The Blessings of God
Al-Risala (English), March-April 1999, p. 29
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan is named as the default author of the periodical; a piece that carries another writer’s byline is credited to that writer.
The Blessings of God
1999 3-4 March-April 29-31 The Blessings of God (718) It was Allah who made the heavens and the earth, and sends down water from the sky with which He brings forth fruits for your sustenance. He drives the ships which, by His leave, sail the ocean in your service. He has created rivers for your benefit, and the sun and the moon, which steadfastly pursue their courses. And He has subdued for you the night and the day. He grants you all that you ask of Him. If you reckoned up Allah’s favours, you could not count them. Truly, man is wicked and thankless (14:32-34).
To an astonishing degree, the present world bears witness to the presence of God. His will is immanent in the abundant provision to man of earthly resources and in His gift to man of the capacity to harness those resources to the purposes of his daily living. God has given man power over the earth and water, over the rivers, seas and mountains. He has caused him to profit by the changes of the seasons, the alternation of night and day. Nature responds to man’s every need, providing in advance things of which we had no prior conception.
All these manifestations of God’s beneficence are so incredibly wonderful that they should leave man trembling in awe of God and cause him to enter into lifelong servitude of his Creator. Yet this does not happen. What is the reason? Why is it that the concept of the Creator of the Universe does not make every hair on a man’s body stand on end? The reason is that he has been observing the universe from his earliest childhood. Because it appears perpetual and unchanging, it strikes him as being a normal, familiar sight. He finds nothing unique or extraordinary in the universe, not even the motion of the stars and planets in the vast, outer reaches of space.
Moreover, when man finds or receives anything in this world, it comes to him shrouded in the veil of cause and effect. He therefore regards God’s bounty as stemming from his own efforts and capacities. That is why expressions of thankfulness do not come gushing from his lips for the Giver-God. This on the part of man is the gravest kind of neglect. It is injustice coupled with ingratitude.
God’s Command
Allah enjoins justice, kindness and charity to one’s kindred, and forbids indecency, wickedness and oppression. He admonishes you so that you may take heed.
Keep faith with Allah when you make a covenant with Him. Do not break your oaths after you have sworn them: for (by swearing in His name), you make Allah your surety. Allah has knowledge of all your actions. (16:90-91)
To God, man’s first duty is to see that justice is done. For example, whenever there is an outstanding debt, it should be paid, fully and in time, irrespective of the person concerned – whether weak or strong, friend or foe. In the payment of dues, the sole consideration should be the fulfillment of the obligation.
Man’s next duty is to be kind to his fellow men. This means that in the granting of rights and the payment of dues, an attitude of broad-mindedness should be adopted. Humanitarianism (muruwah) should go hand in hand with justice. In human dealings, generosity and compassion, going beyond the call of legality, should be brought into play. Man should have the courage to be willing to receive less than the share due to him and to give others more than their share.
His third duty is to respect the rights of relatives. That is to say that a man should be as sensitive to his relatives needs as he is to his own. No man of resources should think that his wealth is to be spent only on himself and his immediate family. To his list of responsibilities he should add the paying of dues to relatives.
Three vices prohibited in this verse are indecency, wickedness and oppression. Indecency means flouting the dictates of one’s conscience in order to indulge in known moral evils. Wickedness (munkar), the very opposite of virtue (maroof), consists of those practices disapproved of in every society as failing to measure up to moral standards. Oppression – the tyrannising and coercion of others, is a serious deviation from the path ordained by God.
