Allah Has it in stock
I was reflecting on the concept of a duaa list and how I use it to ask Allah for things. You know when you want to buy something online, and you go to a store website and check their inventory for a specific product? You scroll down, you get happy when you see it has the little green bean next to the words “in stock”?
I thought to myself, if no matter what I added to my duaa list, this icon with these words would appear next to every duaa, what would I write? What would I ask for? Would it change the way I made duaa?
Al-Ghani
- The reality is that is what is happening. Allah, Al-Ghani, the Most Rich, does have it in stock. In His endless inventory, He has everything. Allah(swt) has the Capacity to answer the most detailed duaa possible. With ease He Says “Be” and it becomes. Not only that, but He fashioned this heart I have inside me, He already Knows what my hopes and wishes are before I verbalize it, more than I know myself.
I feel like I forget the vastness of the One Who I’m asking from. How Kind Allah is, and how easy it is for Him to give me the exact thing I want. Sometimes you want something in such a specific way it feels a bit scary to ask for it. Where is it going to come from? How could it ever happen? Especially when it seems so far away. In moments like this I realize the importance of Asmaa ul husnaah because it is a great reminder of His Attributes. I shouldn’t need to worry.
He says, “Be” and it becomes
“So.. why hasn’t it happened yet?”
Looking back at my younger self, I hear these words I know there is an incorrect framework. It’s easy to feel sad when you feel like duaas are not being answered right away, but as I’ve aged I’ve learned that sometimes when we ask for something, there is a process to it we cannot skip, and I shouldn’t take that as a no. There is a plan unfolding, and this plan includes my akhirah, which is the most important thing to me.
The beauty of the slow duaa
There is something beautiful about stories that took their time to weave together, sown by effort, tears and constant duaa being made. Like a picture book, if we watch the timeline of our lives in motion, you can see the sprouting of seeds and different threads of our lives tying together, creating a perfect image. But if you were to pause at any day or any month even, it may look stagnant, messy, barren, like nothing is happening. Like nothing is growing.
I try to remind myself that is how it looks to me, but my Lord is Beyond the concept of time. To Allah, He already Sees the complete picture; He sees the unseen and He sees all possible outcomes. There is a hikmah to everything. The gift He Gave of Patience is a tool that allows us to navigate through the heavy and dark periods of uncertainty when things are moving in a way that is beyond our comprehension.
All in All,
In the world that glorifies the instant, there is something special about things that take their time to bloom. I love my duaas that were slow more than the ones that were instant, and I love the most the ones that are reserved for my hereafter, allhamdulilah.
My Lord has an endless inventory, so I am going to be even more detailed in my duaa lists. I’m going to be even more persistent in them, not because of who I am or what I think I deserve, but because of Who Allah is. If I ever feel a sense of worry that it is too specific or too out of reach, I’ll remind myself “Allah(swt) has it in stock”.
