.

If you were to put yourself into such position, how do you find solace from a seemingly unfair life?

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The reality is, one can never find peace when he thinks of how unfair life has been to him. He never will.

I find peace, knowing the fact that my religion teaches me that there is life after death. That there is the Hereafter, and the Day of Judgement.

It is during the Day of Judgement that every criminals who got away with their crimes in this world will be rightly punished for their acts.

It is during the Day of Judgement that all the wrongdoings of an unjust leader be shown, and that he can no longer abuse his power to prevent it.

Believing in the Hereafter should answer every question a Muslim has about all the injustices in life. That we should leave the judgement of every affairs in life to Allah, the best and most just disposer.

As for the difficulties one persistently faces throughout his journey in life, be it from suffering an illness to those with never ending hardships, do find peace in our Prophet's sayings,

The believing man or woman continues to have affliction in person, property and children so that they may finally meet Allah, free from sin. (Tirmidhi)

When one believes in the Hereafter, then there really is no better position to be in but to meet your Creator in the purest of state, a state free from sin. By the will of Allah, the reward of Jannah (paradise) awaits, so beautiful it is, that whatever sufferings that used to afflict him is now just a past memory. SubhanAllah!

That is the beauty of the Deen. When one's paradigm in life is about building for the Hereafter, then the heart finds solace in whatever trials comes his way. But when one's life is centred upon the temporary life of this world, then one will struggle as the heart fails to find the satisfaction it really needs.

Life is, after all, not that unfair, isn't it? Ask yourself.