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.
