بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
In our shortsightedness, more often than not we failed to see the wisdom of what Allah sent to us especially when it is bad. Regardless whether we see the wisdom of what is happening in our lives or not, we should remember to thank Allah for everything and be patient. Much good will come out of it if we are thankful. There is definitely light at the end of the tunnel if we are patient to wait and see. In fact, this "bad" thing can be the best thing that could have ever happened to you. At the minimum, it makes you a stronger and better person and help you prepare for bigger challenges. When these challenges come our way, we should always try to remember that Allah does not burden a soul more than it can bear. This will give us the strength to bear them even while we feel that we are breaking.
May Allah protect us from the trials of this life and the next and bring us closer to Him.
When I looked back to some of the difficult events in my life, I can only thank Allah for them. Had Allah not sent them my way and not help me went through them all, I would not have been able to do what I do today and I would not have found the happiness and the peace that I am enjoying now.
I had faced some major events in my life and there were moments in my life when I felt I was in a soap opera. There was one drama after another but I could see all that drama are coming together for the better, inshaAllah.
Four years ago my tire blew up in the middle of a freeway. So what? I am pretty sure many of you have had a flat before, so nothing new, nothing exciting. But this is not about a flat tire, it is about the Divine plan. I thought I share my story with you.
I was driving a Toyota SUV on a California freeway with my children to a masjid about 50 miles away from home, to listen to an out of town al-Azhari Shaykh. It was quite early in the morning. Actually, I didn't plan to go to this event because I had much to prepare for my upcoming business trip about 500 miles away each way driving. But I decided to go to the event at the last minute.
As I was driving, suddenly I heard an explosion from the outside and immediately I felt the SUV was tilting to the right and because of the speed at which I was driving, the SUV could have overturned, but it didn't for some reason. I realized then that I had a blown up tire. I tried to maneuver towards a safe side of the highway. I had to drive a little distance to find a safe spot to stop. It was quite a dangerous situation. I didn't know the area that well. I was scared to say the least. Many things just ran in my mind. I never learned how to change tires and what spare tire I had was not really a good spare. It was only a donut and it was under inflated, so it could not have taken us very far. This happened on a weekend and I'd be lucky to find a tire shop nearby and if there was one I'd be lucky to find one that is opened that early. Anyway, I asked my kids to stay quiet in the SUV while I looked for help.
The person who Allah sent happened to know exactly where a nearby Toyota dealer was. And it happened to be off the the exit where I was standing but he was not sure if the service department opened on weekends. I decided to take my SUV there anyway and would leave it there if it was closed and find a ride home. Since the dealer was close by, I could drive the SUV with the donut tire and I wouldn't need a tow. That was good because it saved me some money. I was amazed when I saw that the service department was opened that Saturday. It could have been closed because it only opened every other Saturday.
Since it was a dealer I asked them to also perform a major service since I haven't had it done for a while and I would be driving it for the long trip. This would require me to leave the car a whole day. It was just all perfect as I didn't have to wait because we would be at the Shaykh's lessons for a whole day. In trying to figure out how to get to the masjid, the service manager offered a free loaner car which he had discretion to give out to certain customers. We arrived at the masjid safely and didn't miss anything because the Shaykh was delayed.
As it turned out, I need to replace the other 3 tires because they were bald from the inside and a major safety work was also needed. I wouldn't have known this in time for our road trip had it not been for that one blown up tire that caused me to go to the dealer for service. And there was a bonus as well--the manager gave me a big discount on the major service which somewhat compensated for the cost of the 4 tires.
There was no luck and there was no coincidence but there was Divine plan for my last minute decision to go to the Shaykh's lesson and the tire blew up. Every single detail in this event happened to accomplish Allah's Plan. This event truly increased my certainty of the Divine plan. My kids and I could have been in a serious or fatal accident had the one tire didn't blow up that day.
Sometimes in the midst of certain unpleasant event, the emotions ran high and it could get the best out of you. But if we realize that it could have been worse, we have no other choice, except being thankful to the One who created everything. And if we also realize that He is in control of everything, then we will suddenly realize that it really doesn't matter what is happening--we just go with the flow, so to speak, and resolve the issue at hand the best we can. And we wait for what is next. Only Allah knows what is next. And that is what I understood, at the time, by being patient in the face of calamities. In my heart I couldn't stop thanking Allah for sending me one relief after another and protect us from serious calamities. There were more wisdom that Allah has shown me stemming from the event to this day.
I had forgotten the details of the al-Azhari Shaykh's lecture, but I could not forget the one thing that the Shaykh did during a lunch break. He did a blood cupping (hijama) on one man. That was my first encounter of this Prophetic practice and found it fascinating. This is now more than 4 years later and I had moved to Egypt, in another continent. I had this lingering health problems that I need to take care but I don't believe in pharmaceutical drugs and they made me more sick. I remembered the hijama by this Shaykh (who was an Egyptian) and I thought I should try it. I happened to host a few al-Azhari students in my apartment and as they were leaving, I asked if they knew anyone who could perform hijama and that person happened to be standing right in front of me. SubhanAllah. She taught me how to perform the hijama so I could do it to myself regularly. This is another wisdom for my last minute decision to go to the Shaykh's lesson. Note: Egypt was not in my book whatsoever at the time but Allah has it in His plan that my cure would come from the hijama in Egypt 4 years in the future. Allah knows best.
I cannot see everything in the Divine plan for the blown up tire and chances are I will never see them all. But it doesn't matter. Our life is all in the Plan and we cannot beat that Plan for it is the best Plan. So we should operate with that certainty and from that certainty patience will come and with the patience Allah is with you for Allah is with the patient.
Allah cares about every single detail in our lives, even before we were born, and that means He loves us. If someone cares about you, don't you love that person? Of course. So, we must love Allah and increase that love in our hearts through much remembrance of Him. There is nothing that happen in our lives is bad for us because it is coming from someone who love us. We have to believe that. Allah loves the believers and we love Him.
May Allah bless our lives and give us tawfiq to the highest station. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
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