Competing with God’s Wisdom

Of animals, from invertebrates through reptiles to birds and mammals, God made some animals wild and others domestic in nature. Of plants, He makes crops and fruits to wear golden, green, red, or yellow colour. These wonderful tints are not only to be found in vegetation but also in rocks and mineral products. All things […]

Of animals, from invertebrates through reptiles to birds and mammals, God made some animals wild and others domestic in nature. Of plants, He makes crops and fruits to wear golden, green, red, or yellow colour. These wonderful tints are not only to be found in vegetation but also in rocks and mineral products.
All things created by God, according to Qur’an 51:49; are in pairs. We have male and female, as in animals and plants; by which one is complementary to another. The mystery for gender runs through creation including the subtle forces of nature. We have Day and Night; Sun and Moon; hot and cold; positive and negative electricity; forces of attraction and repulsion; and numerous other opposites each fulfilling its purpose, and contributing to the working of God’s Universe. In the moral and spiritual world, we have love and hate, mercy and justice, etc; all fulfilling their functions according to the artistry and wonderful purpose of God. Allah (SWT) affirms in Qur’an 36:36 “Glory to God who created in pairs all the things…”
It is God’s best decision that while some of us are Africans, others are Asians or Europeans. Qur’an 49:13 tells us that mankind was created by Allah (SWT) in to tribes, races and nations. That’s why you have about 250 tribes in Nigeria alone. No one also chooses his gender at birth. Even parents cannot choose or decide the gender of their conceived babies. That forever remains the prerogative of God’s wisdom.
God also decides in His wisdom to either make you tall or short in height; fat or thin; strong or weak; brilliant or feeble; rich or indigent; handsome/beautiful or ugly; brave or timid. God has His reasons for making you look the way you appear. Wisdom is implied when I mention “God Has His reasons”. If those who have been made by God to be poor were men or women with affluence, they would perhaps (God knows best) have transgressed all bounds and probably make life unbearable for every other person; turning themselves in to tyrants. It is God’s wisdom that decides those who deserve to be rich or poor.
Similarly, it is God’s perfect wisdom to fashion out the human body with a pair each of the eyes, ears, nostrils, and lips. God in His wisdom and mercy gave man two hands, each with five fingers; and two legs, with five toes on each. If you think there is no wisdom in God’s decision to give you two hands, five fingers, two eyes, two legs, or teeth of varying sizes; wait until you lose any of these parts and see if things would be normal in the way you do things. I don’t know how possible it would be to run with one leg; or how easy it would be to wash with one hand; or tear meat without the canine teeth; or pronounce the English letter “b”, “p”, and “v” without your lower lip. Even the five fingers on each of our hand have their respective functions. Any attempt, therefore by man to change or alter the shape, size, colour or mass of any part of his body amounts to competing with God’s wisdom. Allah (SWT) sates in Qur’an 33:36 “It is not fitting for a believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His messenger to have any option about their decision. If anyone disobeys Allah and His messenger, he is indeed on a clearly wrong path”.
Men who wear ear rings and plait their hair are subtly saying that God was wrong in His choice of their gender. If not a person under the vicious influence of the Satan, how could anyone challenge God’s wisdom as witnessed among today’s anglomaniac youths? But that’s exactly what a 46-year old hair dresser from Los Angeles attempted to do when the wages of competing with God’s wisdom caught up with her.
The Daily Trust edition of Thursday May 30, 2013 carried a story on page 43 in which Apryl Micheal Brown is reported to have lost arms and feet after taking injections that were supposed to boost her buttocks. Unfortunately for her, the silicone injections turned out to be “bathroom sealant”, which left her a quadruple amputee. Apryl’s message to others after the incident is “I want to warn others of the dangers of black-market surgery. We were born whole, perfect and complete”.
Let us accept ourselves for who we are; perfect creatures of God. The craziness to look other than the way God created us through skin bleaching; plastic surgery; hair dying; use of contraceptive pills to prevent pregnancy; contracting gay marriages; are all forms of disagreeing with God’s wisdom. Let us not put our desires in competition with God’s wisdom. God’s decree is known to us by the logic of facts. To live a happy life, we must accept and abide by it loyally. May Allah (SWT) guide us against becoming victims of our own misleading desires, amin.