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Lessons from a Terrarium: Understanding ‘Ubudiyyah
How Ayoub’s Story Changed the Way I See Trials
Ruhaniyya
January 11, 2026 • Estimated Reading Time: 13 minutes
I remember building terrariums for worms with my childhood friends. We used small plastic containers for the worms which we dramatically extracted from their natural habitat – the earth – and put them in the fake home we designed for them with leaves, soil, and other stuff we thought was useful.
I wouldn’t necessarily get the logic today, but we were children. And we used our creativity and fantasy, outside, playing with worms and experimenting instead of watching TV – and I think that healed a big part of my brain today.
Alhamdulillah.
What’s really interesting about our attempt at starting a worm colony (or Earth-BNB?) is the way we placed everything we thought the worm needed in that little container.
I specifically remember how I would have liked that little place myself – not only was it cozy, but the worm was safe. Free from predators, and it had all of this place for itself.
Genius business if you ask me.
Did you ever think about how Allah made the earth like this for us?
And to Allah belongs the utmost, highest, and best example of all.
Did you think about how Allah placed the mountains as pegs (“Have We not made the earth a resting place? And the mountains as pegs?” – Surah An-Naba 78:6–7),
the seas spread out (“And He is the One who released the two seas…” – Surah Al-Furqan 25:53),
how He placed the sky with decorative stars (“And We have certainly beautified the nearest heaven with stars” – Surah Al-Mulk 67:5),
and the earth as a place to sleep (Surah An-Naba 78:6),
to walk (“It is He who made the earth manageable for you, so walk in its paths…” – Surah Al-Mulk 67:15),
work, and explore (Surah Al-Mulk 67:15)?
When we read those ayat in the Qur’an, do we think about their meanings?
Do we see what Allah does for us?
Allah didn’t try like we did.
Allah just did.
“His command is only when He intends a thing that He says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is.”
That’s Allah’s might.
Let me be clear:
Every atom around the earth was meant to cater to your needs.
Everything is taken care of for you.
Everything around you has that purpose – to serve the human being.
Remember your own purpose.
Your purpose is the fundament of our deen.
It’s ‘Ubudiyyah: worship.
And if that means that Allah can say kun fayakun to a flower to bloom in your garden, Allah can also allow it to die, can’t He?
Allah can allow the mountains to crumble (“And the mountains are blown away and become dust scattered” – Surah Al-Waqi’ah 56:5–6),
the seas to part (“Then We inspired Musa: ‘Strike the sea with your staff,’ and it split…” – Surah Ash-Shu’ara 26:63),
and the earth to split and swallow whatever is on it (“So We caused the earth to swallow him and his home” – Surah Al-Qasas 28:81).
If Allah’s principle is kun fayakun,
He allows your body to get sick, doesn’t He?
“And when I am ill, it is He who cures me.”
How does that make you feel?
Does it still feel like ‘ubudiyyah to you?
Do you still have butterflies thinking about Allah’s creation and Allah Himself?
I’m not asking you to act against your feelings – just be honest.
And with whatever feelings and thoughts you have,
let me take you on a reflective journey with me,
in shaa Allah.
What Ayoub Knew That We Forget
If you don’t know the story of Ayoub عليه السلام, please pause this newsletter and go read about it in the tafsirs or watch a video about his life.
Ayoub might be the equivalent of someone successful today – someone who had all the money, children, wealth, and fame you can imagine. And then, because of one thing striking his life, he lost everything.
All of his children died.
All the people turned away from him.
All his crops and lands died and rotted away.
All his wealth – gone.
Just like that.
What was Ayoub’s response?
Actually – what would our response be?
The only thing I know is that I am not even nearly as patient as Ayoub. And I wasn’t even tested with 1% of what our beloved Prophet Ayoub was tested with.
What is told about Ayoub is that he himself never asked Allah for his health back immediately. Ayoub didn’t expect his cure just because he got sick.
Ayoub accepted what Allah tested him with.
Ayoub accepted his dead children, his lost wealth, the whispers of the people.
Ayoub accepted all of this because he knew:
Allah had given him health, wealth, and all the other jewels of this dunya before – and he never complained to Allah then. So why would he complain now?
It was never his in the first place.
“And [mention] Ayyub, when he called to his Lord, ‘Indeed, adversity has touched me, and You are the Most Merciful of the merciful.’ So We responded to him and removed what afflicted him of adversity…”
Whatever we think belongs to us, whatever we think is our right to have and our right to fight for – we own nothing.
Do you let your lungs breathe?
Do you let your heart beat?
Do you even allow yourself to blink?
Our body processes and deals with an uncountable number of things on a DAILY (!) basis without us even knowing. Here are just a few:
Breathing:
The body takes 12–20 breaths per minute to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide.
Heart pumping:
The cardiovascular system consistently pumps blood, delivering nutrients and removing waste from cells.
Digestion and excretion:
The digestive system breaks down food, absorbs nutrients, and removes waste, producing liters of digestive fluids daily.
Homeostasis:
The regulation of internal balance (temperature, blood pressure, blood sugar, fluid levels, pH) is a constant, complex process involving multiple systems and hormones.
Immune response:
The immune system constantly monitors and protects the body from invaders and diseases without our awareness.
This is all Allah.
Always has been.
Always will be.
“It is Allah who created you, then provided for you, then will cause you to die, and then will give you life again.”
Ask yourself again:
What are YOU in control of?
In Sickness Lies Strength
Though the last part might seem confrontational or negative to you, it wasn’t meant like that at all.
I feel like we humans have become so fragile that we take even the simplest facts and truths as a personal attack.
The truth is: Allah ﷻ is in control – even of our sicknesses and trials.
Our role is to understand this and keep reminding ourselves that within all of it lies strength.
When Ayoub عليه السلام finally made du‘a to Allah ﷻ to lift his sickness, some scholars said the reason he made that du‘a wasn’t even for himself – it was because of his wife and the people around him.
His wife started selling her hair, working for others for a piece of bread and whatever she could find. She supported him through everything. And it was that which made him finally make the du‘a.
What’s even more astonishing is how Allah ﷻ answered Ayoub’s du‘a.
Allah gave him everything back.
• His youth
• His children
(It is said that Ayoub’s children entered Paradise anyway, and that Ayoub was given the choice: either to have them returned to him in this dunya or to let them wait for him in Jannah. He chose for them to stay in Jannah and was compensated with children just like them.)
• His wealth
• His fame
“So We responded to him and removed what afflicted him of adversity. And We gave him his family and the like thereof with them, as mercy from Us and a reminder for the worshippers.”
His wife didn’t even recognise him at first when Allah ﷻ restored his health, because it is said his whole body had been covered with the sickness.
Ayoub found strength in knowing that Allah ﷻ is Al-Hakeem (The All-Wise) and Ar-Raheem (The Most Merciful).
Ayoub knew who Allah was.
He knew the nature of this earth.
He understood exactly what his sickness meant and stayed patient – and he would have remained patient even longer - if not till the end of is life - if it wasn’t for the people around him.
I say in sickness lies strength not because you get your health back immediately through the mercy of Allah.
I say in sickness lies strength because you start seeing what Allah’s mercy really does in your life.
The legs that didn’t move before start moving again.
The brain that wouldn’t function except for survival starts thriving again.
The nose that did whatever it pleased starts smelling again.
And your lungs start breathing again.
Your body malfunctions – and you taste Allah’s mercy.
You taste His power.
And you finally understand:
“They said, ‘We remained a day or part of a day…’”
This dunya lasts only for a day or part of a day.
And part of that realisation is this:
All the pain, all the suffering, all the sadness will eventually go.
And the same goes for all the happiness, all the joy, all the old things we want and love.
The question isn’t whether our lives have more goodness or more trials.
It doesn’t matter how we got sick and healed again.
It doesn’t matter how blessed we are.
As long as we fail to recognise what Ayoub understood,
every blessing in life will feel like a fleeting joy,
while every trial will feel like a punishment.
In sickness lies strength –
if we understand why sickness was created by Allah in the first place,
and why strength is the opposite of sickness –
not health.
Now, what is the connection to ‘Ubudiyyah?
Just like the terrarium for worms was created to cater for them, the earth was created to cater for us. Even the worms had a purpose in that terrarium – just like we do.
The difference between you and the worm, though, is that we have consciousness and free will – both of which you can use for yourself or against yourself.
I highly recommend going with your fitrah and using your will and consciousness for Allah ﷻ – which also means using it for you.
Let me explain.
Just like Ayoub عليه السلام, we need to start accepting what Allah has destined for us.
Stop whining about the fate given to you by Allah ﷻ.
Stop bickering and trying to flee the moment when Allah has clearly destined it for you to happen – for a reason.
When I first got sick, I wanted it to go away as soon as possible. I became so frustrated that I didn’t even know what else to do anymore.
That stress made it even worse, and I kept going in circles.
Fleeing the problem was never an option – and it was never the point.
The purpose is to learn to live with it for as long as Allah has destined it for me to be like that.
It’s simply a test –
and you can apply that to anything in your life.
With a trial in your life, Allah is giving you possibilities and mercies we can’t even fathom:
• Your sins are being forgiven
“No fatigue, nor disease, nor sorrow, nor sadness, nor hurt, nor distress befalls a Muslim – even if it were the prick he receives from a thorn – but that Allah expiates some of his sins for that.”
• You are being slowed down
“How wonderful is the affair of the believer! For his affairs are all good… If something good happens to him, he is grateful and that is good for him. And if something harmful happens to him, he is patient and that is good for him.”
• You are being refocused – away from dunya and back to Allah
“And We will surely let them taste the nearer punishment short of the greater punishment, that perhaps they will return.”
• Your faith in Allah is being tested
“Do people think they will be left to say, ‘We believe,’ and they will not be tested?”
• Your plans are being perfected
“They plan, and Allah plans. And Allah is the best of planners.”
Stop seeing everything wrong in a test that your brain can think of.
Stop being negative in a situation that should be looked at for what it truly is:
A test from Allah.
Train your brain and body to be like Ayoub.
To understand the nature of this life.
To refocus on what’s more important: pleasing Allah ﷻ.
Ask yourself:
How can I please Allah through what is happening to me?
Remember that we are all going through this in different shapes and forms.
Remember that you are not alone – because Allah is Al-Hayy (The Ever-Living).
As long as you take Him as a friend,
you will never be lost.
I genuinely didn’t know if I should share all of this with you, because it feels quite personal. But the amount of reflection Allah ﷻ allowed me to have, and the realizations I’ve had in the past three weeks alone, are truly one of a kind.
I still have a lot to say, and if Allah allows me, I’ll be writing more about it in another newsletter, in shaa Allah.
For now, I’d really love to hear your thoughts.
I also have a new email address that you can personally write to, and in shaa Allah we can have conversations through mail if I manage to read through them 🙂 Just reply to this Mail!
Until then, Ill leave you
في امان الله (in the protection of Allah)
❦ Dunja ❦