The Best of Planners

There were many lessons gleaned from 2017 alone but I’ll share one story which had taught me this lesson again and again: Allah is the best of planners; trust Him.

“And it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allah knows but you do not know.” (AI-Baqarah, 2:216)

Here’s what happened…

Earlier last year, I entered a random contest organised by Qatar Airways which required me to write a creative caption on why I should win the pair of tickets to Dublin. I entered it with no expectations of winning. But no harm trying, yes?

So after sending my entry, fast forward a couple of weeks, this happened:

I was absolutely stoked! It came as a surprise because I had no expectations plus, it was a really spontaneous, lame caption which I had so sloppily written. I took me a while to wrap my head around the fact that I had won (never have I ever, in the past 20+ years of my life, won a content) so this was something. I was so elated I wanted to tell the whole world. But I stopped myself and thanked Allah first for gifting me with this opportunity.

However, circumstances prevented my friend and me from going. There were many things that hindered our planning; clash of schedules, etcetera. So in the end, I had to unfortunately forfeit the tickets. I was kinda disappointed at first because I was really looking forward to it! But I pacified myself by convincing that there must be a reason behind this – perhaps Allah has other plans for me. Allah knows best, yes?

A few weeks later, my friend then texted me a link to this article:

This happened on the day we were supposed to fly back to Singapore. The minute I read the news, I was overwhelmed with gratitude and thanked Him profusely.

So here are the 3 lessons I’ve learnt from this incident:

1. When you receive good news, don’t be too quick to share it with the world. Remember that Allah is the one who gifted you this blessing in the first place, and as easily as He had given it to you, He can easily take it back from you anytime. So the minute you receive any good news at all, He is the first on you should tell, He is the first one you should thank. Pray to Him for the blessings He has given you even without you asking for it. I was so excited I wanted to share it with the world but I stopped myself and asked what’s my intention. If it’s more to ‘show off’, or if it’s not really that beneficial, then it’s not worth sharing.
2. Allah is the best of planners. Truly. I was pretty disappointed initially but I reminded myself that there is always a reason behind everything that happens. Only Allah has knowledge of the unseen. So if things don’t go your way, have faith that it’s only because it’s better for you. Allah is protecting you from an unforeseeable harm. Have complete trust in His plans. Allah knows what you don’t.
3. You will never know if you never try. I’ve always believed that the possibility of me winning stuff is 0.000000% but this incident reminded me that if Allah wills something to happen, it will. So take that leap of faith, no matter how much you doubt yourself, and see how things go.

TLDR; Let go, let God.