Malfuzat – Volume I — Page 205
Malfuzat - Volume I 205 account of the graciousness of God—and not due to any prayer or request of our own-that God made us humans and blessed us with a multiplicity of faculties and bounties. When these blessings were granted to us, we had not prayed for them; it was only since God had conferred His grace upon us that we received these favours. This is why servitude to God takes precedence. Graciousness and Mercy I would like to state once again—and this point is worthy of note—that divine favour is of two kinds. Firstly, there is graciousness (rahmaniyyat) and the second kind is known as mercy (rahimiyyat). The grace of rahmaniyyat is that which was in operation even before we ever existed or came into being. For example, even before we existed, Allah the Exalted created the heaven and earth, the sun and moon, as well as other earthly and heavenly creations, all of which exist to serve us, and from which we derive benefit. The animals also derive benefit from them, but when even they too have been created for the benefit of mankind, and come to their use, it can be said in general that man is the one who truly benefits from these creations. Observe how humans eat the highest quality food for physical nourishment; the highest quality meats are for man, while scraps and bones are for dogs. Although animals partake in physical benefits, they do not partake of spiritual pleasures. Hence, these are the two kinds of divine favour; the first kind is granted even before we have come into being; and the second kind is a dem- onstration of the grandeur of rahimiyyat, which is manifested after prayer and which requires action. The Mutual Relationship between Prayer and the Law of Nature It seems appropriate at this instance to elaborate that prayer has always had a connection with the law of nature. The entire toil and labour of the naturalists of this day and age, who are utterly uninformed and ignorant of the true sciences, is to imitate the social norms of Europe. They consider prayer to be a self-invented belief; therefore, it seems appropriate to explain in some detail the concept of prayer. Now observe that when a child becomes restless and uneasy on account of hun- ger and weeps for milk, a mother's breast begins to surge with milk even though