Allah The Exalted — Page 60
prostrations of Moses [peace be on him] though time after time God announced that He would destroy Israel. All this shows that prayer is not in vain, nor is it a type of worship which does not procure any grace. This is the thinking of those who do not estimate God Almighty as He should be estimated, and who do not reflect deeply on God's words nor do they observe the law of nature. The truth is that grace does certainly descend in response to supplication and bestows salvation upon us. It is the grace of Ra hi miyyat through which man makes progress. Through this grace, man arrives at the stage of Vil a yat , and believes in God Almighty as if he was beholding Him. Intercession also depends upon the attribute of Ra hi miy- yat. It is Ra hi miyyat of God Almighty that demands that good people should intercede for bad people. The fourth beneficence of God Almighty, which might be named most special grace, is M a likiyyat of the Day of Judgement, by virtue of which He has been named M a lik- i-Yaum-id - D i n in S u rah F a ti h ah. The difference between this attribute and Ra hi miyyat is that through prayer and worship Ra hi miyyat operates to establish a person's wor- thiness and through M a likiyyat the reward is awarded. Through the operation of Ra hi miyyat, a person deserves success in an affair like a student's passing an examina- tion, but to be awarded the rank or other object for which the examination was undertaken and passed is by virtue of the attribute of M a likiyyat. These two attributes indi- cate that the beneficence of Ra hi miyyat is achieved through God's mercy and the favour of M a likiyyat is achieved through the grace of Almighty God. M a likiyyat would manifest itself on a vast and perfect scale in the hereafter, but in accordance with the measure of this 60