The Role of Holy Qur’an in Education (2)
As we said last time, encouragement stimulates the human mind, heart, and soul to try to improve performance and to discharge duties to the best of abilities. Accordingly, in the holy Qur’an, God has encouraged us to do good deeds and to abstain from sins. The ayahs related to heaven and hell as well as the admonishments of the Prophets to their respective nations, are all part of Divine Wisdom regarding the rewards of virtue and consequences of vices.
The Mercy of the All-Merciful Lord takes precedence over His Wrath since He prefers to forgive His erring servants, but it is only obstinacy and the temptations of the devil that drive away the sinners from the Divine Court. The Lofty Attributes of Almighty Allah are indicative of His favour and His constant encouragement to save us from pitfalls. A study of the holy Qur’an reveals that there are more ayahs pertaining to forgiveness and the rewards reserved for the deserving in paradise, compared to the ayahs warning against sin and punishment of hell. This indicates the special significance God attaches to encouragement.
Among the effective ways for encouragement is multiplicity of rewards for a single deed of virtue. For instance, in Surah Baqarah, ayah 245, in order to encourage those who give loans to others, God says:
“Who is it that will lend Allah a good loan that He may multiply it for him manifold?”
In some ayahs, God likens the reward of alms-giving in His path to a seed from which a tree grows and multiplies the benefits. In Surah Saba, ayah 37, God Almighty says:
“It is they for whom there will be a twofold reward for what they did”
In the holy Qur’an God has promised specific favors to the pious and the Godwary. In Surah Qalam, ayah 34 says:
“Indeed for the Godwary there will be gardens of bliss near their Lord.”
This ayah expresses the state of the Godwary in the bliss of paradise, and the deserving rewards they reaped by obeying God and refraining from evil.
Among the other ways of the holy Quran’s encouragement of the faithful is addressing the true believers with the phrase “Ya Ayyo-hallazeena aamanou”, which means “O you who believe.” It is evident that the honesty of faith requires God to directly address His good servants and this is a type of encouragement to the faithful. In Surah Hajj, ayah 38, God considers Himself the defender of the faithful and says:
“Allah indeed defends those who have faith. Indeed Allah does not like any ingrate traitor.”
As is evident, God defends the faithful. He loves the faithful because they obey Him and are grateful to Him for the blessings He bestows upon them, and at the same time desist from evil and forbidden acts. God Almighty’s defense of the faithful is a sort of confirmation for their good deeds, and thus further encouragement to them that gladdens their hearts and made them do more and more good.
Another way by which the holy Qur’an encourages the faithful is that He makes them immune from evilness. In several ayahs God promises security to the pious and faithful. Even on the Day of Resurrection, as per ayah 49 of Surah Araf, God addressing the true believers invites them to enter the Paradise and assures them that there will be no hardships. He says:
“Enter paradise! You shall have no fear, nor shall you grieve.”
The holy Qur’an gives excellent description of paradise, as a form of encouragement. For instance, in Surah Zukhruf, ayahs 70 to 73, God says:
“Enter paradise, you and your spouses, rejoicing”
“(they will be served around with golden dishes and goblets, and therein will be whatever the souls desire and eyes delight in) ‘and you will remain in it [forever].”
“That is the paradise you have been given to inherit for what you used to do.”
“Therein are abundant fruits for you from which you will eat.”
In some ayahs, for further encouragement of the believers, God says good deeds erase bad deeds. Surah Houd, ayah 114 says in this regard:
“Indeed good deeds efface misdeeds”
Thus, in this way, even the sinful are encouraged to repent and do good, so that they good deeds will remove the stains of their sins.
In Surah Asra, ayah 7, God says:
“If you do good, you will do good to your [own] souls”
It is in the nature of humans to strive for benefits, and when we know that our good deeds are of much benefit to us, we will gratefully turn to the Lord Most High for thanksgiving, and implore Him for more rewards.
Some Qur’anic ayahs encourage us to vie with each other in seeking God’s forgiveness. Surah Al Imran, ayahs 133 and 134 say:
“And hasten towards your Lord’s forgiveness and a paradise as vast as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the Godwary”
“Those who spend in ease and adversity, and suppress their anger, and excuse [the faults of] the people, and Allah loves the virtuous;”
In these two ayahs, God encourages us to hasten toward the door of Mercy that He has flung open for our forgiveness and repentance, so that we cleanse ourselves from the filth of our sins, in order to deserve the reward of paradise. He also outlines for us the ways of achieving these rewards, through charity, donation, suppression of anger, forgiving the faults of others, and doing good to people.
source:irib.ir
