Revive Your Heart: Putting Life in Perspective

āyah
said 
fa-ayyadnā alladhīna
āmanū ʿalā ʿaduwwihim
—We aided those who believed, We gave them help

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against their enemies. Allah says about the followers of 
ʿĪsā
(
ʿalayhi al-salām
)—
think carefully about this last part—Allah says We gave them help against their
enemies. But you know historically that the people who believed in 
tawhīd
,
followers of 
ʿĪsā
(
ʿalayhi al-salām
) were pretty much annihilated and a lot of
them didn’t even make a comeback until centuries after. In other words, Allah
did aid them but in His own way. It’s not on your terms; it’s not on my terms.
Ibrahim
(
ʿalayhi al-salām
) made 
duʿā’
that a child from my generation
should be raised who will recite the Qur’an, who will recite the 
āyāt
of Allah:
yatlū ʿalayhim ayātik wa-yuʿallimuhum al-kitāb wa-l-ḥikmah
wa-yuzakkīhim
(
al-
Baqarah
2: 129). He made 
duʿā’
. It’s a very sincere 
duʿā’
. But that child was not
Ismāʿīl (
ʿalayhi al-salām
), nor Ismāʿīl’s child, nor his grandchild, nor his
grandchild’s grandchild. Many generations later the 
duʿā’
of 
Ibrahim
(
ʿalayhi al-
salām
) is fulfilled when Allah knows is the best time. At that time Muhammad
(
ṣallā Allāh ʿalayhi wa-sallam
) is born; then at the age of forty he is given
revelation. Because Allah decides what is best. He knows and you and I don’t
know. The thing we have to remember in making 
duʿā’
is: first of all, we’re not
in a position to place orders. Secondly: whatever I’m asking for 
yā Allāh
, if this
is good for me, give me and if not, I trust your decision. Don’t think that your
situation is unique; every situation you and I go through is mentioned in one way
or the other in the Qur’an.
Those of you that are sick—
innī massanī al-ḍurr wa-anta arḥam al-raḥimīn
(
al-Anbiyā’
21: 83)—the 
duʿā’
is already there. 
Ayyūb
(
ʿalayhi al-salām
) turns to
Allah and says, ‘
Yā Allāh
, the pain is getting to me’ he doesn’t even ask, ‘
Yā
Allāh
, cure me’, because he doesn’t know if that is the best thing. He just turns
to Allah and says: ‘
Yā Allāh
, there is no one who shows more love and more
mercy and more care than you. I already know that. My pain has not shaken my
belief; my pain does not shake my faith.’ Most people when they feel a little
discomfort their faith is shaken. I pray that Allah makes us real people of 
duʿā’
,
real people of 
tawakkul
. I pray Allah does not make us of those who give up on
Allah quickly. That our 
duʿā
s to Allah bring us closer and closer to Him and
make us of those whom Allah gives strength of 
īmān
through their prayers. That
if Allah does not provide what you are hoping for immediately, you learn to say
to yourself that definitely whatever Allah has planned for me in the circumstance
that I am in, is absolutely better for me. This is the test of this life.
Stop asking yourself what did I do to deserve this? Stop asking yourself that
question. Allah does not hate you, Allah did not abandon you. He doesn’t
abandon His creation; He loves His creation. He created us after all and He made

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us in this beautiful way. All the good experiences you have in your life, all the
love you enjoy in your life, all the beautiful children we see in our families they
are a gift from Allah. They are not our making. They are a gift from Allah
because He loves us all. The things that are around you, if you learned to
appreciate them then your attitude towards Allah will change. You wouldn’t be
people of complaint anymore. So I remind myself and you that the attitude, I
deserve better, is not a good attitude. It’s not a healthy attitude. Allah knows
what we deserve. As a matter of fact we start with the assumption that you and I
deserve nothing. The slave deserves nothing; the Master gives anyway. He gives
gifts so everything we do have is a gift of Allah (