In the name of God the compassionate, ever merciful
Thanking God
There has been an interest from a dear group of people for me to provide them with guidance that I have personally received by having certain experiences from what is known to some as ‘behind the curtain’.
All of these experiences have been very specific, for my personal guidance only. However in some cases these experiences could apply to all believers and it is of those that I will share with you during this holy month.
Ever since I started praying (Namaz/Salat) eventually I started a habit of saying “thank you kind and merciful God for everything”, after each prayer. This went on for many years and God has always been kind to me and answered my prayers.
Not so long ago, just like some other people, I experienced a great calamity in my life. This was a calamity beyond anything I could imagine.
After a short while, one night that I was in agony, I thought that maybe it would be silly to thank God for ‘everything’ all the time, but instead maybe I should thank him only for what I see that he had helped me with.
During the span of the next day I had a ‘special’ experience, a kind and gentle message, which informed me that my decision the night before was in great error!
After that, I apologized to God, the lord of all worlds, for my error and continued the practice of saying “thank you kind and merciful God for everything”, after each prayer.
So what should we thank God for?
Let’s start with one of the greatest of reasons, our creation and sustenance. The holy Quran, explains this best:
Al-Araf, Verse #10:
“It is We Who have placed you with authority on earth, and provided you therein with means for the fulfillment of your life: small are the thanks that ye give!”
There are actually many, many times mentioned in the holy Quran that our God wants us to thank him for ALL the favors he has bestowed on us, and in which most people have failed and are failing to do so.
So what does it mean to thank God? It means to live a pure life, a meek who is grateful of all God’s bounties.
And the holy Quran gives us glad tidings for those who are thankful.
Al-Qamar, Verse #35
“As a Grace from Us: thus do We reward those who give thanks.”
At the end of this blog, I will leave you with two stories.
The story of prophet Ayub (known as Job in the holy Bible) is the most interesting and fitting of the one who is truly thankful of God even under severe adversity.
You can read the story here:
http://www.itsislam.net/articles/prophet_ayub.asp
The other story is that of Omar Mukhtar who was not a prophet but he was a teacher of the holy Quran. Mukhtar was a member of Libyan resistance who was fighting the Italian Fascist occupiers of his nation during 1920s and early 1930s.
You can read his story here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Mukhtar
It is said that when the Italians were about to kill him by hanging, he had said ‘Thank you God for letting me die at the hand of my enemies’.
