How To Have Good Expectations of Allah

1. Have good expectations of Allah at the time of difficulty and hardship.

The story of Urwa bin Zubayr RA is a famous and phenomenal story. Urwa RA left on a journey, and while he was away, his son became ill. He was trampled by horses and died. Urwa lost his most handsome son. Soon thereafter, gangrene set into his foot, and his leg had to be amputated. When he returned home, people came to console him. They said, “Urwa, you lost your handsomest son, and you have lost your leg”. He said, “Allah gave me four sons, He took one. Allah gave me four limbs, He took one. Allah has blessed me many more times than He has tested me.”

Have good expectations of Allah, even when you fail, because failure is a stepping stone to success. It’s a minor setback. Allah wants to strengthen your resolve. Allah is depriving you of success now because He has reserved something greater for you. Sometimes Allah wants you to experience failure, so that you know Who is in charge, and so that you continue to struggle to earn the pleasure of Allah Tabaraka Wa Ta’ala.

2. Another occasion when we need to think positively of our Allah is at the time of Dua.

Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم said, in a narration of Tirmidhi (3479), When you supplicate to Allah, have conviction that Allah will answer your prayer. When Allah will answer it and how He will answer it, must be left to the wisdom of Allah.

3. Even at the time of death, we need to have good expectations of ALLAH.

Jaabir RA narrates that Rasul صلى الله عليه وسلم told them three days before he passed away, “Let none of you die unless he has good expectations of Allah.” (Riyad as-Salihin 441). Ibnu Abi Addunya narrated that someone saw Maalik bin Dinaar ra in a dream after he passed away. He asked him, “How did you fare?”. He said, “I came with many sins, but Allah forgave me because of my good expectations of Allah.”

4. Have positive expectations of Allah even when you sin.

Don’t give up on yourself, even if you are a constant sinner. Shaytaan wants you to believe that you don’t deserve any good from Allah. He wants you to despair of the mercy of Allah. When we do any wrong, we should feel guilty and be regretful. But that guilt and regret should spur us to run back to Allah. Even if you sin repeatedly, flee back to Allah, run back to Allah. Shaytaan wants us to go to Jahannam, but Allah does not have a grudge against us. Allah is not waiting for us to slip up. Allah says: وَٱللَّهُ يُرِيدُ أَن يَتُوبَ عَلَيْكُمْ – (An-Nisaa). Allah is waiting to forgive us. It is the devil who does not only want to see us go to hell, but he wants us to live a life of hell in this world too, by mental anguish, by making us think that we don’t deserve the mercy of Allah. Our positive expectation of Allah will not allow for the devil to do this. Because even if you sin constantly, every time you turn to Allah, you are recognising an attribute of Allah, “Al Ghaffaar”, The One who not only loves to forgive, who loves to forgive repeatedly. There’s no room for despondency in the life of a Muslim.

1. Have positive expectations of Allah, even when you do good.

Even when you have completed a good act, have good expectations of Allah, even though we cannot worship Allah as He deserves, even though our efforts are feeble and weak.

Whoever does good Allah says, I will never let it go unappreciated.

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ إِنَّا لَا نُضِيعُ أَجۡرَ مَنۡ أَحۡسَنَ عَمَلًا (Surah Al-Kahf) Allah says, “O Muslims if you do good, your good deeds will never be lost.”

How and what we think are the most powerful elements that impact our lives. We need to improve our mindsets. We need to improve our way of thinking. We need to have positive thinking in three regards:

1. Be positive regarding Allah. Allah wants the best for us. ALLAH wants us to achieve, both in this world, as well as the aakhirah.
2. Have a positive view of yourself. We are valuable. We are Muslims. We are Ummatis of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم We have great potential. Our mistakes and shortcomings do not disqualify us from the mercy of Allah.
3. View others positively. See the good in the words and actions of others. Even in today’s time, there is still a lot of good in people.

A negative mindset holds us hostage. That is why this statement has been reiterated and the message is…

Be a positive Muslim! Islam wants us to think positively. Islam wants us to have positive expectations of ALLAH!

{Extracted and adapted from Volume One of the book In Pursuit of Purpose by Ml Sulaimaan Ravat}