WHAT IF THE ANSWER IS IN TWENTY YEARS TO COME?

30th Shawwal, 1435                                                 Bismillaahi-r Rahmaani-r Raheem

Assalaamu alaykum wa Rahmatullaahi wa Barkaatuhu brothers and sisters in Islam. It is yet another great day. We thank and praise Allah azza wa jal for the countless blessings. Today, I woke up with a start: bad headache and painful eyes but feeling very ok this morning. Remember me in your du’a always. And you know what? The pure and noble Angels will make the same du’a you make for me for you. Are you smiling? That is Islam.

Many months ago, I updated my whatsapp status to;

‘What if the answer is in twenty years to come?’

Interesting enough, a sweetheart of mine sent me a message that it was almost as if I was talking to her with my status. She was drowning in frustration of the failure of so many of her plans among them; marriage. Funny enough, people were saying all sorts of things about her failed marriage. People always talk, don’t they? They say everything, what they knew and what they didn’t know. Yet here was this wonderful Muslimah going through her own internal struggle and pain. So I told her simply;

‘If it didn’t happen, it was because Allah azza wa jal has not decreed it and when it is time for you to marry, no one can stop it and if it isn’t time, no one can let it happen. What if the answers to all the things you were hoping to have accomplished now comes years later and Allah azza wa jal was going to keep you alive to see them?’

So, in the long run, she let herself be. She gave herself some peace…inner peace which I believe every human being deserves to give to him/herself. Now, alhamdulillaah, she is happily married. Such is the power of Allah azza wa jal which we are naturally unable to fathom.

My friend is almost losing it. She wants that particular kind of job but she isn’t getting it and family were not making her situation any easier. But she does not lose faith. She sticks to du’a hoping that Allah azza wa jal might just answer. She almost falls into depression; she probably didn’t notice but I thought so for the signs that were emanating. And the question still applied to her; what if the answer was in twenty years to come? Alhamdulillaah, she has a beautiful job now.

Allah azza wa jal tells us;

‘And when My servants ask you, concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me and believe in Me that they may be guided.’

Surah al-Baqarah, the Cow, Chapter 2 ayah 186

Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aalaa tells us explicitly that He is near to us and that He responds to our every du’a to Him. All that we can do and should do is believe in Him totally. That believe in Him is what will help us to take situations as they come trying as much as possible not to contribute to our own woes.

It is indeed true that sometimes it is as if Allah azza wa jal does not hear us but truth will always be that He does. We have seen so many examples of du’a that were answered much later. An example is how long it took for Prophet Yaqub to reunite with his beloved son, Prophet Yusuf alayhimas salaam. It took more than twenty years for that to happen. Prophet Yusuf alayhis salaam himself was locked up in prison whilst he was very innocent and it took about fifteen years for him to regain his freedom.

My mom tells me about a woman who had given birth seventeen years into her marriage. I could just imagine the kind of verbal and physical attacks that this woman might have gotten from people. I could just imagine the kind of emotional instability she might have had to deal with. I could just imagine the amount of tears that might have flown in her heart and on her cheeks but the truth if she had known would have been and was that she was only going to give birth, by Allah’s decree, seventeen years to come. Her tears, the insults could not change anything because her du’a was only bound to be answered within Allah’s given time.

These are practical issues from which we must learn. Learning from them helps to give us a peace of heart, mind and soul. Let us imagine the case of Prophet Ayyub and that of Prophet Zakariyya alayhimas salaam as well. Prophet Ayyub’s tests were bound to be taken away by Allah azza wa jal within some time and there was nothing he could do to delay it or make it come earlier. Prophet Zakariyya and his wife were going to only have a child at a particular time that Allah azza wa jal had decided. Let us consider the du’a of the mother of Maryam alayhas salaam. She wanted a baby boy but she had a daughter. From this daughter she had a son; a prophet. She had a double blessing. So, should she have worried herself sick over her du’a of a son not being answered? That is the line I believe we must be thinking even though I know by experience that it is difficult and people around us sometimes don’t make it any easier. The Prophet Muhammad suallal Laahu alayhi wa sallam said;

"Verily your Lord is the One modest and Generous, and when His servant raises his hands to Him in supplication, He is diffident (in some wordings, shy or hesitant) from returning them empty." 

[Ahmad, Abu Dawud and at-Tirmidhi - Hasan]

I do not want to go into why the du’a is not answered right away then. But we must know, provided we believe that, it is as the noble Prophet suallal Laahu alayhi wa sallam has said; our prayers are answered but…in Allah’s own way and in His own time. We cannot hurry it and we cannot delay it. We should not also forget that the extreme case is true that we may never see the results of our du’a in this life.

My mum tells me again about a woman who has never given birth. She is a very wonderful and cheerful woman. She has learnt to accept her situation, the pressures notwithstanding. At her age now, well…Allah is more than able to do all things. If this woman only knew that she was destined not to give birth in this life, she would have given herself a lot of peace in her du’a to Allah azza wa jal to give her a child or children. So, for a believer who knows that his or her du’a could be answered right away, or in many years to come or never in this life, should we not have an upper hand in dealing with what we think should be and what is? 

Khawlah bint tha’alaba radiyallaahu anhaa was one of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad suallal Laahu alayhi wa sallam. One day her husband said something about her being like his mother’s back and later he wanted to have intimacy with her. She would not allow him to do so until Allah had decided between them. After her complaint to the Prophet, he pleaded with her to make peace with her husband since he was her cousin. But she awaited an answer to her du’a and right there and then, Allah azza wa jal had responded. Read the beginning aayaat of Surah al-Mujaadalah, the Pleading Woman, Chapter 58. Her du’a was answered right away. And there are many examples like that.

I have seen cases where a person had prayed to be in a particular situation and Allah azza wa jal had given that person the right opposite. Just like in the case of the mother of Maryam alayhas salaam. Imagine a woman who prays to have an Allah inclined child ending up with a child who makes Allah azza wa jal his or her last interest. Imagine a person who prays for a good husband ending up with a bad one. That is where the tests lie and we must identify those tests and figure out ways to overcome and deal with them.

I have seen young ladies and gentlemen who are yearning so much to get married yet where are the men and the women who will even be interested in marrying them. The right men don’t simply come to them and the men don’t simply get the right women. Yet there are those women and men who are not yearning to get married whose lists of proposals from the right kind of gentlemen and ladies keep getting longer. That is not because they are more beautiful or handsome, or wealthier or anything. So then, would you kill yourself because you wanted one thing and got another? All that is required is that there is sincerity in your heart. You do your best and leave the rest to Allah; that is all.

So I have said enough. I hope that this is able to convey the message that I wanted to in the right manner. I hope someone thinks deeply about this and takes off the burden of the thought of his or her du’a not being answered because the reality is that Allah answers our du’a in His own way and time and as believers, we must respect that fact. Remember that I love you fiisabilillaah and I pray and hope that on the Day of Accounts, the Day of Mutual Gain and Loss, we shall be blessed with the Shade of Allah azza wa jal that He promises to the believers who love one another for His sake solely. Aameen.

Jazaakumullaahu khair always!

Assalaamu alaykum!

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Rubaba