Mistakes Make Who You Are Today

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

Assalaamu alaykum

Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says,

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ مَا غَرَّكَ بِرَبِّكَ ٱلْكَرِيمِ ﴿٦﴾ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَكَ فَسَوَّىٰكَ فَعَدَلَكَ ﴿٧﴾ فِىٓ أَىِّ صُورَةٍ مَّا شَآءَ رَكَّبَكَ ﴿٨

O mankind, what has deceived you concerning your Lord, the Generous, (6) Who created you, proportioned you, and balanced you? (7) In whatever form He willed has He assembled you. (8) [Quran, Al-Infitar 82:6-8]

Allah created us and made us a certain way and put us through different experiences that build us. If you look back over the years, you will be amazed at how stupid you were. But the mistakes that you made in the past actually make who you are today.


“Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it’s a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from.” ~ Al Franken

Mistakes help you discover who you truly are. With every mistake that we make we discover more and more about ourselves, about who we are, about our limits, about our capabilities, about what we can and cannot do. They help us be more compassionate and more tolerant with ourselves and others.

Mistakes let go of your fear. NOT MAKING MISTAKES – isn’t that actually the biggest mistake you could ever make? Life isn’t about avoiding mistakes but rather embracing the idea that mistakes will come your way and be willing to learn from these mistakes.

Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) has something bad that he had done and recorded in history -- an intended murder. It actually goes on to build who he become. So, we can't undermine or devalue the experiences we went through in the past, the things that we learn from the different experiences. This is part of what Allah has and will put us through to build us.

If Allah loves us then what's the point of going through difficulty? If you want to win the Olympic championship you can expect your trainer will put you through tough training. You are not going to win the championship by sitting around and be merry. You have to sweat, cry and exhaust yourself. Similarly, if you expect high things -- eternal blissful life and His Noble Countenance, you have to go through some pain in your life. Allah expected the most of the Prophets and what they went through were some of the most toughest challenges in life.

أَحَسِبَ ٱلنَّاسُ أَن يُتْرَكُوٓا۟ أَن يَقُولُوٓا۟ ءَامَنَّا وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُونَ ﴿٢

Do the people think that they will be left to say, "We believe" and they will not be tried? [Quran, Al-Ankabut 29:2]

إِنَّ ٱلْأَبْرَارَ لَفِى نَعِيمٍ ﴿١٣﴾ وَإِنَّ ٱلْفُجَّارَ لَفِى جَحِيمٍ ﴿١٤

Indeed, the righteous will be in pleasure, (13) And indeed, the wicked will be in Hellfire. (14)   [Quran, Al-Infitar 82:13-14]

May Allah make us His thankful servant and enable us to worship Him with excellence. May Allah grant us good in this life and the next and grant us the highest Paradise and His Noble Countenance. Ameen.

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam.

And Allah knows best and is Most Wise, and He alone grants success, and to Him is the final return of all.

Wassalaam