The ten realities of life (II)

Reality or conditionality number six that has proved to be a critical success factor for humankind across ages and from which Prophets of the Almighty benefitted is the necessity to have a positive outlook to life, to not expect anything but good and goodness from Him the Almighty. Ibn Masuud, one of the companions of […]

Reality or conditionality number six that has proved to be a critical success factor for humankind across ages and from which Prophets of the Almighty benefitted is the necessity to have a positive outlook to life, to not expect anything but good and goodness from Him the Almighty.

Ibn Masuud, one of the companions of the Prophet of the Almighty (s.a.w) is reported to have said: “I swear by Him without whom there is no Other, there is no other goodness that could be bestowed on the servant other than that of having a positive relation with His Creator; by Him without whom there is nobody else, the servant of the Almighty would not establish a positive relationship with his Creator except that the Almighty grants unto him that which he anticipates and expects; this is because in His hands lies all goodness”.

Ibn Masuud’s statement (r.a) only attempts to ventilate what the Prophet (s.a.w) had said in this direction. He said that the Almighty said: “I am with (and in support of) whatever my servant anticipates from me; He who anticipates goodness from me, I shower him with goodness and honour; whosoever works with me with certainty, such a person shall be showered with blessings beyond his imagination; this is because I relate with My servants according to their thoughts about Me; I do what they expect from Me and more.

“Therefore, whenever you supplicate to Me, work with the certainty that I would answer your prayers: whenever you spend in My way, be sure that I would replenish your pocket, if you leave something for My sake, know that I will replace it with something better than that; whenever you seek My forgiveness, be certain that I will surely forgive you and that I will change your evil record with good.”

The above takes us to reality number seven: it is that as believers, you should know that the Almighty’s choice for you and me is better than the one we make by ourselves. But how do we know this? How do we know His choice? We get to know of His choice for us after the fact; after we have made efforts but the output is different from the input. We get to know of and about His choice for us consequent upon our efforts; after the fact, after the ‘harvest’ turns out to be lesser or greater than the expected.

In other words, whatever happens to us as believers we do not and should not say: why me? Why this? Keep in mind that He is the Just, the All-Knowing, the Omnipresent, the Omniscient. Remember that whenever the ‘vehicle’ is ‘delayed’ at the ‘motor park’, that may actually be in the passengers’ favour. The other day a passenger was taken off a bus and unjustly too by the driver only for the vehicle to be seen in a ditch by the said passenger who eventually boarded another vehicle. Though His choices for us are unknowable but those choices are forever good. He does not make mistakes.

The next essential element or reality that is critical for our earthly success (necessity number eight) is for the believer to know that whenever trials and difficulties become hardest, then ease and comfort is imminent. Whenever you are tempted to take your affairs to other than the Almighty, know that the solution to your problem is near. The challenge for us is to know how to outlast and outstay our moments of difficulties; how not to take delay for denial, how to not take the tree for the forest and how to avoid the temptation to conflate the sun with its illumination.

Condition number nine derives from the above and it is that the believer should know that once he refers his affairs entirely to the Almighty, it is therefore no longer his business to imagine how relief would be granted by Him. This is because He is the One who is capable of making use of anything in nature to serve His purpose. Remember how he made use of Prophet Yusuf’s shirt as a metaphor of grief when it was presented to Prophet Yaqub as evidence that his son (Yusuf) had been devoured and eaten by a wolf. When the time came for Prophet Yaqub to enjoy relief, it was also another shirt that belonged to Prophet Yusuf that was used as metaphor. Everything in nature belongs to him; He uses them anyway He likes.

Condition number ten, or rather the last reality from which the believer should find no excuse is to be a ceaseless supplicant. In other words, prayers and supplications are the shields and weapons with which the believer can attain earthly success and eternal redemption (Quran 2: 45).

They are like seeds that the farmer plants on a farm. It requires time for it to germinate, time for it to grow and become a tree, time for the tree to bear fruits and time for the fruits to ripen for harvest.

The challenge is that we are always in a hurry. Wait for the Almighty; He is equally waiting!