Every season has its own beauty. You might have a favorite, but winter has something spring doesn't. Fall has something summer can't offer. Each one holds something specific, something only available in that particular moment.

Allah's Names work the same way.

Among His Names are Al-Muqaddim and Al-Mu'akhkhir, the One who advances, and the One who holds back. The scholars say you cannot study these two Names independently. They are two sides of the same coin. He pushes some people forward, opens doors, sends opportunities. And He holds others back, postpones, pauses.

Both are from Him. Both are mercy.

The problem is we've been trained to see one as good and the other as failure. So when we're in a season of being held back, we don't look for its beauty. We look for who's to blame. We reach for should.

I should have a job by now. I put in the applications. I got the degree. I should be further along.

That word “should” is one of the most spiritually dangerous words in our vocabulary. It pulls us out of the present and into a version of life we constructed in our own minds. And once you're living there, you stop seeing what's actually in front of you. You stop asking what Allah wants from you in this moment, in this season.

When you truly understand that it is Allah (SWT) holding you back, not circumstance, not luck, not other people, something shifts. The frustration and resistance ebbs away. Because you're not fighting a random obstacle anymore. You're in the hands of the One who advances and delays with precision and wisdom beyond what you can calculate.

Remove should from your framing. Replace it with a more honest question: “What is Allah inviting me into right now?”

That's where the beauty lives. Every season has it. You just have to stop arguing with the season long enough to see it.

Sometimes Allah holds us back.

Sometimes He advances us into an opportunity.

Right now, the masjid in Garin Ali stands in its final season, almost ready. Perhaps this is one of those moments where Allah advances you into something lasting.

If you feel moved, help us complete it.

👉 Support the Masjid here

Reflect on this:

What "should" have you been carrying that's been pulling you out of the present moment?

^{Share your reflections in the poll at the end of the email.}