Why Should One be Grateful?
Question:
If one does not take life as a blessing of God and he prefers to be not born for fear of the test God has put him in, then how can one be grateful to God?
It is reported from Abu Bakr and Umar and many eminent saints too that they wistfully said that their mothers had not given birth to them so that they might not have to face the great test. When life is not blessing every thing else stands as not blessing, so how and why one should be grateful to God?
Answer:
What you wrote seems to be based on the assumption that the challenges we are facing are not fair and that God is judging us on a basis of whether we have done enough (rather than on the basis of compassion). This assumption is not correct.
Life is blessing because without it we were absolutely nothing. With it, we are having a more than fair chance to bring out our potentials by facing challenges and therefore making ourselves good enough to live for ever close to our Creator in the Heaven. He has said that His attitude towards His creation is the attitude of compassion and forgiving (6:54).
In between being absolutely Nothing and having a more than fair chance to live forever close the to the source of perfection in the Heaven, I definitely and gratefully choose the latter.
As for those companions (not saints) who wished they were not born, this only shows the effect of their extreme piety and fear of the Almighty on their emotions. These statements should be treated as emotional statements rather than factual ones.
You may notice that I used the word Challenge instead of Test. This points to another aspect that you may find interesting. Please refer to the related answers below.
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Related Topics:
- Is God Sadist?
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April 2013
If one does not take life as a blessing of God and he prefers to be not born for fear of the test God has put him in, then how can one be grateful to God?
It is reported from Abu Bakr and Umar and many eminent saints too that they wistfully said that their mothers had not given birth to them so that they might not have to face the great test. When life is not blessing every thing else stands as not blessing, so how and why one should be grateful to God?
Answer:
What you wrote seems to be based on the assumption that the challenges we are facing are not fair and that God is judging us on a basis of whether we have done enough (rather than on the basis of compassion). This assumption is not correct.
Life is blessing because without it we were absolutely nothing. With it, we are having a more than fair chance to bring out our potentials by facing challenges and therefore making ourselves good enough to live for ever close to our Creator in the Heaven. He has said that His attitude towards His creation is the attitude of compassion and forgiving (6:54).
In between being absolutely Nothing and having a more than fair chance to live forever close the to the source of perfection in the Heaven, I definitely and gratefully choose the latter.
As for those companions (not saints) who wished they were not born, this only shows the effect of their extreme piety and fear of the Almighty on their emotions. These statements should be treated as emotional statements rather than factual ones.
You may notice that I used the word Challenge instead of Test. This points to another aspect that you may find interesting. Please refer to the related answers below.
--------------
Related Topics:
- Is God Sadist?
--------------
April 2013