The One Pulling the Strings

For everything that happens, Allah is always in the background pulling the strings. We sometimes think that things have gone out of control but things were never in our control anyway. We can and should always make effort but the results and consequences are always in Allah’s hands. In order to gain Allah’s help it is necessary to make effort and do everything in our control but we cannot achieve the desired results until Allah makes us achieve them. Only Allah is dominant over everything and He is subtle in His ways. So subtle that you don’t even realize when it’s happening, when He is executing His perfect plan in His perfect way but when you look back you are awestruck at how perfectly Allah executed His perfect plan and how He had been in control all along, without us even realizing that.

تو تو پاک رب دا بانکا بچہ راج دلارا تو ہی

پاک رب دا بانکا بچہ اسکا پیارا تو ہی

مالک نے جو چنتا دی تو دور کرے گا وہ ہی

(Translation: You are the fearless kid of holy Lord, [His] dear kid is just you 
The fearless kid of holy Lord, His beloved is just you
The worry Master has given You, He will remove it Himself)

Apart from the realities and facts that we see and perceive there are also certain realities and facts those are unseen, those we do not perceive. If we were able to see the complete picture, seen and unseen altogether then we might have been able to see and comprehend Allah’s wisdom and justice. But we are unable to perceive that complete picture behind which lies Allah’s wisdom no doubt. One of the reasons for that can be to test our reliance and trust on Allah.

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The Supreme Power is on Lookout for You

You may dislike something that is good for you and you may like something that is bad for you. In other words, your knowledge of what's good for you and what's bad for you is very limited. On the other hand, Allah has complete knowledge of absolutely everything. He is all wise and the best of all planners. Above all, He loves you more than seventy mothers altogether! He wants nothing short of what's best for you. Therefore, He is always on lookout for you. He monitors your each step and if He sees that you are moving towards your own destruction thinking that it’s what you need or it's what can make you happy, He creates obstacles in your path, He stops you from walking towards your destruction. He protects you. You are too busy crying over what you cannot have or what you have lost that you are unable to see Allah’s wisdom behind it and of course we cannot comprehend Allah’s wisdom because we are too short sighted for that. But we can learn to be patient and trust Allah’s plan for us. We can bear in mind that whatever Allah does is in our best interest even if we are unable to understand His plan at times. Imagine the supreme power is on lookout for you! Cares about you like nobody else! How can anything possibly go wrong! If you look back at your life, you will realize that every missed opportunity and every loss was a blessing in itself. In one way or another it saved you or aided you. And remember Allah never takes away anything without giving something better in return J

مولا تیرا مالی او ہریالی جنگل والی

تو دے ہر گالی پہ تالی اسکی قدم قدم رکہوالی

اےوی لوک لاج کی سوچ سوج کے کیو ہے افت ڈالی

تو لے نام رب دا نام ساءین دا

(Translation: Master (God) is your gardener (caretaker), O greenery of the jungle!

You clap on every swearing (trouble), His protection (with you) at each step

Why have you created chaos by thinking about the worldly affairs?

You call the name of the Lord, the name of the one whose shade is on you)

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Blessings in Disguise

When we are going through a hard time we can get carried away and lose hope very easily and it becomes very difficult for us to recognize the blessings hidden in it. During the times of hardship and ease alike, we must bear one thing in mind:

Without difficulties and pain our growth is impossible

Let’s consider a very common example. Suppose your dream is to become an artist or a psychologist or an IT expert or whatever you like. In order to educate yourself in your field of interest and to become skillful in it you get admission in a college or school or any other educational institution. There if you are taught only the easiest lessons as a part of your curriculum then would you expect yourself to become an expert in that field after qualifying from that institution? Of course not, because without challenges and difficulties it’s impossible to learn and grow. Similarly, when we are faced with hardships in our lives, dealing with those helps in our emotional and mental growth. It’s bound to make us stronger and smarter.

Let’s consider another example, when a product is manufactured it is tested and the more difficult tests it passes the more worthy it becomes. For instance, when a car is manufactured, it is made to undergo really harsh conditions. It is driven on bumpy and un-even roads, through water and is made to perform under many similar tough conditions. As a result, the more obstacles it’s able to cross and still perform the more worthy it becomes. Moreover, the more severe the conditions were the more tolerant the car is declared and eventually becomes even more worthy. In the same way, we are tested under tough conditions so that when we bear them with patience and don’t break down, the more worthy we become in the eyes of Allah. After all, He gives the hardest battles to His strongest soldiers. That’s the reason why prophets were the people who were faced with the most difficult situations and hardships in the history. If Allah knew you were not capable of dealing with the hardships you are being put through, He wouldn’t have given those to you in the first place. How can He put you in a situation under which you are bound to break down when He loves you more than seventy mothers altogether. The only reason you are faced with the kind of difficulty you are going through is because you are capable of dealing with it and the one who created you knows it well.

‘لا يكلف الله نفسا الا وسعها'
(Translation: Allah does not burden a soul except [with that within] its capacity) 
~Al-Quran [2:286]

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Imperfect Life

We all know that this life is not perfect. This world is not perfect. It’s neither perfectly bad nor perfectly good. If it was perfectly bad then it would have been hell instead. If it was perfectly good then it would have been paradise instead.  This world is neither of them. This world is our examination hall. The purpose of this life is to test us. We are tested through hardship and ease, through sadness and happiness, through pain and peace. The purpose of hard times is to test how patient we are and the purpose of good times is to test how grateful we are.

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Embrace Suffering

Heartbroken, depressed, stressed, anxious, frustrated, worried; these are the emotional states that at one point or another we have all experienced in our lives, or may be are still experiencing and will definitely have to deal with in the future as these are inevitable for us as long as we don’t part ways with our lives. The severity and intensity of such a feeling varies from time to time and situation to situation. Sometimes the blow is huge and the pain caused by such a feeling is constant and it just completely refuses to leave you. It can be devastating, unbearable and can leave you completely shattered. You don’t know where to go, where to run, how to run away from yourself, how to escape this state which is causing you constant and intense pain. Other times the blow is comparatively lighter and causes pangs of pain every now and then. One moment it goes away. Next moment it comes back. The intensity of pain keeps fluctuating. Sometimes the pain and suffering simply refuse to leave you for what seems like eternity. Other times it fades away after striking few blows. But with the passage of time you gradually become immune to that particular pain. The intensity that you felt at the first blow was definitely greater than the current intensity. This means that the intensity of pain declines. Sometimes the rate of decline is so negligible that we don’t even realize that it’s declining. But it always declines. It’s bound to decline and eventually disappear. This is the rule of this universe. Nothing lasts forever; let it be happiness or grief. 

یہ ممکن نہی کے شب الم کی سحر نہ ہو

'وہ کہتا ہے 'ان مع العسر یسرا

(Translation: It's not possible that the night of grief is not followed by the dawn 

     He says, 'Verily, after every hardship comes ease')

Suffering is the inevitable reality of life and there is no escape from it. But only if you can learn to embrace it you shall be able to go through such periods of difficulty with much ease. Now the question is, how can I do that? How can I possibly embrace such negative feelings?

The secret lies in the recognition of two facts:

1) This life is not perfect and thus suffering is a part of it. It's inevitable.

God turns you from one feeling to another and teaches you by means of opposites, so that you will have two wings to fly. Not one.

~Rumi

2)  Allah has the best plan for you

Every experience Allah gives you, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future only He can see. 

~Dr Bilal Philips

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