Allah The Exalted — Page 60
60 Allah the Exalted prostrations of Moses [peace be on him] though time after time God announced that He would destroy Israel. All this shows that prayer is not in vain, nor is it a type of worship which does not procure any grace. This is the thinking of those who do not estimate God Almighty as He should be estimated, and who do not reflect deeply on God's words nor do they observe the law of nature. The truth is that grace does certainly descend in response to supplication and bestows salvation upon us. It is the grace of Rahīmiyyat through which man makes progress. Through this grace, man arrives at the stage of Vilāyat, and believes in God Almighty as if he was beholding Him. Intercession also depends upon the attribute of Rahīmiy- yat. It is Rahīmiyyat of God Almighty that demands that good people should intercede for bad people. The fourth beneficence of God Almighty, which might be named most special grace, is Mālikiyyat of the Day of Judgement, by virtue of which He has been named Mālik- i-Yaum-id-Din in Surah Fatihah. The difference between this attribute and Rahīmiyyat is that through prayer and worship Rahīmiyyat operates to establish a person's wor- thiness and through Mālikiyyat the reward is awarded. Through the operation of Rahīmiyyat, a person deserves success in an affair like a student's passing an examina- tion, but to be awarded the rank or other object for which the examination was undertaken and passed is by virtue of the attribute of Malikiyyat. These two attributes indi- cate that the beneficence of Rahīmiyyat is achieved through God's mercy and the favour of Malikiyyat is achieved through the grace of Almighty God. Mālikiyyat would manifest itself on a vast and perfect scale in the hereafter, but in accordance with the measure of this