Please fill the blanks…

1. God (Allah) creates LAUGH and….
2. Allah causes DEATH ad gives….
3. Allah creates MALE and …..
4. Allah gives WEALTH and ……

Honestly, most of us will fill the blanks with the following answers:
1. CRY / WEEP
2. LIFE
3. FEMALE
4. POVERTY

Are those answers correct? Most of us will say yes as it's just like a game of logic. However, let’s check them with the Qur’an, which is the manual book for human being. Does God have the same answers?

وَأَنَّهُ هُوَ أَضْحَكَ وَأَبْكَى

"And that it is He who makes [one] laugh and weep." (Quran chapter 53 verse 43).

وَأَنَّهُ هُوَ أَمَاتَ وَأَحْيَا

“And that it is He who causes death and gives life.” (Quran 53:44).

وَأَنَّهُ خَلَقَ الزَّوْجَيْنِ الذَّكَرَ وَالْأُنثَى

“And that He creates the two mates – the male and female.“ (Quran 53:45).

وَأَنَّهُ هُوَ أَغْنَى وَأَقْنَى

“And that it is He who enriches and suffices.” (Quran 53:48).

It turns out that most of us answer the first three correctly and fill the fourth blank wrongly.

God’s answer for number 4 is not poverty but sufficiency. Praise be to God as He only enriches and suffices. He does not create poverty; He does not make people poor. That is not God’s attribute. One of the attributes of God is that God is The Most Merciful, so, it is impossible for God to do any harm to human being.

Actually, it is we, human being, who create poverty. Such condition happens out of many factors such as wars, economic recession & economic injustice due to corrupt economic system and people’s laziness in making effort to get out of poor condition.

But, in reality, poverty often happens because we are not Grateful for what we have. We always want more and more riches. We always want to buy more and more clothes, cars, jewelry, houses, etc. Instead of being grateful for what we have, we often focus on something that we don't have, thus, we end up complaining. Ingratitude leads to never-ending desire to have things more despite the fact that we don’t need them.

On the other hand, people who are grateful to God are always happy as they are contented all the time. They might not be rich in possession but they don’t feel poor at all. In other words, they feel 'rich' inside (their soul).

Being grateful is one of God’s rule that must be obeyed. It is the act of worship and is the proof of our submission to God’s will. God says, “O you who have believed, eat from the good things which We have provided for you and be grateful to Allah if it is [indeed] Him that you worship.” (Quran 2:172)

God doesn’t need to be thanked; God doesn’t need to be praised. Yet, God commands us to be grateful to Him because He knows that being grateful is good for our soul. When we are grateful to God, we feel peace, calm, and happiness. When we are grateful to God, we realize that God has given enough to us. When we are grateful to God, we can't complain. Being grateful brings so much spiritual benefits that money can’t buy.

“And We had certainly given Luqman wisdom [and said], "Be grateful to Allah." And whoever is grateful is grateful for [the benefit of] himself. And whoever denies [His favor] – then indeed, Allah is Free of need and Praiseworthy.” (Quran 31:12)

God does not make people poor. God only gives wealth and suffices. Yet, if we are ungrateful to Him, we will experience ‘poverty’.