I told her to take the sadness, frustration and longing she felt in that very moment and combine it with the very real pain she was experiencing in her own life. I told her to fervently whisper her ache to Allah, begging Him to answer her and open the doors of His mercy in her life, to make this closed door the opener of every other door of blessing and closeness to Him and His Prophet (s) in both worlds.

She moved away and began her prayer. I heard her bawling, her shoulders heaving, her whispers desperate. I was in awe of the passion of her salah; her prostration was intense, focused, forever. She wasn’t a person simply seeking answers. She was seeking redemption. Renewal.

Later, she caught up with me. Her eyes looked bright, changed. Her smile was lighter, her words emanating tranquility. “Had I gotten in earlier, I wouldn’t have had such an intimate moment with Allah,” she began. “It’s as if He closed the door I thought I needed to enter in order to open the door my heart truly needed."

Never will Allah disappoint a person who has certainty in Him. Perhaps the sheer weight in the slam of a door opens numerous others that are better.

In the words of Ibn Al-Qayyim: “When God tests you, it is never to destroy you. Whenever He removes something from your possession, it is only to empty your hands for an even better gift.”