Qur’an 30 for 30 | Season 6
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Juz 16: Miracles and Predestination | Ust. Sarah Sultan
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You may have plans for your life, but what happens when Allah changes your destiny completely? The story of Musa and Khidr teaches us the reality of qadar—how what we want isn’t always what we need.
Join Ust. Sarah Sultan, Dr. Omar Suleiman, and Sh. Abdullah Oduro as they explore juz 16 of the Qur’an, uncovering the wisdom of Allah and the timeless lessons from Surah Kahf—the chapter we turn to every Friday for guidance and reflection.
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.Obviously, there is this great anxiety to know, Ya Allah, why and when? Why and when? Why and when? What do we see about the psychology of Fir\'aun here is that he cannot relinquish control. And a miracle is something that is beyond human capabilities and capacity, which we know inherently is with Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala. So miracles are never impossible. As-salaamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Everyone, welcome back to Qur\'an 30 for 30. Alhamdulillah rabbil alameen, as we are now in Juz 16, we want to remind you all insha\'Allah ta\'ala that as we\'re coming up to the last 10 nights of Ramadan, to please automate your donations bi\'ithnillah ta\'ala for the last 10 nights. We know that there are many ways to give insha\'Allah and many great causes to give too. We hope bi\'ithnillah that you\'re enjoying what\'s coming out of Yaqeen bi\'ithnillah and that you will contribute insha\'Allah ta\'ala. So you can sign up at the link below bi\'ithnillah and of course tune in to the webathon that will also be coming up insha\'Allah ta\'ala. And with that bi\'ithnillah ta\'ala we\'re honored today to have alhamdulillah rabbil alameen sister Sarah Sultan, who alhamdulillah has been a part of Yaqeen now for several years alhamdulillah rabbil alameen. I want to say five years alhamdulillah that you\'ve been writing multiple papers. You had the book with you and sister Najwa, Your Lord Has Not Forsaken You. You\'re now working on a parenting series alhamdulillah rabbil alameen. And we\'re grateful to you for all of that work. You\'re also al-Maghrib\'s first resident expert in mental health. You\'re a licensed mental health counselor with almost a decade of experience alhamdulillah rabbil alameen in student knowledge. You\'ve taught courses, so you\'ve written papers, taught courses, and you also do marital counseling. And just like Shaykh Abdullah masha\'Allah you do all this stuff too right? Sister Sarah has a new course with al-Maghrib on examining Islamic guidance of grief insha\'Allah ta\'ala. And so you\'ve got courses alhamdulillah. You\'ve got the papers that are going and we\'re grateful for all that you\'ve been doing alhamdulillah rabbil alameen.
And of course we\'re in your hometown, well it\'s not your hometown but we\'re in Houston alhamdulillah rabbil alameen. I think it\'s your hometown. My hometown. Your hometown alhamdulillah. Welcome home alhamdulillah. It\'s a blessing to have you alhamdulillah rabbil alameen. Allah bless you and increase you. Before we get started, something a little different we\'re doing this year. A personal story with the Qur\'an, someone whose life you saw change with the Qur\'an or something that has really stood out to you about the Qur\'an especially over the last year. Is there anything that sort of comes to mind that the audience can glean benefit from? Absolutely, you know the first thing that comes to mind especially with what\'s been happening for the past year is the therapeutic technique that I\'ve been using nonstop in my sessions with clients in bringing solace to myself. And it was something that was shared by a friend of mine through her therapist. So it\'s like this grapevine and it\'s called truth telling. Which is the idea that we have all of these thoughts, we have all of these fears and a lot of our thoughts are based in fear. But when we can combat that fear with the truth, it\'s really transformative. And we see that in the Qur\'an. You know we see that in the promises of Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala. So when we see these you know dictators and people getting away with genocide and we think how can they get away with this? We\'re told in the Qur\'an that they\'re not. That they\'re just biding their time. That Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala will hold them to account, right? So things like that in knowing that when we\'re mindful of Allah and when we turn to that truth, it\'s really really transformative. So that\'s been something that\'s been transformative for me and I\'ve seen it really be transformative for so many people when we talk through finding the truth in the Qur\'an. That relates perfectly to our lessons for today. So inshallah ta\'ala I\'ll go ahead and start. So the lesson that I\'m going to be expounding upon today bi\'idhnillahi ta\'ala is the following. Wisdom will only reveal itself to you if you show patience with it. And obviously with everything that\'s been happening with the tyrants of the world
and the shuhada that have been showing up on our screens non-stop. Obviously there is this great anxiety to know ya Allah, why and when? Why and when? Why and when? And in this particular chapter you have the story of Musa alayhi salam and Khadr alayhi salam. And this is probably the most profound section of the Qur\'an on Qadr. Because it gives you multiple real life situations where if you were Musa alayhi salam, you also would not understand the wisdom in the moment. But here you have Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala giving us the story of two prophets that are walking together on this journey. One of them knows the wisdom behind it and the other one does not. And the other one is struggling to show patience with the wisdom as it is unfolding before his eyes. So again wisdom will only reveal itself to you if you show patience with it. Now here\'s the thing about the story of Musa alayhi salam and Khadr alayhi salam. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam used to praise the patience of Musa alayhi salam. Musa alayhi salam dealt with a Fir\'aun, he dealt with a pharaoh. Musa alayhi salam dealt with being a child put into the Nile River, taken into the palace of Fir\'aun, on the run as a fugitive. I mean he has dealt with every form of trial and tribulation that you can think of. He also dealt with the abuse of his own people. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam praised the exemplary patience of Musa alayhi salam. He said, رحم الله أخي موسى. May Allah have mercy on my brother Moses. لقد أوذي بأكثر من هذا فصبر. He was tested with far worse than this and he was patient. So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam praised the patience of Musa alayhi salam. But Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala tells us about the story of Musa alayhi salam and Khadr alayhi salam. And in the 78th verse of Surah Al-Kahf, Al-Khadr says to Musa alayhi salam, قال هذا فراق بيني وبينك سأنبئك بتأويل ما لم تستطع عليه صبرا. That this is the parting of our ways.
Now I will explain to you what you could not bear patiently. So Al-Khadr says, you were impatient with me as these incidents were unfolding. And here\'s the thing, Musa alayhi salam did not want to be impatient, but the nature of man is to be impatient, is to want to know why is this happening, what\'s the wisdom of this, and especially when it seems to be something that strikes so close to home. And in the case of Musa alayhi salam, every single one of the incidents that he\'s encountering is something that intersects with his own trauma, with things that have happened to him as a child, that intersect with his own plight, with his own triumph. So there\'s always a connection in the life of Musa alayhi salam. And in this situation, Musa alayhi salam as he\'s asking Al-Khadr for this wisdom and that wisdom and this wisdom, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, the same Prophet alayhi salatu wasalam, who praised the patience of the same Prophet Musa alayhi salam, he read this verse alayhi salatu wasalam, and he said, وَدِدْنَا أَنَّ مُوسَىٰ كَانَ صَبْرًا حَتَّى يَقُصُوا اللَّهُ عَلَيْنَا مِنْ خَبْرِهِمَا That we wish Musa alayhi salam would have been more patient, so that Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala would have told us more of these stories. We would have gotten more from Al-Khadr alayhi salam, we would have gotten more incidents, and we would have gotten more wisdom. So what patience is this talking about? The nature of man is to want to know why right away, and to want to know when right away. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam particularly mentioned this in regards to our du\'a, when we\'re making du\'a, we\'re hasty with Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala. Ya Allah, when\'s it going to happen? The question is always when, when, when? And a lot of times we talk about this from purely the facet of your du\'a will not be answered once you cut it off by saying, Ya Allah, when? Or I made this du\'a and it didn\'t happen, right? But there\'s another wisdom that we take from this, which is that in life, if you\'re so concerned with Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala turning the page for you,
then you\'re not gleaning the wisdom of the current page that you\'re on. And that\'s the case of Musa alayhi salam and Al-Khadr alayhi salam in this regard. That a lot of times when we\'re going through something, when we\'re witnessing something that doesn\'t make sense to us, at the moment we\'re either just trying to cope with it, we\'re trying to make sense of it, or we\'re trying to hurry up and move past it. And when there\'s a lot of wisdom that could come through, you\'re being patient with it and letting it unfold before your eyes and paying closer attention to the moment as it\'s happening rather than being hasty for the moment that you long for afterwards. And you think about it as you get older, subhanAllah, and this is part of why the ulama tie age and wisdom together in this regard. It\'s inherently tied together. It\'s not to say that young people can\'t be wise, right? Like Yahya alayhi salam had wisdom at a young age. But as you get older and you look back at episodes in your life, you go, okay, now it made sense. Now it makes sense. Now it made sense. And I wish I would have in that moment been a little bit more patient. I would have been able to see why this actually was better for me and there was great wisdom in this. And so there are different forms of sabr in Islam. There\'s the patience with the trial. And some people have the ability to endure just blow after blow after blow. Some people have the ability to endure arrogance and aggression against them. Some people have the ability to endure loud voices and loud mouths. But there are different types of patience. There\'s the patience that\'s required to see yourself through. There\'s the patience that\'s required to see our ibadah through, right? To be patient with your prayer, to be patient with your fasting, to be patient with the good that you\'re doing. And here in this regard, there is the patience that is necessary to have true wisdom. That you\'re actually able to be present in the moment and say, okay, now this is starting to make sense. Allah Azza wa Jal reveals an inch and you\'re able to extract from that inch a whole other book. Like, okay, now this makes sense. Now this makes sense. Now this makes sense.
And you can only do that when you have a certain calmness and composure to you. And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala to grant us that patience because it seems to be, subhanAllah, like the most difficult patience to have. You know, like to actually be able to sit back and say, all right, what\'s happening here and what can I learn from this as I\'m also waiting for Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala to see me through this. That\'s beautiful how you mentioned the different aspects of patience, subhanAllah. You know, Allah has created us differently in different capacities, what we can handle, what we cannot handle. And you see, I mean, how you mentioned, you know, blow after blow. As soon as you said that, I\'m thinking about our brothers and sisters in Gaza and around the world, the blow after blow that we\'re seeing, what\'s happening day after day. We\'re thinking that it\'s over, but then it\'s like something else comes. And then you have to have patience even within yourself when you\'re sitting on the telephone and you deal with your family members. So, you know, just those dimensions of patience, I really never thought about it like that. So JazakAllah. Absolutely. And I think one of the ways that I try to think about it that helps me as I see everything that\'s unfolding is I view it as, you know, our lives and the lives around us are like a tapestry, right? And we see one thread because we have a very limited human capacity to see what\'s the entire picture. But Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala is limitless. And He is all-seeing and He is all-knowing and He is all-wise. And so He\'s able to see the full tapestry. And so He sees where every single thread goes. And there are certain threads that we wanna pull out because we see these threads and they make us uncomfortable. And we wanna be able to control that, but we can\'t, right? We can\'t. And we have to acknowledge that Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala has the wisdom to be able to see that full tapestry and make the best decisions for us and for our brothers and sisters even when it doesn\'t feel that way for us. Subhanahu wa ta\'ala, how many things look so ugly in the moment and now they\'re the most beautiful forms of tapestry. Now you look at it and you say, okay, now I get it. You know, it\'s like, we\'re literally looking at a rug right now, right? If you saw like a piece of it, you don\'t understand the full design of it.
But then like, if you were to zoom out, you go, oh wow, that\'s actually really beautiful. But it would look like just a random mark on the outside, right? And so that\'s really what it is, subhanahu wa ta\'ala. You have to be able to just sit there and say, there is a beauty that maybe I\'m just not seeing yet. And that builds your wisdom because you then take that to the next episode of your life. So Musa alayhi salam wasn\'t done being tested, right? Like he cannot, it wasn\'t just giving him context for the previous tests. It was also for the future tests that he would have. You can kind of see where the prophet went right and where the tyrant went wrong, right? And that\'s the beauty of the Qur\'an is it gives us the heroes and the villains. It gives us the prophets with all of their perfection and infallibility as well as their humanity, right? Because this is not a knock on Musa alayhi salam. It\'s praise of Musa alayhi salam, right? But it\'s also, you know, learning the lessons of the prophets. But where does the villain go wrong, right? And where does the Fir\'aun go wrong in regards to psychology? So what\'s your lesson for today? My lesson for today, which coincides really beautifully with your lesson, is that relinquishing control can be a path to salvation. And so to delve into that, we\'re gonna delve into the psychology of Fir\'aun, which is very powerful because oftentimes we delve into the psychology of the heroes in our Islamic tradition, which is really beautiful. But it\'s also really important to know what not to do. And that\'s what we learn from the story of Fir\'aun and his interactions with Musa alayhi salam. And so this is in Surah Taha, where Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala is describing a scene where Fir\'aun is asking Musa alayhi salam about who Allah is. And Musa alayhi salam responds to him and he describes Allah. And, you know, he says, he\'s the one who fashioned everybody and everything in their distinctive form. He\'s the one who sends the rain. He\'s the one who creates paths on earth for us. All of these beautiful descriptions of Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala, who Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala is and his limitless capacity and capability. And so after hearing about all of this, Fir\'aun responds in a very interesting way.
And this shows us a lot about his psychology. He says in verse 57 of Surah Taha, he says, So he asks Musa, he says, Which is really interesting because if you hear this and you\'re confused, it makes sense that you\'re confused because his response makes no sense. It is completely off topic. It has nothing to do with the conversation that they were having. And so what do we see about the psychology of Fir\'aun here is that he cannot relinquish control. He has to control the path of everything around him, of everyone around him, even this conversation, because he knows he can\'t win it. He knows that he is not the Lord who sends down the rain, even though he\'s asking his people to basically worship him. He knows that he\'s not the one who provides this provision. He knows he\'s not the one who has created and fashioned the people around him. So what does he do? He detracts and he changes the conversation around and he makes it personal. He questions the sincerity of Musa alayhi salam, and he accuses him of being self-serving, that he wants this land. And this tells you something else about the psychology of Fir\'aun. It tells you that... He cannot see beyond what he himself wants. He wants control. He wants power. He wants land. He wants wealth. And he assumes everybody else wants the same. He assumes that Musa alayhi salam wants the same thing. And so he can only see the world through a worldly lens, through material and tangible gain. And so one of the lessons that we gain from this is that a lot of times people\'s responses to you, if they are maligning your character, if they are arguing with you in a way that\'s just not befitting, a lot of times their opinion of you and their responses to you are actually a reflection of them, more than they are a reflection of you. And so this is something that we see in the psychology of Fir\'aun. But his focus is on power and control and doing anything that he can to maintain it,
including rejecting the truth. And that is what happens when we look at our lives through a worldly lens, in the way that Fir\'aun is looking at his life, is that accepting the truth that Musa alayhi salam is bringing him, all he can see is what he\'s going to lose. And he cannot see what he\'s going to gain, which would have been his salvation, right? If he had been able, and there\'s no guarantee that he would have lost the worldly things, but he could have had such a different path forward if he had accepted the truth, right? And so this tells us that the lens that we wear is extremely powerful. Are we wearing a worldly lens where we\'re only focusing on the plans that we have for our lives here? Or are we wearing an Akhira, a Jannah-based lens of what we are hoping to achieve in the hereafter? Right? رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً That we\'re asking Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala for good in this life, but prioritizing, prioritizing good in the next life. And so when we can wear that lens, it suddenly transforms all of our decisions so that yes, you\'re wearing hijab to go to an interview. And that might limit some of your chances, but your priority is the Akhira. And so you know you\'re not losing anything and you\'re gaining everything, right? So all of these lessons when we see them, it\'s all about relinquishing control and knowing that the plan of Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala is the plan that\'s best for us. And so we don\'t have to wait until the end like Fir\'aun when he\'s dying in the Red Sea. This is the moment he relinquishes his control. This is the moment that he finally decides, you know what, that kingdom in Egypt, I\'ll give it all up. I\'ll give it all up and I\'ll believe in Allah because he now knows his eternity is in balance. But we still have, we still have that moment to change that lens. And so what lens are we going to wear inshallah in being able to move forward? That\'s so beautiful. I mean, I was just thinking about like narcissism, right? You know, you hear within marriages a lot of times, you know, and it\'s the man and the woman, but you know I\'m hearing it from the male side a lot of times is where they think about themselves and they don\'t think about the compromise they have to make.
They don\'t want to come to therapy. Usually I\'m an imam and she was an imam as well. The husbands don\'t want to come a lot of times. And subhanAllah, you know, you\'re putting it in that perspective of like, they only think of the worldly benefit and they don\'t think about how this can affect their akhira. Another beautiful point is, you know, the whole concept of intention, because intention is that which connects the worldly physical things to that of the akhira. So if you\'re going to lose something for the sake of Allah, intention, then you\'ll benefit inshallah. So it\'s a beautiful, beautiful point. You know what I thought of? Fir\'aun sounds a lot like Israel. Every accusation is a confession. Every single thing they accuse us of is actually a confession of who they are. And so they can\'t see how other people can see the world through the akhira lens, which the people of Gaza and the people of Palestine only see it through the akhira lens. Right? Because all they believe in is this land. And subhanAllah, actually if you look at their creed, they actually don\'t believe in an akhira. It\'s actually really interesting. SubhanAllah, a lot of people don\'t know that. We assume we\'re all Abrahamic, but they actually have a very abstract, convoluted view of the akhira. So this land grab and this oppression and this expansion of territory, this is what they have. This is their jannah, right? And they\'re trying to make it on earth. And nasrullah al-afiyah. I mean, we ask Allah for protection because we\'re literally dealing with the Fir\'aun here. And you\'re seeing that Pharaoh trying to expand. And like the lies are even getting harder for them to tell. You look at them, those ministers on screen, and you can, I mean, even a person who has zero political literacy can see the lying, can see the narcissism just in their eyes. They\'ve repeated the same lie so many times now that it just doesn\'t work anymore. So the psychology of the Fir\'aun is truly present. And the challenge for us is how to be more like Musa alayhi salam when resisting someone that\'s so obviously like Fir\'aun. That\'s where the challenge becomes. Because realize when Musa was in the position of Musa al-Khadr, I think this is something very profound.
He wasn\'t the direct party experiencing that Qadr. He was an observer. And so we\'ve been observers. And sometimes it\'s harder to be the observer than to be the recipient. Like Musa alayhi salam was on the outside watching this happen to that family, watching this happen to this people, right? And that\'s where he\'s like asking these questions. So there is the observer of Qadr and then there\'s the one who\'s experiencing that Qadr. And that both kind of gives us something to really reflect upon. The Qadr in and of itself, when we sit and think about it, is a miracle. And a miracle is something that is beyond human capabilities and capacity, which we know inherently is with Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala. So miracles are never impossible. Miracles are never impossible. When we look in the chapter of Maryam alayhi salam, which I want to talk about roughly in the 21st verse, where Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala talks about the conception of Isa. But then he ends it, at the tail end of the ayah, with a general qa\'idah, or a general rule that we should understand. Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala tells Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, when he says, And mentioned the story of Maryam when she went to a distant land in the east. And they say, That she went distant into this land of the east, and she wanted to go in seclusion and worship of Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala. When Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala caused an angel in the form of a man to come to her, a well-proportioned man. And he congratulated her that she will have a child. But then she was perplexed when she mentioned, after that she said, She said, How can a boy be born to me when no man has even touched me, nor have I been unchaste? There is no possibility for me to even conceive, whether that was in a good or a bad way. But then Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala concludes with a beautiful, beautiful verse
for us to remember this concept of the predestination. This concept of the knowledge of Allah and the ability of Allah, which is the predestination of Allah. When we see here, when Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala says, mentioning the statement of the angel, And the angel responded, This is the case, this is what\'s going to happen. You are going to have a child, not in the way that is a procreation, that as we normally know the process, a miracle. He says, Your Lord said, this is easy for me. Which is very interesting. There is no such thing as, in the concept of Allah, easier for Allah or less easy. It is all easy. It is hayyin. Even though in another verse it\'s mentioned ahwan, but that is in our perception, in our understanding, there is easier and easier, superlative and all of that, which is different levels. But for Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala, it\'s all the same thing. It is all easy for Allah. That is what is important for us to remember. Allah\'s ability, every single thing is considered easy for him because he is al-Qawiyy, he is the Almighty, he is al-Aziz, he is the all-knowledgeable. And his knowledge encompasses everything as we\'ve seen the manifestation of his knowledge and what is happening in the lives of Musa and Fir\'aun. And then he continues to say, And this is what was mentioned to Maryam alayhi salam just to remind her and as a result, remind all of us. So when he says here, thus shall it be, your Lord says, it is easy for me and we shall do so in order to make him a sign for mankind and a mercy from us. This has been decreed. Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala is talking about the conception of Isa is something that is easy and we are making him a sign and a mercy. This has been decreed. You have no choice in the matter. We are making him a sign for you and a sign for all of mankind. That shows firstly,
the virtue of Maryam that Allah chose her to conceive in this fashion. Although it was a test at that time for her, although it was a test for the people around her at that time when she went to them, but it was also a sign from Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala being Isa, he himself is a mercy. He is a mercy for all of us. As we see nowadays, subhanAllah, I remember when I wasn\'t Muslim and I was a Christian and we believed at Isa alayhi salam, his virtue, his greatness, his honor, the miracle of his birth, the miracles that Allah used him to show all of us, which is recorded in scripture, the Bible and the Quran. But we as Muslims also believe in the miracle of Isa alayhi salam, that he brought the dead to life, by the permission of Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala. We see that all of this is a miracle. It is a sign and as a result, a mercy for all of us, understanding the greatness of Isa alayhi salam, but most importantly, it is something that has been predestined and decreed and that\'s why it\'s important for us to rely on Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala\'s ilm, his knowledge, his wisdom, and to know that that is something that is decreed to make us patient in this life and be patient with Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala and what he\'s predestined to be with him in the next life, inshaAllah ta\'ala. I have a question for Sister Sarah, on the basis of what you just said. I think it\'s deeply profound, but one thing that I struggle with, you tell someone Allah can work miracles and then their du\'a is not being answered and they think that I\'m asking Allah for actually something very simple and you\'re telling me that Allah is capable of great miracles. How do you reconcile this for someone? I know that you and Sister Najwa wrote the book Your Lord Has Not Forsaken You and in my estimation, you can\'t understand qadr without understanding miracles. You can\'t understand any of these domains, rather you can\'t understand the things that are happening to you that you can\'t make sense of or the things that you want to happen that aren\'t happening
unless you understand the power of Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala. How do you stop someone from getting jaded and bitter when you\'re telling them, believe in the miracles of Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala, but at the same time, be patient with your du\'a? As I was listening to what you were sharing, Sheikh Abdullah, this thought is what came to mind and the way that I was thinking about it was look at the juxtaposition of the example of the hero here, Maryam alayhi salam, and the villain, Fir\'aun. What is she able to do that\'s so different than what he\'s able to do? What she\'s able to do is she\'s able to surrender to Allah. She\'s able to relinquish that control knowing that the plan of Allah is better for her. Imagine this scenario. She\'s a young woman. She is now pregnant in a society where unmarried pregnancy is not the norm and now she is also commanded that she can\'t speak to even defend herself. So what is now eliminated is there\'s no space for ego, right? And this is where Fir\'aun has his downfall is his power and control is all about his ego because he decides that I know what\'s best for my life. I know what path my life should take and that plan is the best plan. And a lot of times, our desire to control our lives as human beings is really normal, right? Like you wanna get married, you\'re looking for a spouse and you\'re asking Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala for so long, for so long and it\'s not coming to fruition. That\'s one of the struggles that I think comes up very, very frequently for people. Why? Why is this not happening for me and it\'s happening for my friends? One of the things to keep in mind is that we have this idea that the plan that we have, the trajectory we have for our lives is better than the plan that Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala has for us. But if you were to ask, you would know, you would be able to acknowledge, no, the plan of Allah is better but it doesn\'t always feel that way. And so being able to look at it from the lens of Maryam alayhi salam where, okay, the plan of Allah subhanahu wa ta\'ala is better,
even though it\'s really painful right now and even though it\'s really difficult right now. And one of the best ways I think to go about this is to look at your past, to look at the things that you wish you could have had and now you look back and you\'re like, alhamdulillah, that didn\'t happen because this was so much better. The plan of Allah is always better even if it doesn\'t feel better right now. Something along those lines. That\'s very powerful. You mentioned something that I hope we can all say it in any aspect of our lives or something that we didn\'t anticipate at the moment but later is like, oh, now I get it. Right? We can say, now I get it. Oh, okay. Alhamdulillah. Qadr Allahumma sharafa. I think the comfort for people is that on the Day of Judgment everything is, oh, now I get it. Because there are things, subhanAllah, you\'re going to die before some of those things didn\'t make sense. But if the only thing you get is Jannah and it\'s a reward and you go, now I get it. Alhamdulillah. Because everything, everything is good for the believer at the end, right? So may Allah Azza wa Jal make us amongst those that celebrate on the Day of Judgment and that get it on the Day of Judgment in terms of the plan and the promise and the paradise. Allahumma ameen. BarakAllahu feekum. JazakAllahu khayran, Sister Sarah for joining us and for your incredible work. It is a, subhanAllah, very rare to find people that combine both our tradition and the very important elements of mental health that are necessary. So I\'d recommend everyone to please check out her work on Yaqeen site to check out her work within Maghrib. I would say book her for a counseling session but I\'m pretty sure, I think her calendar is full for like the next six months. But may Allah Azza wa Jal bless you and bless your family. JazakAllahu khayran. JazakAllahu khayran. For the amazing reflections as always. InshaAllah ta\'ala we\'ll see you all tomorrow. Wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
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