TO THANK ALLAHU TA’ALA

When a person receives a favor from another, if the former has the material means, he should respond with an equal favor. If he does not have the material means, then he should thank him by pronouncing a blessing over him, (i.e. by making dua for him). If a person does not respond to a favor although he has the means, he will be mistreated by everybody because it is a duty for a human being to respond to a given favor with an equal favor. While this is the case, not responding to the favors of Allahu ta’ala, Who created us out of nonexistence and gave us the best of shapes and necessary organs and powers and made them work coherently with each other and thereby provided us with health and gave us intelligence and wisdom, and Who continuously creates our necessities such as mates, children, housing, clothing, nutrition and all sorts of foods, would be a great fault and deficiency. He has infinite powers. He creates all these blessings without demanding anything in return from us, since He does not need anything. How surly an attitude, how vicious a crime and how blatant an injustice it would be not to pay gratitude to Allahu ta’ala, the Almighty, and to ignore His rights as the Creator! Worse yet is the abominable denial of His existence and the obdurate and disgraceful touting for another source for all these infinite blessings in the desperate attempt to stave off the manifestation of the fact that Allahu ta’ala is the sole Benefactor. Supposing all the needs of a person are ministered to and he is regularly paid, gratis, all his monthly pecuniary and nutritional requirements by a certain benefactor, imagine how that person will praise his benefactor on every occasion and in all sorts of company. Won’t he do his best to capture his sympathy and to win his heart? Won’t he try to protect him against cares and troubles? Won’t he expose himself to dangers to serve him? Won’t others blame him if he thoroughly ignores his benefactor instead of these natural impulses? In fact, won’t he be rebuked for dereliction of a humanistic duty? With all this natural sense of obligation towards a human benefactor, why should it not be necessary to thank Allahu ta’ala, Who is the real Owner of all sorts of blessings and goodness, and the Creator and Sender of all, and to do the things He likes and commands? Allahu ta’ala is certainly above all those who are entitled to being thanked, obeyed and adored. For, others’ favors, when compared to His blessings, are not even drops of water versus oceans. In fact, favors that seem to be coming from others are His sendings.