Allah says in His Glorious Book: "And We have certainly established you upon the earth and made for you therein ways of living. Little are you grateful." Surah Al-A'raf (7:10)
Allah wants man to keep his life under scrutiny. This includes all the elements of strength and blessings it embraces. He must do this by linking it to Allah. Allah is the ultimate source of strength and blessings. This would make him sense the responsibility he ought to shoulder. This responsibility relates to the positions in which he uses strength or blessings. This is the true concept of practical gratitude. Allah wants man to adopt this in his general movement in life. He must instill it in his character and make it stand out. He can do so by employing all that Allah bestows upon him. He must act according to what Allah allows and forbids. He is not the one in charge of all that. He is not allowed to act according to his whims and desires. If he does, it would be an act of rebellion against Allah. It would be ingratitude towards Him. This cannot be achieved except by being completely aware. One must be aware of the link between human existence and Allah. One must avoid any intellectual and spiritual self-isolation. Such isolation suggests that his self-capabilities are not bestowed by Allah.
Man should always show gratitude to Allah. He said: "And We have certainly established you upon the earth" This refers to the elements of strength He bestowed upon man. It refers to the creatures He made subservient to him. "and made for you therein ways of living." This points to what people eat, drink, wear, and enjoy. All this demands that you show gratitude towards Allah. Thank Him for His graces and obey His commands. But Allah says: "Little are you grateful." This is the natural result for disregarding a responsible life. It is the result for disregarding its linkage to Allah. The issue of gratitude is an issue of awareness, openness, and faith. One must realize that Allah did not create you without any purpose. He did not create life without any purpose. He did not leave man without any order to govern his life. With every creature there exists a purpose. Behind every life there exists a goal. Before every man there exists a responsibility. Strength is responsible for shouldering the burdens of life. Blessings are responsible for developing the potentials of life. This applies to one’s own life and the lives of others. Thus, there should be no room for negativity or selfishness. This drives us to ponder over Allah every time we feel strength. It drives us to ponder when we see a manifestation of blessings. This calls on us to thank Allah for His bestowals. It calls on us to render thankfulness a means for enriching the believer's experience in life.
Perhaps we can inspire from this Ayah what some interpreters have inspired. Sayyed Qotob is one such interpreter. Allah created earth with its diverse potentials. He created man with all his mental and physical capabilities. He created a kind of relation between the two. He made the earth with all its potentials subservient to human ability. He provided man with great physical and mental potentials. Through these, man can unravel its secrets. He can dominate over its positions. He can exploit all the potentials it enjoys. Thus, he would make use of it to enrich his life. He would use his creative mindset to develop the earth. He would turn it into a dynamic productive element. It becomes man’s friend and not foe. This is the concept on which the Islamic theory is based. It is a concept that talks about a complementary relation between man and nature. This is unlike the materialistic western theory. That theory talks about an ongoing clash between the two. In that view, the human who takes hold of nature’s secrets turns into its conqueror. Nature turns into the human’s conqueror as he falls before it.
Islam confirms the theory of the diversity of existence. It does this through its teachings about the Divine enabling of man. It teaches about making other creatures subservient to him. This exists within an overall unity. In this unity, each of them acts in conformity with the laws Allah has set for the entire universe. As for the efforts man has to make, they are a prerequisite. The complications he meets to reach complementarity are a prerequisite. This is by the Divine law. This law rendered effort and sacrifice necessary for man to reach what he wants. Allah does not want anything to simply unravel its secrets. He does not want it to just give out its potentials. He says: "O mankind, indeed you are laboring toward your Lord with [great] labor and will meet it." Surah Al-Inshiqaq (84:6)
[Source: (Interpretations) inspired from the Quran]
Allah says in His Glorious Book: "And We have certainly established you upon the earth and made for you therein ways of living. Little are you grateful." Surah Al-A'raf (7:10)
Allah wants man to keep his life under scrutiny. This includes all the elements of strength and blessings it embraces. He must do this by linking it to Allah. Allah is the ultimate source of strength and blessings. This would make him sense the responsibility he ought to shoulder. This responsibility relates to the positions in which he uses strength or blessings. This is the true concept of practical gratitude. Allah wants man to adopt this in his general movement in life. He must instill it in his character and make it stand out. He can do so by employing all that Allah bestows upon him. He must act according to what Allah allows and forbids. He is not the one in charge of all that. He is not allowed to act according to his whims and desires. If he does, it would be an act of rebellion against Allah. It would be ingratitude towards Him. This cannot be achieved except by being completely aware. One must be aware of the link between human existence and Allah. One must avoid any intellectual and spiritual self-isolation. Such isolation suggests that his self-capabilities are not bestowed by Allah.
Man should always show gratitude to Allah. He said: "And We have certainly established you upon the earth" This refers to the elements of strength He bestowed upon man. It refers to the creatures He made subservient to him. "and made for you therein ways of living." This points to what people eat, drink, wear, and enjoy. All this demands that you show gratitude towards Allah. Thank Him for His graces and obey His commands. But Allah says: "Little are you grateful." This is the natural result for disregarding a responsible life. It is the result for disregarding its linkage to Allah. The issue of gratitude is an issue of awareness, openness, and faith. One must realize that Allah did not create you without any purpose. He did not create life without any purpose. He did not leave man without any order to govern his life. With every creature there exists a purpose. Behind every life there exists a goal. Before every man there exists a responsibility. Strength is responsible for shouldering the burdens of life. Blessings are responsible for developing the potentials of life. This applies to one’s own life and the lives of others. Thus, there should be no room for negativity or selfishness. This drives us to ponder over Allah every time we feel strength. It drives us to ponder when we see a manifestation of blessings. This calls on us to thank Allah for His bestowals. It calls on us to render thankfulness a means for enriching the believer's experience in life.
Perhaps we can inspire from this Ayah what some interpreters have inspired. Sayyed Qotob is one such interpreter. Allah created earth with its diverse potentials. He created man with all his mental and physical capabilities. He created a kind of relation between the two. He made the earth with all its potentials subservient to human ability. He provided man with great physical and mental potentials. Through these, man can unravel its secrets. He can dominate over its positions. He can exploit all the potentials it enjoys. Thus, he would make use of it to enrich his life. He would use his creative mindset to develop the earth. He would turn it into a dynamic productive element. It becomes man’s friend and not foe. This is the concept on which the Islamic theory is based. It is a concept that talks about a complementary relation between man and nature. This is unlike the materialistic western theory. That theory talks about an ongoing clash between the two. In that view, the human who takes hold of nature’s secrets turns into its conqueror. Nature turns into the human’s conqueror as he falls before it.
Islam confirms the theory of the diversity of existence. It does this through its teachings about the Divine enabling of man. It teaches about making other creatures subservient to him. This exists within an overall unity. In this unity, each of them acts in conformity with the laws Allah has set for the entire universe. As for the efforts man has to make, they are a prerequisite. The complications he meets to reach complementarity are a prerequisite. This is by the Divine law. This law rendered effort and sacrifice necessary for man to reach what he wants. Allah does not want anything to simply unravel its secrets. He does not want it to just give out its potentials. He says: "O mankind, indeed you are laboring toward your Lord with [great] labor and will meet it." Surah Al-Inshiqaq (84:6)
[Source: (Interpretations) inspired from the Quran]