“And man (often) prays for things
that are
bad as if he were
praying for something
that is good; and man
is prone to be hasty
(in his judgments)” (Qur’an,
17:11).
God describes man,
in general, as being the most ardently avid in his love of wealth (see Qur’an,
100:8). And the love of alluring desires (sex, heaps of gold and silver, and
all enjoyment of the worldly life) (see: 3:14) has been made attractive to him.
That love of glittery material encompasses almost all human beings, although at
different degrees. And that part of man’s nature is certainly which makes him
often wish to obtain many things, which in fact are not necessarily good for
him, although he thinks that all what he wishes is the best for him.
That is because
man’s knowledge cannot embrace all dimensions or all true aspects of a thing or
a matter, and thus his knowledge is certainly insufficient to judge the
correctness of his view. God says in the Qur’an: “..and you may dislike a thing which
is good for you, and it may happen that you love a thing which is bad for you;
and God knows, whereas you do not know” (2:216).
That is why Prophet Muhammad (may peace and God’s blessings be upon him)
used to advise his companions to acquire a consultation prayer: Jabir bin Abdillah reported that the
Messenger of God said: “When anyone of you intends to start an enterprise, he
should perform a prayer of two units (other than the obligatory regular prayer),
and then supplicate God as follows: O God, I am consulting You through Your
knowledge, and ask strength trough Your Power, and ask of Your Great Bounty,
for You are Capable whereas I am not; and You know and I do not; and You are
the Most Knower of hidden things. O God, if You know that this matter (and name
it) is good for me in respect of my Faith, my livelihood and the consequences
of my affaires, the sooner or the later, then ordain it for me, and bless it
for me. But if You know this matter to be bad for my Faith, my livelihood or
the consequences of my affairs sooner or later, then turn it away from me and
turn me away from it, and grant me power to do good whatever it may be, and
cause me to be contend with it”
(Recorded by Bukhari in his Collection of Hadith).
After such a consultation with God, one can continue to pursue his plan;
if he succeeds in his goal, then it is good for him, and if he fails to obtain
what he wished, then he should also be content, because it means that what he
thought good, was most probably considered bad by God Who knows better.
Suhaib (one of the Prophet’s
companions) reported: The Messenger of God (peace and God’s blessings be upon
him) said: “Wonderful is the believer’s
attitude. All his affair is good for him; and this is not the case with anyone
else except in the case of a true believer, for: if he acquires delighted things
he feels grateful to God, so it is good for him; and if he is afflicted with a
detriment, he would perseveres it patiently, and that is good for him” (Recorded by
Muslim in his Collection of Hadith).
A true believer will certainly accept anything that happens to him/her
with serenity, because s/he believes in what is stated in the Qur’an: “No
affliction befalls in the earth, or in yourselves, unless it be (laid down) in
Our decree before We bring it into being; verily all this is easy for God, so
that you may not despair over whatever escaped you, nor exult (unduly) over
whatever (good) has come to you; for God does not like any swaggering braggart” (57:22-23).
But of course a true believer has
to exercise his own will, which was given by God, because he will be
questioned about it in the Hereafter: “And you will not be recompensed only for
what you used to do” (37:39),
yet the consequences that follow are in accordance with the laws and Plan of God,
as His knowledge is always correct and indubitably encompasses everything.
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