| Message | SECOND POINT We do not tell you not to love the things you enumerated, but rather to love them for God Al- mighty's sake and in the name of His love. For example, to love delicious foods and luscious fruits as being the bounty of God Almighty, the All- Merciful and Compassionate One, is to love His Names of All-Merciful and Bestower of Bounties, and, moreover, takes on the meaning of thanks. This love is to seek gain contentedly within the sphere of the licit, which shows that it is not only for the sake of the instinctual soul but is in the name of the All-Merciful One. It is to eat thoughtfully and with gratitude.
Furthermore, love and respect for parents, when for the sake of the wisdom and mercy that compassionately fitted you out and caused them to bring you up with tender care, pertain to God Almighty's love. The sign that this love, respect and compassion are for God's sake is that when they are old and are of no more use to you and bring you only trouble and difficulty, you are even more loving, kind and compassionate towards them. The verse,
'Should one of them, or both, attain to old age in your care, never say to them a word of contempt,*
summons children to respect and be kind to their parents in five degrees, and demonstrates how important are the rights of parents in the eyes of the Qur'an, and how ugly ingratitude towards them. |