This is a touching article. Just thought i’d share it with y’all. We always ask Allah for favours, material or non-material, we’re always praying to Him ‘give me this, give me that’. Being human, we inevitably lose hope sometimes - i have thought some awful thoughts in my mind when i haven’t recvd what i asked for. But Allah always has a Master Plan that we humans can’t even begin to comprehend.
Did God not hear me, Hesham A. Hassaballa
…] Recently, I asked God for something very, very important to me. I prayed to Him night and day. I got up in the early morning to pray extra devotional prayers before sunrise to make that supplication to Him. I prayed to God at times when the Prophet (peace be upon him) said God will answer those who pray to Him. I prayed almost constantly for this particular thing. It did not come.
Needless to say, I was sad and disappointed. In the midst of my sadness, a barrage of thoughts and questions raced through my head: “What went wrong? Was it something I did or said? Is God angry with me?” In fact, I almost wanted to say, “Why?” Furthermore, my sadness gave way to momentary spiritual weakness in that I had transient thoughts of rebellion against God. I said to myself, “All this prayer, and it was not answered. Did God not hear me?”
No, God indeed did hear me, but He chose not to give me what I asked of Him at this particular moment in my life. The above exchange in my head was born out of the fact that I am a human being, subject to all of the weaknesses and hypocracies of the human condition. The Quran told me that this is in my nature: “Now, as for man, when his Lord trieth him, giving him honour and gifts, then saith he, ‘My Lord hath honoured me.’ But when He trieth him, restricting his subsistence for him, then saith he (in despair), ‘My Lord hath humiliated me!’” (89:15-16).
Now, thank God I did not say God has humiliated me. Also, thank God, I did not point an angry finger at the Lord and proceed to disobey His commands. To do so would be horribly ungrateful. How many blessings has the Lord bestowed upon me? They are innumerable. I do not want to be among those who “worship God, as it were, on the verge,” as the Quran says, “if good befalls them, they are, therewith, well content; but if a trial comes to them, they turn on their faces” (22:11). When the answer to my prayer eluded me, I simply put my head down in acceptance, still sad, and said, “All praise is due to God. God has decreed thus, and He does what He wills.”
…] Even though this prayer was not answered immediately, I will continue to pray. I will continue to try and get up before sunrise and pray those extra devotional prayers. I will, in fact, pray more to God now than I have done so in the past. God always hears those who call on Him, and I will live my life making sure He constantly hears my voice. And the most beautiful thing is, He never gets tired of hearing that voice. That is why nothing else in this world except He deserves to be worshipped.
for sharing…