All Blessings are from Allah – وَمَا بِكُم مِّن نِّعْمَةٍ فَمِنَ اللَّهِ
Regardless of how much clamor, confusion, and attempts to distort the truth surround you, if Iman (faith) remains firmly established in your heart, then know that it is the greatest favor that Allah has bestowed upon you. For not everyone who hears the truth remains steadfast upon it, nor does everyone who knows the straight path continue to travel upon it. That is why the scholars have said:
‘Steadfastness upon the straight path is the greatest karāmah (divine grace).’
People may look at you and think you are exceptional. They may assume that the heights you have reached and the success you have achieved are merely the result of your knowledge or the outcome of your own efforts.
But the greatest danger that can spoil Allah’s grace is to consider that grace as our own entitlement.
For a true believer knows well: behind every successful step they take, there is Allah’s unseen grace and care.
وَمَا بِكُم مِّن نِّعْمَةٍ فَمِنَ اللَّهِ – “And whatever blessings you have are from Allah.” (Qur’an 16:53)
The Best Sustenance
The best sustenance is that which is protected from five evils:
- Not committing sin in earning it.
- Not humiliating oneself by begging from others.
- Not cheating in one’s profession or trade.
- Not turning sustenance into a means of committing sins.
- Not associating with or supporting wrongdoers.
(From Hilyat al-Awliyā)
We Must Examine the Factors Behind Fallen Societies
“In medical colleges, we examine the bodies of the deceased to learn what caused their death. That knowledge is of great benefit in treating the living. Similarly, we must examine societies that have failed and collapsed—to diagnose their internal diseases and weaknesses. If we understand those faults and the causes of their illness, we can free ourselves from them and avoid them. But societies that do not wish to examine their diseases or distance themselves from them, even as their conditions worsen day by day, will eventually continue to live with those very diseases and perish because of them.”
(Sheikh Muhammad al-Ghazali)
Sadqah
The Prophet ﷺ said: “If someone gives in charity something equal to a date from honestly earned money, Allah takes it in His right (Hand) and then brings it up for its owner until it becomes like a mountain.”
