The Bounties of Allah

All praise is due to Allah, the Most Kind, the Most Generous, the Beneficent, the Merciful. He endows His favours upon whomever He wills of His Servants, and Allah is the possessor of great bounty. I bear witness that there is no deity save Allah, having no associates. I also bear witness that our Master and Prophet Muhammad is the Servant of Allah and His Messenger. He has given him wisdom and graced him with the gift of Jawamia Al Kalim (words which are concise but comprehensive in meaning) and taught him that which he did not [previously] know. Indeed, Allah's favour upon him was ever great. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Master and Prophet Muhammad, his family and all of his companions and those who follow them till the Day of Judgment.

As to what follows,

I urge you, O servants of Allah, and myself to be aware that you are asked to obey Him the Most Exalted, in line with His orders: "O you who have believed, if you fear Allah, He will grant you a criterion and will remove from you your misdeeds and forgive you. And Allah is the possessor of great bounty." (Al-Anfal: 29).

O Muslims,

There is no doubt Allah, the Most Exalted, is the Possessor great bounty and Bestower of countless favours. He is vast in His generosity and encompasses all the people with His kindness. In His Book, the Almighty reminds His servants of this fact for He says, "and Allah is full of bounty to the people." (Al-Baqara: 243). He also emphasises that His bounties engulf His servants in the entire world as He says, "but Allah is full of bounty to the worlds." (Al-Baqara: 251). Allah further assured the true believers of attaining His great bounties, so He has commanded His Messenger Muhammad pbuh to give them glad tidings of such attainment. The Most Exalted says, "and give good tidings to the believers that they will have from Allah great bounty." (Al-Ahzab: 47).

In return, the believers show gratitude to Allah the Almighty for His favours, thank Him for His giving, and do all that which He has ordered them to do, seeking to draw closer to Him and attain His satisfaction. The Most Exalted says, "and they pursued the pleasure of Allah, and Allah is the possessor of great bounty." (Al Imran: 174). In response, Allah the Most Generous bestows his favours and show mercy upon them in abundance, imparting thereby delight and pleasure to their hearts. The Almighty says, "say, 'In the bounty of Allah and in His mercy' - in that let them rejoice; it is better than what they accumulate." (Yunus: 58).

Having known this, let us, now, advise each other on the aspects of the bounty of Allah the Almighty. Allah's bounty means His generosity and kindness that He grants to whomever He wills. The Most Exalted says, "and if He intends for you good, then there is no repeller of His bounty. He causes it to reach whom He wills of His servants. And He is the Forgiving, the Merciful." (Yunus: 107).

Amongst the favours of Allah the Almighty is that He rewards His servants in multiples for their good deeds. The Messenger of Allah pbuh said, "Every good deed of the son of Adam will be multiplied manifold. A good deed will be multiplied ten times up to as many as seven hundred times." In addition to that, Allah the Most Merciful increases the doers of good in favour. He says, "and as for those who believed and did righteous deeds, He will give them in full their rewards and grant them extra from His bounty." (An-Nisaa: 173).  

This brings us to a question on how do we attain the bounty of Allah the Almighty? The answer to this question is that the means of winning the satisfaction of Allah are many. One of such means is by obeying Allah the Almighty and following the guidance His Messenger pbuh. These are of the reasons of attaining the great bounty of Allah the Almighty and being admitted to His Paradise in company of the Prophets and the righteous as Allah has promised in His holy Book. The Most Gracious says, "and whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger - those will be with the ones upon whom Allah has bestowed favour of the prophets, the steadfast affirmers of truth, the martyrs and the righteous. And excellent are those as companions. That is the bounty from Allah, and sufficient is Allah as Knower."  (An-Nisaa: 69-70).

One other way of attaining the bounty of Allah the Almighty is by holding firm to His noble Book. Allah, the Exalted is He, accentuates this for He says, "O mankind, there has come to you a conclusive proof from your Lord, and We have sent down to you a clear light. So those who believe in Allah and hold fast to Him - He will admit them to mercy from Himself and bounty and guide them to Himself on a straight path." (An-Nisaa: 174-175). That is to say: believe in Allah the Almighty, hold fast to the holy Quran and follow the example of the Prophet pbuh. 

Furthermore, seeking Allah's forgiveness and turning to Him in repentance are amongst the other causes of being granted the favours of Allah, the Most High. On this account, the Almighty says, "and [saying], 'Seek forgiveness of your Lord and repent to Him, [and] He will let you enjoy a good provision for a specified term and give every doer of favour his favour'." (Hood: 3).  

O Worshipers,

The bounties of Allah the Almighty can also be attained by drawing nearer to our Lord through performing acts of righteousness. The Exalted is He says, "and those who have believed and done righteous deeds will be in lush regions of the gardens [in Paradise] having whatever they will in the presence of their Lord. That is what is the great bounty." (Ash-Shura: 22). In this sense, amongst the good deeds that one can perform is observing prayer at its prescribed time, paying Zakat and remembering Allah often. The Exalted and Sublime says, "[are] men whom neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah and performance of prayer and giving of Zakat. They fear a Day in which the hearts and eyes will [fearfully] turn about. That Allah may reward them [according to] the best of what they did and increase them from His bounty. And Allah gives provision to whom He wills without account." (An-Noor: 37-38).

Reciting the holy Quran is another great act of obedience for which the Muslim gets rewarded in abundance. Allah, the Most Generous, has promised those who recite His holy Book to bestow upon them His favour. The Almighty says, "indeed, those who recite the Book of Allah and establish prayer and spend [in His cause] out of what We have provided them, secretly and publicly, [can] expect a profit that will never perish. That He may give them in full their rewards and increase for them of His bounty. Indeed, He is Forgiving and Appreciative." (Fatir: 29-30).

One other good deed that is conducive to draw the believer closer to their Lord and attain increased bounties is spending in charity for the sake of Allah the Almighty, for He says, "O you who have believed, spend from the good things which you have earned and from that which We have produced for you from the earth." (Al-Baqara: 267). Allah, the Most Beneficent, has ordered the believers to spend and promised them of His forgiveness and increased favours in return. The Almighty says, "while Allah promises you forgiveness from Him and bounty. And Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing." (Al-Baqara: 268).

More to the point, the believers can also achieve the satisfaction of Allah the Almighty and His bounty by working hard to earn living in lawful manner. Allah the Almighty says, "and when the prayer has been concluded, disperse within the land and seek from the bounty of Allah." (Al-Jumaa: 10).

With this in mind, let us pray to Allah the Most Generous to continue blessing us with His favour and admit us to His Paradise.

May Allah guide us all to obey Him and obey His trustworthy Messenger Muhammad and obey those He has commanded us to obey in line with His orders: "O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you." (An-Nisaa: 59).

May Allah direct us all to the blessings of the Glorious Quran and the Sunna of His Messenger pbuh.

I say this and ask Allah for forgiveness for me and you, so invoke Him for forgiveness, for He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful

Reference/Source:  https://www.awqaf.gov.ae/en/