Everything happens for a Reason: Third Toastmaster Speech

Thought I'd share my speech which I gave at toastmasters that's held at my university. The objective of the third speech was to 'prove a point'. I hope you enjoy it. =) 

  There was once a king who had a very close friend. Now this friend of his had a habit of analyzing any situation whether it be good or bad and commenting on it by saying, "This is good, God knows best". Now it just so happens that one day, the king and his friend are on a hunting trip - the friend who is in charge of loading the guns hands the king his gun and when the king fires,  the gun backfires cutting off his thumb. The friend immediately comments on this by saying, "This is good. God knows best" The king who is standing there thumbless, is enraged by his friends words and yells, "No. It is not!" and orders his soldiers to put the friend in jail.

  A  year later the king is yet on another hunting trip this time in an area which is unexplored and it's just his luck that a group of cannibals capture him and take him back to their tribe. Now just when they're about to prepare the fire and wood, they notice the missing thumb. Being very superstitious people who refuse to eat anything that isn't whole, they untie the king and drive him out of the village. The king surprised at this, remembers his good friend and upon returning to his kingdom immediately goes to visit him in jail. Standing in front of him, he apologizes to his friend saying, "You were right, it was a good think that I lost my thumb, I am sorry for everything, and it was extremely wrong of me to sentence you to a year in jail" To this the friend smiles and replies. "No it was a good thing". The king opens his mouth to object, when the friend continues. "If I had  NOT been sentenced to jail, I would certainly have been with you on that hunting trip"

  Fellow Toastmasters, honorable guests, good evening. The thing is, a lot of the time we don't understand the wisdom behind why something happens the way it does. Especially in the case of something which we view as being bad, tragic, or harmful in some way. It could be an exam that you failed in, a relative who passed away, being accused of something  which you are completely innocent off, or even a physical accident. Most of the time we ask ourselves questions like, "Why me?" or "Why is this happening" and we have feelings of disappointment and regret  but what we don't realize is that this is what was supposed to happen and it is actually something that will benefit us in some way.

  Although initially I was going to give a more personal example I've decided to give a historical one instead for one reason: history is filled with stories many of which contain amazing  lessons which we can all benefit from and use in times of need. My favorite one being the story of Prophet Yusuf(peace and blessing be upon him) because although he was a messenger of God, one of the best of creations he too went through difficult times just like any of us.  

  If we look at Prophet Yusuf's story we can see it is full of hardships  one after another not only for Prophet Yusuf but for his family as well.  From the very beginning of the story you have a young  boy - being thrown into a well by his own brothers out of their hatred and jealousy for him and is left to die. You have his father who believes him dead and therefore loses his eyesight out of grief.  And although the boy is rescued and sold as a slave, he is later accused of seducing the wife of the very man who bought him  thus sentencing him to years in jail. However, if you fast-forward to the end of the story: not only does the boy become the king of Egypt's chief minister and is known for his gift of interpreting dreams but he is also given a position of power, authority and wealth, and the king even goes on to prove his innocence and removes all charges against him. And as the story progresses, Prophet Yusuf is reunited with his eleven brothers who apologize for their mistake, his parents and his father even gains his eyesight again.

  Now if you look at the sequential order of the story you can see that one thing led up to another. In order for Prophet Yusuf to reach the position that he was in the end he go to through each and every one of those incidents  - in order for the king to realize his talent of interpreting dreams and for him to gain that position of authority , he had to be put into jail. For him to be put into jail in the first place he had to be thrown into the well so that he could be sold to the Aziz family. 

 So everything that happened, happened for a reason.

  As long as you are doing your best, no matter what happens: even if the situation seems so utterly hopeless - remember the story of Prophet Yusuf and what he went through in order to get to where he was in the end.

  You see,  just because you can't see the point of something until after it has happened that doesn't mean there isn't a reason. And we must always remember that in the end God only does what is best for us. And  I would like to end with an Ayah from the Quran:  

                                             يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ وَإِلَى اللَّـهِ تُرْجَعُ الْأُمُورُ ) )

He knows what is before them, and what is behind them. And to Allah return all matters (for decision). 

Surah Al Hajj Ayah 76