Blessing in Disguise?

The Muslim Prisoner

“...You may dislike something which is good for you, and you may like something
which is bad for you. God knows while you do not know.” (2:216)

What appears to be a real disaster may actually be a great blessing in disguise. Our incarcerated brothers may provide a perfect example.

Discovering God and joining His kingdom is the greatest achievement any human being can attain. If incarceration is what it takes for anyone to reach this precious goal, it is a small price indeed for such a great treasure.

The Quran teaches us that if a disbeliever possesses all the treasures of the world, even twice as much, he would readily give it all up in exchange for a believer’s achievement.

Those who respond to their Lord deserve the good rewards. As for those who failed to respond to Him, if they possessed everything on earth—even twice as much—they would readily give it up as ransom. They have incurred the worst reckoning, and their final

abode is Hell; what a miserable destiny. [13:18, also 10:54, 39:47]

If you are a prisoner who discovered the true path to God, and have decided to follow God’s true religion, you are far more fortunate than a billionaire who has failed to discover God. If you discovered Islam in prison, then incarceration was the greatest blessing that ever happened to you.

It is an established fact that this life is insignificant, when compared to the real life of the eternal Hereafter. Mathematically, when you divide any number by infinity, the product is zero. So even a thousand years in this world is equal to ZERO when compared to the infinite Hereafter.

With this Quranic understanding, we realize that it doesn’t really matter whether we are poor or rich in this world, fat or thin, tall or short, black or white, male or female, beautiful or ugly. Furthermore, this life, no matter how long, passes like the blink of an eye [16:77].

When God loves someone, He may afflict him or her with a temporary problem just to get his or her attention. This is what Quran teaches in verses 6:42 and 7:94.

We have sent (messengers) to communities before you, and we put them to the test through adversity and hardship, that they may implore. [6:42]

Incarceration may be God’s way of blessing you, and getting your attention. It means that God cares about you. If you respond positively to God’s care, and decide to join His kingdom, then He makes it up to you manifold. He will appoint you a KING ON EARTH. This is God’s inviolable promise as we see in the Quran:

God promises those among you who believe and lead a righteous

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