What is the purpose of trials in our lives? Why do we face trials?

When asked, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "The people most severely tested are the Prophets, then the righteous, then the next best and the next best. A man will be tested in accordance with the degree of his religious commitment; the stronger his religious commitment, the stronger his test."[1]

Allah looks at the faith of an individual and if he sees his faith is strong he puts a strong trial. Allah tailors trials for each and every individual. The purpose of the trial is to bring out the best in us and the highest of our spiritual quality, which unfortunately we most often fail to realize. Hence when the trial comes, we complain, we wail and we cry. We even reach a stage where we blame Allah. But what we are called to do is to be patient among all circumstances of life as Allah said:

And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient,

Who, when disaster strikes them, say, "Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return."[2]

Usually we end up saying:

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un [3]

only when someone dies. It is fine to say it when someone dies, but we must remember to say this when any calamity strikes. Since, all trials fall into the same category, saying, ‘we belong to Allah and to Him we will return’, is an expression of patience. Allah owns us, so whatever Allah puts on us, he has the right to do. We have to believe that it is ultimately what is best for us, no matter how harmful or evil it may seem. Were it not best for us it would imply - Allah is unjust! And that is an extremely dangerous door to go through - to say that Allah is unjust. Our faith in Allah is destroyed.

No! Allah is the most just and whatever he has given us is exactly what we need.

References:

[1] Narrated from Mus’ab bin Sa’d who narrated from his Father Sa’d bin Waqqas: Sunan Tirimidhi: Vol 1, Book 36, Hadith 4023, classed as Hassan by Imaam Tirmidhi

[2] Surah Baqarah, 2:155,156

[3] "Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return." Surah Baqarah, 2:155