Late failure

Back in secondary school, I had a classmate who had problems coping in Chemistry classes. Because she found it difficult to grasp the subject, the teacher was also frustrated and sometimes lost patience and gave her a hard time. After leaving high school, she of course was happy to finally be rid of the subject, and during her time in sixth form, she found her passion in business related studies. She did exceedingly well there, as was even elected as one of the prefects of the school. She went on to receive a scholarship to do a Bachelor degree overseas, followed by a Masters degree.

Her determination, her discipline, and her never wavering faith to Allah, plus lots and lots of love from her family, friends and boyfriend, made everything bearable. The four years of higher education was bearable because of love. It may sound cliche, but sincere love is a strong motivator, no doubt about that.

I am an observer from the outside, this is what I think of her at a distance, albeit being my friend, we do not spend much time with each other. But I can see where she gets her drive from, and it is from surrounding herself with love. Love from her family, love from her friends, love from her boyfriend and ultimately, love from Allah. The love only spurs her on. She knows deep down she is not just going it for herself but also for her loved ones. I would classify her as a late bloomer, if I could, no offense. I once saw her as an average student, occasionally getting her warranted good grades, but not outstanding overall. But now I see where she shines, and I can certainly say she is better off than I am.

Now I will go slightly off tangent. Sometimes you see people who you can tell hardly ever put themselves close to Allah, hardly ever remember Him in all times, whether happy or sad. Close example is someone who doesn't perform the daily prayers. But despite their ignorance of Allah, their life is peachy- fancy house, fancy car, fancy job, beautiful wife, lovable kids. But what does get them through, even at that brief moment where they don't feel empty inside? Love and support. They surround themselves with people who they love, they share their feelings and express it.

I asked a friend this question once- why do people who commit sins and hardly ever remember God still receive His blessings and have a happy life? Yes, Allah is the most generous and showers His blessings to whoever He chooses. But then would He still have mercy to those who continue to disobey Him? Wouldn't He want to guide these people to the right path by inflicting them with adversity and showing them how remembrance to God can benefit them? My friend responded to my reservations, saying that even though these people have what everyone would want for in this life, they still feel empty inside. Like there is still something missing from their life, but they have no clue what it is. So they are left with this constant nagging feeling that something is amiss, and is struggling to find out what it is.

I still, however, find this concept hard to grasp. I guess I can never understand what the answer to my question is, until an example of the situation is plain clear in front of me. Yes, I can be that slow. Tunggutah sampai ada jawapan dapan-dapan mata.