Azam Ali, an Ahmadi Moslem
Chapter 07 – Grateful
Father’s personal acts to see and advices for future were in plenty with long-reaching effects. He frequently taught: “Look at those with lesser fortunes than you and be grateful that God blessed you with more than them; Look at those with better fortunes than you and be content that God burdened you with lesser than them.” These simple words generate tremendous gratitude. When I look at my life I see the enormous wisdom he shared with us.
For example he continually reminded us “La-in-sha-kur-toom-la-azee-dun-na-koom Wa-la-in-ka-fur-toom-in-na-azaa-bee-la-sha-deed” (Soorah Ibraaheem, Chapter14, Verse 8 = If you are grateful, I surely will give you more. And if you are ungrateful, them My punishment is severe – 014:008)
He paraphrased it for us. The best way to thank God (Shook-raan-e-Nae-mut) is to use properly the powers, potential and prowess He has given to everyone so uniquely. The worst way to anger God (Koof-raan-e-Nae-mut) is to misuse God Given Gifts and abuse them badly.
After my immigration to USA and experience of my 4 children’s schooling — of one from his pre-school age and all the way to their post-graduate levels — the full impact of Father’s advice repeatedly given since my childhood dawned on me, brilliantly. American education system aims at developing among its students a thorough awareness about themselves. It exploits to the maximum the talents each student has including the top quality self-respect, self-esteem and self-reliance which essentially arises from being grateful to and making good use of whatever God has given to each and every one of us.
Grantor of Recognition and Reward
In 1995 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania I heard of an incident of over sixty years earlier. It shows how my father made constructive suggestions, provided generous incentives, and admired achievements. Maulana Mohammed Ajmal Shahid told me how my father genuinely appreciated and appropriately rewarded admirable achievements of others’ success in assigned tasks. Maulana was about 7 years old kid when my father and his father frequently met as friends. My father assigned to him, 7, and his brother older by a couple of years the task of memorizing a poem of the Promised Messiah (peace upon him) within next few days, fixed a reward and promised to test them when the period was over.
My father tested the boys after the given period was over. The older boy successfully recited the poem and got the promised reward. He the younger boy had not memorized the poem, missed the reward but still remembers the consolation prize my Father gave him on noticing a disappointment in his face. At that time my father was the District and Session Judge in Dera Ghazi Khan and the father of two boys Chaudhry Sirbuland Khan (Sahabl) was working in the Canal Department and was the President of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat there.
Some modern psychologist may criticize such practice but proof lies in the pudding. The boy had learnt that (i) success comes to those who work towards their goals with good speed and reach them on time, (ii) reward and recognition comes to those who successfully reach all objectives on the way to their goal within the allocated time, and (iii) failure to reach one’s goal brings no success, no reward and no recognition.
The boy at the impressionable age of 7 over one-half of a century was exposed to an important lesson of life that impacted his young mind strongly enough to remain fresh for all those years. That boy grew up to be a great religious scholar of our times and recognized the world over for his spirituality and knowledge of the Holy Qor-aan, Hadeeth and Ahmadiyya literature.
