INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY
Opportunities for Gratitude
SOCIETY is a collection of individuals. Every individual constantly gives something to the society and also receives something from it. By adopting this principle, an individual can live with peace of mind and there can also be harmony in society.
There are certain healthy principles for social living. One principle is that the individual should have trust in himself and not ask for anything from anyone. But an equally healthy principle is that if someone offers help without being asked, then one should accept it and not turn it down. This develops bonding and a healthy psychology among the members of society.
A person demanding of others or desiring something be given to him, leads to an unhealthy psychology in the person. It means that he expects from other than God, when the right thing is for everyone to adopt the principle of ‘In God we trust’.
Another healthy principle is that if someone gives a person something without his asking for it, then he should not refuse it. Because if he refuses it, he will develop the psychology of arrogance, which is greater than every other evil.
A person demanding of others or desiring something be given
to him, leads to an unhealthy psychology in the person.
Therefore, the healthy attitude is not to ask anything from anyone, but if someone gives, then one should not refuse it.
Often, it happens that a person gets something as a result of circumstances but he ignores it, thinking it to be unwanted, and keeps praying to God to help him. This is a wrong thing to do. The right way is that a person should accept the opportunity he gets as coming from God. In this way, he will develop the attitude which has been stated thus in the Quran:
Remember also the time when your Lord declared, “If you are grateful, I will surely bestow more favours on you; […] (14: 7)
A person praying, ‘O God, give me sunshine’, even as the sun shines, goes against the law of nature. If you pray, ‘O God, give me oxygen’, when there is fresh air all around you, it is an unnatural demand. Such occasions are for expressing thankfulness, rather than praying for favours.
Similarly, the opportunities in life that come your way are from God. A person should be so prepared that he is able to recognise an opportunity when it appears. Such a moment is a moment for being thankful to God. Instead of recognising and utilising it, if he prays for an opportunity, he is going against the law of nature
The healthy attitude is not to ask anything from anyone, but if
someone gives, then one should not refuse it.
Opportunity always comes undeclared; a person has to recognise them on his own. If a God-sent opportunity comes to a person but, instead of recognising it, he keeps praying for something else, such a person will be regarded as blind by God. Angels will note that when he had to offer thanks to God for what He had given him, he kept praying to God for something else.
