Does Allah really never grants us what we want?

Greetings and peace be with you wayfarer91;

format_quote Originally Posted by wayfarer91

and the friend failed in the exam. And things haven't worked out for them since then

I believe that Allah answers duas in a way that help us towards eternal salvation. Had your friend passed the exams, would that have brought them closer to Allah?

Not everyone can pass exams first time, they are meant to be hard. If you fail once, that does not stop you making dua and trying again. Failure only becomes failure when you quit.

I like this prayer.....

I asked for Strength.
And Allah gave me Difficulties to make me strong.
I asked for Wisdom.
And Allah gave me Problems to solve.
I asked for Prosperity.
And Allah gave me Brain and Brawn to work.
I asked for Courage.
And Allah gave me Danger to overcome.
I asked for Love.
And Allah gave me Troubled people to help.
I asked for Favours.
And Allah gave me Opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted
I received everything I needed
My Prayer has been answered.

Eric my brother, when will you take your shahadah?

Salamualaikum,

I'm not sure how much of this I believe " that Allah never gives us what we desire ". In fact I find it very difficult to believe, can this be backed up through any reference in Quran or Hadith as direct quote please ?

Allah may give us some of what we desire, all that we desire or nothing that we desire. We have no knowledge of what will come to be a reality, isn't that the point of an unknown future ? We make duaa because Allah overpowers anything in this entire universe and existence, we make duaa because Allah hears our duaas, we make duaa because during our time of need there is no one that can help us more than the creator of this world.

Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah says: 'I am just as My slave thinks I am, (i.e. I am able to do for him what he thinks I can do for him) and I am with him if He remembers Me. If he remembers Me in himself, I too, remember him in Myself; and if he remembers Me in a group of people, I remember him in a group that is better than they; and if he comes one span nearer to Me, I go one cubit nearer to him; and if he comes one cubit nearer to Me, I go a distance of two outstretched arms nearer to him; and if he comes to Me walking, I go to him running.' "

Isn't believing that we never get what we desire, the equivalent of doubting our God. Isn't that almost insinuating no compassion. We don't all get what we desire naturally, because of course if we all got every single thing we desire we would be living in Paradise.... or an alternative Hell on Earth perhaps, not everyone is meant to have everything. Imagine everyone having immense and endless wealth ....we all want that, but 1) we can't all handle it. Sometimes having so much money can change us for the worst, more temptation, more sin, further from relating to people who are not fortunate and power that not everyone uses in the right way. Do I still want to live in a palace and be fed grapes on a throne ?Yes lol. I know you said to not refer to whether it is good or bad for us, but it is relevant. But at the very minimal, an example of that not being a factor, very simply if we all got what we desired, we would all have acres of land, private islands to ourselves, and mansions the size of My Cribs. What would be the point ... The world just does not work like that. As Muslims we understand this is a temporary life, not always an easy one, but that real desire will come in Paradise where we will there have all that we want and all that we can't imagine. However coming back to the present, there are different forms of desire. You can have a family member who is ill, doctors say they won't make it, you and loved ones make duaa and against medical "predictions" your family make it through and recover ( it happens ! ) blessings from God. We can't know which things we will be granted and which we will not. I think the mindset of assuming we will never be granted anything we want is negative. Rather we should still always turn to Allah and hope, pray, wish for whatever it is we desire, and have faith in him. For the things we are granted we should be grateful and thankful, and for the things we are not, we should also be thankful because there is a reason behind it, we may come to later know that reason or we may never really know. But Allah knows best.

It is also worth noting, that life is not exactly Aladdin with a Genie, make duaa and poof our desires pop up there and then. I really like Eric's input, that was the perfect example of the ways in which we are given the tools to acquire and achieve what we want. You may pray to pass your exam, and Allah grants you the strength, will power, focus to not be swayed by distractions. You may pray to set up your own business, and Allah grants you with the initiative to come into contact with all the relevant information and knowledge you need, you may meet someone who is in the line of work you want to get into, and who can give you some insight to invaluable advice that really helps you kickstart things or offers first hand experience on what not to do. Student of deed mentioned marriage. You may pray for marriage and whilst it has not been granted yet, Allah has saved you for some very bad options, options that you could not foresee would have ended you in a worse place, therefore yes you are waiting but when it happens it is the right person, therefore still the desire has been met eventually. We still have to work at everything in life and not always getting what we want is part of that, in dealing with the hope that there is something better or a reason why we didn't get that "thing".

But to say we never get what we desire, seems incorrect to me. Please refer to any evidence if otherwise.

Greetings and peace be with you Scimi my friend,

format_quote Originally Posted by Scimitar

Eric my brother, when will you take your shahadah?

I recognise the faith in Allah that you and many other Muslims share here on this forum. I have a profound respect for you, but there are reasons I am a Christian, this thread is about duas, so I shall share one story.

In 2011 I had tests done for cancer, about a month later the doctor phoned and said he urgently wanted to see me, it was non – Hodgkin Lymphoma. This was a name I recognised, our friend had this cancer, and died a few months later. Being told I had a possible death sentence hanging over me; was out of my hands, there was nothing I could do about it. But I still had choices, I could dictate how the cancer was going to affect my mind and my ability to cope with the news.

A few minutes after putting the phone down; I prayed for the wisdom, strength and peace to do God’s will, whether the cancer was a death sentence, or just an inconvenience. I can only say that from the moment of making this prayer, I have experienced a profound sense of peace, and the thought of cancer has never troubled me for a moment.

Cancer could be a truly worrying process, you wait a month or two for tests, you wait for the results, and you wait for more appointments. I have never once prayed for healing, at the age of 62, the prayer for healing seemed too complicated, it might or might not be my time to go. Recognising this profound sense of peace comes from God, gives me reason to be thankful.

Today, I don't know if the cancer has gone or if it will come back, but these thoughts do not trouble me and I still live in peace with this knowledge.

In the spirit of praying for a peace that surpasses all understanding, may Allah bless you on your journey.

Eric