Call on your Lord with True Conviction

We all pray to Allah to help us in situations, and sometimes we may feel that our prayers are not been answered and we naturally tend to wonder about things. Well, I just had an experience which made me question how true my conviction really is and how much I believe Allah will help me. Let me explain using my example, which is actually a mundane example, but there’s so much to learn from it.

I recently got a new car (Alhamdullillah), well my new car is actually a second-hand car which I got from my brother in law through a deal the family made. In any case, the car needed some work to be done on it and so we first sent it to the mechanic. Since the mechanic was waiting for car parts he took very long to sort everything out and eventually he brought the car back. After driving it for one day, the car gave me some problems, so we got that sorted out. Then, very shortly after that, it gave some more problems. These were all small things that the mechanic hadn’t adjusted properly because only once you begin to really drive the car can you see what works properly and what doesn’t. Anyway, Alhamdullillah, that got sorted out as well.

Now, here’s where the lesson begins...

 I was extremely irritated and frustrated by all this. After waiting for so long to get the car from the mechanic I really expected it to be working great and I wasn’t prepared for more hurdles. So I really didn’t deal with this well at all (okay, to be honest I sort of put up a tantrum about it). Since I had made duaa (prayers) to Allah Almighty before even getting the car, I wondered why all this was going wrong now, and maybe even wondered why Allah wasn’t accepting my prayers (May Allah (SWT) forgive me!!!).

You see the thing is that even though I made prayers, I didn’t ask Allah with true conviction and I didn’t go about it in the correct manner. Then the other day a wise Moulana said to me that the best way to get over any problem at all is to focus on shukr to Allah (Giving thanks to Allah for everything). It was like the key to open every single locked door when he said this, because it’s just so true. He explained that no matter what problem people may have, when we consider all Allah’s favours upon us, our problems will always be much, much less!!! SubhanAllah!!!! Truly Allah is the Most Giving, The Most Kind and Most Merciful!

The story continues...

The day after I heard this from the Moulana, the car started up again. As I was driving, a gush of thick white smoke started coming out from the exhaust pipe non-stop. I was about to freak out again, but then Alhamdullillah I was reminded about what the Moulana had told me. So I took a deep breath and firstly had to admit that I should be thankful to Allah that I have a car in the first place because I know many people who wish they were so fortunate. Besides that I should be thankful that I can drive, thankful that Allah keeps me safe all the time (especially in a place like Johannesburg which has been termed the “Crime Capital of the World”). You see, one incident and there were so many things I had to be thankful for.

Since the car started smoking when I was nearby my place of work I decided to just drive there because I had an appointment which I couldn’t miss. I calmly decided to complete my work and after that I’d see what happens with the car. Then before I left to go home I recited durood (praises on the Prophet Muhammad- Peace and Blessings be upon him), and really made a strong duaa from the bottom of my heart that I can at least take the car home because it was too far away for the mechanic to come out. After that there was just something inside me that knew the car was not going to act up again (Alhamdullillah- All praises are only due to Allah!). SubhanAllah, the car was absolutely fine all the way home. I had some stops to make and the car was fine, and no smoke all the way I was driving home, not even a little bit. (I just have to say SubhanAllah again!!!).

The story isn’t over yet so please bear with me...

When I got into our driveway I stopped the car and went to open the garage gate. As soon as I got back into the car and started it, the smoke began again, a whole lot of it! I had to cry when I thought about how Allah Almighty had accepted my prayer and brought me all the way home with no problems. SubhanAllah!!!

You see, when you have true conviction that Allah is going to accept your prayers, then Allah will definitely accept your prayers! This does not only apply to me, it applies to every single human being and this is why I’m sharing this story with all of you!

The Moulana explained to us that Allah is as we think Allah is. So if you think that Allah can do anything and everything, then this is how Allah will be. And if you trust Allah completely then Allah will help you, but if you don’t have true conviction then Allah will treat you in the same manner. My example proved that this is indeed the truth.

So if you have a problem that you think you’re not getting the answer to, then ask yourself if your prayers are truly been made from the bottom of your heart and do you truly, absolutely, one hundred percent, believe that Allah will accept it. If not, well, then that in fact is the real problem!

PS: Please remember that sometimes Allah Almighty doesn’t accept our prayers because He has something better planned for us and if Allah does not accept a prayer in this world , then Allah keeps it for us and gives it to us in much better form in the hereafter, so much so that we will wish that none of our prayers were accepted when we in this world.

A true believer can never be at a loss. Remember that thankfulness to Allah comes before anything else. May Allah guide and protect us all, Inshaa’ Allah.

Image taken from: http://islamicthems.blogspot.com/2010/09/muslim-prayer-hands-wallpapers.html