The Hidden Shirk of Claiming Ownership of Blessings
One of humanity’s most common forms of heedlessness is to view the blessings bestowed upon them as a product of their own intellect, labor, or the actions of others. Abdülkadir Geylânî (q.s.) describes this as a great ingratitude and a hidden form of shirk. “Not acknowledging the Owner of the blessings, not transgressing against His right… This is true gratitude.” Claiming ownership of our wealth, health, knowledge, or status by saying, “I earned it,” is forgetting the true Giver (Mun’im) of that blessing. However, everything in the universe reaches a servant at a predetermined time from Allah’s treasury, who is the absolute Sustainer. Forgetting the Owner of the blessing leads to that blessing being taken away from the servant or becoming a means of punishment.
Turning Away From Instruments and Towards the True Giver
In Islamic morality, gratitude is not merely saying “Alhamdulillah” with one’s tongue; it is the heart’s complete certainty that the blessing comes from Allah. If a person believes their sustenance comes from their employer, their healing from a doctor, and their success from their own intelligence, they are stuck on the instruments and have failed to see the true Creator. Geylânî (q.s.) advises, “Even if food comes to you from the world… Do not immediately desire for it to be yours, being consumed by greed. It is the best and most abundant thing coming from Him.” He teaches us to observe the Powerful Hand behind the causes. When someone brings a kindness to us through an instrument, thanking that person is a requirement of the religion; however, it must be known in one’s heart that only Allah prompted that person to do that good deed.
Gratitude Increasing and Protecting Blessings
True gratitude is using what you have in ways that Allah approves. The gratitude of the body is tiring oneself in obedience, the gratitude of wealth is spending it in charity, and the gratitude of knowledge is acting upon it and teaching others. According to the verse, “If you are grateful, I will surely increase [my blessings] for you” (Ibrahim, 7), the servant who appreciates the blessing and spends it on the path of Allah, not in the rebellion of the self, has continuous abundance. With Geylânî’s (q.s.) warning, those who are ungrateful and see the blessing merely as a means of personal pleasure will not only become beggars in the Hereafter but also completely lose peace in this world.