Gratitude - II

Again, knowing and recognising the favors, aswell as their source, is
the initial step and it precedes thanking Allaah. Recognising favors
such as the favors of being able to move, walk, work, exercise, sleep,
eat etc. all branch from the great favor of being healthy. The favor
of being humans; the favor of being Muslims; the favor of being
guided; the favor of being well-mannered; the favor of being a Prophet
(when it applies for those whom Allaah Has chosen) are also great ones
to reflect on. This issue is very important to mention when calling
people towards Allaah. Allaah repeatedly reminds us in different parts
of the Quran of His favors upon us. He says (what means): "…And [He]
subjected for you the ships to sail for you through the sea by His
command and subjected for you the rivers. And He subjected for you the
sun and the moon, continuous [in orbit], and subjected for you the
night and the day. And He gave you from all you asked of Him. And if
you should count the favor [i.e., blessings] of Allaah, you could not
enumerate them. Indeed, mankind is[generally] most unjust and
ungrateful." [Quran 14: 32-34] There are many other verses in the
Quran in which Allaah reminds us of the favors that He has bestowed
upon us. One way of calling people towards Allaah is to remind them of
the favors of Allaah upon them, so that they may be grateful and not
to be amongst those about whom Allaah says (what means): "…And Allaah
is full of bounty to the people, but most of the people do not show
gratitude." [Quran 2: 243]Some people attribute favors to other than
the actual source, like Qaaroon, who said when he was reminded of the
favors of Allaah upon him(which means): "…I was only given it because
of the knowledge I have'…" [Quran 28: 78] It is arrogance that leads
to such a reaction, which results in misery for such people, because
Allaah says (what means): "And whatever you have of Favor – it is from
Allaah…" [Quran 16: 53]
Expressing gratitude by the tongue: One's tonguereflects what he
conceals in his heart, and thus when his heart is overwhelmed by
gratitude to Allaah, the tongue will naturally constantly utter praise
and gratitude to Allaah. One should ponder upon how the Prophet would
perform Thikr, or supplications and remembrance of Allaah, to see how
much gratitude and praise theycontained;
· Whenever he woke up, he would say: "All praise is due to Allaah, Who
has brought us backto life after He has causedus to die, and to Him is
the return."
· Whenever he would retire to bed, he would say: "All Praise is due to
Allaah who has fed us, provided us with drink, satisfied us and given
us protection. Many are those who have no one to provide for them or
give them shelter."
· Some of his regular morning and evening supplications were: "O
Allaah! Whatever favor I, or any of Your creation has, is solely from
You; there is no partner with You; All praise and gratitude is due to
You."
· He would ask forgiveness saying: "I seek refuge in You from the evil
of what I have done. I acknowledge the favors that You have bestowed
upon me, and Iconfess my sins, so forgive me."
· All his supplications would begin with the praise of Allaah, which
Heis very worthy of.
· He would begin all hisspeeches by praising Allaah.
· The opening supplication for prayer, Soorah Al-Faatihah,
supplications whilst bowing and prostrating, and his supplications
after concluding his prayers, were all filled with praise and
gratitudeto Allaah.
· Whenever he wished to eat, drink, travel or sneeze, he would praise
Allaah and thank him.
· On one of the nights when it was the turn of 'Aa'ishah to be with
him, she began looking for him in the dark by feeling around with her
hand, then her hand touched his hands and she heard him saying: "O
Allaah! I seek protection against Your Wrath in Your Pleasure. I seek
protection in Your Pardon against Your punishment; I am not capable of
enumerating praise of You. You are as You have lauded Yourself".
Expressing gratitude by the limbs: Any righteous deed or act of
obedience which the son of Aadam performs is a form of expressing his
gratitude to Allaah, the Lord. There are different means of performing
gratitude of the limbs; one of which iswhen one practices the
instruction of Prophet Muhammad when he said: "When you get up inthe
morning, charity is due from every one of your joints. There is
charity in every ascription of glory to Allaah; there is charity in
every declaration of His Greatness; there is charityin every utterance
of praise of Him; there is charity in every declaration that He is the
only true God (worthy of worship); there is charity in enjoining good;
there is charity in forbidding evil. Two Rak'as of Dhuhaa (i.e.,
forenoon prayer) is equal to all this(in reward)." Thus, any ofthe
things mentioned in the above narration is a righteous deed which
reflects gratitude to Allaah. One should exert all efforts to thank
Allaah using all his limbs and should never feel that he has thanked
Allaah enough, or that he does not need to do it again the next day.
There is no contradiction between thanking people and being grateful
to Allaah, because Allaah commands us to thank and reward those who do
us favors, the foremost of them being one's parents, as Allaah says (
what means): "…Be grateful to Me and to your parents…" ] Quran 31: 14]
The problem is when one thanks people and abandons thanking Allaah;
this is a great disaster. Additionally, there is a difference in the
manner in which onethanks people and thanks Allaah; one shouldbe
submissive and humble whilst thanking Allaah because this reflects
servitude, while on the other hand, one cannot do so with other
humans; one should instead supplicate for their forgiveness and praise
them. One who does not thank other people is evil and it is unlikely
that he would thank Allaah and express gratitude towards Him.
Additionally, favors and bounties from Allaah are preserved and even
increase by one being grateful, but what is it that helps a person to
be grateful?
· By observing the condition of those who are lower than you in
status, and to remember when seeing those who are higher than you in
standard that it is only bythe decree of Allaah. Allaah says ( what
means): "And it is He who has made you successors upon the earth and
has raised some of you aboveothers in degrees [of rank] that He may
try youthrough what He has given you." ] Quran 6: 165]
· By realising that one willbe held accountable for these favors, as
Allaah says ( what means): "Thenyou will surely be asked that Day
about [worldly] pleasure". ] Quran 102: 8 [ Even for bounties as
seemingly minor as cold water. Some people, due to their
misunderstanding of the concept of gratitude, deprive themselves from
enjoying them, whereas in fact they were bestowed upon us to enjoy.
Allaah says ( what means): "…Eat from the good [i.e., lawful] things
which We have provided for you and be grateful to Allaah if it is
[indeed] Him that you worship." ] Quran 2:172] Thus, gratitude cannot
entail deeming lawful matters as prohibited, which is one of the
principles of the Soofees. If gratitude was a precondition of enjoying
the bounties of Allaah, then nobody would have been able to enjoy any
of the favors orbounties from Allaah, because no one can do enough
deeds to appropriately express gratitude to Allaah for what He
bestowed upon us. The solution thereforeis to utilise these favors and
bounties in ways that please Allaah, and to thank Him and seek His
pardon for our shortcomings - and Allaah will accept this much from
us.
· By supplicating to Allaahto help us to be grateful to Him, as in the
prophetic supplication in which he taught Mu'aath to say: " O Allaah!
Help me remember You, express gratitude to You and worship You in the
best manner."
It is more virtuous to be grateful when blessed with a favor than to
persevere when one is afflicted. Allaah loves to see the effects of
His favors. Once, Imraan ibn Husayn came out wearing a fine garment,
and when he saw how his friends were looking at him, he said: "The
Prophet said: "Allaah loves to see the effect of His Bounties on His
slaves."
The Prophet said: "Eat, drink and give out in charity without
arrogance or exaggeration, because Allaah loves to see the effect of
His Bounties on His slave." Therefore, the limit when expressing and
showing the effect of the favors from Allaah on oneself is to neither
be boastful and proud, nor to exaggerate.
Allaah hates a Kanood, oran ungrateful person, and punishes him.
ImaamAl-Hasan said: "A Kanood, is one who remembers the disasters
which befall him and always forgets to mention the favors from Allaah
(upon him)." This quality is more apparent in women; for example,
awoman's husband is kindto her for many years, but as soon as she
experiences a minor shortcoming from him, she will immediately tell
him that she has never seen anything good fromhim. This is a form of
oppressing the husband, and thus the majority of the dwellers of Hell
are women, the reason beingthat they are ungrateful to their husbands.
If being ungrateful to one'shusband results in punishment in Hell, how
will the case be for those who are ungrateful to Allaah?
'Umar ibn 'Abdul-'Azeez would look at the favors of Allaah upon himand
say: "O Allaah! I seek refuge in You from meeting Your favors
withungratefulness or denying them after knowing them, or forgetting
them and not mentioning them with praise (i.e., praising You)."
It is also recommended that one prostrates whenever he receives news
about a new favor or bounty from Allaah, as was the practice of the
Prophet . Likewise, when Abu Bakr received the news that Musaylamah
the liar (who claimed to be a Prophet after the death of Prophet
Muhammad ) was killed, he went down into prostration. Ka'b ibn Maalik
also prostrated when he was given the good news of forgiveness from
Allaah after he failed to participate in a battle. Onthe other hand,
this should not be a daily practice, but rather, it should only be
done when one receives good news or a new favor. An example of a new
favor or good news is the incident when one of theSalaf who was hiding
from Al-Hajjaaj, prostrated when he received the news of his death,
because the deathof a tyrant is a great bounty and favor from Allaah.
Also, the news of having a new baby, or a Muslim victory over the
infidels, warrants such a prostration to be made.
Imaam Ibn Al-Qayyim said: "The religion consists of two halves; one
half is represented by gratitude and the other half is by
perseverance." Scholars have disputed regarding who is better, a rich
person who is grateful, or a poor person who is patient, but it seems
that it is best for the rich person to be grateful, and for the poor
to persevere.