[shanzeh]

Salam!
I've been a highly religious and devout Muslim but I've Always received defeat in my favorite discipline (career) for some years. I heard all that happens is for good by Allah but I haven't came around any such *goodness*
So any proof that what Allah does is for our own benefit and good? i.e making me permanently ineligible from the best institute etc?
Is all this theory of betterment a LIE? Don't recommend the so-called patience as I've been peacefully patient for 4 **** years.

 

[Reminder]

Salam!
I've been a highly religious and devout Muslim but I've Always received defeat in my favorite discipline (career) for some years. I heard all that happens is for good by Allah but I haven't came around any such *goodness*
So any proof that what Allah does is for our own benefit and good? i.e making me permanently ineligible from the best institute etc?
Is all this theory of betterment a LIE? Don't recommend the so-called patience as I've been peacefully patient for 4 **** years.

Prophet Lot (pbuh) was more patient than you, that is a fact.

Edit: MAde a mistake. I meant to say Prophet Job (pbuh), but of course both were far more patient than we ever will be.

 

[Search]

:bism: (In the Name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful)

(Peace be upon you)

Salam!
I've been a highly religious and devout Muslim but I've Always received defeat in my favorite discipline (career) for some years. I heard all that happens is for good by Allah but I haven't came around any such *goodness*
So any proof that what Allah does is for our own benefit and good? i.e making me permanently ineligible from the best institute etc?
Is all this theory of betterment a LIE? Don't recommend the so-called patience as I've been peacefully patient for 4 **** years.

So, InshaAllah (God-willing), I wanted to break down in layers your post and hopefully provide you guidance if Allah (God) wills. I am advising myself first before I'm advising you as I'm more in need of advice than anyone here.

First, all Allah ever does, is doing, and will ever do is for our betterment. How do we know this? Prophet :saws: (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "I am amazed by the believer. Verily, Allah does not decree anything for the believer except what is good for him" (Musnad Ahmad 12495).

However, before we get to even that step of understanding how that is on a deeper level, let's first and foremost acknowledge that we as human beings have very limited knowledge and thereby are often deceived by an appearance of what is good and what is bad on surface level of matters: Allah (God) says in the Qur'an: "...and it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allah (God) knows but you do not know" (2:216).

For example, if a man has just bought a new car and he drives that car to the parking lot of a grocery store. When he comes back, he sees and empty parking spot where he'd parked his car. His car has been stolen: his brand new car. And he is then upset and angry at Allah for depriving of the car he'd bought with his hard-earned monies. He's cursing the situation and bemoaning his fate. However, what if he were to discover from the ghayb (unseen) that had he actually traveled in that car that day at that time, he would have gotten into a horrible accident that would have left him paralyzed from the neck down. Would he still have been upset and angry at Allah, cursing his situation and bemoaning his fate? So, in reality, Allah saved him and only his human perception did not allow him to see that truth whereas Allah as the All-Knowing and All-Merciful Almighty did know. And so despite knowing what this ungrateful creature's reaction will be in the future, Allah still decided to cover this ignorant person with His Mercy and that Mercy saved him.

Moreover, human beings often make the mistake of believing that Allah owes them something if they pray, fast, do good deeds, etc. But my dear, Allah owes no one anything. If you do good or are a good Muslim, who benefits? Allah? How can you benefit Allah? You do not benefit Allah; you only benefit yourself. And despite this truth, Allah gives you great rewards here and hereafter for choosing to be devout even though it is His Mercy and His Will too which allows you to be devout in the first place, otherwise what would you have done if Allah had willed you to be ungodly and a polytheist and without limbs? It is Allah's Favor that you are a Muslim and it is Allah's Favor that allows you to have even a pentaquark of your devoutness and it is Allah's Favor that you have limbs which you've been able to use for worship of Allah, yet you expect Allah to be grateful to you for giving you of His Favor? Prophet :saws: (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say, "All Praise is due to Allah by whose Favor good deeds are accomplished." Is it not arrogant that you presume your devoutness then is from you when it is all from Allah and nothing can be accounted to you even an atom?

Prophet :saws: (peace and blessings be upon him) has told us that Allah has said:
“O My servants, I have forbidden oppression for Myself and I have made it forbidden among you, so do not oppress one another.
O My servants, all of you are astray except for those I have guided, so seek guidance from Me and I shall guide you.
O My servants, all of you are hungry except for those I have fed, so seek food from Me and I shall feed you.
O My servants, all of you are naked except for those I have clothed, so seek clothing from me and I shall clothe you.
O My servants, you sin by night and day and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness from Me and I shall forgive you.
O My servants, you will not be able to cause harm to Me and you will not be able to cause benefit to Me.
O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you, to become as pious as the most pious heart of anyone of you, that would not increase My Kingdom in anything.
O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you, to be as wicked as the most wicked heart of anyone of you, that would not decrease My Kingdom in anything.
O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you, to rise up in one place and make a request of Me, and were I to give everyone what he requested, that would not decrease what I have any more than a needle would decrease the sea if put into it.
O My servants, it is only your deeds that I record for you and then recompense for you, so let him who finds good praise Allah and let him who finds other than that blame no one but himself.” So, if there is anything which you find a current lack in your life, you should self-reflect to see where you went wrong either from a spiritual or worldly perspective. Then, you should correct your path and also ask forgiveness of Allah perchance that whatever blockage exists may be removed from your path.

Moreover, Prophet :saws: (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Trials will continue to befall the believing man and woman, with regard to themselves, their children and their wealth, until they meet Allah with no sin on them." What is that the worth of yourself as a human being you have reduced yourself? To gaining admission into the best institute? Do you even know that a man from the renowned institute of Harvard living on the streets as a homeless man? Why do you think the best institute is the answer to worldly success? All success (whether worldly or otherworldly) only comes from Allah. It may be that Allah wills a person from a less renowned institute to become the world's best in his/her field and the graduate from a renowned institute to become a mentally ill homeless person as in the case above; therefore, what you should recognize is that success does not lie in attending the best institute but becoming or being the best or a success in whatever institution you find yourself.

Additionally, my Islamic teacher (may Allah bless him) always used to teach all his students that patience must be from the beginning to the end, in every fiber of our being and through to our very last breath. If you are not at your very last breath, then you still have your life to live and that by default means you must be patient. Because there is no one on this earth who does not taste an undesirable situation at one point or another in his or her life. And patience is the maker or a breaker of a person. The benefit of patience though is infinite, the first being that you are able to retain a functioning clear-thinking mind, one not clouded with negativity and able to see the forest instead of just the trees and in so doing thereby able to look for ways to cultivate your circumstances in your favor rather than let your circumstances hold you back and that too as hostage to a negative spiral of feelings egged on from shaitaan (satan) in the form of waswas (whispers/doubts) against tawakkul (trust in Allah).

As for your emotions, all of them currently low, well, I have a story to share on that too: Once a king who felt victim to the ebbs and flows of his emotions gathered his wisest advisers and set them a task: "Produce for me an artifact that whenever I am low will make me feel better and whenever I am too high and mighty will steady my state and bring me balance." The advisers duly reported back to him a few days later and presented the king with a ring. The king put the ring on and noticed that when he looked carefully that the ring held the inscription: "This too shall pass." In the future, whenever the king felt overwhelmed by anything at all, he would read these words and reflect on them. Whenever you too feel overwhelmed with anything (positive or negative), remember, "This too shall pass."

Finally, as I said previously, all Allah ever does, is doing, and will ever do is for our betterment. Because Prophet :saws: (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "I am amazed by the believer. Verily, Allah does not decree anything for the believer except what is good for him" (Musnad Ahmad 12495). If Allah wills something in the nature of a misfortune for you, it brings you closer to Allah and at His door to supplicate. And if Allah does answers your supplications here, then that means Allah has given you what you chose. But if Allah has not answered you, then that means Allah has chosen for you His choice and His choice is infinitely superior to yours and based in Wisdom and All Knowledge of All Past, Present, Future (including your soul's mission, life in this world, life in the grave, Resurrection Day, Judgment Day, and life in the hereafter).

And on account whatever you've described, I do not believe Allah has inflicted a misfortune upon you; instead, Allah has given you an opportunity to learn from your mistake and exposed to you your arrogance (that had been secretly cultivated in your heart). So, from where I stand, I see that Allah has blessed you with an awesome opportunity to put down your ego and then come to Allah but this time as a servant (instead of a tyrant with expectation of remuneration or compensation in the form of having what you exactly desired or your exact objective met). So, this time, supplicate the supplication in which lays acknowledgment of your ignorance and your servanthood: "Our Lord! Grant us good in this world and good in the hereafter." Remember Allah knows what is truly good for you and what is not.

More amazingly, I confess to you that the prayers that I have most regretted having answered are the ones on which I insisted upon as a tyrant because they turned out to be the worst regrets of my life, and I would rather now wish that I had had the foresight that you now have an opportunity to have which is that Allah is ever your Well-Wisher and while you may not be getting what you wish you're getting exactly what you need to be able to succeed either here or in the hereafter or both. AllahuAkbar (God is Great).

Prophet :saws: (peace and blessings be upon him) has said, "Having an excellent opinion [of Allah] is from excellence in worship."

And Prophet :saws: (peace and blessings be upon him) has also stated that Allah has informed, "I Am as My Servant thinks I Am." Therefore, I suspect there still may be that chance that Allah enables you to have whatever it is that inspired you to write your post though only if you would just be humble enough to revise your opinion (of Allah). That said, I warn you of the old adage "be careful what you wish for," as I can personally attest to its truthfulness. Therefore, I strongly suggest you ask Allah for what is best for you and not necessarily what you want because what you want may not necessarily be the best for you, and you know not while Allah knows.

Sincere Regards & Best Wishes, :statisfie

 

[Hamza Asadullah]

Salam!
I've been a highly religious and devout Muslim but I've Always received defeat in my favorite discipline (career) for some years. I heard all that happens is for good by Allah but I haven't came around any such *goodness*
So any proof that what Allah does is for our own benefit and good? i.e making me permanently ineligible from the best institute etc?
Is all this theory of betterment a LIE? Don't recommend the so-called patience as I've been peacefully patient for 4 **** years.

When a child cries for something that they really stubbornly want, but the Mother knows it is not good for them and may even bring harm to them. Therefore she does not give the child what it really wants and instead waits and gives the child something better that will benefit them far more in the short and long run. Then this is the analogy of us as the child and Allah. We think we know what is best for us so we ask repeatedly, beg and cry unto him to give us what we want (or what our desires want). But in reality we do not know what is best for us even though we think we do, as our knowledge is very limited and narrow. It maybe that Allah is saving us from a great harm or that what he eventually gives us is far better for us than what we asked for. It is only later on in life when we look back that we will realise that Allah truly did what was best for us.

Therefore if we know that Almighty Allah's knowledge is infinite and limitless where as ours is finite, limited and narrow then surely we should ask of Allah to do what is best for us in the short and long term and then totally submit ourselves unto him, put our full trust, hope, faith and reliance in him and eventually there is no doubt that he will give us something far better than what we asked for or save us from great harm or detriment.

So my sister we must never get disheartened and think that our Dua's are not being answered and forget all of the other things we are being provided every second of every day. We must never forget his infinite favours upon us and be thankful to him especially when we are given so much more compared to most people in this world. But Allah in his infinite generosity gives more to the thankful and appreciative:

“If you give thanks (by accepting Faith and worshipping none but Allah), I will give you more (of My Blessings)” [Ibraaheem 14:7]

What happens is that when we think Allah is not responding to our Dua's then our enemy Shaythan and our nafs (desires) try and makes us lose hope in making Dua to Allah and makes us think it is a waste of time and effort. We then begin to become angry towards Allah and question him "Why" our Dua's are not being answered. Then doubts begin to creep in our hearts whether Allah has even heard our Dua's or that Allah does not like us or hates us that is why he is not answering our Dua. My sister there is no doubt this is from our enemy shaythan and our nafs. They are trying to make us lose hope in Allah. But know that Allah hears every Dua and we must never think that he does not hear or listen to our Dua's:

"When My servants question thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me" (Quran 2:186),

"Is not He (best) who listens to the (soul) distressed when it calls on Him, and who relieves its suffering." (Quran 27:62)

In fact Allah gets angry at those who do not supplicate unto him:

"Whosoever does not supplicate to Allah, He will be angry with Him." [Saheeh Jaami`as-Sagheer #2414]

So we must never think that our Dua's are being wasted because Allah hears all and we will be rewarded for our Dua's as long as we never become hasty and question him "why". Almighty Allah wants to see how long we will hold out for and whether we will become hasty for a quick response:

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The slave will receive a response so long as his Dua does not involve sin or severing of family ties, and so long as he is not hasty.” It was said, “What does being hasty mean?” He said: “When he says, ‘I made Dua and I made Dua, and I have not seen any response,’ and he gets frustrated and stops making Dua.” [Bukahari, 6340; Muslim, 2735]

Therefore we must never say "why" to Allah and if we have done then we must repent for doing so and make a firm commitment to him that we will never question him again. So ask of Allah to do what is best for you in your situation and any other aspect of your life and whatever happens after that is what was intended for you and best for you.

May Allah do what is best for you in your situation. Ameen