continued on page 18
came face to face with a
well-equipped Makkan
army two times their
number. The Sahaba
l were ill-equipped
and psychologically
unprepared for such a
big shock, and many
were unwilling to go into
battle. Allah says, “And
recall when Allah was
promising you that one
of the two groups i.e. the
caravan or the Makkan
army would become
yours, and you were
wishing that the one
without strength should fall to you
i.e. the commercial caravan. And
Allah wanted to establish the truth
through His words and to cut off the
very root of the disbelievers” (8:7). In
the end, the battle did take place and
the Muslims came out victorious.
But the greater benefit that ensued
from the battle was that Arabia came
to a profound realization that Islam
was indeed the truth. Otherwise,
the custodians of the Holy City
would never have suffered such
a humiliating defeat at the hands
of a smaller group that was totally
unprepared for battle. The battle
of Badr built the groundwork for
the spread of Islam, but the Sahaba
l only learned this after the battle
was over. At the time, many were
averse to going into battle as Allah
says, “Indeed, a party of the believers
were averse to it” (8:5).
Building our trust in Allah and His
plans is essential to our spiritual and
mental well-being. As hard as it may
sometimes be, the plans of Allah
unearth many hidden treasures we
never imagined existed. Sometimes,
we see it here and now as in the
aforementioned anecdote and in
the battle of Badr, but sometimes
the benefits appear later in life like
the benefits we now recognize in
our parents’ wise decision to send
us whiny, unappreciative kids to
school. At the time, we were irked
by the importance they gave to our
education and took any chance to
skip or miss school.
Many times, we don’t see the
benefits at all, or at least, they are
not apparent enough for us to notice
them. When a passenger boards a
plane, he puts his life in the hands
of a complete stranger, the pilot. He
believes that the pilot knows how to
fly the aircraft and can better predict
how to handle the turbulence or
any other emergency situation, if it
should arise.
Allah, though, is no stranger to us.
Though we commit sin and disobey
Him time and time again, He
continues to provide the anatomical
equipment of the eyes, ears, and
limbs and organs that we operate
24 hours a day to enjoy our lives.
This, of course, is only one of many
countless blessings upon us. “And
if you should count the favors of
Allah, you could not enumerate
them” (16:18). For example, you may
not know of the enzyme iduronate
2-sulfatase in our body (honestly, I
did not either until I looked it up).
The lack or malfunctioning of this
single enzyme can cause horrible
things to happen. For example, a
person can have “an enlarged head,
thickening of the lips, a
broad nose and flared
nostrils, a protruding
tongue, a deep, hoarse
voice, abnormal bone
size or shape and other
skeletal irregularities,
a distended abdomen
as a result of enlarged
internal organs, chronic
diarrhea, white skin
growths that resemble
pebbles, joint stiffness,
aggressive behavior,
stunted growth, and
delayed development,
such as late walking or
talking” (“Hunter Syndrome.” Mayo
Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical
Education and Research, 27 Dec.
2018). There are millions of blessings
like this in and outside of us, few of
which we know or can enumerate,
but the one thing we do know is that
they all come from Him. If He is so
Merciful and Loving, so Almighty
and His knowledge encompasses all
things, then why is it that when His
plans clash with our own, we are so
bitter and discontent?
The Coronavirus pandemic has
stopped everything in its tracks. We
had many plans and expectations
for the future, instead, we have
lost our jobs, are stressed about the
economy, and about getting infected
by this novel virus. We are worried
for ourselves, our children, and the
world and want to know what we
can do or what we must do. Many
conspiracy theories are being cooked
up, which may or may not be true,
but they are causing even further
concern and panic. The first thing
we need to understand is that this
was the plan of Allah before He even
created this universe and there was
nothing we could do to change it.
This is what is best for us even if it is
hard to understand. Though, this is
8 May - June 2020 | AL-MADINAH