Allah Chose You – Will You Choose Allah?

A letter to my daughter:

Out of all the other people in the world, Allah (swt) chose Prophet Musa (as) to experience a unique journey that had many different phases and intricate stories of strength and wisdom. Allah spoke to Musa directly, saying to him, “And I have chosen you, so listen to what is revealed [to you]” (20:13).

Allah (swt) chose him for his task of prophethood so that he could guide his people and remain immortalized in the Quran for us to continuously learn from his example.

Allah (swt) reminds Musa (as) in the same chapter of the Quran that He has been planning for him and blessing him since he was a baby:

“And We had already conferred favor upon you another time, When We inspired to your mother what We inspired, [Saying], ‘Cast him into the chest and cast it into the river, and the river will throw it onto the bank; there will take him an enemy to Me and an enemy to him.’ And I bestowed upon you love from Me that you would be brought up under My eye. [And We favored you] when your sister went and said, ‘Shall I direct you to someone who will be responsible for him?’ So We restored you to your mother that she might be content and not grieve. And you killed someone, but We saved you from retaliation and tried you with a [severe] trial. And you remained [some] years among the people of Madyan. Then you came [here] at the decreed time, O Moses” (20:37-40).

From Musa’s infancy to his adulthood, Allah (swt) placed him in different homes and sent him along different paths – all for a specific reason, all for a greater purpose. He planned for him the exact life that would facilitate the development of his strong character. He chose who his parents would be, where he would grow up and when he would become a prophet.

Allah (swt) also planned for you.

He planned who your parents would be. He planned where you would live and what languages you would speak. He planned for you every stage of your life before you were even born, before you were even known. He knows who you will grow into and where you will end up.

Just as Allah (swt) gave Musa the exact experiences that he needed to grow into a strong believer, He will give you the joy, pain, successes and failures that you specifically need to recognize His Lordship over you. He will give you every tool you need to worship Him in the best manner possible.

It’s your choice whether or not you will accept those tools and experiences and learn from them.

But Allah (swt) didn’t only plan your life for you, he also chose you. He chose that you would be born at a specific place and time period. He chose that you would have certain abilities, certain strengths and certain weaknesses. Nothing is by chance, and nothing is random.

You aren’t random. You were chosen to be here, with me. I was chosen to be here, with you. He planned that you would be raised without your father with you. It’s a test and a trial. Will we use our hearts, our abilities, our wealth and our speech for good or bad? Will we accept Allah (swt) as our Creator, Muhammad (saw) as our messenger and Islam as our faith? Or will we reject them all?

We can reflect on the question of “why did Allah choose this specific life for me?” only to understand His blessings upon us, the Perfection of His planning and how best we can worship Him considering our specific life circumstances. But we don’t waste our time obsessing over the reasons for everything. And we don’t indulge in the questions of “what if…?”

Instead, we put our energy and hopes into trusting Allah. We trust that just as He raised Musa under His watchful gaze, planning all that was beneficial for him, He will do the same for us. He will place in our paths the right sequence of events, the right people and the right circumstances that will give us the opportunities to be the best people we can be. And we trust that He will remove from our paths the things that will take us away from Him…

It’s no coincidence that you are alive. It’s no coincidence that you are who you are. Your blood isn’t successfully pulsing through your veins because of a random sequence of numbers and events. You are not random. I am not random.

Some people spend their lives as if they are random – as if the things they say or do have no meaning, as if their Lord isn’t the One who placed them where they are and blessed them with everything they have. They live in obliviousness to everything that matters.

But there is a reason for every moment you are alive. All the things that could have gone wrong with your body internally or externally…didn’t. You’re still here. You still have some purpose to fulfill.

Allah (swt) chose you to be who you are. He chose you to be alive today. He chose you to have a voice. If you choose to believe in Him, He will plan for you a life of perfection: everything good in your life is a chance for you to be grateful. Everything painful in your life is a chance for you to be patient.

Now, what are you going to choose to do with those gifts?