Let ALLAH Surprise You

By Imam Abdullah El-Amin

I feel so blessed to know I am under the protection and grace of our Lord, ALLAH.  This is manifested in so many ways that He so graciously lets us realize.  When the angels visit us in the wombs of our mothers around the fourth month of conception, and deliver our souls, we are open to all sorts of miracles that may seem small or even insignificant, or not even realized at all.  Nevertheless, if you reflect on this wondrous creation, you realize that in order to make it all work, ALLAH has put together a perfectly timed operating order to keep it going.  The complexity of our bodies is a perfect testament to this.

ALLAH also sends us “small” surprises that if we recognize it, give us more reason to glorify His majesty.

For instance, how often do things happen in our lives that we just rack up to be coincidence?  A couple of “small” things happened in my life recently that really had me pondering and praising ALLAH.

First, I was at home one Friday preparing to go to Jumah prayers.  My business cards were on the table loose because I did not have a card case.  As a result, they would get bent at the corners from carrying them in pocket.  I said to my self, “I need to get a case for these cards so I can keep them in order.”  When I reached the masjid parking lot, a brother walked up to me and handed me a beautiful silver business card case.  He told me “I had this case and was thinking of who I could give it to and thought of you.”  I almost cried.  Here 15 minutes earlier I was thinking of needing a card case and as soon as I got to the parking lot ALLAH gave me one.  ALLAH certainly did surprise me on that occasion – and it was a most pleasant surprise.

Then, last week, I was at the masjid looking at the carpet at the entrance door. I was pacing the dimensions to get an approximate measurement of an area.  As I was pacing, a brother got came to the door with a tape measure in his hand and said “here brother.”  Now this brother drove up in a nice car and was not dressed like he was doing construction work, he had on a nice leisure suit.  So I asked him why he had the tape measure in his hand.  It turned out he was in construction and carries the tape measure most places he goes.  But to me, it was ALLAH sending to me exactly what I needed, at the exact time I needed it. 
I was checking it out because during the first two weeks of Ramadan, our masjid, The Muslim Center, is playing host to an Islamic exhibition on The History of Islam in Detroit.  This exhibit has been on a world tour and we are fortunate to host it at our masjid for two weeks.  If you would like more information on it go to the Muslim Center website at www.muslimcenter.net. 

I don’t want to sound spooky.  I just want to share some experiences that I feel are very significant.  ALLAH is real and will show Himself to us on numerous occasions…if we reflect on Him and let Him into our lives.

As Salaam alaikum
Al Hajj Imam Abdullah El-Amin

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