Sometimes our prayers seem to go unanswered, but Islam teaches that we do not see the bigger picture. The Sufi convey these teachings with a story of a man who had his pet snake stolen. When the thief got home the snake bit him and he died. When the original owner heard about this he remarked, ”Well, look at that my stolen snake robbed the thief of his life. I was begging Allah day and night that I might find this thief and get my snake back. Thank Allah my prayer went unheeded, otherwise this could have been me. What I thought was a loss was actually a gain.
Ref: The Heart of Islam By Timothy Freke
