At every moment in our lives, every single one of us is enjoying countless favours and bounties of Allah Ta‘ala. The eyes with which we see, the hands with which we hold, the legs with which we walk, the brain with which we think, the lungs with which we breath, the tongue with which we speak – each one of these is itself an invaluable and priceless bounty, and these are merely a few of the bounties we enjoy in relation to our bodies.
Apart from the bounties of our bodies, there are countless other bounties such as safety and security, health and wealth, friends and family, respect and reputation, etc. Undoubtedly, the words of Allah Ta‘ala in the Quraan Majeed are most true. Allah Ta‘ala says, “And if you count the favours of Allah, you will not be able to enumerate them…” (Surah Ebrahim v34)
Whenever a person is blessed with a bounty, he fears that he should not lose it and be deprived of it. Hence, his first concern is to preserve and safeguard it. Thereafter, he will try to increase the bounty.
Thus, we see that people try to look after their health and are always trying to improve it. They safeguard their money and are always working to increase it. They value their peace and safety and adopt various means to preserve it. For these purposes, they look for medications and treatments, and vaults and investments, and security systems and armed guards.
However, the reality is that there can be no prescription better than the prescription of shukr (gratitude) to preserve and increase a bounty. When a person expresses shukr for any bounty, then not only does Allah Ta‘ala safeguard that bounty – rather He grants the servant increase and blesses him even further. In the Quraan Majeed, Allah Ta‘ala says, “If you are grateful, I will most definitely increase you (in favours and bounties), and if you are ungrateful, then My punishment is certainly severe.” (Surah Ebrahim v7)
It should be borne in mind that the world is something temporary, and it is not the gauge of true success – as many a time, Allah Ta‘ala blesses believers with wealth and health, and many a time, Allah Ta‘ala takes away both wealth and health from them in order to grant them something greater in the Hereafter. Rather, the actual gauge of success in this world and the next is being granted the wealth of Deen, as our Deen is the key to our eternal salvation and entry into Jannah. Therefore, it is far more important for us to safeguard and increase our Deeni bounties through showing the greatest appreciation and gratitude for them, compared to our bounties of this world.
Hence, the gratitude we express to Allah Ta‘ala for our imaan, for being from the Ummah of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), for being blessed with the Quraan Majeed and the blessed sunnah, for being blessed to perform salaah, and for all other Deeni bounties – this gratitude should be even more than the gratitude and appreciation we express to Allah Ta‘ala for our health, safety and worldly prosperity. In this regard, Sallaam bin Abi Mutee’ (rahimahullah) once said, “Be more grateful and appreciative for the bounties of Allah Ta‘ala upon you in your Deen, than you are for His bounties upon you in your dunya (worldly matters).” (Hilyatul Awliyaa vol. 5, pg. 105)
At this point, the question arises as to how one should express gratitude before Allah Ta‘ala for His bounties. The answer is that one should first attribute the bounty to Allah Ta‘ala and acknowledge that the bounty is solely from His favour – not due to one’s efforts and intelligence. Thus, one should praise Allah Ta‘ala as He is the Bestower of all bounties and goodness.
Then, one should ensure that the bounty is used in a manner pleasing to Allah Ta‘ala. The bounty, no matter what it may be, should not be abused by using it to disobey Allah Ta‘ala. Therefore, the illustrious Taabi‘ee, Sufyaan Bin ‘Uyainah (rahimahullah), once advised a person saying, “Among the demands of expressing gratitude to Allah Ta‘ala for His bounty is that you praise Allah Ta‘ala for the bounty, and use the bounty to assist you in obeying Him. The one who uses the bounty of Allah Ta‘ala to aid him in disobeying Allah Ta‘ala has not shown gratitude to Allah Ta‘ala (though he may have even verbally praised Allah Ta‘ala).” (Hilyatul Awliyaa vol. 6, pg. 124)
It is for this reason that Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) had taught us to make the following du‘aa, “O Allah! As You have blessed me with bounties which I love, make them a means of me gaining strength in doing actions which You love.” (Sunan Tirmizi #3491)
Accordingly, our eyes should not be used to look at haraam, our tongues should not be used to speak haraam, our ears should not be used to listen to haraam, our wealth should not be wasted or spent in haraam avenues, etc. To do so is the height of ingratitude, as it is using the very bounty gifted by Allah Ta‘ala to disobey and defy Him. Rather, all these bounties should be used in accordance with the pleasure of Allah Ta‘ala.
Finally, if the bounty was bestowed to us via some person, then we should show gratitude to this person as well, as he was the means through which this goodness and bounty came to us. Hence, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) mentioned in the hadeeth, “The one who has not shown gratitude to people has not shown gratitude to Allah Ta‘ala.” (Sunan Tirmizi #1955)
Since our parents were the means for our physical existence, and raised us from childhood through until adulthood, caring for us, nurturing us and showing us love, we will show our gratitude to them by always remaining obedient to them in all permissible matters and striving to the best of our ability to always keep their hearts happy.
Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) brought us the Deen of Islam and showed us the path to earn Allah Ta‘ala’s pleasure and acquire admission into Jannah. Hence, we will show gratitude to him, even more than our parents. The method of showing gratitude to him is by adhering to his blessed sunnah in every aspect of our lives, and sending salawaat upon him in abundance.
We are likewise indebted to our asaatizah (Deeni teachers), be it a maktab aapa, a hifz ustaaz or any person who taught us some aspect of Deen, and hence we should honour them, respect them and continue to make du‘aa for them.
May Allah Ta‘ala bless us with hearts and tongues of gratitude, and may He increase His favours and bounties upon us, aameen.