Page 74 - Commonly Disregarded Qur'anic Rulings

72 COMMONLY DISREGARDED QURANIC RULINGS

so wills, and gratitude is inspired by Him. The prayer regard-
ing gratitude of the Prophet Solomon (as) is related thus in
the Qur’an:

He [Solomon] smiled, laughing at its words, and
said, ‘My Lord, keep me thankful for the blessing You
have bestowed on me and on my parents, and keep
me acting rightly, pleasing You, and admit me, by
Your mercy, among Your servants who are right-
eous.’ (Surat an-Naml; 19)
Being thankful, like having faith and doing good deeds,
takes place by Allah’s leave.
A person of conscience recognizes that all the blessings by
which he is surrounded would not exist and that he could
never attain them unless Allah so willed it. His body, intelli-
gence, wisdom, feeling, health, strength—in fact, all the favors
he thinks he possesses on his own are actually blessings grant-
ed by Him.
Giving thanks to Allah is not merely saying, “Al-hamdulil-
lah” at certain times, as when one has completed a task, eats
a fine supper or survives an ordeal unhurt. Gratitude is a state
one experiences deep in the heart because one can never
account for all the favors he enjoys, even the obvious ones:

If you tried to number Allah’s blessings, you could
never count them. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most
Merciful. (Surat an-Nahl; 18)
Heedless ingratitude is a serious trap devised by satan.
Indeed, it is a main ambition of his to hinder man from giving
thanks. In the Qur’an, Allah relates this plot of satan’s: