REFLECTION ON ALLAH’S MERCIES: RHAPSODIES OF HIS KINGDOM
It is not happy people who are thankful. It is thankful people who are happy.
*Whosoever is in the heavens and on earth begs of Him. Every day He has a matter to bring forth such as giving honor to some, disgrace to some, life to some, death to some. (Quran 55: 29)*
By Babatunde Jose
From the very beginning of Man’s creation, the issue of gratefulness and thankfulness to Allah has been debated. After refusing to bow to ‘Adam, Iblis (Satan) said:
*”Then I will certainly come to them from before them and from behind them, and from the right-hand side and from the left-hand side, and Thou (Allah) shall not find most of them thankful.” (Quran 7:17)*
This statement from the worst of liars has proven to be true, not only among the disbelievers, but also among the Muslims. Unfortunately, many have fallen into the trap, and have gotten so caught up in our comings and goings, that we very rarely take the time to reflect on the favors of Allah, and to thank Him with the thanks that is due Him. We are so busy conducting our daily lives that we forget to appreciate and give thanks. This is not the way, for Allah says:
*”Therefore, remember Me, I will remember you, And be thankful to Me, and do not be ungrateful to Me.” (Quran 2:152)*
The problem that most of us face is that we are constantly focused on the things we don’t have, instead of being grateful to Allah for the things we have.
This is a very serious illness, for which the Prophet (SAW), has given the cure. He admonished us, to always look to those beneath us, for this will keep us thankful: And Allah says that in him we have the best of examples.
The Prophet (SAW), advised us, the best way to stay thankful to Allah is to count His Favors in our lives everyday. For Allah says:
*”And He gives you all that you ask for. But if you count the favors of Allah, never will you be able to number them. Verily, man is given up to injustice and ingratitude.” (Quran 14:34)*
This statement of Allah is so true, yet we put so little value on it, and do not take heed.
Thankfulness frees the heart from greed, jealousy and envy. When we are thankful to Allah, we remain mindful of Him and His continuous Mercy toward us, and this in return humbles us and improves our characters.
Allah also says that only a few of His servants thank Him. Let us then strive to be among these few by keeping our tongues wet with His remembrance and our hearts soft with His praise.
To Allah ascend all good words, the sincere supplication, the tears of the innocent, and the invocations of the afflicted. Hands and eyes are extended to Him in times of hardship and misfortune. The tongue chants, cries out, and mentions His name. The heart finds peace, the soul finds rest, the nerves are relaxed, and the intellect is awakened — these are all achieved when we remember Allah. *’How perfect He is, the Exalted.’ Gracious is Allah to His servants: He gives Sustenance to whom He pleases: And He has Power and can carry out His Will. (Quran 42:19)*
*And He giveth you of all that ye ask for. But if ye count the favors of Allah, never will ye be able to number them. Verily, man is given up to injustice and ingratitude… (Quran 14:34)*
Health, safety, nourishment, clothing, air, and water — these all point to the world being yours, yet you do not realize it. You possess all that life has to offer yet remain ignorant.
It is not a coincidence that you were born with functioning eyes, nose, ears, tongue and other functioning parts of the human body. Your sense of sight, hearing, speech, touch and smell are blessings from Allah to you. But nay! You have taken them for granted; you think they are your birthright. You have at your disposal all this things which many others are deprived of.
*Do ye not see that Allah has subjected to your (use) all things in the heavens and on earth, and has made His bounties flow to you in exceeding measure, (both) seen and unseen? Yet there are among men those who dispute about Allah, without knowledge and without guidance, and without a Book to enlighten them! (Quran 31:20)*
*You have at your disposal two eyes, a tongue, lips, two hands, and two legs. Then which of the blessings of your Lord will you both [jinn’s and men] deny? (Quran 55:13)*
Can you picture yourself walking without feet? Should you take it lightly that you slumber soundly while misery hinders the sleep of many? Should you forget that you fill yourself with both delicious dishes and cool water while the pleasure of good food and drink is impossible for some, due to sickness and disease? Consider the faculties of hearing and seeing with which you have been endowed. Look at your healthy skin and be grateful that you have been saved from diseases that attack it. Reflect on your powers of reasoning and remember those that suffer from mental ailments.
The Quran contains 27 verses (Ayats) on thankfulness. At times Allah commands us to be thankful and at times Allah warns of not being thankful. There are 9 ayahs that warn us of the negative consequences of not being thankful.
*“And certainly, we have established you in the earth and made it a means of livelihood for you, little it is that you give thanks.” (Quran 7.10)*
Similarly, ayats, 10.60, 12.38, 23.78, 32.9, 34.13, 40.61, 56.70 and finally ayah 67.23, are all worded in such a way that they contain the same meaning that mankind does not give thanks for blessings, provisions, creation, signs such as night and day, the sea and its provision and various other blessings that are enumerated from Allah, that mankind is ungrateful for.
This leaves 16 ayats that relate to thankfulness towards Allah. They all command the giving of thanks for various reasons in various ways. It is here that Allah addresses Bani Israel for their ungratefulness towards Him after all He had done for them.
*“Then we pardoned you after that that you may give thanks.” (Quran 2.52)*
*“Then we raised you up after your death that you may give thanks.” (Quran 2.56)*
Bani Israel became ungrateful for the favors. Allah showered blessings upon them, delivering them from the people of Pharaoh, who persecuted them in Egypt. In the first instance they took to worshipping a cow when their Prophet Musa was receiving revelation from Allah, and had gone away to Mount Tur, and the second ayat refers to when Musa was contested as to the authenticity of the Torah. He took seventy men and purified them then took them to mount Tur, whereby Allah confirmed with them the divine origin of Musa’s book. However, they still did not believe, and said to Musa they would only believe if they could see Allah himself. For their insolence Allah killed then with a lightning bolt. Musa became concerned that the Bani Israel would accuse him of killing the leaders, so he prayed to Allah to bring them back to life. Allah revived them and made it clear that they should be grateful. Two arguments appear here, Allah does not like insolence, and he does not like shirk, or worship of others such as cows. The Bani Israel were punished for both.
Allah said to him, in Quran 14.7; *“If you are grateful, I will surely increase you in favors.”*
However, the Bani Israel were ungrateful and were eventually superseded in faith by Prophet Muhammad, and the Islamic faith.
A more favorable ayat discusses the favour of Ibrahim where in Quran 16.121 Allah states; *“He showed his gratitude for the favors of Allah, who chose him and guided him to a straight way.”*
The 35th beautiful name of Allah is the Grateful/the One who accepts Gratitude. Thus, Allah acts in a grateful manner towards us by giving more of his grace and is also the one who accepts our grateful worship such as dua’s and Quranic recitation and worship.
*Quran 7.180* states; *“The most beautiful names belong to Allah: So, call on him by them; but shun such men as use profanity in His names: For what they do, they will soon be requited.”*
Imam Ghazali states; _“Know that thankfulness is from the highest of stations, and it is higher than patience and fear and detachment of the world.”_
The prophet Muhammad (SAW) has indicated in hadith that whoever learns and recites the names of Allah will be admitted to paradise.
The next way of expressing our gratitude is by performing Sujood As-Shukr, the prostration or prayer of gratefulness. This is a two rakat prayer that we perform and then we make dua of gratefulness for whatever has occurred to us.
In conclusion, we can see that we owe a duty to Allah to be thankful towards him and his many blessings. We realize his divine presence, omnipotence, and its benefits through this worship. It is not only remembrance, but it means to internalize the virtues and beauty emulating from the name of Allah and try to embody it in our actions. Thus, do we develop spiritually in our hearts, minds, body and souls with which we worship Allah. Perhaps the final goal is to reach such a station of praise with Allah as a grateful one as some of his Prophets did and to try to serve him in this way, ensuring success on the day of judgement and in the Akhirah.
*“On no soul doth Allah Place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns. (Pray:) “Our Lord! Condemn us not if we forget or fall into error; our Lord! Lay not on us a burden Like that which Thou didst lay on those before us; Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Blot out our sins, and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. Thou art our Protector; Help us against those who stand against faith.”(Quran 2:286)*
*Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend.*
*Babatunde Jose*
