I borrowed my headline from a surah in the Holy Qur’an— Suratul Rahman. Ar-Rahman in English means “The Beneficent”, and is known for its repetition of the phrase “Then which of your Lord’s favours will you both deny?”, Surah Ar-Rahman, with 78 ayats (verses), is the 55th chapter (surah) in the Qur’an.
Surah Ar-Rahman, a Makkiya (revealed in Makkah), was unveiled in the early stages of the Prophet Muhammad’s (SAW) prophethood. This revelation underscores Allah’s mercy, numerous blessings, and gifts upon humanity, fostering gratitude and recognition of His power. The recurring question, “Which of the favours of your Lord will you deny?”, is a powerful reminder of the necessity to be grateful for every single blessing, big or small, that He has bestowed upon us.
Allah’s favours to us are undeniable as they are uncountable. Our existence alone is an attestation to that. Going back to the moment you were conceived, with His aid, you (as a gamete) outswam over 200 million of your contemporaries in the race for life to penetrate your mother’s egg and form a zygote. Which of His favours, then, can you deny?
Apart from the millions of your mates that died the second you entered the protective comfort of your mother’s egg, your contemporaries around the world have been dying every second of your life. Many were born with one impairment or another. Some acquired theirs in the course of their lives. Some are battling debilitating illnesses, while others are seeking what to put in their mouths. Have some of you not sired children and seen their grandchildren? Then, please, which of His favours will you deny?
Do you think He gave you the ability to talk, walk, eat, and sleep and denied these to others because you are better, or holier, than they are? Do you delude yourself that He gave you strength—physical and financial—because you were you and denied the next person because he was he? He gave you power because He wants you to fulfil His will, not because you are the only one who can. So, are there any of His favours that you deny?
That you breathe, think, learn, and understand that you are alive and in the world is enough favour; likewise, in having understanding, knowing and believing that a superior being creates the worlds and all in between.
Please take a look at your creation. When you look at the complexities of the human anatomy and physiognomy, the balance of all that makes the human body, you cannot deny God’s favours unto you. Look at the relationship between the inhabitants of the world and the galaxy, and you know a Master Craftsman has been at work since time immemorial and will continue unto infinity.
Have you ever pondered how and why the night dovetails into the day and the day fades into the night consistently at appointed times without fail? You came into the world and met this order, and you will leave this order when you bow out. He made your body attuned to these natural occurrences, making you rest when it is dark and emerge refreshed at daylight. Think about the food on your table, the roof over your head, the health that allows you to carry out your daily activities. These are all His favours that we often overlook in our busy lives. And so, is there any of His favours that you deny?
All those in heaven and on earth are dependent on Him. He gives, and He takes; He makes, and unmakes. If He says “Yes”, who is there to say “No”? His favours are unquestionable, they are undeniable. Day in and day out, He has something to bring about. Then, which of your Lord’s favours will you deny?
The average human does not look at their past when gauging their presence. If they did, every man would always find cause to confess God’s favours in their lives. Our condition yesterday was never the same as today’s. When you live in the present alone, you may not see it. But when we look at where we are coming from, we cannot deny His undeniable favours upon us.
Even former President Muhammadu Buhari, who said he added nothing to his assets in his eight years as president, knows that there are differences in his wardrobe before and after being president. Even his skin texture is proof enough.
In the 1970s, when we were growing up in the dusty, sunny, windy, and peaceful town that Maiduguri was, where Muslims, Christians, and people of all tribes lived as brothers, looking out for one another, it was a common sight to see grown-up people moving about shoeless. And there was no shame in it. As a result, many people had semi-baked feet with cracked furrows that could swallow pebbles. Those who could manage it had slippers cut out of articulated vehicle tyres. Those with bathroom slippers mostly used pins to hold and keep them “on the road.” Now, who walks barefoot or with bathroom slippers? The contrast between then and now, the improvements in our lives, are clear signs of His favours. So, which of His favours are you denying?
The hot tropical sun of Maiduguri had a glaring fire that heated the sandy soil of the encroaching Sahara Desert. Mirages, because of the shimmering rays from the middle of the blazing sun, were familiar sights on the dusty roads of Maiduguri and the few tarred roads of the Government Reserve Area (GRA). The primary school I attended, Shehu Garbai, just after the School of Nursing, adjacent to the commissioner of police’s house, did not have a tarred road in front of it.
About fifty years later, almost everywhere in the beautiful town of Maiduguri has tarred roads. Back then, you saw such roads in front of the Shehu’s Palace and a few streets in the GRA because even the GRA had just a few roads covered by asphalt. Heat makes some human “companions” like flies, mosquitoes, lizards, etc., comfortable. It was common to see mosquitoes form blankets just above our heads in the afternoons, out of our reach, waiting for darkness to descend on us. Not anymore. And yet, do we deny any of His favours unto us?
Those were periods when almost everyone had a patch on their clothes, called pachi in Hausa. Trousers, shorts for kids, skirts for girls, wrappers, shirts, jumpers—name them—most had patches, and some had multiple. There was no shame because it was normal. There were even people who moved about naked or half-clad. The elite could wear trousers, jumpers, and babbar riga (gown) in different materials and colours. Now, people can easily afford the ten yards for those. Then, which of His favours do we deny?
There weren’t taxis as we know them today. How many cars plied the roads then, anyway? Those with motorcycles were among the elite. Woe betide you if your rival owned a bicycle while you ‘legged’ it to visit the lady you wanted to marry. Those with scooters, BSAs, or even mobyllets (a cross between a motorcycle and a bicycle) were eligible bachelors with intimidating credentials. People were healthier because they trekked due to having fewer rides. Now, people jump “into” an achaba (motorcycle) or a keke (tricycle) for the shortest distances.
Of course, people were more secure and houses weren’t walled. Barbed wires were used to fence the best houses in the GRAs, including the Government House.
The staple foods were millet, corn, and guinea corn; those whom wealth smiled on could eat yams and rice. Many homes ate rice on special occasions like Sallah, Christmas, weddings, and naming ceremonies. Yam, plantain, etc., were delicacies from the south, brought mainly through long-distance drivers. Not that you didn’t get them in the markets, but they were meals for special occasions, as they weren’t cheaply available.
If you are to look at the present, no doubt we have a lot to thank God for His favours. Those who didn’t know then would wonder how we existed then. There was no television or computers, not to mention the internet and smartphones. Our telephones, almost similar to those of Alexander Graham Bell in 1876, worked with cables and switchboards. And people sent messages by letters that took months to reach their destinations and more months to get a reply. Or they send someone to travel by road to deliver a message. Sometimes the messenger and the message would perish en route. Now, wherever they may be, everyone is just a click away.
Is there still any of His favours that you deny?
Hassan Gimba, anipr, is the CEO/Publisher of Neptune Prime.
