Islam is the greatest boon of the world

The greatest rewards bestowed by Allah on his creations is that of Islam and Iman, which is commonly referred to as ‘Guidance’, to which all others of the world stand inferior and insignificant. This is the wealth bestowed by Allah on those he pleases. Receiving this wealth of Allah certainly indicates that Allah has special love for him. Allah does not get influenced by lineage and nobility; family prestige, any honour or exaltation in the society, academic wisdom, financial status and other such criteria in bestowing this supreme wealth. At times, even the children, parents or closest relatives of Allah’s most beloved creations – the prophets and messengers, have been denied it, although the messengers and prophets keep praying for them before Allah. Allah, the Almighty addresses Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in the Quran and says’ “O Muhammad (SAW), you cannot impart Guidance to anyone you desire to; in fact, it is the sole prerogative of Allah to bestow Guidance upon those whom He intends to.”

By this, Allah merely wants to emphasize that it is He who decides whom to reward with this wealth and whom to deny. To this end, Allah even, often, rejects the plea of his beloved creations and prophets. To cite some examples, Hazrat Nooh’s son, Hazrat Ibrahim’s father and Hazrat Lut’s wife had been denied this blessing. Even Prophet Muhammad (SAW) own uncle, Hazrat Abu Taalib, who had nurtured the Prophet since childhood and had treated him as his own child, could not have access to it. On the contrary, the strongest enemies of Islam in those days of the likes of Hazrat Umar, Ikramah, the son of Abu Jahl as well as the wife of Pharoah, the extremely tyrant ruler of Egypt, were bestowed with the exquisite guidance.

Such is the charisma associated with this reward that a feeble person who dies of hunger and thirst in the state of Iman is more beloved to Allah than a ruler or emperor who reigns over the whole world and possesses uncountable wealth, yet goes from this world without Islam and Iman.

Even if man understands this reality and bows his head before Allah as a mark of gratitude for all his life on account of this reward, he shall still he unable to thank Allah completely. The benefit of being grateful towards Allah continuously is that Allah lets him keep the wealth of Islam for all his life, otherwise it would also be snatched away by Allah for some misdeed or sin. That is why, Allah familiarized the Muslims with this Dua: “Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate” (from the truth) after you have guided us.” (3:8)
It is not necessary that the guidance bestowed on a person shall remain with him till his death. The Messengers of Allah, too, were scared that their Muslim children and their generations, may be deprived of the Divine Guidance, by Allah. As a result, at the time of his death, Hazrat Yaqub advised his children: “My sons! All of you stay firm on Islam and die on Islam”, although not only was he a Messenger, his father and grandfather also were Messengers of Allah. His children were also in the company of Messengers and well trained. When this is the state of the children of a Messenger, we can definitely imagine, how much do we have to be concerned about it and keep on praying Allah for sustaining it.