The sky was a beautiful delphinium blue with some stars still twinkling merrily. The breeze was cool on her face and the grass was wet under her feet.
“Ayeza..”, called Zuhaib. She looked up and beamed at him, love shining from her eyes.
A man of few words who found it difficult to express himself looked down at her feet and said, “What are you doing? Wear your shoes or you will catch a cold” he said as he nudged her shoes closer on his way towards their home. “SubhanAllah! My wife looks finally at peace, Alhamdullilah ya Rabbi”, he thought.
“Alhamdulillah ya rabbi” she breathed as she quickly wore her shoes and followed him inside. After 14 years of marriage, she knew that Zuhaib wasn’t good with words, but she didn’t need them anymore. His love, care and concern was evident in his eyes, his actions and his voice.
Her husband had returned from the mosque after offering the Fajr prayer.
As she put her hand on the knob of the screen door and looked at her home from outside, her heart recited an ayah, “..but Allah planned. And Allah is the best of planners.” (Ale-Imran 3:54)
“Alhamdullilah ya Rabbi for choosing Zuhaib for me, he has indeed been my libas (garment) and protected, comforted and beautified me just as a beautiful garment is supposed to do” she said. “I wish I had not questioned you when I was unable to marry Yasser. Indeed You, oh rabbi are the best of Planners and the Most Merciful. Alhamdullilah for everything”.
And then, she went inside to make tea for her husband, as he asked her, “By the way, who called so early in the morning? Everything alright back home”?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is my story. My name is Ayat. It means signs and verses in Arabic. I am 39 years old. Me, Areeq and Ayeza were best friends since school. We did everything together. The saying “three is a crowd” didn’t apply to us.
However, there was a part of me that felt that Areeq and Ayeza shared a bond that I was not included in. Try as I might, it was a difficult feeling to get rid of that thought. I tried very hard to uproot the feelings of jealousy and insecurity in me, but was unsuccessful. I used to secretly feel bad if I came to know that they got together without me. Time passed and we all went to college and were set to get married at about the same time.
Right before our marriages, Ayeza’s fiance Yasser decided to call off the wedding. It came as a surprise to everyone. Nothing could be said or done to convince Yasser to rethink his decision. Ayeza became a subject of gossip and ridicule as everyone felt that something had to be terribly wrong with Ayeza for Yasser to do such a thing.
Slowly whispers of ” Ayeza had an affair with Yasser’s cousin who was in her class, that is why Yasser broke the engagement ” spread like wildfire among the family and the fact that Ayeza cut all her relations with Areeq only added fuel to the fire. No matter what me and Areeq said, we could not douse out the flames of this scandalous and untrue talk.
Areeq on the other hand was bewildered and hurt. She just couldn’t understand why Ayeza was acting like this. They all looked at me for some answers. But all I could do was shake my head and join in their shock and confusion, as I didn’t have the courage to tell the truth. Allah 
words,’“Verily, those who accuse chaste women, who never even think of anything touching their chastity and are good believers — are cursed in this life and in the Hereafter, and for them will be a great torment” [Quran, Chapter 24, Verse 23] rang in my ears, but I unfortunately ignored them. May Allah forgive me.
To escape the heat of all the gossip, Ayeza went to live with her aunt in Australia and politely declined the invitation to attend my marriage. She didn’t want to come because I was getting married to Ammar who was a very close friend of Yasser’s. And she didn’t want to see Yasser and his new wife at my wedding.
I was slightly relieved that she excused herself from coming and whenever “.. indeed if wrong should be the weight of a mustard seed and should be within a rock or [anywhere] in the heavens or in the earth, Allah will bring it forth. Indeed, Allah is Subtle and Acquainted.” [Quran, Chapter 31, Verse 19] came to my mind, I always pushed it aside.
After 2 years, we came to know that Ayeza got married to a distant cousin from her mother’s side of the family, Zuhaib. There was talk that it was difficult for Ayeza’s parents to convince her to marry Zuhaib. And as time passed, we started growing old.
When realization hit us that one day, we will soon meet Allah , we joined an Islamic Studies course. As I progressed into Quran, the silent protestations that my soul had been making for the past 16 years stopped being whispers that I could ignore. As I forged on, they became so loud that I stopped hearing my own voice.
It was soon Ramadan and we started the tafseer of Surah Yusuf.
“This is a story that Allah calls the “best of narrations” in the Quran. We will see many emotions in this story. And we will see to what extent a person can go to harm the person he is jealous off”, said my Quran Teacher.
I felt like someone had put a big rock on my heart. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t hear or see anything. And then I heard, as if coming from far away, the whisper of my teacher’s voice reciting the words of the Quran “There was certainly in their stories a lesson for those of understanding. Never was the Qur’an a narration invented, but a confirmation of what was before it and a detailed explanation of all things and guidance and mercy for a people who believe. [Quran, Chapter 12,Verse 111]
“Truth reigns supreme! The truth will come out no matter what. If not in this world, then in the hereafter. And the innocent will be declared free and the liar will be brought forth. Let’s, seek forgiveness of our sins before it’s too late” and she smiled and looked at me.
I felt like all the shackles that had been holding my heart had broken free. I turned towards Areeq and said “16 years back, I read an email that Ayeza had sent you. She was telling you about this guy in her class that had proposed her and she liked him too. But she turned him down as she was already engaged to Yasser. I got very jealous that Ayeza was telling things to you but didn’t share them with me. And in a fit of anger and jealousy, I told Ammar, who of course told that to Yasser. It was me who did it and all along Ayeza felt that it was you who broke her trust. I am sorry for all the pain I caused you and your family for so many years.”
I could feel Areeq’s eyes on me. But I had no strength to look at her. After a while, I realized that Areeq was no longer there. A wave of sadness washed over me. With difficulty, I reached home and went straight to my prayer mat seeking Allah’s forgiveness and praying that somehow, I get my 2 friends back.
I woke up startled. The door bell was ringing sharply. I must have fallen asleep on the prayer mat tired and overwhelmed by the emotions that swirled in my heart. I didn’t want to get up. It kept ringing. Finally, I got up and opened the door.
It was Areeq holding my favorite cake in her hands. She looked at me, smiled and thrust it forward. I couldn’t move. She gently pushed me aside and came in. She put the cake down and drew me towards her and hugged me tight. I whispered “How can you forgive me”?
She whispered back, “Alhamdullilah, Allah gave you the courage to own up and He gave me the strength to forgive You.”
Both of us cried a lot. And now, it was time to call Ayeza. The phone rang for a long time. Finally, a sleepy voice answered the phone.
“Ayeza, ..? ” I whispered.
“Who is this..Ayat?.. Ayat? Is everything alright sweety? Why are you calling at this hour? Why are you crying,.. ya rabbi.. what happened sweety? Is Ammar bhai alright?”
Worry replaced sleep in Ayeza’s voice.
“No sweety, everything is alright, Alhamdullilah.”
I gulped. “I need to tell you something.”
Areeq kept holding my hand for as long as I spoke to her.
She just kept crying on the phone.
“Ayeza, please forgive me” I whispered.
She said, ” …but Allah planned. And Allah is the best of planners. It’s okay Ayat. It was never meant to be”.
Alhamdullilah, I slept like a baby that night. My heart was finally at peace and it felt light.
As I take your leave, I want to remind myself and you that Allah will say: “This is a Day on which the truthful will profit from their truth: theirs are Gardens under which rivers flow (in Paradise) – they shall abide therein forever. Allah is pleased with them and they with Him. That is the great success (Paradise).[Quran, Chapter 5, Verse 119]
Please share your thoughts about this article in the comments section below. 🙂
76 replies on “Indeed Allah is the Best Planner”
May Almighty Allah increase you in wisdom sis sana, it was indeed a wonderful piece I pray that Allah (swt) grant us a heart free of jealousy
jzk Brother Lukman for the beautiful dua.
Indeed jealously eats up our good deeds and destroys us and our loved ones.
maa shaa Allah! it brought tears and lessons. thank you for writing such a piece.
aww, it made me cry too when i read it after editing .
any time, it was my pleasure.:)
MasaAllah beautiful story indeed.May Allah SWT removes the jealousy from our heart
jzk 🙂 and ameen to your dua
Mashallah !!! Barakallahu feeki Sister Sana, I like the way you used the Quran to reinforce your message, it really brought out how difficult the of Ifq – scandal was on Aisha RA. and on the wife of the Wazeer who was gossiped about because of her attraction for Yusuf AS…. Keep up your innovative contribution to ‘Islamic literature’
A BIG jzk sis Fatima, i will now continue to foray into islamic literature. It was my first attempt and i am happy that my amazing editor at IOU accepted and polished my piece for publication.
For me, nothing is complete without Quran. may Allah swt make us of those who “walk the Quran”.
ameen
🙂
Dear sister sana
as insight full and informative as your blog is i would like to bring to your attention the fact that it is being e-mailed under the header Islamic FICTION!!!
the e-mail header perplexed me and i looked for a dictionary definition of the word fiction
fiction
ˈfɪkʃ(ə)n/Submit
noun
1.
literature in the form of prose, especially novels, that describes imaginary events and people.
synonyms: novels, stories, creative writing, imaginative writing, works of the imagination, prose literature, narration, story telling; More
2.
something that is invented or untrue.
“they were supposed to be keeping up the fiction that they were happily married”
synonyms: fabrication, invention, lies, fibs, concoction, untruth, falsehood, fantasy, fancy, illusion, sham, nonsense; More
thank you for your blogs and best regards…..
Assalam o alikum warahmatullah brother,
Not sure why it made you feel uncomfortable but here is our answer, which is a copy of fatwa from Islamqa.com
“If it is made perfectly clear that this did not really happen, and that the story is being told just to give an example, then there is nothing wrong with that, but one should be careful to ensure that the style, contents and goal are beneficial and that the story helps to explain something about Islam and serves as a effective means of teaching and guiding people. ”
You can find it on this link
http://islamqa.info/en/4505
You can see that subject line was to make it clear that is fiction and not true 🙂
Hope this helps.
JazakaAllah khairan
Ma sha Allah JAK Sis that was so informative story.
jzk 🙂
Jazak’Allah khairun
Thanks a Trillion for writing such a heart provoking article.
Worth reading indeed
Once again jazak’Allah sister
Wa iyyaki Sis Fatimah 🙂
the pleasure is all mine, I am truly happy that you liked it.
xoxo
Mashaallah awesome.the Quranic verses are so related and heart touching. Thanks for such a wonderful story.
jazzak Allahu khairan sis Humera, my pleasure I am happy that you enjoyed it.
xoxo
mashallah, tabarakallah
such a beautiful story . i just felt like crying in the last and very good message.
me too sis Hafsa, i also cried lolzzz..
i am happy that you enjoyed it
xoxo
Barakah’Allahu fee Kum sister….
May Allah increase us all in wisdom and grant us a heart free of jealousy, hatred, greed.
May Allah reward you and the entire team including us readers for this master piece write up
Wa iyyaki Brother Isah,
ameen and ameen and summa ameen to your beautiful dua
Assalaamwaleikum
I believe it is an excellent effort inshaaAllah bithnillah;
Muslims need content to compete perhaps with all the media we ALREADY have set; every step will be well worth it inshaaAllah bithnillah; so long as Allah’s boundaries are observed;
May Allah put barakah in our efforts
May Allah grant us all Al Firdaus El A’laa
wlai kum salam Brother.
yes i absolutely agree, we need islamic literature and ma sha Allah there are some amazing writers so are publishing their work and to read them is absolute delight and honour.
may Allah swt bless them for their work.
and ameen and summa ameen to your dua
best regards
this is a beautiful story, very well related to Qur’an. What I am wondering is that is it a true story? If not, is that allowed in our religion to make up stories even for the purpose of getting lessons when there are true stories present for that purpose? I will appreciate an answer with daleel.
Jazak Allaah khyr
“If it is made perfectly clear that this did not really happen, and that the story is being told just to give an example, then there is nothing wrong with that, but one should be careful to ensure that the style, contents and goal are beneficial and that the story helps to explain something about Islam and serves as a effective means of teaching and guiding people. ”
You can find it on this link
http://islamqa.info/en/4505
Barakallahu fih sister sana. May Allah save us all from jealousy
Short and sweet, with many lessons ingrained.
May the Qur’an be the spring of our hearts; a light and healing for all of our diseases
lolz .. too short according to my mother 🙂 sis Amina,
ameen , summa ameen to yoir dua
xoxo
Jazak Allah khair sister for the wonderful article.May Allah bless you.Ameen
wa iyaaki sis 🙂
xoxo
Jazak Allah for such an inspiring story .. Felt so deep
Shubhan’Allah. What we want and what we get is truely a test for us from Allah SWT. But the reward is immense when we bow to Allah in repentance. To confess the truth in person is also great achievement of courage with wisdom. Jannatul Firdous is surely for the one asking for forgiveness and the one who forgives. Alhamdhulilah Allahuakber.
SubhanAllah sis Umm Redwhan,
how true and wise are your words!
it takes immense courage to realize that we are wrong and to seek forgiveness is more difficult
may Allah swt make our love for Him stronger than everything amen
Assalamua’laikum sis. MashaAllah. Allah knows what’s in a the heart. May Allah always guide us the right path. In shaa Allah
wlai kum salam
ameen sis
xoxo
Alhamdulillah. The story touched my heart and tears role put. May Allah reward the writer and give us toufiq to accept things as they happen as they appear not according to our wishes but the will of the Creator. We should ponder over our actions done either in jealoUs rlayfully hurt someone at some time’
my tears rolled out too 🙂
jzk for yoir beautuful dua
may allah swt make us of those who accept His will and always ponder and reform our actions
ameen
MashaAllah Allah Alhamdulilla
Sister Sana thank you for writing such an article which touched our heart’s Allah should protect all Muslim brothers and sisters from jealousy and give toufeeq Ameen
I really didn’t go through the story completely but, yout effort to remind us about ALLAH (subhanahu va ta’ala). AlhamduliLLAH. May ALLAH give you wisdom and may ALLAH (subhanahu va ta’ala) make us enter his garden (firdous).
Masha Allah sister Sana.. May Allah Taala give every woman the same level of understanding of Deen… Ameeen ya Rabbi
Jazakalau keir sister sana it really moved me to tears , it is a lesson for us
Muslim sisters please let us not take matters lightly. Keep it up sister may Allah shower us with his blessings Ameen ya Rabi Allahameen
ALHAMDULILLAH sister very heart touching. May ALLAH SUBHANA WA TAALLAH Bless us same courage and guide us to the right path. Ameen. Sum Ameen.
Wow. This is beautiful. This is my inspiration. Jazakallahukhair. I needed this so badly. I wish I could tell you how much and how you inspired me.
Allah ho Akbar I was in dire need of such an inspiration to write my fiction to Islamic fiction.l was not getting the way butAllah decides better for us. Jazakallahukhairan for the opening.May Allah make you successful in this world and akhirah.
Assalamualaikum wa Rehmatullahi wa Barkatahu,
Jazak Allah Khair for sharing this story… Indeed Allah is the best of the planners, many a times we tend to forget it…but if we go through this aayah it gives us strength to be patient and to accept whatever happens against our will…Jazak Allah Khair for reminding me of it again..May Allah bless you with the success of duniya and aakhirah, Aameen.
Jazak Allah khair sis, this story was fantastic, great lessons to learn in a new context and setting — seems so relatable with our time. May Allah Most High protect us and grant us the highest levels of Jannah, ameen! <3
As salam alaikum,
wonderful story, jazakallahkhair for writing it however i just have 1 input, please keep the names easy of the character to understand story lol, i couldnt follow who is female ? and who is male? unless you mention her and him 🙁 , the names are too confusing and hard to differentiate. it takes away from enjoying the story.
jazakallahkhair.
MashaAllah. An amazing story. Indeed Allah knows what is best for us. And He decides the best for His creation. He is Wadood ( the most loving )
Ur story touched my heart. May Allah bless us and give us courage to speak truth always and stand up for the weak. Ameen
ماشاءالله تبارك الله. راعيه!
Thank you for sharing and giving a lesson who really want to learn from mistakes and avoid repeating it.
Practicing Ruqiya for many years, Al_Qur’aan is a GREAT HEALING IN MANY WAYS.
BarakaLLAHU fiiki ya ukhti! May ALLAH SWT affirm your “pen” in writing that will benefit the believers.
As earlier highlighted in the fatawa posted above, it is high time that we engaged in writings, actings etc that will portray the teachings of Islam in positive light. As human we tend to love stories thus we find in the Quraan several stories as an IBRA (lesson) to us. We should seek to use the media positively to educate eg instead of people watching soap operas that are full of unislamic teaching what if we come up with series full of Islamic teachings?
Wa LLAHU A’ALAM.
Jazaka-allahu karien for this wonderful story, I learnt something about the evil of jealousy and how to have the courage to tell it out and seek forgiveness format the people you have hurt. May Allah (swt)give us that courage and strengthen our emaan. Masalam.
It was beautiful MashaAllah, brought tears to my eyes. May we all learn from it.
Maa shaa Allah, this was lovely to read. Especially the parts in which you quoted the ayat, it made goosebumps rise on my arms, and my heart clenched at each moment.
Indeed, the mistakes of the tongue might weight the heaviest in our sins. May Allah guide and bless you with more knowledge, understanding, practice and steadfastness in our Deen! Aameen.
It was truly such a difficult thing to confess, truly, may Allah protect you. Aameen.
Maasha Allah a heart touching story! May Allahu(SWT) free all our hearts from jealousy and purifies them with thaqwa.Aameen
Mashallah and thank you so much for shearing
What a wonderful story.It makes me cry. I miss my bestfriends. May Allah guide us also. Indeed Allah is the best of the planners. Thanks for the great story.
MashaAllah. Beautiful story. Of the heart, temptation, betrayal, truth and repentance. Allah is the best planner. The truth surely sets us free. He is Allah the One and Only. He is Truth. Once you love Him. Nothing remains hidden.
Mashaa allaah Allaah is the best planner alhamdulillaah rabil aalamiin may Allaah subhaana wata aalaa forgive every muslim and muslimah aamiin
Very nice…mashAllah
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MashaAllah what a nice reminder May the Almighty Allah guide us to the right path…it brought tears into my eyes جزاك الله خيرا
Masha Allah!! keep up the good work.. “Allah is best of planners”.
Jazakallahu Khairan sis Sana for sharing such a wonderful story. I always love my friends so I love story of friends.Your article is more informative.Love you sis Sana
marsha Allah sister sana, that piece of yours is really inspiring! and the wisdom behind the story is to pompousness, it’s among the main disease that can prevent one from from seeking forgiveness from your fellow. may Allah reward and give you strength for your good work.
it was a wonderful story it moved me to tears . May Allah give u ajar e azeem Ameen . Jazak Allah
Asalamu alaykum sister, indeed it is very important to capture the minds that had been psychologically attacked by the Satan, i mean those whose hearts have been manifested by deception of the devil and are very far away from the light of the truth.the souls of today but a few prefer tales and above all fictions to pass time, these good strategy of writing articles is of paramount importance in spreading islam .infact when i skimmed on the characters you used like Ayats i was quite dumbfounded thinking it was a fiction divine -depicting literature to depict the affairs and actions of Adam descendants amongst themselves, but alhamdulilah i got want you intended to drive home, alhamdulilah with true inclination to true folds of islam will indeed avert any psychological disorder and distress triggered by the devil short terms goals. otherwise i pray to Allah SWT to reward your hard work and for the good domestic Dawah service we greatly benefited. iam an eighth semester BAIS Degree in IOU .JAZAKALLAHU KHAIRAN
salamu alaykum sister, indeed it is very important to capture the minds that had been psychologically attacked by the Satan, i mean those whose hearts have been manifested by deception of the devil and are very far away from the light of the truth.the souls of today but a few prefer tales and above all fictions to pass time, these good strategy of writing articles is of paramount importance in spreading islam . Alhamdulilah with true inclination to true folds of islam will indeed avert any psychological disorder and distress triggered by the devil short terms goals. otherwise i pray to Allah SWT to reward your hard work and for the good domestic Dawah service we greatly benefited. iam an eighth semester BAIS Degree in IOU .JAZAKALLAHU KHAIRAN
Indeed Allah is the the best planner!
Masha ALLAH. Such a beautiful story.
Indeed ALLAH SWT is the best planner. ❤
Jazakallah
Indeed it was awesome and heart touching story… I felt it….
Allah is the best planner…. I agreed to that…..
Such a beautiful story indeed, gives lots of lessons. Tongue is a very powerful sword.. and we should be very careful in using them. 1,2,3 words can change a mans life.
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Assalamu alaykum warahmatullah. Indeed the lectures here are incredible, and I have learned a lots. Have understood that Almighty Allah is the best planner. Perhaps what I have learn was too numerous to mention. And I will continue to use the teaching.
Will like to thank sheikh Dr. Billal Phillips for his unprecedented efforts in educating the world.
Really superb. Jazakallahu khairan.
Masha Allah , so beautiful story ! jazak allah kjair for sharing it !