(151–152) “Just as We sent among you a Messenger from among yourselves, reciting Our verses to you, purifying you, teaching you the Book and wisdom, and teaching you what you did not know. * So remember Me, and I will remember you; give thanks to Me and do not be ungrateful to Me.”
Allah Most High says: Our favor upon you in directing you to face the Kaaba, and completing this with further ordinances and blessings, is neither unprecedented among Our acts of kindness nor the first of them. Rather, We bestowed upon you both the foundations of blessings and those that complete them. The greatest of these was Our sending you this noble Messenger from among yourselves, whose lineage, truthfulness, trustworthiness, excellence, and sincere concern for you are all known to you.
“Reciting Our verses to you.” This includes Quranic verses and other signs. He recites to you the signs that clearly distinguish truth from falsehood and guidance from error. They first directed you to Allah’s oneness and perfection, then to the truthfulness of His Messenger and the obligation of believing in him, and thereafter to everything he reported concerning the resurrection and matters of the unseen, until you attained complete guidance and certain knowledge.
“Purifying you”—that is, purifying your character and souls by nurturing them upon noble qualities and keeping them free of reprehensible traits. This includes purifying you from polytheism and bringing you to affirm Allah’s oneness; from showing off to sincerity; from lying to truthfulness; from betrayal to trustworthiness; from pride to humility; from bad character to good character; and from mutual hatred, estrangement, and severing ties to mutual love, fellowship, and affection, as well as all other forms of purification.
“Teaching you the Book”—that is, the Quran, both its wording and its meanings—“and wisdom.” It has been said that wisdom here means the Sunnah. It has also been said that wisdom means knowing the deeper purposes of the Sacred Law, understanding it properly, and placing matters in their proper contexts.
According to this latter view, teaching the Sunnah is included within teaching the Book, for the Sunnah clarifies the Quran, interprets it, and gives expression to its meanings. “And teaching you what you did not know,” for before his mission they were in manifest error, possessing neither knowledge nor sound practice. Every form of knowledge or practice attained by this community came through the Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and was made possible because of him. These blessings are the foundations of all blessings without exception, and they are indeed the greatest blessings Allah bestows upon His servants. Their duty is therefore to thank Allah for them and duly uphold them.
For this reason, Allah Most High said: “So remember Me, and I will remember you.” He commanded that He be remembered and promised the finest reward for doing so: His remembrance of whoever remembers Him. As Allah Most High said through His Messenger: “Whoever remembers Me within himself, I remember him within Myself; and whoever remembers Me in an assembly, I remember him in an assembly better than theirs.”
The finest remembrance of Allah Most High is that in which the heart and tongue concur. This is the remembrance that yields knowledge of Allah, love for Him, and abundant reward. Remembrance is the foremost expression of gratitude, which is why Allah specifically commanded it first and then issued a general command to give thanks, saying: “Give thanks to Me”—that is, for My bestowing these blessings upon you and averting all kinds of affliction from you.
Gratitude is expressed by the heart through acknowledgment and recognition of blessings; by the tongue through remembrance and praise; and by the limbs through obedience to Allah, submission to His command, and avoidance of His prohibitions. Gratitude preserves blessings already present and brings an increase in blessings not yet possessed. Allah Most High said: “If you are grateful, I will surely give you more.”
The command to give thanks after the mention of religious blessings—such as knowledge, purification of character, and divine enablement to perform good deeds—makes clear that these are the greatest blessings. Indeed, they are the true blessings, for they endure when all others have passed away. Anyone whom Allah has enabled to acquire knowledge or perform good deeds should therefore thank Him for it, so that He may grant them more of His bounty and keep self-admiration away from them, leaving them occupied instead with gratitude.