Rejoice at the bounty of Allah The Quran 13 th January 2019 Introduction Allah commands us in the Quran to remember the favors of Allah. An example of this command is in Surah Duha Surah Duha Ayah 11 In this Ayah Allah tells us to proclaim and talk about the favors of Allah on us. According to Sheikh Saa di the favors in this Ayah include both the religious as well as worldly favors. We need to talk about Allah s favors by praising Allah to ourselves as well as those around us. Sheikh As Saa di said we are commanded to mention Allah s favors because remembering Allah makes us to love Allah more and to appreciate Allah s favors more. Generally when we hear this Ayah we think of the worldly favors as the good health, wealth, family and we forget that there are greater favors that Allah bestows on us and that this life is insignificant in Allah s eyes.
Surah Al Kahf Ayah 45 and 46 In Ayah 45 we are told that the example of this life is like water that falls on earth and as a result the vegetation grows. Soon the vegetation dries and finishes. Similarly the life of this world will end. Allah then tells us in Ayah 46 that wealth and children are adornment for this life and only the good deeds that we do in this life will remain. Therefore more important than the worldly favors are the religious favors. 2
Surah Younus Ayah 58 Allah then tells to rejoice in the bounty and favors of Allah as it is better than what the people amass. Here the favors of Allah means Quran, Islam, religious knowledge and anything related to your faith. Allah gives us the worldly favors in order to help us to worship Allah. Once the Prophet م ل س و ھ ی ل ع الله ى ل ص passed by a group of companions and he asked them why are they sitting together? They replied they gathered to remember Allah and to praise him for guiding us to Islam. The Prophet asked them are you sure you are only gathered for this purpose. They replied by Allah we have gathered for this purpose only. The Prophet replied that I did not ask you so that you swear to me but because Jibreel AS came to tell that Allah is boasting and praising them to the angels. Some scholars said this hadith signifies that when Allah was about to create Adam, the angels said to Allah are you going to create someone who will create mischief on earth. Allah replied that He knows what they do not know. So when the people gather to remember Allah and to praise him, then Allah tells the angels look at the men who you thought will make mischief on earth, they are remembering Allah. This tells us that gathering for the sake of Allah and sitting in any assembly of knowledge has great value with Allah. The greatest of all the favors and blessing of Allah is the Quran. Quran is a good advice and warning. It is a shield from shameless deeds. We need to belief that all that is mentioned in the Quran is the truth from Allah. A cure from doubt and suspicion. Quran is guidance and mercy from Allah. It is a source of blessing for us. 3
Quran The Greatest Blessing Most of the Quran comprises of verses that tell us about Allah. Knowledge about Allah is the great source of having an upright life. Allah is telling us in the Quran about His attributes and giving us knowledge about HImself. We will study Surah Fatir Ayah 1 to 6 from the Quran. In Ayah 1, we are told that Allah deserves all kinds of praises because He is perfect in His attributes and we thank Allah for his favors. Then Allah mentions some of his actions that Allah is the originator of the heavens and the earth. And that Allah created the Angels having wings and that Allah may increase some of the creation in ways that He wants. Also it means Allah may increase some of his creation in beauty, others in strength and others in intelligence. In the end of Ayah, Allah tells us that he is able to do everything and nothing is impossible with Allah. In this verse Allah is telling us about himself. In Ayah 2, we are told that when Allah grants mercy to anyone of His creation (be it a worldly favor or something of the Hereafter) then no one is able to withhold it. And if Allah is to withhold any of his mercy i.e. prevent someone from knowledge or to take away the blessing of health then in this case no one is able to grant this blessing. The end of the verse tells us that Allah is Al- Aziz (The All Mighty) and no one can overpower or repel his command. Allah is also Al- Hakeem (The All Wise), He will place everything in its place. This tells us we need to have hope in Allah alone. If we want anything we need to only go to Allah and not ask anyone else. Also we need to have fear in our heart 4
that when Allah opens a gate of mercy for me then He is able to withhold it too. When Allah withholds his mercy, it is because of my sins or because I was not appreciative of Allah s favor. I was not grateful to Allah for that blessing so Allah took it away. E.g. someone is sick because Allah is withholding the good health from this person and no one can give him wellness other than Allah. It is a blessing that the mercy and the means of mercy are in Allah s hands. Allah is the one to grant and open doors for us and He is the one to prevent. All are affairs are in Allah s Hands who is Al- Aziz and Al-Hakim In Ayah 4, Allah addresses the mankind and tells them to remember the grace of Allah upon them. Most of the people fear for their provision and Allah is telling us in this verse that He is the ONLY provider. Allah tells us that He is the one to create us and He is the one to provide us. Then Allah tells that that there is no one who deserves to be loved, to be magnified and to be worshipped except Allah so why does the mankind turn away from Him In this verse Allah commands us to remember the favors of Allah in detail. It is a favor of Allah to give us life, provision, wealth etc. When we remember Allah s favor in detail then we will attach only to Him andthis is what He wants from us. When people reach a certain position, they think it s by their intelligence or hard work that they reached so it becomes difficult for them to attribute the blessing to Allah. There are those like Qaroon and Firoun attributing the blessings to themselves. Is there any Creator other than Allah? No and this is in the fitra. Our instincts tell us there is no creator besides Allah and He is above the heavens. 5
People think provision is only money but it can be anything which benefits us. It is only Allah who divides the provision between the people, thus a person should be satisfied with what he has. Some people make a lot of effort but still do not get any results; this is a test for them. In Ayah 4, Allah is consoling the Prophet and those who are making Dawaah. Allah is telling us example of the previous messengers who brought the truth and evidence to the people, yet they still belied. Allah says that everyone will come back to Allah one Day and He will recompense everyone for what they did. People deny the Day of Judgment but In Ayah 5, Allah is telling us that His Promise is true so we shouldn t be deceived with this life and we should not let the shaitan to deceive us regarding Allah. Allah has made many promises in the Quran for example. 1. With every Hardship there is ease 2. If you are grateful then Allah will increase for you 3. When you have taqwa then Allah will make an exit for your from all difficulty. When Allah says with hardship there s ease, then we believe in this promise. It s important to have firm faith that Allah s promises are true so we shouldn t be deceived by the duniya. 6
What is the Duniya? My Duniya is the worldy things that tempts me i.e. The worldy temptations. The Duniya of one person is different than the other. In order to know what is our Duniya we need to ask ourselves, what tempts us and diverts our heart?. The duniya could be a job, money, degrees, certificates, friends, etc. Everyone has something. Don t let the chief deceiver to deceive you regarding Allah. He will shake our trust in Allah; this is the action of the shaitan. In Ayah 6, Allah tells us that the shaitan is an enemy to usm so we need to take him as an enemy. A person has to run away from the shaitan by heart and even body as Yusuf (as) ran away from the women. Our strong faith and belief that the shaitan is our enemy will make us run away from him immediately and not listen to him. Lack of patience, lack of gratitude, thinking bad of Allah are all from the shaitan. It s important to run to the One Who can shelter us. Our weak faith in Allah is all because of the shaitan. The shaitan wants us to be from those who are in the blazing fire. The most important news in the Quran is the news about Allah and to act upon it in our life. 7