5 Great Blessing Muslims Fail to Explore

Indeed Allah conferred a great favor on the believers when He sent among them a Messenger (Muhammad SAW) from among themselves, reciting unto them His Verses (the Quran), and purifying them (from sins by their following him), and instructing them (in) the Book (the Quran) and Al-Hikmah (the wisdom and the Sunnah of the Prophet SAW (i.e. his legal ways, statements, actsof worship, etc.)), while before that they had been in manifest error. — Qur’an 3[Al-Imran]:164

At the inception of Islam, there exist the early set of Muslims who embraced faith in totality. The likes of Khadijah and Abubakr were amongst this group. We also saw a party which didn’t doubt the sacrosanctness of Muhammad but needed divine guidance to believe with him. This was from the group which Umar and Khalid belonged. Then there was this group with similitude to the children of Israel who lived with Musa. They claimed to believe but still had doubts in their hearts. In their minds, accepting Islam was considered a favor to the Messenger. Until Allah rebuked them with an admonition by revealing the following verse:

Say(O Muhammad to mankind!): “Will you inform Allah about your religion? While Allah knows all that is in the heaven and all that is in the earth, and Allah is All-Aware of everything. They regard as favor upon you (O Muhammad SAW) that they have embraced Islam. Say: “Count not your Islam as a favor upon me. Nay, but Allah has conferred a favor upon you, that He has guided you to the Faith, if you indeed are true. Verily, Allah knows the unseen of the heavens and the earth. And Allah is the All-Seer of what you do. — Qur’an 49[Al-Hujurat]:16–18

Today, there are still Muslims of this category. The ones who feel when they observe salat they are doing Allah a favor. The fact remains that our deeds are for our own soul, not for anyone. It’s sad that Muslims of modern days do not regard Islam as a favor from Allah — they sometimes think it’s their birth right. Here are a few blessings which we are honored with yet take for granted…

1. Guidance to the fitrah: Many of us were born Muslims, so we don’t know what this means. To understand the gravity of this blessing, ask a revert who just accepted Islam. You would be marveled by the response from a seeker of truth who had disbelieved out of ignorance before finding guidance. I once heard the story of a Pastor who had embraced Islam. After a while, he was found weeping profusely. When asked what made him shed tears, he said: “I had been in Christianity for over forty years. I was not only practicing but also propagating this faith. How do I account for all these wasted time on misguidance?”

The point here is not to look down upon the non-Muslim as misguided. It is to give thanks for your guidance as nothing guarantees you of ending your life on this path. That’s one reason why we repeatedly recite the prayer on a daily basis: “Guide us onto the straight path!”. The veracity of this is established to a point that even the Jews were envious of a verse in the Qur’an revealed in support of this. Such a beautiful illustration can never be found in any other scripture save the last revelation.

This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion. — Qur’an 5[Al-Maida’]:3

It’s time Muslims of this day and time see Islam as a great blessing and live by it.

2. Enriched heritage: The Islamic heritage is one I’m sorry to say is almost found in the trash can. If you ask an average young Muslim who were the ten blessed companions given the glad tidings of paradise in this world, they’d struggle to name them. And if you ask the same youth of the starting lineup of his favorite team, he’d not miss-out on even the reserves. We have a very beautiful heritage left by the earlier Muslims but today’s Muslims are lax with a misplaced priority.

The stories from Constantinople were soul inspiring. Muslims contributed to the development of science, medicine and other disciplines. They ruled over Mesopotamia spreading justice and fairness even amidst the non-Muslims. The Muslims of this day are not even aware of these heritage. We lost touch with our history and sometimes have even been deprived of it.

3. The Love for the Messenger: Many Muslims claim to love the prophet, yet they work in contradiction to his teachings. You can’t love Allah and His messenger without following the footpath they laid. Where lies the sunnah in our hearts? How often do we try to revive the forgotten practice? Islam isn’t based upon mere suggestion, innovation or thoughtful desires. We follow the teachings of the Qur’an and sunnah based upon understandings of our righteous predecessors. Many Muslims today claim to love the prophet with their tongue, yet the limbs does not profess it. You can’t love the prophet by only celebrating his birthday annually. It is by living in line with what he has enjoined day-in, day-out.

It’s quite pathetic that Muslims of this day even mock other Muslims for emulating the sunnah. And in this sunnah is life for those who truly believe. Until we return to our basis, our state may not improve.

Say (O Muhammad SAW to mankind): “If you (really) love Allah then follow me (i.e. accept Islamic Monotheism, follow the Quran and the Sunnah), Allah will love you and forgive you of your sins. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” — Qur’an 3[Al-Imran]:31

4. The brotherhood: The bond of brotherhood is lost amidst the Muslims of modern day. The unity of Islam was sacred to a point that people gave up their wealth and belongings for their brothers in need — even at the point of death. The prophet stressed this with an analogy of Muslims being a single body. Through this, strength was realized for the earlier Muslims and an army of three hundred conquered a thousand soldiers by the will of Allah. Today’s Muslims are more divided by ethnocentric lines. We are defined by the colors of our skin and the imaginary border lines. If we truly harness this brotherhood established by Allah, we shall be an unstoppable force to reckon with.

And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah (i.e. this Quran), and be not divided among yourselves, and remember Allahs Favour on you, for you were enemies one to another but He joined your hearts together, so that, by His Grace, you became brethren (in Islamic Faith), and you were on the brink of a pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus Allah makes His Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.,) clear to you, that you may be guided. — Qur’an 3[Al-Imran]:103

5. The Qur’an: The final revelation from God is a multi-faceted book. A healing and guide that serves as criterion between darkness and light. The Qur’an gives explicit narratives of events of old, the present and the future. It is indeed a guide onto those who believe. Every do’s and don’ts of the Qur’an are actually injunctions for the preservation of the human well-being. Yet of knowledge, little does man know.

For instance when Allah enjoined you not to consume alcohol, it is to preserve your intellectual capacity. If He says don’t go near zina, it’s to accurately guide your progeny. And when He allowed business and forbade usury; it was to preserve your wealth. Only recently will you find Muslims taking pride in scientific discoveries which Islam has confirmed 1400 years ago when science and technology wasn’t in an advanced stage. It’s great to know how the Qur’an spells clear grey areas in embryology, oceanography and cosmology. None besides the Creator of the universe can give accurate details on this.

This is a Book (the Quran) which We have sent down to you, full of blessings that they may ponder over its Verses, and that men of understanding may remember. — Qur’an 28[As-Sad]:29

How then do we rectify this?

1. Expressing gratitude in all situations: Gratitude comes in three forms — recognizing Allah’s favor at heart, thankfully pronouncing with the tongue and using the physical faculties in servitude to Allah. This we must profess as much as we can.
2. Striving to be better Muslims: We must endeavor to become better than we are. The status quo is insufficient. If you’re a Muslim, step-up your game to become a Mu’meen. Once you’ve attained Mu’meen, then your goal should be to aspire to die as a Muhsin.
3. The sunnah, the better: The sunnah of the prophet is that which gives us life. There are several instances of this practice that leads to healthy living, protection and reward. This we should be proud of and highly embrace. Let’s endeavor to revive a forgotten sunnah today.
4. Returning to the basis: The basis of Islam is the Qur’an and sunnah. We should love the Qur’an, read it, memorize and strive to implement. Honor the Qur’an by keeping to its injunctions and staying away from it’s forbidden. It’s also our collective responsibility as Muslims to call to that which is good and to forbid evil.
5. Love for one another: To love your brother is part of faith. The prophet stressed this that you will not believe until you love each other. We need to revive this spirit of brotherhood and the first step to accomplish this is by spreading salaam!

And He gave you of all that you asked for, and if you count the Blessings of Allah, never will you be able to count them. Verily! Man is indeed an extreme wrong-doer, — a disbeliever (an extreme ingrate, denies Allah’s Blessings by disbelief, and by worshiping others besides Allah, and by disobeying Allah and His Prophet Muhammad SAW). — Qur’an 14[Ibrahim]:34

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