What this article reveals is the raw vulnerability and frustrations we all go through in daily life. Unless, you are blessed with insight and wisdom, you will led by your ‘nafs’ (egoistic desires). By transcending spiritual heights we can view destiny as it was ordained to be played out. Reaching the Summit of Mount Everest is only a physical goal, but taking a look at life from the top of the mountain presents a different view. It shows you that you are nothing!
EXPERIENCE 1:
Being Cheated and The Demand For Justice
On
Saturday, 1 August, 2026, after spending time with Adam and Hawa,
good friends of ours, we had lunch and left. Adam stays near to the
Orang Asli Hospital, along the colonial Gombak road which can take
you to Genteng Highlands.
On
the way back home, we passed several stalls selling Chempadak (a
Malaysian pungent fruit). I stopped at one and bought one fruit
costing me RM16.00. The seller told me that it was ripe and I
believed him. However, on returning home and opening up the fruit, I
found it unripe. The fruit had not even developed to become a
wholesome fruit. I could not find a single matured pod ripe within it to
fry.
I
became extremely angry and cursed the fruit seller. I recited Surah
Fil and invoked Allah’s curse upon him. If the distance from my
house in Sering Ukay to this man’s stall was reachable at ease by
car, I would have done so, but unfortunately, the traffic jams are so
bad, it would take me two hours to-and-fro.
At
that point in time, I cried out to Allah, over why did He not guide
me. I did so because a few days earlier, I had reached a conclusion
over decision making. Adam (a.s.) was bestowed freedom of choice. As
such, we all have to make decisions over matters, small or great in
life. Simple ones are easy to reach but complicated ones often leave
us in doubt. Our decisions, may work out right or wrong. Its a risk
we all have to take. Its a ‘touch-and-go’ affair. If you succeed,
its ‘Alhamdulillah’ (All Praise is due to Allah), and if you
fail, well, that’s the Divine Will of Allah. I am of the view that 'freedom of choice' is a blessing and a curse.
In
a way, your success is due to your experience and in a way your
failures are lessons providing you with knowledge. I said to Allah,
“I do not desire to make any
decisions because most of the time I am unable to do so in difficult
situations. Most of the time, they are wrong. I want that You should
Guide me towards making the Right decision. This would be the most
appropriate approach to decision making.”
At
the time, I thought that I had found the perfect solution to freedom
of choice, but it proved to be wrong. On being cheat out of RM16.00,
I became enraged and emotional. I adopted the Shari’ah approach and
invoked Allah’s justice based on the Qur’an and Ahadith. However,
I was blessed with wisdom from Allah. My wife responded by saying,
“Well, its one way of settling
accounts”. In a
way, she was right because everyone commits sins, and we need to atone for them, so such a loss can be viewed as settling a part of
my personal accounts.
It
then dawned on me that there are two aspects here. The first deals
with the seller. His ‘bicycle wheel’ (destiny) was moving towards
its own conclusion and mine was moving towards my own. I recall
reading a Hadith in Sahih Bukhari some years back. It mentioned not to
curse an accused person because it would prevent Allah’s decision
on him taking place (something to this
effect).
At
that point in time, Allah’s wisdom reached me. I realised and asked
myself: “What’s wrong with you, that you allow yourself to get
upset over losing RM16.00? Does not the Prophet (s.a.w.) also call
upon us to ask Allah to replace our loss with something better? Does
not Allah bestows upon us many ‘gifts’ which do cost money or at
times receive money from someone?”
“Look
upon it as His will, to save you from the Blazing fire of Hell and
the Torment of the Grave. Allah gives and He takes as He wills, so
calm down and withdraw all those nasty things you uttered against Him
for failing to guide you, as well as those directed towards the
seller. Everyone, is headed towards his or her own destiny, and only
those who are blessed with insight and wisdom are able to transcend
Ilmul Yaqeen (Certainty of
Knowledge) to reach Haqqul
Yaqeen (Reality as it
Really Exists with Allah). [Mokhtar
Stork, 1 August, 2026]
