The holy Quran indicated some immaterial and invisible blessings that God almighty has bestowed His followers (Prophets, the honest, martyrs and the righteous) with:
Al Wilaya (Admitting the authority of Al Imam Ali): Wherever a general blessing is mentioned in the holy Quran, then it is “Al Wilaya” as it mentioned in the following verse: “Today I have perfected your faith for you, completed My favour upon you” [1]. The perfection of faith and completing God’s favor in this verse is nothing except Al Wilaya. Therefore Al Imam Al Sadeq (a.s) says, to assure the reliability of the verse:”Then, on that Day, you shall be asked about the delight (you indulged in, in this world)!”[2] : We are among this delight, [3] which means that Ahl Al Bayt (the prophet’s family) is an evidence for these blessings. In some hadiths, it is mentioned:” God is more exalted than asking you about food and drinks, but He will ask you about Al Wilaya”. [4] Al Wilaya puts all blessings in their correct places, and without it, all blessings will be transformed into curses.
Divine Support: God almighty says to his prophet Jesus (a.s):” O Jesus, son of Mary! Remember My favour upon you and your mother: how I supported you with the holy spirit”. [5] This blessing was a source for miracles and many blessings that were revealed through Jesus (a.s) where he says about the importance of his existence:” And He has made me blessed wherever I be”. [6]
Unity: Separation and division in a society are considered as the hardest ways of torture and affliction. On the other hand, unity is one of the divine blessings:” Hold fast together to the cable of Allah and be not divided. Remember the blessing that Allah bestowed upon you: you were once enemies then He brought your hearts together, so that through His blessing you became brothers” [7]
Sometimes, the quran talks about the impacts of immaterial and invisible blessings such as:
The call for fighting for the sake of God and facing the tyrants: The invisible blessings and special divine blessings are the source of this call.
When God’s addressor Moses (a.s) commanded the sons of Israel to fight for the sake of God and rise to enter the Holy Land:” O my people! Enter the Holy Land which Allah has destined for you ?to enter?. And do not turn back or else you will become losers. They replied, “O Moses! There is an enormously powerful people there, so we will never ?be able to? enter it until they leave. If they do, then we will enter. So go—both you and your Lord—and fight; we are staying right here!”[8], two men of whom the divine blessing and kindness have bestowed them stood up and said:” if you trust in your God almighty and fight your enemy, you will achieve victory:” Two God-fearing men—who had been blessed by Allah—said, “Surprise them through the gate. If you do, you will certainly prevail. Put your trust in Allah if you are ?truly? believers.”[9]
This verse, through showing the call for fighting in the sake of God as a divine blessing, indicates that the source for these two men’s call to fight against the tyrants is the divine blessing.
Escape from the hellfire: after the people of the heavens and the hellfire were placed in their current places, one of the people of the heaven went searching for one of his friends who used to deny the idea of the Day of Judgment. He found him in the midst of the hellfire, so he said to him:” I swear to God that despite that my God has bestowed me with His blessings, you would find me here suffering in the hereafter” . “He will ?then? ask, “Would you care to see ?his fate??” Then he ?and the others? will look and spot him in the midst of the Hellfire. He will ?then? say, “By Allah! You nearly ruined me.Had it not been for the grace of my Lord, I ?too? would have certainly been among those brought ?to Hell?.” [10]
A blessing that protects a man from the torture of the Day of Judgment isn’t from the material blessings because the latest are also given to the people of the hellfire. So, it was a reason for their suffering. Therefore, those who have accompanied bad friends who caused them to oppress themselves, will bite their nails in regret:” And ?beware of? the Day the wrongdoer will bite his nails ?in regret? and say, “Oh! I wish I had followed the Way along with the Messenger! Woe to me! I wish I had never taken so-and-so as a close friend”. [11]
Asking for the guidance of the straight path in the verse:” Guide us to the straight path, The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor” is a call to accompany the prophets. On the other hand, those who hadn’t any hope in the guidance of the straight path and didn’t do any good deed to be guided to this path will hate themselves because of regret and say:” I wish I had followed the Way along with the Messenger!”.
Ayatollah Al Sheikh Jawadi Al Amili
[1] Surah Al Ma’idah verse 3
[2] Surah Al Takathor verse 8
[3] Nur Al Thiqlayn, part 5, page 665
[4] Tafsir Al Safi, part 5, verse 371
[5] Surah Al Maidah verse 110
[6] Surah Maryam verse 31
[7] Surah Al Imran verse 103
[8] Surah Al Maida verses 21-22-24
[9] Surah Al Maida verse 23
[10] Surah Al Saffat verses 54 to 57
[11] Surah Al Furqan verses 27-28
source: english.almaaref