For the past few months, I have been reflecting on various things: my purpose, the kind of person I am, and my tawakkul in Allah's plan. I love everything about Allah, from His anger to His mercy. He is Al-Malik, and we are simply His makhlooq. We stand before Him with nothing, completely helpless and vulnerable, and we beg for His mercy. But the thing I love most about Allah is how kind and merciful He is, and how He elevates you in front of the very people who once betrayed you, left you, humiliated you, and thought little of you.
I was reading about Aam ul-Huzn, the Year of Sorrow, when the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ went through the loss of his beloved wife Khadijah رضي الله عنها and his uncle Abu Talib. After that, the pressure in Mecca grew heavier, because he no longer had the same protection. The Quraysh became even more hostile. In that period, he went to Ta'if looking for support, but he was rejected. And still, he stayed patient. He stayed firm. His reliance on Allah did not change.
Then Allah showed him something that people could never take away from him. After the Year of Sorrow, Allah elevated the Prophet ﷺ. He honored him with Isra and Mi'raj: the night journey, and then the ascension through the heavens. It was a moment of closeness, comfort, and strength from Allah. When people were trying to break him on earth, Allah raised him higher than they or anyone could ever reach.
But Allah did not only elevate him in the unseen. Allah elevated him in this world too. After failing to find protection in Ta'if, Allah opened a door from a place he did not expect. People from Yathrib, later known as Madinah, gave him protection, and that promise became the reason the Prophet ﷺ and the believers could leave Mecca and build a real community. The message started spreading beyond Mecca, and Islam moved from being something people tried to crush into something Allah established and strengthened.
This was a powerful lesson for me. It taught me that hardship is not the end, and that patience and trust in Allah are never wasted. Allah knows what He is doing, even when we do not. Just as Allah honored the Prophet ﷺ after his trials, we too should turn back to Allah in our lowest moments, ask Him for guidance, and hold on to the belief that sabr and tawakkul always lead somewhere better. All Allah asks of us is to be patient and to trust His plan.
Sometimes people will tell you, or try to make you believe, that what you lost was the best you could ever have. I have one question for those people: are you God? Did Allah reveal His plan for me to you? And then I asked myself: am I going to believe the words of those who once betrayed me, or the word of the One who carried me through every dark moment, the Most Merciful, the Most Forgiving?
So here is what I want to tell you: whatever you are going through is temporary. Whatever you have lost can be replaced by something far better, if your intentions were good. Let your worries be handled by the One who is the Master and the Best of Planners, the One who loves you more than anyone in this world ever could.
And one last thing: we endure so much pain from the insults and betrayals of people. Why can we not bear a little pain for the sake of Allah? If our boss humiliates us, we swallow it and keep going. Why can we not be patient for Allah's plan? The greatest skill we can ever learn is to have complete trust in Allah, absorb the pain, and keep moving forward. Do not look back at what no longer concerns you. Whatever Allah has planned for you is better than what He has taken away, and better than anything you think is best for yourself.
May Allah bless you all.