How can one who is afflicted with calamity know whether it is a punishment or a test to raise him in status?

If a calamity befalls a Muslim, how can we know whether it is a
punishment for his sins or a test to raise him in status?.
Praise be to Allaah.
According to the Qur'an and Sunnah, there are two direct causes for
calamities and trials, in addition to the wisdom of Allah, may He be
exalted, in what He wills and decrees.
The first reason is:
Sins and acts of disobedience that the person has committed, whether
they constitute kufr or are no more thanregular sins or are majorsins.
Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, will test the one who
committed them with calamity by way of requital and immediate
punishment (i.e., in this world).
Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning): "…but whatever of evil befalls you, is from yourself"
[an-Nisa' 4:79]. The commentators said: i.e., because of your sin.
And He, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning): "And whatever of misfortune befalls you, it is because of
what your hands haveearned. And He pardons much" [ash-Shoora 42:30].
End quote from Tafseer al-Qur'an al-'Azeem, 2/363
It was narrated that Anas(may Allah be pleased with him) said: The
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
"If Allah wills good for His slave, He hastens his punishment in this
world, and if He wills bad for His slave, He withholds from him (the
punishment for) his sin, until He requites him for it on the Day of
Resurrection."
Narrated and classed as hasan by at-Tirmidhi (2396); classed as
saheehby al-Albaani in Saheeh at-Tirmidhi.
The second reason is:
That Allah, may He be exalted, wants to raise instatus the patient
believer, so He tests him with calamity so that he will bear it
acceptance and patience, then He will be given the rewardof those who
are patientin the Hereafter, and willbe recorded with Allah as one of
the victorious. Calamities befell the Prophets and the righteous
persistently, and Allah, may He be exalted, made it an honour for them
by means of which they attained high status in Paradise. Hence it says
inthe saheeh hadeeth from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him): "If a certain status has previously been decreedby Allaah
for a person, and he does not attain itby his deeds, Allaah afflicts
him in his body or wealth or children."
Narrated by Abu Dawood, 3090; classed assaheeh by al-Albaani in
as-Silsilah as-Saheehah, no. 2599.
It was narrated from Anas ibn Maalik (may Allah be pleased with him)
that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
"Great reward comes with great trials. When Allah loves a people, He
tests them, and whoeveraccepts it attains His pleasure, whereas
whoever shows discontent with it incurs His wrath."
Narrated and classed as hasan by at-Tirmidhi (2396); classed as
saheehby al-Albaani in as-Silsilah as-Saheehah, no. 146
The two reasons are mentioned together in the hadeeth of 'Aa'ishah
(may Allah be pleased with her), according to which the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "Nothing befalls a
believer, a (prick of a) thorn or more than that, but Allaah will
raise him one degree in status thereby, or erase a bad deed."
Narrated by al-Bukhaari (5641) and Muslim (2573).
Moreover, in most cases these two causes exist together rather than
either of them occurringon its own.
Do you not see that if Allah tests a person with calamity because of
his sin, and he bears it with patience and gratitude, Allah, may He be
exalted,will forgive him his sin, raise him in status in Paradise and
give him the reward of those whoare patient and seek reward with Him?
When Allah tests a person with a calamity so that he will reach the
lofty status that He has decreed for him in Paradise, his previous
sins are expiated and it is regarded as requital for those sins in
this world, so the requital will not be repeated for him in the
Hereafter. This is what happened to some of the Messengers and
Prophets, such as Adam (peace be upon him) and Yoonus (peace be upon
him): Allah, may Hebe glorified and exalted,tested Adam with expulsion
from Paradise,and He tested Yoonus ibn Matta with being swallowed into
the belly of the fish. But by meansof these tests, Allah raised them
in status because of their patience and seeking reward with Him, may
He be exalted. It was expiation for what each of them had done of
going against His command (blessings andpeace of Allah be upon both of
them).
This proves that requital in this world is not separate from the
requital in the Hereafter.These two reasons are mentioned together in
many saheeh Prophetic hadeeths, such as that which was narrated by
Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqaas (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: I said:
O Messenger of Allah, who among the people are most sorely tested? He
said: "The Prophets, then the next best and the next best. A man will
be tested according to his level of religious commitment. If his
religious commitment is solid, his test will be more severe, but if
there is any weakness in his religiouscommitment, he will be tested
according to his level of religious commitment. And calamity will
continue tobefall a person until he walks on the earth with no sin on
him."
Narrated by at-Tirmidhi (2398) who said: (It is) hasan saheeh.
Nevertheless, one of these two reasons may be more apparent in some
kinds of tests than the other. That may be understood by looking at
the circumstances of the calamity.
If the one who is affected is a kaafir, then his calamity cannot be
toraise him in status, because the kaafir will have no weight before
Allah on the Day of Resurrection. But there may be a lesson and a
reminder for others in that, not to do what he did. Or it may be an
immediate punishment for him in this world, in addition to what is
stored up for him in the Hereafter. Allah, may He be exalted, says
(interpretation of the meaning):
"Is then He (Allah) Who takes charge (guards, maintains, provides,
etc.)of every person and knows all that he has earned (like any other
deities who know nothing)? Yet they ascribe partners to Allah.Say:
"Name them! Is it that you will inform Him of something He knows not
in the earth or is it (just) a show of false words." Nay! To those who
disbelieve, their plotting is made fairseeming, and they have been
hindered from the Right Path, and whom Allah sends astray,for him,
there is no guide.
For them is a torment in the life of this world, and certainly, harder
is the torment of the Hereafter. And they haveno protector against
Allah"
[ar-Ra'd 13:33-34].
But if the one who is affected is a Muslim whocommits sin openly or is
a blatant evildoer, then it is most likely that he is being requited
and punished with this calamity, because expiation of sins comes
before raising in status, and the sinner is in greater need of
expiation for his sins than of being raised in status.
On the other hand, if theMuslim is a devoted worshipper, obedient and
righteous, and thereis nothing between him and Allah but true
'uboodiyyah (servitude), gratitude, praise, repentance and submission
to Him, may He be glorified, then it ismost likely that this calamity
is a kind of honour and raising in status, and people are the
witnesses of Allah onearth. If they know him to be righteous, then
they may give him the glad tidings of raised status before Allah if he
is patient in bearing the calamity.
But if the one who is affected shows displeasure and panic, then it
cannot be thought that his calamityis an honour from Allah to raise
him in status, because Allah, may He beglorified, knew that he would
not be patient and accept it with contentment. So in this case it is
most likely that it is a requital and punishment. One of the righteous
said: The sign of calamity by way of punishment and requitalis lack of
patience when a calamity befalls, and panic and complaining to people.
And the sign of calamity by way of expiation and erasing ofsins is
beautiful patiencewithout complaining, panic or impatience, andlack of
reluctance in fulfilling commands and doing acts of worship.
The sign of calamity by way of raising a person in status is
contentment and acceptance, peace of mind, and patience in accepting
the will of Allah until relief comes. End quote.
All of this is merely circumstantial evidence that one may ponder in
order to learn something of the wisdom of Allah, may He be exalted,
that is behind calamities and trials. But he cannot be certain as to
which is thecase with regard to himself or other people who are
afflicted with calamities.
Perhaps it is more important than all of these details to note thatthe
practical benefit thatone should think about is that every calamity
and test is good for him and will bring reward if he is patient and
seeks reward with Allah, and that every test and calamity is bad for
him ifhe panics and get angry.If he trains himself to bear calamities
with patience and to be content with the decree of Allah, after that
it will not matter if he knows the reason for the calamity or not.
Rather itis always better for him to concern himself with his sins and
shortcomings and to look for some mistake that he has committed, for
all of us make mistakes. Who among ushas not been negligent in his
duties towards Allah, may He be exalted? If Allah, may He be glorified
and exalted,caused the Muslims to suffer the calamity of many of them
being killed on the day of Uhud, even though they were the Companions
of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and the best
of mankind after the Messengers and Prophets, because they had gone
against the command of the Prophet(blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him), thenhow can anyone think after that that he is entitled to
be raised in status for anything that befalls him? When Ibraaheem ibn
Adham (may Allah have mercy on him) saw strong winds and clouds
building up in the sky, he would say: This is because of my sins; if I
depart from among you, it will befall you.]
So how about us with allour shortcomings and sins?
And even more important than all of that is that one should always
think positively of one's Lord, in all situations, for whatever comes
from Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, is good and He is the
Protector of the pious and Oft-Forgiving.
We ask Allah, may He be exalted, to have mercy on us and forgive us,
to teach us that which will benefit us and reward usfor our
calamities, for Heis All-Hearing and answers prayers.