Grounding

Earlier this week I came across this verse:

Al-Baqarah 2:250

وَلَمَّا بَرَزُواْ لِجَالُوتَ وَجُنُودِهِۦ قَالُواْ رَبَّنَآ أَفۡرِغۡ عَلَيۡنَا صَبۡرًا وَثَبِّتۡ أَقۡدَامَنَا وَٱنصُرۡنَا عَلَى ٱلۡقَوۡمِ ٱلۡكَٰفِرِينَ

And when they went forth to [face] Goliath and his soldiers, they said, "Our Lord, pour upon us patience and plant firmly our feet and give us victory over the disbelieving people."

This part “pour upon us patience and plant firmly our feet” made me realize that we can be so focused on where we should be rather than where we actually are. If everything has been written by The Wisest, the only reasonable criteria for comparison is our qadr. And so I remind myself first- where I am is where Allah wants me to be and if I was meant to be somewhere else, nothing would stop The Creator from placing me there. I also realised that as scary as uncertainty can be, it is an invitation to ground myself in my relationship with Allah, even if that means starting from afresh.

Today, I invite you to plant your feet firmly in Allah’s will for your life. Ground it so well that you know if you have Allah you have everything, and if you don’t you have nothing. Things may or may not unfold. Things may or may not make sense but one thing is for sure- whatever Allah wills is best for me because He doesn’t wish to oppress me. So much could go wrong but so much could also go right. The reality is no matter how much we prepare ourselves for the worst, if the worst should happen we’d still be unprepared. Is having the best thoughts of Allah ever a loss then?

If it means that your tawkkul muscle must be built from scratch then so be it. If it means that you must rebuild your good-thoughts-of-Allah muscle then so be it. If it has to be done a thousand times then so be it. As a wise woman said:

Allah is worth doing my very best and breaking my back to try and reconnect with Him.

Ground your feet firmly in Allah’s will for your life. Even if that means crawling, limping or learning how to stand over and over again.

This is the first time we’re living this day. Tomorrow will be the first time we’re living it. Each day we’re actually starting from afresh whether or not we know it and the sooner we see the limited time we have on this earth as an opportunity to seek Allah’s closeness, the more barakah our days will have.

Luqman 31:22

وَمَن يُسۡلِمۡ وَجۡهَهُۥٓ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ وَهُوَ مُحۡسِنٌ فَقَدِ ٱسۡتَمۡسَكَ بِٱلۡعُرۡوَةِ ٱلۡوُثۡقَىٰۗ وَإِلَى ٱللَّهِ عَٰقِبَةُ ٱلۡأُمُورِ

And whoever submits his face to Allah while he is a doer of good - then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold. And to Allah will be the outcome of [all] matters.

And so I ask- can one who grasps the Most Trustworthy Handhold ever lose?

There are no sad endings for those who trust Allah.

Say that again.

I hope my invitation for grounding your feet is accepted with welcoming hands, even if those hands are shaking. May you be present enough to see when you are living in better days rather than only referring to it in past tense. May Allah give you the ability to see that there is good where you are and may He expand your chest to accept the good that He is bringing your way. Allah gives because of who He is and not because of who we are. I leave myself and everyone reading this in Allah’s care knowing whoever is being taken care of by Him has the Most Trustworthy Handhold.