Dr. Faid Mohammed Said
This article is not merely an introduction to a narrative series; rather, it constitutes the foundation of a Qur’anic methodology—one through which the human being is taught how to perceive the world when it constricts, how to read powerlessness when it intensifies, and how to turn toward Allah when all surrounding causes are extinguished.
It is an attempt to demonstrate that the stories of the Qur’an were not revealed solely for consolation or reassurance of the Prophet ﷺ, nor merely for historical record or storytelling. Rather, they are—beyond all that—a mode of thinking.
A way of shaping the human soul and re-forming human consciousness in relation to the self and the universe, such that crises are transformed into lessons, despair into hope, and weakness into a gateway to divine power.
1. The Holy Qur’an: From Narrative to a “Method of Thinking”
In our cultural experience, stories are often told for entertainment, for quick moral exhortation, for distraction, or simply to pass time. The Holy Qur’an, however, introduced an entirely different paradigm of storytelling.
It does not narrate events merely so that we may know what happened, but so that we may derive a stance from what happened.
It does not recount stories to satisfy curiosity, but to elevate perception.
It does not narrate to fill time, but to extinguish illusion and give birth to certainty.
For this reason, Allah did not say that He merely mentions stories; rather, He says:
“We relate to you the best of stories” (Qur’an 12:3).
In Arabic, qaṣaṣ (narration) does not signify simple storytelling; it denotes careful, step-by-step tracing of meaning and consequence. Thus, the Qur’an does not present events detached from wisdom; instead, it places the reader within the moment itself, with all its psychological, spiritual, and human dimensions.
It is a methodology for understanding the soul when it is unsettled, interpreting reality when it appears closed, and envisioning the future when it seems devoid of any exit.
2. Why Write Today About the “Impossible Solution”?
In our time, the human being lives under the tyranny of causes:
• calculating endlessly for employment,
• worrying constantly about provision,
• fearing illness,
• becoming anxious over relationships,
• and attempting to control everything.
Yet moments inevitably arrive when all causes collapse, and the human being finds himself without strength or recourse—standing before a wall with no door.
At that moment, a profound question emerges:
What does a human being do when everything is exhausted—except Allah?
It is precisely here that a great Qur’anic secret is revealed:
that true solutions begin when causes end;
that paths open when doors close;
and that relief may be fashioned from the impossible, not from the possible.
These are not emotional reflections; they are divine laws that Allah established through the stories of His prophets. Hence Allah says to His Messenger ﷺ:
“Those are the ones whom Allah has guided, so follow their guidance” (Qur’an 6:90).
Meaning: when you are powerless, look at how the prophets acted—and follow their example.
This is the very purpose of this series.
3. The Prophets: Supreme Models of Reliance upon Allah
The stories of the prophets in the Qur’an are not narrated merely for their historical value. They are narrated because they contain moments of existential climax—moments in which the human being reaches the very edge, the point of complete collapse—after which divine intervention transforms everything.
In this series, we will reflect upon five profound moments that embody, in the deepest sense, the meaning of the “impossible solution”:
First: Musa (Moses), peace be upon him—Exile to Madyan
A young man leaves Egypt fearful and watchful, without wealth, family, or shelter.
He enters Madyan as a stranger, sits beneath the shade of a tree, and condenses all his weakness into a single supplication:
“My Lord, indeed I am, for whatever good You send down to me, in desperate need” (Qur’an 28:24).
Provision follows, then marriage, security, and ultimately prophethood.
Does this occur by human logic—or by the will of Allah?
Second: Musa (Moses), peace be upon him—Between the Sea and Pharaoh
Ahead lies the sea; behind him, a fully armed army.
His people cry out:
“Indeed, we are overtaken!” (Qur’an 26:61).
But Musa responds with certainty:
“No! Indeed, with me is my Lord; He will guide me” (Qur’an 26:62).
Thereupon, Allah splits the sea, and the Qur’an records one of the most astonishing confrontations with the logic of impossibility in human history.
Third: Hajar (Hagar), peace be upon her—Water from the Heart of the Desert
Alone with an infant in a barren valley—
no people, no water, no shade, no apparent means.
Yet her striving between Safa and Marwah opens the gate of relief.
Zamzam bursts forth—not merely as water, but as an eternal miracle from which the world continues to drink.
Jurhum settles nearby, and the first signs of life emerge around the Sacred House.
Fourth: Ibrahim and Sarah, peace be upon them—Birth Beyond the Laws of Nature
An elderly man and a wife long past the age of childbirth.
Yet the glad tidings arrive:
“O Sarah, indeed Allah gives you good news of a son” (Qur’an 11:71).
She responds in wonder:
“Shall I bear a child while I am an old woman?”
The eternal divine reply comes:
“Do you wonder at the command of Allah?” (Qur’an 11:73).
Fifth: Zakariyya, peace be upon him—Hope Born from Old Age
Zakariyya enters upon Maryam and finds summer fruits in winter and winter fruits in summer.
Amazed, he asks: “From where did this come to you?”
She replies:
“It is from Allah” (Qur’an 3:37).
At that moment, a door opens in the heart of the aged prophet, and he supplicates for what seems impossible:
“My Lord, grant me from Yourself a pure offspring” (Qur’an 3:38).
The response comes immediately:
“O Zakariyya, indeed We give you good tidings of a son” (Qur’an 19:7).
4. What Unites These Narratives?
When we reflect upon these five examples, we find striking common elements:
1. Complete incapacity
No path, no solution, no door—poverty, fear, old age, barrenness, enemies, desert.
All factors scream: impossible.
2. The collapse of all causes
Nothing remains with the human being except Allah.
Here lies the moment of true need:
“O Lord, I have no power and no strength.”
3. Direct divine intervention
Not through causes—but through the suspension of causes.
Relief comes from where the human mind could never anticipate.
4. Relief arrives at the moment of brokenness, not strength
As though the Qur’an teaches us that:
the causes of heaven are not the causes of earth;
divine wisdom transcends human logic;
and the impossible is the raw material of divine power.
5. What Do We Mean by the “Impossible Solution”?
We mean that solutions in the Qur’an are not measured by our logic, but by the power of Allah.
When causes are exhausted, the Causer of causes remains.
When doors are shut, the Lord of doors remains.
We mean that Allah may suspend causes so that power may manifest, halt logic so that will may be declared, and close familiar paths so that unfamiliar ones may open.
We mean that when a human being places true trust in Allah, reality itself is re-engineered around him.
And we mean that “impossible” does not describe what cannot happen—but what Allah has not yet decreed to occur.
6. Why Does the Muslim Today Need This Methodology?
Because contemporary crises surround the human being from every direction:
economic, medical, familial, psychological, social, and political.
Yet the Qur’an does not abandon the human being to drown in helplessness. It teaches him:
how to see,
how to be calm,
how to rely upon Allah,
how to rise again,
and how to seek Allah at the heart of the crisis—not only at its end.
This series seeks to restore that meaning:
that the shortest path to relief is to say, with sincerity: “O Lord.”
7. From Here, the Series Begins
We begin with Musa in the shade of Madyan,
with the sea as it splits,
with Zamzam as it erupts,
with Ibrahim and Sarah as the glad tidings arrive,
and with Zakariyya as hope is born from the depths of despair.
Each story tells you:
“When the possible collapses, the work of the Lord of the possible begins.”
And each story places before you one question:
Have you ever truly surrendered yourself to Allah?
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