CLOSED DOORS AND THE ILLUSIONS THAT BLIND US
Yesterday my 22 month old sought to exercise his independence. After climbing out of his car seat, he
wanted to shut the car door like a big boy, so I stood there watching over him. Realizing that if I left
him to shut the door, his little head would have gotten slammed in the process, I lifted him away, and
shut the door myself. This devastated him, and he broke down in tears. How could I prevent him from
doing what he so badly wanted to do?
Watching the incident, a strange thought crossed my mind. I was reminded of all the times this had
happened to us in life—when we want something so badly, but Allah does not allow us to have it. I
was reminded of all the times we, as adults felt this same frustration when things just wouldn’t work
out the way we so desperately wanted them to. And then suddenly, it was so clear. I had only taken
my son away from the door to protect him. But he had no idea. In the midst of his mourning, he had no
idea that I had actually saved him. And just as my son wept in his naivety and innocence, so often we
too bemoan events that have actually saved us.
When we miss a plane, lose a job, or find ourselves unable to marry the person we want, have we
ever stopped to consider the possibility that it may have been for our own good? Allah tells us in the
Qur’an: “...But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is
bad for you. And Allah Knows, while you know not.” (Qur’an, 2:216)
Yet it is so difficult to look beyond the surface of things. It takes great strength to see beyond the
illusions, to a deeper truth—which we may or may not understand. Just as my son could not
understand how my depriving him of what he most wanted at that moment was in fact my looking out
for him, we are often just as blind.
As a result, we end up staring indefinitely at the closed doors of our lives, and forget to notice the
ones that have opened. When we can’t marry the person we had in mind, our inability to look beyond
may even blind sight us from someone who is in fact better for us. When we don’t get hired, or we
lose something dear to us, it’s hard to take a step back and notice the bigger picture. Often Allah takes
things away from us, only to replace them with something greater.
Even tragedy may happen in this way. One can imagine few calamities more painful than the loss of a
child. And yet, even this loss could happen to save us and give us something greater. The Prophet
said:
If the child of a servant (of Allah) dies, Allah says to His Angels: ‘Have you taken the child of My
servant?’
The Angels reply: ‘Yes.’
Allah says to them: ‘Have you taken the fruit of his heart?’
They reply: ‘Yes.’
Then Allah says to them: ‘What did my servant say?’
The Angels reply: ‘He praised Allah and said: ‘To Allah do we return.’
Allah tells them: ‘Build a home for my servant in Paradise and call it Baytul Hamd (the House of