Preserving the Covenant, Safeguarding the Blessing

It is in the nature of the human being to be forgetful and ungrateful, particularly in the absence of guidance. Such a nature is described in the following Ayah: “When one is touched with hardship, they cry out to their Lord, turning to Him ˹alone˺. But as soon as He showers them with blessings from Him, they ˹totally˺ forget the One they had cried to earlier, and set up equals to Allah to mislead ˹others˺ from His Way. Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ ‘Enjoy your disbelief for a little while! You will certainly be one of the inmates of the Fire.’” (39:8)

Forgetfulness and disobedience are both deeply rooted in human nature. Allah has granted them everything they have asked of Him, yet they respond to His giving with injustice and ingratitude. Allah, the Exalted, says: “And He has granted you all that you asked Him for. If you tried to count Allah’s blessings, you would never be able to number them. Indeed humankind is truly unfair, ˹totally˺ ungrateful.” (14:34)

They are profoundly unjust because they forget Allah’s favors and use His gifts in ways that do not please Him. Thus, they derive from the blessing nothing but the loss of its blessing and the wronging of their own souls. And they are deeply ungrateful because they do not remember the favors; and when they do not remember them, they do not fulfill their due. The due of every blessing is gratitude to Allah, the Exalted. Thus, they are unjust and ungrateful.

This condition encompasses both the believer and the non-believer, although they differ in their degrees of injustice and ingratitude. Regardless of one’s affiliation, however, being granted Allah’s favor and then forgetting it is itself a trial, as Allah, the Exalted, says: “Then when We shower Our blessings upon them, they say, ‘I have been granted all this only because of ˹my˺ knowledge.’ Not at all! It is ˹no more than˺ a test. But most of them do not know.” (39:49)

This trial can be understood as follows: when a person is afflicted by harm, distress, or anxiety, they hasten to supplicate Allah. But when the blessing is granted and the hardship is removed, doubt begins to enter their mind: Was what happened truly from Allah, or was it merely the result of ordinary causes and circumstances?

The overwhelming prominence of material causes in a person’s perception can lead them to overlook Allah’s intervention in removing harm, distress, or anxiety—particularly when they live in a materialistic environment. Thus, when a sick person is healed, Satan confuses the matter for them: Was the healing the result of the medicine, or was it the result of their supplication? They forget that the medicine itself is merely a means through which Allah has placed the capacity to remove harm.

This, then, is a trial—a trial connected to one’s covenant with Allah, the Exalted. Allah says concerning Adam: “And We had already taken a promise from Adam before, but he forgot; and We found not in him determination.” (20:115)

To be heedless of the Bestower who granted the blessing of removing harm, distress, and anxiety is to be heedless of fulfilling the right of that blessing. It is also to be heedless of directing that blessing toward what honors and ennobles the soul. Such heedlessness undermines one’s resolve, for forgetting the blessing and the One who bestowed it undermines the very foundation upon which resolve is built. When one becomes heedless of a blessing, the blessing is, in the first place, no longer present in their remembrance. Consequently, they have no intention of fulfilling its due. And when that intention is absent, true resolve to fulfill that obligation can never be formed. Thus, the undoing of resolve—or, rather, its absence—and reliance upon oneself after self-admiration, as Allah, the Exalted, says in the aforementioned verse: “He said, ‘I was only given it because of knowledge I possess’” (39:49), gradually result in the bond of the covenant and obedience being loosened.

For the servant to remedy this state and not persist in injustice and ingratitude, they must understand the covenant by understanding the matters that help them remember Allah’s favor, fulfill its due right, and prevent the soul from falling into injustice and ingratitude.

First: Awareness of Divine Decree

This awareness requires an understanding of the Divine Will and of the test of free choice—a test in which those who failed to grasp their role in fulfilling the trust have fallen short. As Allah, Most High, says: “Indeed, We offered the Trust to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, but they declined to bear it and feared it; yet man undertook it. Indeed, he has been ever unjust and ignorant.” (33:72)

Everything that befalls the servant is first known to Allah and has been written from pre-eternity. Yet the servant’s choices, made within the framework of the Divine Will, are the means through which Allah’s decree unfolds. When that decree comes to pass, its creation belongs to Allah alone. Awareness of this process keeps the servant from overlooking Allah’s bounty when it comes or failing to recognize His blessing when it is bestowed. It enables the servant to perceive Allah’s hand in all that occurs and in every experience he encounters. This is the meaning of “There is no power and no strength except through Allah.”

Such awareness keeps the servant close to Allah. Whenever one strays from the path, they hasten to return to Him in repentance. In this way, the servant comes to know their Lord through the traces of His favor, mercy, gentleness, and all His other blessings.

Second: The Intrinsic Guiding Principle in Human Life within the Framework of the Divine Will

The guiding principle inherent in human life—and that which gives meaning to its changing circumstances—is the process of testing and refinement. This divinely ordained process unfolds according to the way Allah, Exalted is He, has established: His will to guide. Allah, Exalted is He, says: “And so that through this, Allah tests what is within you and purifies what is in your hearts. And Allah knows best what is ˹hidden˺ in the heart.” (3:154). The servant thus learns to understand life’s events through the lens of this divinely ordained process of testing, purification, and refinement. It gives meaning to the journey of life, for life is fundamentally a trial. As Allah, Exalted is He, says: “He is the One Who created death and life in order to test which of you is best in deeds. And He is the Almighty, the Most Forgiving.” (67:2). Whoever becomes heedless of this process of purification also becomes heedless of the covenant and of Allah’s blessings. Such a person becomes captive to the deeply rooted human tendencies toward wrongdoing, ingratitude, and ignorance.

To preserve the covenant, safeguard the blessing of Allah’s favor, and avoid being deprived of His gifts, guidance, mercy, and gentleness, the servant must not forget the Bestower—Allah—when they are granted a blessing.

First, the servant must understand what takes place within the Divine Decree. They must recognize that their choices are the means through which events come to be, while creation itself occurs at the moment of the act or event. When the servant understands this, they recognize that whatever befalls them unfolds within the sphere of their choices and in accordance with the divine laws and patterns encompassed by the Divine Will. They then become attentive to the good that reaches them and understand how the evil that befalls them comes about. As Allah says: “Whatever good befalls you is from Allah, and whatever evil befalls you is from yourself.” (4:79)

Second: Connecting Reliance upon Allah with Gratitude

Allah, the Exalted, says: “Take none other than Me as your Wakil (Protector, Lord, or Disposer of your affairs). O descendants of those We carried with Noah. Indeed, he was a grateful servant.” (17:2–3). From this verse, one can discern the close connection between reliance upon Allah and gratitude. Allah says, “Take none other than Me as your Wakil,” signifying reliance upon Him, and then describes Noah, peace be upon him, as “a grateful servant.” This highlights the intrinsic connection between Tawakkul and gratitude in the servant’s actions. The servant should therefore make Tawakkul—reliance upon Allah—a comprehensive foundation accompanying all their actions. Once they have resolved upon a course of action, they place their reliance upon Allah, as Allah says: “Once you have made a decision, then put your trust in Allah. Surely Allah loves those who trust in Him.” (3:159)

Then, when they witness the fruits of their efforts, they follow them with gratitude, leaving no room for Satan to mislead them or cause them to overlook the good that Allah has granted them—whether healing, wealth, mercy, or any other blessing. Nor do they regard the arrival of the blessing as merely a matter of habit or something to be taken for granted. Rather, they recognize that it comes from Allah. They therefore express their gratitude as an act of worship, seeking through it to preserve the blessing and increase it, as Allah says: “If you are grateful, I will surely increase you.” (14:7)

Thus, they become reliant upon Allah and grateful to Him, preserving the covenant and protecting themselves from falling into injustice and ingratitude.