12:21 - Your Difficulties are a Means of Achieving Greatness .. If You Allow It To Be.

Allah establishes His Affairs in amazingly unexpected ways.

After Allah describes the story of Yusuf as he is abandoned by his own siblings, and then after wrongfully  taken as a boy-slave across different owners, He says "thus (this is how) we ESTABLISHED Yusuf in the land".

وَقَالَ الَّذِي اشْتَرَاهُ مِن مِّصْرَ لِامْرَأَتِهِ أَكْرِمِي مَثْوَاهُ عَسَىٰ أَن يَنفَعَنَا أَوْ نَتَّخِذَهُ وَلَدًا وَكَذَٰلِكَ مَكَّنَّا لِيُوسُفَ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلِنُعَلِّمَهُ مِن تَأْوِيلِ الْأَحَادِيثِ وَاللَّهُ غَالِبٌ عَلَىٰ أَمْرِهِ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

"And he (the man) from Egypt who bought him, said to his wife: "Make his stay comfortable, may be he will profit us or we shall adopt him as a son."
Thus did We establish Yusuf (Joseph) in the land, that We might teach him the interpretation of events.
And Allah has full power and control over His Affairs, but most of mankind know not."(12:21)

Now, wait a minute.. who in the world would have thought that a child being sold into SLAVERY was a means to establish him in the land?

It was through slavery that Yusuf was raised and educated under the house of the minister, which triggered a chain of events that eventually led Yusuf to be amongst the leaders of Egypt that saved the country through severe drought.. Had he not been sold as a slave, he wouldn't have had the means to achieve this. Yes, it took a good 40 years or so, but it when the moment of triumph came, it really hit home run.

What can we learn from this? Sometimes in life we go through hard times &  super tough situations & deal with super obnoxious people - in fact it is these situations that make us wiser, more competent, and expose our true nature for our own development.

Yusuf never took the situation of slavery as a negative thing; quite the contrary. He didn't know what his fate will be.. Just make the best out of your situation; he used this opportunity to learn the ropes from his master and gained competency in management and leadership as a minister, a skill he would hone when he is "established in the land".

So don't hate or despise the state that you are in, no matter how bad it is.  Make the best out of it and extract as much good as you can out of it. If it is unbearable, then this is your opportunity of hijrah for the sake of Allah - in one way or another

Either way, this could be the training ground that Allah Decreed for you to become a better person and opportunities for greatness: if not in this dunya, then definitely in the Hereafter, insha Allah. Allah decrees only what is best for His righteous slaves.

So focus on being righteous.

فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا
So verily, with the hardship, there is relief (94:5)


وَاللَّهُ غَالِبٌ عَلَىٰ أَمْرِهِ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُون
"And Allah has full power and control over His Affairs, but most of men know not."