Just Trust Him, He Has Plans 15th MAS ICNA Convention
By Saad Tasleem | 2026-01-16T16:24:28.562292+00:00 | Topic: Iman
Just Trust Him, He Has Plans
Sheikh Saad Tasleem | 15th MAS ICNA Convention
Opening
In the name of Allah, and praise be to Allah, and may the blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and companions and those who follow him.
O Allah, we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, You are the All-Knowing, the Wise.
O Allah, teach us what benefits us and benefit us by what You have taught us and increase us in knowledge, O Lord of the worlds.
O Allah, show us the truth as truth and grant us the ability to follow it, and show us falsehood as falsehood and grant us the ability to avoid it.
And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
Introduction
First of all, just to address the punk rock thing real quick. Actually, she asked me whether she should mention it or not. And I was like, listen, it's gotten mentioned so many times now. And actually, recently, there was an article published about Muslims in America. And it said something to the effect of, we even have young imams who are punk rock singers now.
And I was like, wait, I'm not in a punk rock band anymore. That was like years and years ago. But that is something that gets said, and I'm neither here nor there on that issue. So whatever. Alhamdulillah.
Second of all, the topic for today. When I was given the title for the topic of today, I'm not sure if you have picked it up in the book yet or not, but it says, Just Trust Him, He Has Plans.
The first thing that popped into my mind, and please excuse me for this, is as soon as I heard plans, I just thought about the Joker's line when he's talking to Harvey Dent. And he tells him, he says, I have no plans. Like, I don't make plans. They make plans. Do I look like a person who has plans? He says, I'm just like a dog chasing a car. Even if I caught it, I wouldn't know what to do with it.
And for some reason, that popped into my mind. And I thought to myself, subhanallah, that sometimes, and by the way, the Joker is an anarchist. So life, it doesn't matter for him what the consequences are. His goal in life is to create chaos. And my apologies for giving you a little bit of a lesson in comic books. I highly apologize for that. Hopefully there aren't any parents in the room that will hear that.
The Importance of Divine Plans
But indeed, when it comes to understanding plans, we hear plans being mentioned in the Quran. We hear the
Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam talk about plans. Because you know what? Plans are important. Our plans, our personal plans are important. But most importantly are the plans of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Or what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has planned for us. And what Allah has decreed.
That is why the qada and qadr of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the divine decree of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, is part of our aqeedah. It is part of our faith. It is a core aspect of our faith to believe in the qadr, in the divine decree of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And even we know when the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam himself went through a difficult time, went through a dangerous time, when the murder was plotted of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, the chieftains of the Quraysh, they gathered together one night and they plotted the murder of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. And we hear that Allah protected the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, but we also hear Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala say:
"And [the disbelievers] planned, and Allah planned. And Allah is the best of planners."
That they plan and they plot, but Allah plans as well. And Allah is the best of planners.
And that once again is a principle of our aqeedah. That no matter what is going on in our lives, and no matter how many people may plot and plan, and no matter what is happening, we believe in the qadr, the divine decree of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and that leads us to have trust in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Trusting Allah's Plan in Difficult Times
So you know those feelings that we were having the night that Donald Trump got elected? And I know a lot of us, we went through like the seven stages of grief, right? Eventually we came to accept it, right? And I know there were people saying things like, you know, it's time to move to Canada, or it's time to move to whatever Muslim country or whatever.
For us, as Muslims first of all, and then as Americans as well, it's not about leaving the plans. It is about understanding that if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has decreed something for us, then it is definitely part of the bigger picture. And that there's no such thing of a life where we're not going to go through difficulties and tests and trials. And indeed, those difficulties and those tests and those trials are part of the plan of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
The Question of Evil and Good
And you know, interestingly enough, and I apologize that I'm going to do this for the second time in one talk, but I need to talk about comic books again. SubhanAllah, Sheikh Abdul Nasir Jinnah just walked in. It's going to be awkward. I'm going to try and not make eye contact.
Those of you who saw Batman v. Superman, and I'm not encouraging... Why would you bring that movie up?
First of all, I'm not going to defend that movie, even though I believe it was awesome. But actually I will defend a part of that movie.
So one of the criticisms of that movie is that the main villain in the movie, he's a lacking character. His motivations are not clear. And usually when it comes to storytelling, it's an important aspect of storytelling that when you have characters that you understand their motivations and they have a story arc and so on, a character arc and so on and so forth.
So a claim that is made, by the way, about Lex Luthor, who is the main villain, and if I've completely lost you, I apologize. I'll be done with this analogy in like three or four minutes, Inshallah. But there's a claim that he doesn't have... His motivations are not clear. He just hates Superman and he's trying to kill Superman and he's trying to get rid of him.
But in actuality, those of you who saw the movie, and I'm not encouraging you to watch movies or watch that movie. I just want to make that clear for all the parents and uncles and aunties in the house. But he actually makes his motivations very, very clear in a particular scene. There's a scene where he's standing on the rooftop. It's called like the rooftop scene where he has Lois Lane, the love of Superman, and he throws her off of the building. It's a very high building. And he throws her off because he knows Superman's going to come and save her and that's why he does that. And Superman does come and save her.
And then he comes and he faces Lex Luthor. And then Lex Luthor, at that point, explains to him why he hates him so much. And he says, look, I learned a long time ago, and this is not an exact quote, but it's pretty close to what Lex Luthor says. He says, I learned a long time ago that you can't be all good, sorry, you can't be all powerful and all good at the same time.
If you're all powerful, then you won't let anything bad happen. So if God, and he says this in his speech to Superman, he said, if God is all good, if God is all powerful, then he cannot be all good. And if he is all good, then he cannot be all powerful.
And he views Superman as his, he cannot, obviously Lex Luthor can't go after God, so he can go after a quote-unquote, a God-like being. So he views Superman as a God-like being. So he says, listen, I want to prove to the world that you're not a good person, that you're not good, because if you were good, then you wouldn't allow any type of bad or evil to exist.
And now this issue, and by the way, that's his motivation. For those of you who are like, he doesn't have a motivation, or it's not clear, like why does he hate Superman? That's why he hates Superman. And obviously he has a history of child abuse, we learn in the movie as well, that his dad would beat him, and as a child he would think, well, where's God now? Like, if God is all good, then how come God isn't protecting me from my father hitting me? So he came to the conclusion that God can't be all good.
Now, this is what we call a shubha, a doubt in our aqeedah, in our belief. We understand, actually, and sometimes I think all someone needed to do was to sit Lex Luthor down and give them a lesson in aqeedah, and
maybe he wouldn't hate Superman so much, he wouldn't be trying to take over the world.
The Islamic Understanding of Trials
But the point is, that it is part of our aqeedah to believe that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allows seemingly bad things to happen, but there is no such thing as pure evil or pure bad. Because there is some goodness, or there is goodness attached to everything, whether we see it or realize it or not. And that, my brothers and sisters, is the essence of our tawakkul on Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
That when matters are getting hard, matters are getting difficult, when things seem to be evil and bad, we trust in the bigger picture, in the larger plan of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So when we go through illness, which from our perspective is evil or bad, we remind ourselves that there is some goodness in this bad. For example, we know that sickness is one of the ways that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala removes our sins.
Difficulty as a whole is one of the ways that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala removes our sins. We understand that none of us will enter paradise with sins upon us. Our sins have to be cleansed in one way or the other. And they can be cleansed in this life through hardship and difficulty, through tawbah and istighfar. Or if we haven't done all that, one of the ways they're cleansed is spending a certain amount of time in the hellfire. May Allah protect us.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala puts us through difficulty to cleanse us of our sins, to raise our rank with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And that is why if we look at the lives of the prophets, all of them, every single prophet went through tests and trials. And they went through immense difficulty.
The Example of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him)
And the prime example of that is our beloved Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Because there's hardly a test or a trial that you can go through in your life, in your personal life, except that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam went through something similar. And that's part of the miraculous nature of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sending the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. That's part of the proof of his prophethood, by the way.
The fact that whatever difficulty you may be going through in your life, you can find a parallel in the life of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. And if not in the life of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, which is like 95% of the cases, then one of the other prophets. You'll find one of the other prophets going through a similar difficulty.
And you know, subhanahu wa ta'ala, I'm a new parent. Or fairly new. My son is almost 2 years old now. And a lot of my views on life, my perspective, has shifted quite a bit after having a child. And I often used to hear people talk about the most difficult, the most painful thing a human being can go through, and oftentimes people will say, that thing is a loss of a child.
To see your child go through pain and difficulty, and if, you know, may Allah protect us, to see your child pass away, or see your child die, that is the, probably the most painful thing that a human being can go through. And I accepted it before, but as a parent, that takes on a completely different dimension. And the parents in the house may be few, but the parents in the house know exactly what I'm talking about.
If you've seen your son or your daughter go through, not even like a major sickness, just minor sicknesses or pain, or they bump their head, or they, you know, get a wound, or something like that, that really, really affects you. All right?
But something as painful as that, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam went through. He saw the loss of his child, Ibrahim, and actually we have a very vivid description of the last moments of the life of his son. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam held Ibrahim to his chest as he breathed his last breath. And he became lifeless as he was laying, as his head was pressed against the blessed chest of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam.
So there's no difficulty, my brothers and sisters, whether it be the loss of a child, whether it be the loss of your spouse, the loss of the love of your life. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam witnessed the death of Khadija radiallahu ta'ala anha. Whether it be the loss of your parents, whether it being rejected from your community, whether it be oppression, whether it be being stereotyped, whether it being prejudiced against, whether it be people lying and slandering and spreading rumors about you, whether it be people turning against you as a whole, whatever it may be. We find an example of that in the life of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam because he was an embodiment of the message of Islam.
Living the Aqeedah of Islam
He was the embodiment of our aqidah, what we're supposed to believe. A lot of times we study aqidah as points and principles and that's great, but it's another thing to live the aqidah of Islam. It's another thing to take the aqidah of Islam and apply it in your life. It's another thing to wake up in the morning and your head's spinning because you realize Donald Trump has just become the president and then in that moment to apply the aqidah of Islam.
The Story of Hajar (May Peace Be Upon Her)
I want to share with you just a few ayat, a few verses from Surah Al-Baqarah where we hear about another individual who had to rely and trust upon Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in a moment, in a time of difficulty. And I'm going to start reciting these ayat and then in a bit I'm going to tell you who we're talking about.
In these ayat, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us of some of the categories or some of the ways that we are tested as human beings. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:
Surah Al-Baqarah 2:155
Allah says, we will test you with some matters such as khawf, fear, and hunger, and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:
"And give good tidings to those who are patient."
Now, who does this apply to? These ayat are very very interesting subhanallah because you know a lot of times the imam or the qari who is reciting these ayats like in Taraweeh for example, they'll recite these ayat, they'll get to "wa bashshir al-sabireen" and then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, and then the next ayah is:
Surah Al-Baqarah 2:158
That Safa and Marwa are from the symbols of Allah and it seems like the topic is changing. It seems like there's a new topic now so most people will just say Allahu Akbar and then in the next rak'ah begin with the rest of the ayat.
But I want you to think about one individual. I want you to think about Hajar alayhasalam. The wife of Ibrahim who after having given birth to her child, her infant child Ismail, the Prophet Ibrahim takes her out to the barren desert, to the middle of the desert where there is nothing around. Nothing. As far as the eye can see, there's no food and as a matter of fact, what is mentioned in this ayah, that is what we see.
Allah says, we will test you with hunger. She was hungry and her child became hungry because there was no food. They took a limited amount of supplies and Hajar alayhasalam, as Ibrahim alayhasalam leaves her there and he begins to walk away, Hajar alayhasalam begins to freak out a little bit. She's like, what's going on? Why are you leaving? What's happening?
And she chases him and he doesn't because he's in such pain. He can't even respond to her and he keeps walking until she says, "Allahu amraka bihada." She says, is it Allah who has commanded you to do that to us? Is it Allah who has commanded you to bring us out here to the middle of the desert and leave us when there's nothing? And he says, naam. He says, yes.
She says, idhan. In that case, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will not leave us. Allah will not let us go to waste out here in this barren land.
So, hunger. Her supplies ran out. She had a few supplies with us, a little bit of food with her. Sorry, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala starts with khawf, with fear. And you can imagine her being out there by herself in the middle of the desert with nothing around. Of course, she's suffering from fear. Of course, she's fearful. Not only her, but she has her infant child with her.
And Allah says, wal ju'a. And hunger. There's no food around. And at that point, you can imagine that she begins to think about her mortality. About how she may not survive out here. And not even that, not only that, her child may not survive.
And so this fear is very real. "wa naqsim min al-amwali wal-anfusi wal-thamarat" And a loss of wealth. She had no wealth. She had nothing with her. Anfus, lives. There's no people there. There's not a single individual except for her and her infant child Ismail. "wal-thamarat" You know, if she doesn't have food with her, if there's no people around, at least maybe there's some vegetation. At least maybe there's a tree or there's maybe something she can get from the earth to feed herself and to feed her child.
But there's nothing. There aren't even any fruits and vegetation. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:
But give glad tidings to those who are patient.
Surah Al-Baqarah 2:156
Those that when they're afflicted with a calamity, they say, "Inna lillah" Certainly we belong to Allah. "wa inna ilayhi raji'oon" And certainly we will return to Allah.
And by the way, that statement, the scholars mention as one of the statements of tawakkul. That's one of the statements of reliance upon Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Because what does that mean? Sometimes we just use that statement only when someone dies. Right? We're just in the habit someone dies, we say "inna lillah wa inna ilayhi raji'oon" And that's it.
But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us this is a statement for our masa'ib, for our difficulties, for our hardships. For when we are feeling pain, when we're suffering, when we're going through difficult times, that's when we bring up this statement.
The Analogy of the Ten Million Dollars
You know, I'll give you an analogy that could be applied to this statement right here. Imagine right now, after this talk is over, you walk outside and someone comes up to you and they say to you, you know, I'm a really rich guy and I have tons and tons of money so I have decided to give you ten million dollars.
And you're like, what are you talking about? Is this a joke? Is this a prank? Where are the cameras at? And they're like, no, no, no, no pranks, no jokes, nothing like that. I just want to give you ten million dollars. And after not believing it and this and that, whatever, you finally come to realize that they're telling the truth and they actually do want to give you ten million dollars.
How are you going to feel? Well, you're going to be pretty happy. You're going to be very thankful, very grateful. Ten million dollars, that's great. That means I can, like, relax now, I can retire. I can drop out of school, I can, you know, quit my job, I can just whatever. Ten million dollars, I can try and invest it, you know, whatever it may be, you're feeling secure now.
And then the guy, he straight up writes you a check for ten million dollars and you take it to the bank and you know what? It is really ten million dollars that he's given to you.
Now imagine you come back tomorrow for the second day of this conference and you see that guy and you see him, like, waving you down and you're like, wait a minute, is he going to ask for the money back? And you try to avoid him, you try not to make eye contact and you're like all over the place until he finally grabs you by the shoulder and he's like, listen, listen, do you remember me? And you're like, yeah, I remember you.
And he goes, I gave you ten million dollars yesterday. And you go, yeah, yeah, of course I remember. He goes, well, I need a favor from you. And you're like, yeah, of course, anything for you. You know, you gave me ten million dollars. In my book, you're like the greatest guy right now. Anything you want, I got you.
He goes, well, I need you to give me a thousand dollars. Right? And you're like, what? He's like, yeah, I need a thousand dollars. I've run out of money and I just need a thousand dollars. How are you going to respond? Are you going to be like, no man, a thousand dollars, that's a lot of money. Like, I can't, you know, that's just too much. I barely even know you. Right?
You're not going to say that. You're going to be like, dude, you gave me ten million dollars and all you wanted is a thousand? Of course, I'll give you a thousand. As a matter of fact, take ten thousand. As a matter of fact, take a hundred thousand. Five hundred thousand. Wallahi, even if he asked you for five million, you'd be like, dude, you gave me ten million, you can take five million. Right?
Likewise, every single thing we have in this life is given to us by who? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So what does it mean when Allah takes something away from us? Does it mean anything? How are we supposed to behave? We're supposed to say, everything we have, it is from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and we will return to Allah.
And yes, it may feel difficult, we may feel pain, it may be hard, but in the end of the day, our aqeedah, our creed, tells us that everything we have is from Allah. So, what if He takes away something? What if He takes away a little bit? Right?
And that is why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives these people glad tidings.
Give glad tidings, congratulate the people who are able to remain patient in these times of difficulty.
Surah Al-Baqarah 2:157
Upon them are blessings from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It is those people who are guided.
And you know, subhanAllah, people don't sometimes the relationship between guidance and tawakkul and patience. Because a lot of times, when it comes to our guidance and our iman and how we feel, how our spiritual status is, a lot of times it's related to matters like these. How many people have lost faith when going through a difficulty? How many people have lost a loved one and then they turn around and said, why would
God do this to me? Is God even real? This doesn't make sense. Lex Luthor lost faith, right? But many people do as well.
When they're put in that difficulty, they lose faith. And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us the person who is able to remain patient to put things into perspective, to remind themselves that everything that they have in life is from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and indeed these times of difficulty are a time to raise our rank with Allah. It is a time to have our sins removed. It is a time to get spiritually closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It is those people who are truly, truly blessed. And it is those people who are guided.
True Istiqamah in Difficult Times
It's not the super Muslim out there with his fatwa hammer and the haram police and all that kind of stuff. That's fine. You know, it's easy to be a super Muslim in times of ease. But it's another thing to have istiqamah. It is another thing to be consistent and upright and firm when matters become difficult.
And that is why when that companion came to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and asked him for advice, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said:
(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 38)
He said, I say, I believe in Allah and then stay firm upon that.
That is why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us:
Surah Al-Imran 3:200
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us, have patience. And have more patience. More patience than what? More patience than anything that you're going through. Whatever your difficulty is, have more patience than that. However hard the situation is, make sure your patience is on another level.
And "wa rabitoo" comes from the word "rabt" which means to tie. Tie yourself down. Hunker down. Prepare yourself. Be firm from day to day.
And our Iman is not just about one day and that's it. Our Iman is not just about, hey, right now I'm a good Muslim and I feel great. Our Iman is the day to day. The moment to moment. The minute to minute. When our hearts begin to fluctuate, that is where our Iman is. In the moments of difficulty, in the moments of ease, in whatever our political and social climate is, it is in those moments that we want to have that rabt. It is in moments like that, that we want to hunker down and tie down and remind ourselves of the basic principles of Islam.
The Principles Are Not Cliché
And I know, subhanAllah, it sounds cliché that when you're going through a difficulty, someone says, hey, you know, trust in Allah's plans. And it's sad that we think of those things as cliché now. It's sad that when you tell someone, listen, be patient, they say, come on man. Like, how many lectures have I heard on being patient?
You know what that sounds like? That sounds like that woman who was crying at the grave of her child and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said to her, be patient. He said:
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1283; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 926)
He said, be patient and hope for Allah's reward. And she said, what do you know of my pain? Right?
That's what we sound like sometimes. Oh, how cliché. Like, come on, tell me something else. How do we deal with this situation? I want a transformative experience. Well, subhanAllah, our transformative experience lies in the principles of our deen. And that is why in moments like these, we turn back to our principles, the principles of tawakkul, the principles of the qadha and qadr of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the principles of being patient in times of difficulty.
Closing Du'a
I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant us patience in all times, in times of ease and times of difficulty. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make these moments and these tests and trials that we are going through as an ummah, as a community, and us on an individual level, I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make these a time of purity and a time of growth and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knows best.
End of Khutbah