Most graciously, Allah Almighty bestows so many favours upon His creatures to make them live comfortably and happily. Allah’s favours , of which we enjoy only a few, are in fact innumerable, as Allah Almighty says, “Your enumeration of Allah’s favours will never give a full count of them.” (Sura 14:34) The Almighty also says, “Do you not see how Allah has made available for you things in the heavens and on the earth, bountifully bestowing upon you visible and invisible favours?” (Sura 31: 20)
Of all these favours, the most important one is the belief in Allah and the blessing of having discovered the right path of His great religion. No other favour but this one leads to the ultimate victory and the greatest happiness of Paradise. All other favours come from Allah who says, “Any favour you enjoy comes from Allah.” (Sura 16: 53)
We should therefore be most grateful to Him for His generous gifts and innumerable bounties, which we should utilize adequately by putting them in His service and submitting to His Will.
Allah Almighty says: “We have granted Luqman the wisdom to express gratitude to Allah, for whoever does so does it for his own sake, and if there ever is anyone ungrateful, let it be known that Allah is Self-Sufficient and Most Worthy of praise. (Sura 31: 12)
On the authority of Abu-Hurayrah, the Prophet Muhammad said: “A man who was walking in a deserted place heard a voice from a cloud addressing him thus. ‘Go and water so-and-so’s garden. ‘As the cloud moved away, it poured its rain water over a stony part of the land. As one of the eylets absorbed all the water, the man followed the stream until he saw a gardener diverting it towards his garden with a hoe. ‘Tell me, servant of Allah, what is your name?’ He asked him. ‘My name is so-and-so.’ It was exactly the one heard from the cloud. ‘Tell me, servant of Allah said the gardener, ‘why did you want to know my name?’ The man answered: ‘I’ve heard a voice from a cloud whose rain water is right here. Its instruction was, ‘Go and water so-and-so’s garden’, and the name uttered was yours. What do you do in this garden?’ ‘Since you ask, ‘said the gardener, ‘I’ll tell you. After taking good care of it, I give one third of what it yields to the poor, keep one third for me and my family to live on and put the remaining third back into it.’” (Related by Muslim)
So-Self-Sufficient and Worthy of all praise, Allah Almighty does not need the benefit of anyone’s gratitude, nor can He be affected by anyone’s ingratitude. Actually, those who do benefit from their gratitude for the favours bestowed upon them are those who make the best use of such divine gifts as their good health, their wealth, their children, their positions, their hearing or seeing or thinking faculties, and other bounties, by seeking to obtain felicity in this life and in the Hereafter, and striving to serve their community as truthfully as they work for their own good.
By showing gratitude, one draws so many benefits, among which:
1. Allah’s approval and satisfaction as pointed out in this passage of the Holy Qur’an: “Allah will never tolerate ingratitude among His servants, He will however, be pleased if you show gratitude.” (Sura 39: 7)
Furthermore, the Prophet Muhammad said, “Reward those who do you favours; if you cannot, then pray for them until you feel grateful enough, for Allah. Who is Mest appreciative, indeed likes the grateful ones.” (Related by Tabarani)
2. The increase of divine gifts, as Allah Almighty says. “If you show gratitude, I shall give you more.” (Sura 14: 7)
3. The warding off of evil and sufferings; in this respect, Allah Almighty says. “Why should Allah punish you if you show gratitude and believe?” (Sura 4: 147)
4. The great satisfaction drawn from the good use of the divine gifts, that is, for the benefit of fellow citizens and the community.
5. The immunization against the hardships of this life and the punishment of the Hereafter. In this respect the Almighty says: “Allah has set forth a parable with reference to a village whose inhabitants lived so peacefully, provided with means of subsistence from everywhere; as they showed no gratitude for His favours, Allah made them taste the effects of hunger and fear for their ill-conduct.” (Sura 16: 112)
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