Light from the Qur'an

In life we might wish badly for things that we are almost certain are good for us. Then, we pray to Allah begging Him to grant us what we want. It might happen that we do not get what we ask for, so we become angry or frustrated. We may wonder why Allah does not grant us what we want. But we may forget to ask ourselves, is what we asked for really good for us?

I selected for you four verses of the Qur'an that give us an answer:
in surah al-Baqarah 2, verse 216

كتب عليكم القتال وهو كره لكم وعسى أن تكرهوا شيئا وهو خير لكم وعسى أن تحبوا شيئا وهو شر لكم والله يعلم وأنتم لا تعلمون
"Fighting, to defend yourselves, is ordained upon you though you dislike it. You may dislike something although it is good for you, or like something although it is bad for you. Allah knows and you do not"

Here, the highlighted part is the focus of our discussion. Although the verses speak about an order by Allah to Muslims in certain situations, but the rule is general for all Allah's orders. For instance, five prayers a day might seem a lot by some, while in truth it is just what we need to balance our spiritual needs and material needs in our daily life. Also, observing these daily prayers should lead us to Paradise.
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Surah al-Nisa' 4, verse 19

يأيها الذين ءامنوا لايحل لكم أن ترثوا النساء كرها ولا تعضلوهن لتذهبوا ببعض ما ءاتيتموهن إلا أن يأتين بفاحشة مبينة وعاشروهن بالمعرف فإن كرهتموهن فعسى أن تكرهوا شيئا ويجعل الله فيه خيرا كثرا

"You who believe, it is not lawful for you to inherit women against their will, nor should you treat your wives harshly, hoping to take back some of the bride-gift you gave them, unless they are guilty of something indecent (like adultery). Live with them in accordance with what is fair and kind: if you dislike them, it might well be that you dislike something in which Allah has put much good."

This verse deals with family issues when things go wrong between husband and wife. It sets certain rules to ensure justice for women. Also, Allah reminds husbands who might dislike their wives of the fact that 'not everything we hate is bad for us; there might be lots of good in what we dislike'!

In surah al-Nur 24, verse 11

إن الذين جاءوا بالإفك عصبة منكم لاتحسبوه شرا لكم بل هو خير

"It was a group from among you who concocted the lie - do not consider it a bad thing for you [people]; it was a good thing..."

Here the verse refers to the event when Ayshah the wife of the Prophet was falsely accused of indecency by some of the Muslims. This incident created such a hard time for the Prophet, his innocent wife, and the whole of the community for a month! However, it disclosed the hidden danger of the hypocrites who were secretly keen to spread evil in the society, attack Islam, and hurt the Prophet. Also, because of this incident Allah laid to the Muslims rules that create mutual love and trust between members of the community.


Surah Al-Imran 3, verse 180:

ولا يحسبن الذين يبخلون بما ءاتاه الله من فضله هو خيرا لهم بل هو شر لهم سيطوقون ما بخلوا به يوم القيامة ولله ميراث السماوات والأرض والله بما تعملون خبير

"Those who are miserly with what Allah has granted them out of His grace, should not think that it is good for them; on the contrary, it is bad for them. For whatever they meanly withhold will be hung around their necks on the Day of Resurrection. It is Allah who will inherit the heavens and earth; Allah is well aware of everything you do."

Here the verse shows us a picture of some people who are so mean and do not spend in charity for the sake of Allah. They like collecting money, which Allah granted them. They think that what they do is good for them, out of ignorance. But Allah confirms what they do not know; this money will be held around their necks and burn them on the Day of Resurrection



Looking at these verses that deal with different incidents, we can clearly see that not everything we consider as bad is always bad, and not everything we think of as good and winning is always so. When Allah orders us to do something like, for instance, women to be covered, we should not receive this with hate and dislike; it is definitely good for us. When things do not go the way we plan in our family life, we should not base our reaction on hate and love. We should fear Allah and refer to Him in solving our problems. If something bad befalls upon us, we should not lose hope or blame it on Allah. We need to return to Allah, ask His help and guidance, and do our best to remove the harm, then search for what good we can gain from what has happened. When we try to disobey Allah, thinking that we are clever, and that we can get away with something, we have to know that we are wrong and on the losing end; pleasing Allah is the winning card that we should use.