One <strong>of</strong> the tokens <strong>of</strong> accept<strong>in</strong>g one's expression <strong>of</strong> appreciation is that he receives an <strong>in</strong>crease<strong>of</strong> <strong>Allah</strong>'s bless<strong>in</strong>gs accord<strong>in</strong>g to 14:7: "If you are grateful, I will certa<strong>in</strong>ly give you more, andif you are ungrateful, My chastisement is truly severe." <strong>The</strong> truth about appreciation is notrelated to the qualities <strong>of</strong> <strong>Allah</strong>: appreciation comes from people; it is simply the expend<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong>the bless<strong>in</strong>gs granted by <strong>Allah</strong> <strong>in</strong> the way for which He created them. L<strong>in</strong>guistically,appreciation is coupled with bless<strong>in</strong>g, grace, gratitude. Nobody can do <strong>Allah</strong> a favour forwhich He has to thank him; therefore, His appreciation must be understood metaphoricallyaccord<strong>in</strong>g to Tafsir al-Manar. <strong>Allah</strong>'s gratitude means that He is capable <strong>of</strong> reward<strong>in</strong>g thedoers <strong>of</strong> good, that He does not permit the deeds <strong>of</strong> such doers to be wasted or unrewarded. Itis <strong>in</strong> this sense that reward<strong>in</strong>g the doer <strong>of</strong> good with what he deserves is called appreciation,and <strong>Allah</strong> has thus called Himself appreciative. <strong>Allah</strong> has also promised those who appreciateHis bless<strong>in</strong>gs to <strong>in</strong>crease His bless<strong>in</strong>gs upon them; so, such gratitude also falls under the sametype <strong>of</strong> appreciation. <strong>The</strong> most Appreciative One has said, "... and whoever does goodspontaneously, surely <strong>Allah</strong> is Grateful, Know<strong>in</strong>g" (Qura'n, 2:158). Thus do we come to knowthat <strong>Allah</strong>, Glory to Him, has a conduct which is surely the most perfect one when He calledHimself appreciative <strong>of</strong> the worlds although whatever good they do neither benefits Him norharms Him <strong>in</strong> the least; rather, its benefit is surely for our own good. It is, <strong>in</strong> reality, a sign <strong>of</strong>His own bless<strong>in</strong>gs upon us that He guides and enables us to do it; so, it does not beseem anysensible person to observe the great favour bestowed upon him by <strong>Allah</strong> without thank<strong>in</strong>gHim for it, or without obey<strong>in</strong>g Him.<strong>Allah</strong> also says, "<strong>The</strong>refore remember Me, so I will remember you, too, and be thankful toMe, and do not be ungrateful to Me" (Qura'n, 2:152). In this verse, <strong>Allah</strong> teaches His servantsto be appreciative, order<strong>in</strong>g them to remember the bless<strong>in</strong>gs which He has bestowed uponthem by their hearts, tongues and senses. <strong>The</strong>ir reward for it is that He rem<strong>in</strong>ds them <strong>of</strong> Hispermission to cont<strong>in</strong>ue to enjoy such bless<strong>in</strong>gs, and to <strong>in</strong>crease them, order<strong>in</strong>g them to praiseHim by His Attributes, to discuss His countless bless<strong>in</strong>gs, to glorify Him openly and secretly,so that He may mention them <strong>in</strong> His high company and mention His be<strong>in</strong>g pleased with them.In a qudsi tradition, the Messenger <strong>of</strong> <strong>Allah</strong> quotes the Almighty say<strong>in</strong>g, "I am as My servantth<strong>in</strong>ks <strong>of</strong> Me: I am with him; if he mentions Me silently, I shall mention him likewise, and ifHe mentions My Name before a crowd <strong>of</strong> people, I shall mention him before a better crowd;if he gets closer to Me as much as a span, I shall get closer to him as much as a yard; if hegets closer to Me as much as a yard, I will get closer to him more than twice that much. If hecomes to Me walk<strong>in</strong>g, I shall come to him runn<strong>in</strong>g." <strong>Allah</strong> commands His servants to begrateful to Him and not to deny the bless<strong>in</strong>gs which He has bestowed upon them. This is awarn<strong>in</strong>g for this nation aga<strong>in</strong>st that where<strong>in</strong> previous nations had fallen due to the latter'sdenial <strong>of</strong> the bless<strong>in</strong>gs which the Almighty had showered upon them. He granted them thepowers <strong>of</strong> reason, emotion, judgment, and other such bless<strong>in</strong>gs.
A servant <strong>of</strong> <strong>Allah</strong> should never tire <strong>of</strong> thank<strong>in</strong>g and prais<strong>in</strong>g Him, <strong>in</strong>cessantly andunhesitat<strong>in</strong>gly. In a supplications by the Messenger <strong>of</strong> <strong>Allah</strong>, he says, "Lord! I am <strong>in</strong>capable<strong>of</strong> prais<strong>in</strong>g You enough; You are as You have praised Yourself." Prais<strong>in</strong>g <strong>Allah</strong> and thank<strong>in</strong>gHim as He really deserves is not with<strong>in</strong> the human capacity. A servant <strong>of</strong> <strong>Allah</strong>, therefore,must leave it to the One Who can do so: <strong>Allah</strong>, Praise is due to Him, and ONLY to Him. Howcan man acquire perfection <strong>in</strong> such an area while he contemplates upon some bless<strong>in</strong>gsbestowed upon him by <strong>Allah</strong> and says to himself: "I was mere naught and <strong>Allah</strong> caused me tobe, then He granted me the beautiful outward appearance, and the power <strong>of</strong> reason which isthe very best <strong>of</strong> my <strong>in</strong>ner qualities, then He granted me hear<strong>in</strong>g and vision and guided me toknow Him, then He made His great rewards atta<strong>in</strong>able and even praised me <strong>in</strong> his GreatBook"? If you move your tongue and say: Alamdu-lillh (Praise to <strong>Allah</strong>), th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g that meresay<strong>in</strong>g so is sufficient to express gratitude for all the great favours He has bestowed upon you,then you surely have taken leave <strong>of</strong> absence from your sanity, for you surely will not havethanked Him at all. "Talk is cheap," says an axiom, whereas "actions speak louder thanwords." Express your gratitude towards your Maker by actions, not only by words. Aservant's true expression <strong>of</strong> gratitude is his own admission that he simply is <strong>in</strong>capable <strong>of</strong>sufficiently express his gratitude to His Maker, Susta<strong>in</strong>er, and Benefactor.Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari has quoted the Messenger <strong>of</strong> <strong>Allah</strong> say<strong>in</strong>g, "If one is givensometh<strong>in</strong>g while be<strong>in</strong>g capable <strong>of</strong> f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>g a way to likewise give, let him do so, but if he isnot, then let him praise the giver, for one who rema<strong>in</strong>s silent and says noth<strong>in</strong>g commits kufr,apostasy. And if one were to put on clothes which he was not given, he would then be likeone who wears two outfits <strong>of</strong> forgery." [7]37. "Al-`Aliyy"<strong>Allah</strong> has said, "... what they call upon besides Him is falsehood; <strong>Allah</strong> is the High, theGreat" (Qura'n, 22:61)."Al-`Aliyy" is one <strong>of</strong> <strong>Allah</strong>'s Attributes, and it is derived from uluww, height, sublimity, orl<strong>of</strong>t<strong>in</strong>ess versus lowl<strong>in</strong>ess. <strong>The</strong> height referred to here is that <strong>of</strong> status. Al-`Aliyy is High, soHigh that He can never be conceived nor visualized. M<strong>in</strong>ds are at a loss regard<strong>in</strong>g HisGreatness; <strong>in</strong>tellects are <strong>in</strong>capable <strong>of</strong> conceiv<strong>in</strong>g His perfection. Accord<strong>in</strong>g to Al-Mufradat,one who is `aliyy is a prom<strong>in</strong>ent person, a man <strong>of</strong> dist<strong>in</strong>ction. When applied to the Almighty,as <strong>in</strong> 22:61 cited above, the implied mean<strong>in</strong>g is that He is above be<strong>in</strong>g described by anyone ortruly known by anyone, and He is above what anyone says about Him.He is the One above Whose status there is none at all, and everyth<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> existence is underHis control. <strong>Allah</strong> has said, "He is the Most High, the Great" (Qura'n, 2:255), "... judgmentbelongs to <strong>Allah</strong>, the High, the Great" (Qura'n, 40:12), and, "... the Great, the MostHigh" (Qura'n, 13:9).
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AllahThe Concept of God in Islam (a
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IntroductionIn any theistic religio
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eminded him of the bloody and shame
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Knowing AllahMuhammed, the Messenge
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All Praise is due to Allah, the One
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The Praised One has said, He is the
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you then made you complete, then He
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The Ninety Nine Attributesof AllahI
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The Almighty is Endless regarding H
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produce it. They will also realize
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Who grants mercy beyond which there
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Unity of Allah (Tawhid)Islam falls
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is Allah, your Lord; so, worship Hi
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keep closing their eyes to the fact
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Abu Abdullah Imam Ja`fer al-Sadiq h
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descends during the night of the mi
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and the Exalted One, whereby He des
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perfected their design and computed
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- Page 42 and 43: How to Supplicate to AllahBefore ad
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- Page 46 and 47: Al-Qudds is the One Who is above ne
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- Page 50 and 51: e overcome or in any way harmed, th
- Page 52 and 53: Holy Qura'n bestows the Attribute o
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- Page 57 and 58: They desire to put out the light of
- Page 59 and 60: e called badee' at all; so, this At
- Page 61 and 62: said, "And most surely We bring to
- Page 63 and 64: Al-Saboor, Glory to Him, is the Cle
- Page 66 and 67: Whenever the Messenger of Allah pro
- Page 68 and 69: Linguistically, "al-Qahhar" is deri
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- Page 74 and 75: "Thul-Jalali wal Ikram" means: the
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- Page 80 and 81: The Messenger of Allah used to say
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- Page 97 and 98: In the Holy Qura'n, we read: "Whoev
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This Attribute is derived from "mer
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His creation, and the norms of His
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perfection of the Self. All qualiti
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eminding those whom He forgives of
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"Wait, therefore; surely they (too)
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The Messenger of Allah used to say,
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taken account in a clear Book. (36:
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ing the dead to life, and He shows
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Al-Mumeet causes your heart to die
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thoroughly" (Qura'n, 27:88).The roo