إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا
Indeed, with hardship will be ease.
— Surah Ash-Sharh — 94:6
In the tenth year of prophethood, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ lost the two people who had held his world together.
Within weeks of each other:
Khadijah رضي الله عنها — his wife of 25 years. The first person to believe in him. The one who held him when he came trembling from the Cave of Hira and said: “I fear for myself.” She said: “Never. Allah would never disgrace you.”
Abu Talib — his uncle and protector. The man whose standing in Makkah had been a political shield between the Prophet ﷺ and the Quraysh’s worst intentions.
The Muslims called it ‘Aam al-Huzn — the Year of Grief.
The Day After Abu Talib Died
The very next day, a man from Makkah — a nobody — walked up to the Prophet ﷺ on the street and poured dust on his head.
He walked home covered in dust. One of his daughters wept as she cleaned it off. He said to her:
“Do not weep, my daughter. Allah will protect your father.”
He did not collapse. He did not rage. He kept walking.
What He Did Next
He went to Ta’if. Alone, essentially. To seek support from the Thaqif tribe. He was rejected, mocked, and then chased out of the city by a mob who stoned him until his sandals filled with blood.
He sat under a tree, bleeding and exhausted. And he made one of the most beautiful duas in history:
“O Allah, to You I complain of my weakness, my lack of resources, and my humiliation before people… If You are not displeased with me, I do not care about anything…”
Not: why me. Not: I give up. Just: as long as You are not displeased with me.
The Lesson for Our Year of Grief
Every one of us will have one. The year — or the month, or the season — where things collapse.
The Seerah does not promise us that Allah will prevent those moments. It promises us what comes after them.
After Ta’if came Isra wal Mi’raj — the Night Journey. Allah took His Messenger from the depths of earthly pain to the highest point any human has ever reached.
Your lowest point is not your last point. Allah’s response to the Year of Grief was to elevate His Prophet beyond anything any human being had ever experienced.
He will not waste your pain either.