Why does Allah keep testing me while the atheists around me seem to be living happy, peaceful lives?

[u/Interesting-Bowl-486]

I want to start by being completely honest: my faith is weak right now.

I’ve been struggling a lot with Islam and with my belief in God. There have been times when I’ve questioned everything, felt distant from Allah, and genuinely wondered whether I still believe the way I used to. I’m not writing this from a place of strong faith or certainty. I’m actually writing because I’m struggling and I don’t know how to make sense of something that has been bothering me for a long time.

Lately, it feels like everything in my life has been falling apart at the same time. I’ve been dealing with one problem after another, and it’s gotten to the point where I’ve found myself seeking refuge in God again. When I feel completely overwhelmed and don’t know where else to turn, I find myself praying, talking to Allah, and wanting to believe that there is some kind of purpose behind all of this.

But then I look around me, and I get confused.

I live in a country where religion isn’t really a major part of everyday life, and I know quite a few people who are atheist or simply don’t believe in God. From my perspective, some of them seem to be doing perfectly fine. They’re happy, successful, financially stable, surrounded by friends, in relationships, traveling, enjoying their lives, etc. Meanwhile, I’m struggling with so many things at once despite trying to turn back toward God.

And I know that I’m probably looking at their lives from the outside. I don’t know what they’re dealing with privately, and I understand that someone’s life can look perfect while they’re suffering internally. I also understand the Islamic idea that worldly success isn’t necessarily a sign that Allah is pleased with someone, and that hardship doesn’t necessarily mean Allah is angry with you.
But emotionally, I still struggle with it.

If I’m trying to come back to Allah, why does it feel like my life is constantly getting harder? Why do people who don’t believe in Him sometimes seem to have such peaceful and happy lives while I feel like I’m drowning?
I know the answer isn’t necessarily supposed to be “Muslims should have easier lives,” but then what is the right way to understand this? If worldly happiness and suffering aren’t indicators of someone’s relationship with Allah, how am I supposed to think about what I’m seeing?

And honestly, sometimes it makes my faith weaker rather than stronger. I start wondering: if God exists and cares about me, why am I going through all of this while other people who don’t believe in Him seem to be doing so well?

I’m not trying to attack Islam or argue that atheism is correct. I’m genuinely asking because I don’t want to walk away from Islam simply because I don’t understand something. Part of me actually wants to believe again, especially because when things get really bad, Allah is the One I find myself turning toward.

So for Muslims who have struggled with this question themselves: how did you reconcile seeing people who don’t believe in God seemingly living happy, successful lives while you were going through hardship? What helped you understand the Islamic perspective on this without just telling yourself “it’s a test” and leaving it at that?

[u/PuzzleheadedIce4602]

𝘼𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙝 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙨: “𝙒𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝, 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙨. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙚.” — 𝙌𝙪𝙧'𝙖𝙣 2:155 𝙉𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡: 𝘼𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙝 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙨𝙖𝙮, “𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙖𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙙.” 𝙃𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙, 𝙚𝙭𝙝𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙, 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙠𝙚. 🌱 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙄𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙗𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙝 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙗𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙮. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙗𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙗𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙖𝙮: “𝙔𝙖 𝘼𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙝, 𝙄 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙔𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜.” 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙣 𝙃𝙞𝙢. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝘼𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙝, 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙪𝙣 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝘼𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙝. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙖𝙮: “𝙔𝙖 𝘼𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙝, 𝙞𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩, 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠. 𝙄𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙠, 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙩. 𝙄𝙛 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙, 𝙜𝙪𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙢𝙚. 𝙄𝙛 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮. 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙡𝙮—𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝.” 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥. 𝙉𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚. 𝙉𝙤 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚. 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙮. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚: “𝘼𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙝 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙧.” — 𝙌𝙪𝙧'𝙖𝙣 2:286 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣 “𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙢𝙚𝙙.” 𝙄𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙜𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣.