Life is a test and in life we all go through some situations which we fail to decipher. We try to answer them with our limited understanding and knowledge. Many times we judge things on the face value but still there is a veil between us and the truth; only Allah is the knower of unknown; He alone possess complete knowledge of why certain things happen to us.
Almighty warns us from concluding on the basis of our limited understanding. For instance, surah Al Kahf through conversation between prophet Musa and Khizr teaches us that there is always some hidden truth that can’t be realised by naked eye and many times due to our limited vision we misinterpret the things and happenings.
When Khizr craved a hole in the ship they travelled, Prophet Mosa (PBUH) considered it a thankless and cruel move; but in reality Khizr craved a hole in the ship to make it defective so as to protect it from being hijacked by treacherous king; who used to hijack every good ship on port.
In the 2nd incident, Khizr (PBUH) killed a young child; Prophet Musa (PBUH) misinterpreted it as a murder of the innocent child; but what Khizr (PBUH) has done was obeying the decree of lord to kill the child as he would grow up to be a disbeliever and bring his pious parents wrath of Allah ; and by taking away this son , Almighty was going to replace the loss by blessing them with a pious child.
In 3rd incident, Khizr (PBUH) asked for food from some people and they refused; but there he prevented the collapsing wall from falling. Prophet Musa asked you would have let it fall as a sign of revenge; he replied; behind this wall is a hidden treasure of an orphan child and almighty wants this treasure to be secured and revealed to him only when he attain the age of maturity.
Through these incidents, Allah was teaching Prophet Musa (PBUH) and us that human knowledge is limited and that we could only know a portion which Almighty let us know and understanding all wisdom behind Almighty’s decree is not possible for us.
The beautiful message here is not to judge things from face value and having a firm belief that Allah alone is the knower of everything (AL-Aleem) and sometimes seemingly painful thing is the best thing that could ever happen to us and it is a disguised blessing.
The second beautiful story that we found in surah Al Kahf is the one known by the story of two gardens. The crux of the story goes like this: There was a man having two beautiful and rich gardens filled with expensive vineyards, date palms and corns; with stream flowing in it to irrigate the land naturally.
His gardens produced everything in abundance but he was so proud of his achievement of having built such an estate and one day he boasted about it to his friend that I have got more wealth and influence than you; and I don’t think this will ever perish nor do I think that the Last hour will come, and if in fact I am returned to my lord, I will definitely get a far better outcome than this. His believing companion said are you disbelieving the one who created you with dust and a drop of sperm, then formed you into a man.
Upon entering your property you should have said “This is what Allah has willed . There is no power except with Allah”; even though you see me inferior to you in wealth and offsprings; perhaps my lord will grant me something even better than your garden; and sent down upon your garden, a calamity or thunderstorm turning it into a barren land; and the same thing happened.
To his dismay a calamity befalls and all his produce was ruined and he started to wring his hands for all he had spent on it. He cried: Alas, I wished I had never associated anyone with my lord in worship and he had no power to help him against Allah nor could he even help himself.
The beautiful message here is that we should never look down upon anybody and make others feel inferior even if we are given more than them be that in terms of looks, wealth, knowledge or children. The other message is that we should never be proud of our legacy; be that our knowledge, estate or anything as whatever we possess is the blessing and mercy of Allah.
He is the one who has given us the bounties to cherish and he can take them away any time; and we should remember that security and protection comes by Allah alone and the money, knowledge and other things are just the means/ Asbab; we should not get deluded by Asbab and forget the Musabab ul Asbab.
Same applies to us as the aspirants of job. We should not be overly confident about our potential and preparation and we should remember always that success comes by Allah alone.
Lets conclude by the beautiful Quote by Maulana Rumi
“ You are the honoured guest. Do not weep like a beggar for pieces of the world”