it creates the essential coping
mechanism that allows us to
overcome all odds. It is like the
shock absorbers in a car. They don’t
prevent you from driving into a
pothole but do make the ride a
whole lot more bearable. Adapting to
the reality that life doesn’t follow our
rules, go according to our plans, and
is often completely unpredictable
is the fundamental belief of every
Muslim. We call it predestination.
Predestination is embodied in this
terse saying: Allah says, “O mankind!
You desire and I desire. If you are
content with what I desire, I will
satisfy your desire; and if you do
not content yourself with My desire,
I will burn you out in running
after your desire, and finally, only
that happens which I desire” (Ruh
al-Bayan; 1: 389, Mirqat al-Mafatih;
al-Istisqa’, Sharh al-Tahawi li Safar al-
Hawali; al-Qadr). If we can adapt to
that reality, which materializes night
and day in so many different ways,
we can save ourselves from distress
and suffering while simultaneously
building a strong relationship with
Allah. When we put our trust in Allah
in all our affairs and in our plans
(because we plan and He plans, and
‘Allah is the best of planners’ (3:54))
then we learn to be more accepting
of any changes in our plans due to
circumstances that are outside of
our control. We realize that Allah
has made His own plans for us and
those plans are better for us than our
own. We realize that just because we
are now grown up and independent,
doesn’t mean we know what is best
for us. Like kids whose parents know
better, Allah always knows what
is better for us since our maturity
and independence doesn’t make us
privy to the unseen world and things
beyond our sphere of experience
and knowledge. Here is a case
example: it is the story of a Syrian
family who decided to migrate to
the U.S. in 1979. The father was the
first to go. He found a job and settled
down in California. He then called
his wife and four daughters. Their
first stop was in New York with a
connecting flight to Chicago and
then, on a American Airlines flight
numbered 191, to California. They
applied for a green card in NYC, the
first port of disembarkation in the
U.S. Unlike the others, the fourth
daughter, Hala, refused to remove
her hijab for a photo to complete
the application process. The officer
warned her that if she did not
remove her hijab, her green card
application would be incomplete and
she would not be able to continue
her journey to California. The
mother and siblings were exhausted
from the transatlantic flight and
were worried that if they missed the
flight to Chicago, they would miss
the connecting flight to California.
The mother was frustrated and
explained to her daughter that
she would have to remove it, but
Hala refused. The mother tried
everything. She scolded her and also
pleaded with her, but Hala refused.
By this time, half the world was
watching the whole family drama
unfold in the airport. The officer
called the supervisor and after three
grueling hours, they finally agreed
to take her photo with the hijab on.
But they missed the flight to Chicago
and the connecting flight to Los
Angeles. They stayed the night in
NYC and caught another flight the
next day, the mother admonishing
her daughter the whole trip through.
When they arrived, the father was in
tears and thanked Allah for saving
his family. It turned out that flight
191 crashed killing all 258 passengers
on board. It was the deadliest
aviation accident to occur in the U.S.
(Marwa Atik. “How My Aunt’s Hijab
Saved My Entire Family’s Lives.”
Ilmfeed, 24 August. 2016).
Many beautiful lessons can be
learned from this true story but for
our purposes, the main lesson is
that even as adults (in this case, the
mother) we are children in the face
of the knowledge of Allah. In the
story, the mother had a plan and
Allah had a plan, but Allah’s plan was
the best because His plan saved their
lives. But what if we don’t see the
benefits of His plan, does that mean
that our plan is then better than His?
We need to build our trust in Allah
that what He chooses for us is best
for us.
Historically speaking, a similar
situation played out in the battle of
Badr. The Sahaba l came out of
Madina Munawwara expecting to
intercept a large Makkan caravan
loaded with goods but unexpectedly
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