What Is Allah Teaching Me Through This?
We often ask,
“Why is Allah allowing this?”
Why is this happening?
Why are things not changing?
Why am I facing this struggle?
Why are the people I love making choices that hurt themselves and those around them?
Why does this burden feel so heavy?
These questions are natural. They come from hearts that are trying to understand pain, uncertainty and things that seem beyond explanation.
But perhaps there is another question we can gently ask ourselves.
“What is Allah teaching me through this?”
Because not every hardship is about punishment.
Not every delay is rejection.
Not every unanswered question means we are abandoned.
Sometimes Allah is nurturing something within us that could not have been developed any other way.
Perhaps He is teaching us Tawakkul when things are beyond our control.
Because many of us carry responsibilities that were never ours to carry.
We spend sleepless nights trying to change people, fix situations and force outcomes. We replay conversations in our minds and worry about every possible scenario.
But life eventually teaches us that peace is not found in controlling everything.
Peace is found in trusting the One who controls everything.
Sometimes Tawakkul is not saying, “I know exactly how this will work out.”
Sometimes Tawakkul is saying, “I do not know how this will work out, but I know Who is taking care of it.”
Perhaps He is teaching us that guidance belongs to Him alone.
How many parents cry over their children?
How many spouses make du’ā for their partners?
How many people desperately want to help a loved one return to Allah, make better choices or become the person they know they can be?
We advise.
We remind.
We encourage.
We pray.
But we cannot open hearts.
That belongs to Allah.
And there is mercy in recognising this.
Because when we understand that guidance belongs to Him, we stop carrying a burden that was never ours.
Perhaps He is teaching us that love does not mean carrying responsibility that belongs to another.
Many people confuse love with rescuing.
They confuse compassion with overburdening themselves.
They believe that if they worry enough, sacrifice enough or carry enough guilt, somehow they will be able to save everyone they love.
But love does not mean taking ownership of someone else’s choices.
You can love deeply and still understand that every soul has its own journey.
You can care without drowning.
You can support without losing yourself.
You can make du’a without carrying the weight of another person’s decisions.
Perhaps He is teaching us patience without losing hope.
Not the kind of patience that gives up.
Not the kind that silently accepts misery.
But the kind that continues to trust even when the answers have not yet arrived.
The kind that keeps making du’ā.
The kind that believes that hearts can change.
The kind that understands that Allah’s timing is not our timing.
Because some stories take years to unfold.
Some prayers take time.
Some people need to travel roads we do not understand before they find their way back.
And perhaps the greatest lesson of all is this.
Maybe Allah is teaching us that peace does not come when everything finally makes sense.
Peace comes when we trust Him amidst what does not make sense.
When we stop asking, “Why me?”
And begin asking,
“What do You want me to learn from this?”
Because perhaps this hardship is teaching you to depend on Him.
Perhaps it is softening your heart.
Perhaps it is increasing your du’ā.
Perhaps it is drawing you closer to Him.
Perhaps it is teaching you that your worth is not measured by outcomes.
Perhaps it is showing you that you were never meant to carry the world upon your shoulders.
And perhaps, one day, you will look back and realise that whilst you were asking Allah to change your circumstances, He was using those very circumstances to change you.
And maybe that transformation was the greatest mercy of all.
May Allah grant us wisdom in what we do not understand, patience in what we cannot change and Tawakkul in what we cannot control.