By Dalia Rashwan
Life is not easy. For some people, it looks even frustrating. Everyday comes with its mysterious events unfolding either cheerful and encouraging news or sad and even devastating ones. You can’t really predict what will be on the news in a minute.
You may stop and wonder, are life events chaotic and random with no rules?
Some people seem luckier than others, is it luck?
Can someone control his life or at least know what is going on?
Life that way seems very unjust and out of control. But if you look at what science discovered everywhere around you, you will be astonished. Your body, the environment around you, plants, animals, earth, astrology, chemistry, physics, anything and everything will seem highly organized through an extremely precise mechanism that even through our developed technology can’t reach its end.
Do you really think that human life is the only thing in the universe that is chaotic and random?
Rationally it can’t be.
In Islam, life events are highly organized and designed as everything else. There are rules Allah ordered us to know and study so we can control our life to be able to have a positive and constructive role in the universe.
{Verily, all things have We created in proportion and measure.} (Al Kamar 54:49)
{And there is not a thing but its (sources and) treasures (inexhaustible) are with Us; but We only send down thereof in due and ascertainable measures.} (Al Hijr 15:21)
So, life has nothing to do with luck.
Everything you experience has a meaning and requires a certain action. You are put throughout your life in a variety of situations to test your responsiveness. You are rewarded then by Allah according to this response.
Life events are just like a game where you are put in different situations that require a certain action. And, every time you score you are rewarded according to this score then shifted to the next level while supported with more advantages.
Everything you do, every move you make, and every choice you take, leads to what follows in life and after death including the Day of Judgment. Everything you see, hear, or know isn’t random, it is meant for a reason and you will have to figure it out and use it as Allah SWT wants. Thinking, observing, ruminating about what is happening around you is a kind of worship and is a praised one.
{Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day,- there are indeed Signs for men of understanding,-} (Al Emran 3:190)
{Men who celebrate the praises of Allah, standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth, (With the thought): “Our Lord! not for naught Hast Thou created (all) this! Glory to Thee! Give us salvation from the penalty of the Fire.} (Al Emran 3:191)
Allah ordered you to search for the signs around you and that those who believe will find their answers.
{Verily in the heavens and the earth, are Signs for those who believe.} (Gatheya 45:3)
{And in the creation of yourselves and the fact that animals are scattered (through the earth), are Signs for those of assured Faith.} (Gatheya 45:4)
{And in the alternation of Night and Day, and the fact that Allah sends down Sustenance from the sky, and revives therewith the earth after its death, and in the change of the winds,- are Signs for those that are wise.} (Gatheya 45:5)
{Such are the Signs of Allah, which We rehearse to thee in Truth; then in what exposition will they believe after (rejecting) Allah and His Signs?} (Gatheya 45:6)
Make Your Choices
Choosing your path in life begins when Allah SWT gives you guidance; a primary guidance that is given to everyone. If you follow this guidance you will be entitled to another one just for the believers.
{And Allah doth advance in guidance those who seek guidance: and the things that endure, Good Deeds, are best in the sight of thy Lord, as rewards, and best in respect of (their) eventual return.} (Maryam 19:76)
Then comes your decision concerning the target of your worldly life; money, job, marriage. Are you indifferent about life and you are just satisfied with the eat-work-sleep routine? Do you want to be a good Muslim who serves Islam with all his capabilities and please Allah? Or you want some life gains to be able to set an example for other wealthy people by working by the Quran and give rights to everyone around you.
Anything you want will be given to you. This is your choice. But, how it is done isn’t. If you want a good deed you will find that events are orchestrated in a way that provides you with what you have chosen. And, if you want bad deeds your opportunities will show. But, it’s a whole deal; it comes along with the appropriate punishment. Thus, you will have to bear the consequences. So, be careful for what you really want.
To be able to stay on the right path during your journey to your targeted good deed you need to respond to what Allah said in the Quran and what Prophet Muhammad said in the Sunna. And, be careful, you will be trialed all along the way to distinguish whether you are sincere in what you want or whether your wishes are just words you say.
{Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, “We believe”, and that they will not be tested?} (Ankaboot 29:2)
{We did test those before them, and Allah will certainly know those who are true from those who are false.} (Ankaboot 29:3)
Finally, a true believer would react similarly to good or bad events because he knows that good events aren’t for his pleasure and bad events aren’t for his misery. Everything is just an action that requires an appropriate reaction and is rewarded in his worldly life and in the Hereafter.
As you see, every event has a reason and do not show up by luck. So, if you feel you do not understand, just try to think and observe what is happening around you, then, supplicate to Allah to give you the knowledge. But remember to think always about what you did, remember your experiences in life and build a relation between them. You will find this method very enlightening.
{He granteth wisdom to whom He pleaseth; and he to whom wisdom is granted receiveth indeed a benefit overflowing; but none will grasp the Message but men of understanding.} (Bakara 2:269)
(Quran translation of Yusuf Ali)
