She felt as if a bombshell had dropped… Her world was turned completely upside down… Her husband had been caught cheating on her! She thinks to herself, “How could he? After all I’ve done for him, he repays me with this? Is this his concept of loyalty?”

She then begins to ponder over all that she had done for him through the thirty-five years of their marriage. Bearing and raising his three children, through sickness and good health, patiently attending to their every need when they required her… Preparing three meals a day for her husband, with love and affection… Seeing to all the affairs of the home… Preparing for his guests… Seeing to his elderly parents… Always receiving him with a smile when he returned from a long, tiring day at work…

She repeats to herself, “How could he repay me like this? How could he do this to me?” At that moment, she is consumed by the fact that her husband has been disloyal and has betrayed her. 

While we can certainly sympathise with the plight of the woman described above, as her husband’s disgusting behaviour is certainly an extremely severe breach of trust and a major betrayal, how many of us have pondered over the following:

Allah Ta‘ala created us, giving us a chance to strive for the ultimate reward – Jannah… He blessed us with imaan… He cared for us, from when we were foetuses, and continues to look after us at every moment of every day… He blesses us with so many bounties that it is impossible for us to enumerate them all… He blessed us with beauty, intelligence and understanding… He allowed us to be part of the best of all Ummahs and follow the best of all the Ambiyaa (‘alaihimus salaam)…

Despite Allah Ta‘ala doing everything for us and showing us such love and compassion, how often do we betray Him and display disloyalty to Him on a daily basis by breaking his commands? How can we repay His kindness in this ‘heartless’ manner? Is this not the ‘ultimate betrayal’?

If a woman who served her husband loyally throughout their marriage considers her husband’s cheating and infidelity as betrayal, which indeed it is, then our disregard for the laws of Allah Ta‘ala, who shows us far more kindness than any woman can ever show to her husband, is certainly the ultimate betrayal, a million times more severe than the husband’s betrayal of his wife! 

Let us set aside a few moments daily to ponder over how much kindness and compassion we perpetually enjoy from Allah Ta‘ala. Every beat of our hearts is a blessing from Allah Ta‘ala. Imagine what our condition would be if just this one bounty was snatched from us? This should be sufficient for us to realize that we can never express adequate appreciation to Allah Ta‘ala for His innumerable and invaluable favours. Does it behove a believer to betray his most compassionate and kind Allah Ta‘ala when he enjoys so many of his favours and bounties? Insha-Allah, if we ponder over this, we will increase our love for Allah Ta‘ala and will find it easier to abstain from disobeying Him.

May Allah Ta‘ala bless us all with His true love, aameen.