God, out of His favors, keeps man away from any form of blasphemy including worshipping the world, worldly positions, indulging in voluptuous life, giving way to one’s wishes, being fond of aggression, and satan worshipping.the text to be followed is selected from “ the land of lovers” by Professor Hossein Ansarian who exemplifies this issue.
All praise is due to Allah who attracted our attentions towards sincerity in our prayers and faith through the verses of the Holy Quran and the knowledge handed down to us from the Great Prophet (s) and the Infallible Ones (s).
فَاعْبُدْ اللَّهَ مُخْلِصًا لَهُ الدِّينَ أَلَا لِلَّهِ الدِّينُ الْخَالِصُ ...
“Therefore serve Allah, being sincere to Him in obedience; Now, surely, sincere obedience is due to Allah alone. 39:2-3”
إِلَّا الَّذِينَ تَابُوا وَأَصْلَحُوا وَاعْتَصَمُوا بِاللَّهِ وَأَخْلَصُوا دِينَهُمْ لِلَّهِ فَأُوْلَئِكَ مَعَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَسَوْفَ يُؤْتِ اللَّهُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا.
“Except those who repent and amend and hold fast to Allah and are sincere in their religion to Allah; these are with the believers and Allah will grant the believers a mighty reward. 4:146”
قُلْ إِنِّي أُمِرْتُ أَنْ أَعْبُدَ اللَّهَ مُخْلِصًا لَهُ الدِّينَ.
“Say: I am commanded that I should serve Allah, being sincere to Him in obedience. 39:11”
قُلْ اللَّهَ أَعْبُدُ مُخْلِصًا لَهُ دِينِي.
“Say: Allah it is Whom I serve, being sincere to Him in my obedience. 39:14”
وَلَنَا أَعْمَالُنَا وَلَكُمْ أَعْمَالُكُمْ وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُخْلِصُونَ.
“And we shall have our deeds and you shall have your deeds, and we are sincere to Him. 2:139”
فَادْعُوا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْكَافِرُونَ.
“Therefore call upon Allah, being sincere to Him in obedience, though the unbelievers are averse. 40:14”
هُوَ الْحَيُّ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ فَادْعُوهُ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ.
“He is the living, there is no god but He, therefore call on Him, being sincere to Him in obedience. All praise is due to Allah, the lord of the worlds. 40:65”
وَمَا أُمِرُوا إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ حُنَفَاءَ وَيُقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَيُؤْتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَذَلِكَ دِينُ الْقَيِّمَةِ.
“And they were not enjoined anything except that they should serve Allah, being sincere to Him in obedience, upright and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, and that is the right religion. 98:5”
في مَواعِظِ النَّبيِّ لابنِ مَسْعُودٍ: يا ابنَ مَسْعُودٍ إذا عَمِلْتَ عَمَلاً فَاعْمَل للِهِ خالِصاً لأنَّهُ لا يَقبلُ مِن عِبادِهِ إلا ما كان خالصاً.
Among the advice given to Ibn Mas’ud by the Great Prophet (s) is the following: “O son of Mas’ud; if you wish to do any deed for Allah, do it clearly and be sincere; no impure action is accepted by Allah( Mostadrak Safinah, Vol 3, P 316.)
قالَ عليٌّD: طوبى لِمَن أخْلَصَ لِلّهِ عَمَلَهُ وحُبَّهُ وبُغْضَهُ وَأخْذَهُ وَتَركَهُ وَكلامَهُ وصَمَّهُ وِفِعْلَهُ وَقَولَهُ.
Imam Ali (s) has stated: How lucky is the person whose action, friendship, enmity, giving and taking, speech and silence and his promise are pure and sincere for God( Mostadrak Safineh Vol 3, P 317.).
قال الصّادِقُD: إنَّ رَبَّكُم لَرَحيمٌ يَشْكُرُ القَليلَ، إنَّ العَبْدَ لَيُصلّي الرَّكْعَتَينِ يُريدُ بِها وَجْهَ اللهِ فَيُدْخِلُهُ اللهُ بِها الجَنَّةَ.
Imam Sadiq (s) has said: your God is kind. He will appreciate even your smallest service towards Him. If a believer performs only two rounds of prayers sincerely, he will be granted the paradise.
عَنِ الرِّضا، عَن أبائِهِ صَلوات اللهِ علَيهم قالَ: قالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ4: ما أخْلَصَ عَبْدٌ لِلّهِ عَزَّوجَلَّ أرْبَعِينَ صَباحاً إلا جَرَت يَنابِيعُ الحِكْمَةِ مِنْ قَلْبِهِ عَلى لِسانِهِ.
The eighth Imam (s) reports from his parents reporting from the Great Prophet (s): “The springs of knowledge will flow from the heart towards the tongue of any believer who keeps clean and sincere for God only for forty days.”( Mostadrak Safineh Vol 3,)
Imam Askari (s) has said: I will severely blame myself for having done nothing for a true and sincere believer if I turn the whole world into Just one loaf and put it in his mouth. And if I deprive an infidel from such loaf and let him suffer great hunger and thirst but at the last moment of his sufferings present him with a sip of water, I will think I have wasted God’s favors and assets.
Keeping man away from polytheism and blasphemy
God, out of His favors, keeps man away from any form of blasphemy including worshipping the world, worldly positions, indulging in voluptuous life, giving way to one’s wishes, being fond of aggression, and satan worshipping.
As soon as the pure and sincere faith dominates one’s life, the foundation of blasphemy and polytheism will be shaken.
In the sacred surah luqman, it is stated that blasphemy is a great injustice and aggression and anybody who is under its domain upto the day of his death shall be deprived of God’s favors. His repentance at the moment of death will not be accepted, however.
Setting up anything with God will make ineffective the good things that one has performed:
وَلَوْ أَشْرَكُوا لَحَبِطَ عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ.
“And if they had set up others with Him, certainly what they did would have become ineffectual for them. 6:88”
وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ حَبَّبَ إِلَيْكُمْ الْإِيمَانَ وَزَيَّنَهُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ وَكَرَّهَ إِلَيْكُمْ الْكُفْرَ وَالْفُسُوقَ وَالْعِصْيَانَ أُوْلَئِكَ هُمْ الرَّاشِدُونَ.
“But Allah has endeared the faith to you and He has made it seemly in your hearts, and He has made hateful to you unbelief and transgression and disobedience; these it is that are the followers of a right way. 49:7”
Endearing the Faith
The appreciation of the beauty and use of anything forces us to love that thing.
The almighty God wishes to show the greatness of faith through mentioning the good aspects of it and the rewards one might get in using it in his life. The following sacred sentence:
وَزَيَّنَهُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ.
shows that the heart is the location for faith.
The sentence:
وَكَرَّهَ إِلَيْكُمْ الْكُفْرَ وَالْفُسُوقَ وَالْعِصْيَانَ.
Opposes unbelief, transgression and disobedience to faith. As we know, one of the ways to define an item is to resort to its opposites. Thus, faith is the opposite of unbelief, transgression and disobedience. In this way we will know the true nature of faith.
Unbelief is to negate the existence of God and the Prophet (s). On the other hand, faith is to believe in God and the Prophet (s). Indulging in transgression is to tear all curtains of piety and to attack the privacy and self-esteem of people. Thus, faith has a heart-felt dimension and will hinder people from inflicting harms over people. Disobedience is the guilt and sin of disregarding divinity. Therefore, faith will stop us from indulging in sins.
Thus, we will appreciate God’s favor for His endearment of faith in the eyes of Moslems. This is because faith is the way to save us from vices and evil-doings; it is the gateway to prosperity and true luck.
Making man abhor unbelief, transgression and disobedience
Hating something occurs when we become aware of its harms, repulsive features and its evils. Through the explanation of the harms of something we may educate people to hate it. The Holy Quran in the sentence:
وَكَرَّهَ إِلَيْكُمْ الْكُفْرَ وَالْفُسُوقَ وَالْعِصْيَانَ.
says that God has made you hate blasphemy and unbelief.
Unbelief is to deny God and His favors. This evil feature is the source of the evil doing.
Disobedience is distinct from transgression in that a transgressor is one who was obedient and then became disobedient. But transgression implies that a person was disobedient from the outset and has never been inclined to obey God.
Each one of the cases of unbelief, transgression and disobedience is against one’s belief. Neither one of these is in harmony with faith. Each one tries to root out one’s faith(The interpretation of the surah Hujurat).
As we see in the above sacred verse of the Holy Quran, God has made the human heart to love the truth and to hate the evil. Polytheism or associating another power with God is worse than unbelief, transgression and disobedience. Holy Quran has warned us against it at different junctures and occasions.
According to the Holy Quran associating another power with God or polytheism is to put another power next to God and to obey it. This sin is extremely hazardous and is unpardonable. To study it in depth, you are advised to refer to Behar.
The Mecca Idolaters, the sun-worshippers, the money mongers, the assistants to Saqifeh and the evil group of Omavids and Abbassids and the servants to Aggressors are all true examples of the polytheists.
حَمداً يُضئ لَنا بِهِ ظُلُماتِ البَرزَخِ، وَيُسَهِّل عَلينا به سبيل المبعث، وَيُشَرِّفُ بِهِ مَنازِلَنا عِنْدَ مواقِفِ الأشهاد، يَومَ تُجْزى كلُّ نَفْسٍ بما كَسَبَت وَهُم لا يُظْلَمُونَ، يَوْمَ لَا يُغْنِي مَوْلًى عَنْ مَوْلًى شَيْئًا وَلَا هُمْ يُنصَرُونَ.
حَمْداً يَرتَفِعُ مِنّا إلى أعلى عِلّيينَ في كتابٍ مَرْقُم، يَشْهَدُهُ المُقَرَّبُونَ، حَمْداً تَقَرُّ بِهِ عُيُوننا إذا بَرِقَت الأبْصارُ، وَتَبيَّضُ به وُجُوهُنا إذا اسوَدَّتِ الأبْشارُ، حَمْداً نُعْتَقُ بِهِ مِنَ أليم نارِ اللهِ إلى كريمِ جِوارِ اللهِ.
Praise is due to Allah, a praise which will illuminate the darkness of the Barrier to us and will facilitate our entry into the Doomsday and will make our houses honorable in front of witnesses. The Doomsday is the time when everybody will get the reward for what he has done and every body will be treated justly. It is a day when favoritism will not work and the disobedient ones will be severely punished.
A praise which will be exultant towards the Heavens is due to Allah. Such a praise wil be recorded in a letter which will be kept by the loved ones by God. Let us send to Allah a praise which will light our eyes when we stare at the world wonders. Let us send to Allah such a praise which will change the color of our face from the blackness of the shame which our sins have inflicted upon us. We need to send to Allah a praise which will free us from the torturing pain surrounding as and will take us next to God’s generosity and favors.
حَمْداً نُزاحِمُ بِهِ مَلائِكَتَهُ المُقَرَّبينَ، وَنُضامُّ بِهِ أنبِياءَهُ المُرْسَلِينَ في دارِ المُقامَةِ الَّتي لا تَزُول وَمَحَلِّ كَرامَتِهِ الَّتي لا تَحُولُ. وَالحَمْدُ لِلّهِ الَّذي اخْتارَ لَنا مَحاسِنَ الخلق، وَأجرى علَينا طَيِّباتِ الرّزق.
We will send God such a praise that could rise so loftily as to be next to the angels. We wish to be able through this praise to come together with God’s Prophets. Our praise is due to Allah Who provided us with the beauties of His creation, Who made us a synopsis of all creation, and Who gave us clean and legal subsistence.
وَجَعَلَ لَنا الفَضِيلةَ بالمَلَكَةِ عَلى جَميعِ الخَلْقِ، فَكُلُّ خَليفَتِهِ مُنْقادَةٌ لَنا بِقُدْرَتِهِ، وَصائِرَةٌ إلى طاعَتِنا بِعِزَّتِهِ. وَالحَمْدُ للهِ الّذي أغْلَقَ عَنّا بابَ الحاجَةِ إلا إلَيهِ، فَكَيفَ نُطيقُ حَمْدَهُ؟ أمْ مَتى نُؤدّي شُكْرَهُ؟! لا مَتى:
All praise is due to Allah Who through His Might and power made us superior to all creatures. Thus, because of Him, all creatures are at our service; praise is due to Allah Who prohibited us to resort to anybody except Him. How could we, feeble and weak servants, appreciate His favors. How could we thank Him? No, we are unable to do so.
وَالحَمدُ للهِ الّذي رَكَّبَ فينا آلاتِ البَسطِ، وَجَعَلَ لَنا أدواتِ القَبضِ، وَمَتَّعَنا بأرواح الحَياةِ، وَأثْبَتَ فينا جَوارِحَ الأعْمالِ، وَغذّانا بِطَيّباتِ الرّزقِ، وَأغنانا بفضلِهِ، وَأقنانا بِمَنّهِ.
ثُمَّ أمَرَنا لِيَخْتَبِرَ طاعَتَنا، وَنَهانا ليَبْتَليَ شُكْرَنا، فَخالَفَنا عَنْ طَريقِ أمْرِهِ، وَرَكِبْنا مُتُونَ زَجْرِهِ، فَلَم يَبْتَدِرْنا بِعُقُوبَتِهِ، وَلَم يُعاجِلنا بِنَقِمَتِهِ، بَل تأنانا بِرَحْمَتِهِ تَكرُماً، وانتَظَرَ مُراجَعَتِنا بِرَأفَتِهِ حِلْماً.
All praise is due to Allah who established in us the apparatus of expansion and contraction (veins, cartilages, bones, nerves, blood, flesh, tongue, larynx, epiglottis, stomach, liver, kidneys, etc.)
All praise is due to Allah Who provided us with the Devine spirit, faith spirit, movement spirit, the lust spirit and the body spirit.
Jaber has recorded a narration from Imam Baqir(s); this narration is recorded in Osul Kafi.
The Divine spirit is for the elites of the religion through which they recognize everything. Through the spirit of faith everybody engages in worshipping Allah. The spirit of movement is for war against the enemy and for obtaining one’s sustenance. The lust spirit is for eating, drinking and enjoying life. And the body spirit is for movement. All these five spirits are for the Prophets and the Infallible Ones (s); four of them are for the eilite and three of them are for the infidels.
Praise is due to Allah Who provided us with organs of different sorts to carry out our taks: He established for us our eyes, ears, tongues, hands, feet, lusts and stomachs to use them in solving our daily problems.
All praise is due to Allah Who provided us with legal and clean subsistence and empowered us by His powers and let us enjoy his favors.
Then through the Prophets, The infallible ones (s), wisdom, human Nature, and conscience He ordered us to obey and worship Him so that He might evaluate our sincerity in our worship. He, as well, prohibited us from performing certain affairs so that He might weigh our piety. This examination is carried out by Him not to solve any ambiguity concerning us, but to open for us the ways of improvement.
Regarding the act of thanking God, Imam Sadiq (s) has said the following:
شُكْرُ النِعمَةِ اجتنابُ المَحارِمِ.
“To Thank God means to avoid carrying out what is forbidden by God.”
Thus, anybody who avoids doing what is forbidden by God has passed the examination of appreciating God’s favors.
Despite all the favors God has bestowed upon us, we outrageously have ignored thanking him. We have been riding the palfrey of disobedience. Although we have committed sins to a large degree, God has not hurried to punish us on the spot; He has been patient; instead He has helped us with even more favors. He has protected us against disasters”
وَالحَمْدُ للهِ الّذي دَلّنا عَلى التَوبَةِ الَّتي لَم نَفِدْها إلا مِن فَضْلِهِ، فَلَو لَم نَعْتَدِد مِنْ فَضْلِهِ إلا بِها لَقَد حَسُنَ بَلاؤُهُ عِنْدَنا، وَجَلَّ إحْسانُهُ إلَينا، وَجَسُمَ فَضْلُهُ عَلَيْنا. فَما هكَذا كانَتْ سُنَّتُهُ فِي التّوبَةِ لِمَنْ كانَ قَبْلَنا، لَقّد وَضَعَ عَنّا مالا طاقَةَ لَنا بِهِ، وَلَم يُكَلِّفْنا إلا وِسْعاً، وَلَم يُجَسِّمنا إلا يُسراً، وَلَم يَدَع لأحَدٍ مِنّا حُجّةً ولا عُذراً، فالهالِكُ مِنّا مَن هَلَكَ عَلَيْهِ، وَالسّعيدُ مِنّا مَنْ رَغِبَ إلَيهِ.
All praise is due to Allah Who taught us the truth behind repentance and Has led us to repent and to ask for His forgiveness. We could not have understood the significance of forgiveness without His guidance.
The method of repentance for the previous nations was harder than the one set for us now. Repentance can be carried out by us much easier now. God did not ask us for anything which is beyond our power. He did not ask us for impossible acts. He did not let any excuse for us. We must obey Him; there is no escape in this affair; however.
An unlucky person among us is the one who disobeys God, and the lucky one is he who carries out God’s commands.
والحمد لله بكل ما حمده به أدنى ملائكته إليه، وأكرم خليفته عليه و أرضى حامديه لديه حمدا يفضل سائر الحمد كفضل ربنا على جميع خلقه.
ثم له الحمد مكان كل نعمة له علينا وعلى جميع عباده الماضيين والباقين، عدد ما أحاط به علمه من جميع الأشياء، ومكان كل واحدة منها عددها أضعافا مضاعفة ابدا سرمدا إلى يوم القيامة. حمداً لا منتهى لحده ولا حساب لعدده ولا مبلغ لغايته ولا انقطاع لأمده.
Praise is due to Allah, a kind of praise which is carried out by God’s closest angels and by His dearest creatures and by His fittest admirers. A kind of praise is due to Allah which is the best kind of praises.
We praise God for every piece of favors which He has bestowed upon us, and upon our ancestors and upon our offspring, a praise as huge as the number of all creatures. May this praise be continued up to the Doomsday.
A praise is due to Allah which is endless, the number of which is infinite, the end of which is beyond us and the time of which is ever-lasting. A continuous and eternal praise for God.”
حمداً يكون وصلة الى طاعته و عفوه، وسببا إلى رضوانه، وذريعة إلى مغفرته، وطريقا إلى جنته، وخفيرا من نقمته، وأمنا من غضبه، وظهيرا على طاعته، وحاجزا عن معصيته، وعونا على تادية حقه ووظائفه. حمداً نسعد به في السعداء من أوليائه، ونصير به في نظم الشهداء بسيوف أعدائه، إنه ولي حميد.
Praise is due to Allah; a praise which causes man to obey Him, to attract His consent and satisfaction; a praise which will pave the way to the paradise for us; a praise which will protect us against God’s rage, which will protect our prayers, which will hinder us from engaging in sins, and which will causes us to carry out our duties towards Allah.
Praise is due to Allah; a praise through which we may be among the lucky ones who have received Allah’s favors; a praise through which we may be considered among the martyrs who lost their lives in war against Allah’s foes. God’s sacred Being is the most honorable attribute ever.
Refrence: The Land Of Lovers by Professor Hossein Ansarian
source : The Land Of Lovers by Professor Hossein Ansarian
