“the question of the obligation to thank the Benefactor”: whether this is obligatory by reason as well as by revealed law. This is why the Quran’s approach is to remind people of Allah’s blessings upon them, for these call for gratitude to Him, which consists in fulfilling the obligations prescribed by revealed law.

And His words:

“Allah certainly took a covenant from the Children of Israel, and We appointed twelve leaders from among them. Allah said, ‘I am with you. If you establish prayer, give zakah, believe in My messengers and support them, and lend Allah a good loan…’”

The passage continues up to His words:

“So, for their breaking their covenant, We cursed them and hardened their hearts.”

This covenant concerned what was already obligatory upon them: establishing prayer, giving zakah, believing in the messengers, and supporting them. He stated that He cursed them and hardened their hearts because they broke their covenant, not merely because they disobeyed the command. This indicates that the punishment for violating these obligations, reinforced by covenants, is aggravated by the breach of covenant.

And His words:

“And from those who say, ‘We are Christians,’ We took their covenant, but they neglected a portion of what they had been reminded of.”

The same applies to them. And Allah Most High says:

“Among them are those who made a covenant with Allah: ‘If He gives us of His bounty, we will certainly give charity and be among the righteous.’”

“But when He gave them of His bounty, they withheld it greedily and turned away in aversion.”

“So He caused hypocrisy to take root in their hearts until the Day they meet Him, because they broke their promise to Allah and because they used to lie.”

For being among the righteous