بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
If there was ever an ayah in the Qur'an that was heart-breaking and should make us feel ashamed of ourselves it is when Allah subhana wa ta’ala says,
وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِىَ ٱلشَّكُورُ ﴿١٣ ...
... And very few of My slaves are grateful. [Qur'an, Saba 34:13]
The blessings of Allah are so many that it is impossible to count them all. He blesses us in the day and in the night. He protects us from harm, and He has given us so much. Allah further says,
وَإِن تَعُدُّوا۟ نِعْمَتَ ٱللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَآ ۗ إِنَّ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ لَظَلُومٌ كَفَّارٌ ﴿٣٤ ...
... And if you should count the favor of Allah, you could not enumerate them. Indeed, mankind is truly unjust and ungrateful. (34) [Qur'an, Ibrahim 14:34]
And for those of us who, by the permission of Allah, are indeed thankful, we usually thank Allah for some things while taking most of His blessings for granted. Who remembers to thank Allah for having good skin? It is something we have taken granted. Who thanks Allah for having good hair? Who thanks Allah for the clothing that we have in our closet? Who remembers to thank Allah for our teeth? Yet, when we have a painful tooth, the dentist pulls it out. We thank him for removing the pain, but we fail to thank Allah for allowing us the use of that teeth for years upon years. When did we last thank Allah for the blessing of eyesight? This is when we finally get to understand the words of Allah when He said, “And very few of My slaves are grateful”.
It is Allah who distributes His Blessings between His slaves
Allah says in the Quran,
أَهُمْ يَقْسِمُونَ رَحْمَتَ رَبِّكَ ۚ نَحْنُ قَسَمْنَا بَيْنَهُم مَّعِيشَتَهُمْ فِى ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا ۚ وَرَفَعْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ دَرَجَـٰتٍ لِّيَتَّخِذَ بَعْضُهُم بَعْضًا سُخْرِيًّا ۗ وَرَحْمَتُ رَبِّكَ خَيْرٌ مِّمَّا يَجْمَعُونَ ﴿٣٢
Do they distribute the mercy of your Lord? It is We who have apportioned among them their livelihood in the life of this world and have raised some of them above others in degrees [of rank] that they may make use of one another for service. But the mercy of your Lord is better than whatever they accumulate. (32) ]Qur'an, Az-Zukhruf 43:32]
And He also says,
ثُمَّ لَتُسْـَٔلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ ٱلنَّعِيمِ ﴿٨
Then you will surely be asked that Day about pleasure. (8) ]Qur'an, At-Takathur 102:8]
Allah distributes His blessings between people, and He alone chooses who gets more and who gets less. Some people are blessed with wealth, some are blessed with a long life, some are blessed with intelligence while others maybe blessed with good family members, etc. To each person different blessings, and to each person will be their own accounting on the Day of Judgment.
The wealthy maybe asked about how they spent their wealth, the strong about their strength, the intelligent about how he used his intelligence etc.
Allah mentions gratitude along with Iman in the Quran. He says,
مَّا يَفْعَلُ ٱللَّهُ بِعَذَابِكُمْ إِن شَكَرْتُمْ وَءَامَنتُمْ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ شَاكِرًا عَلِيمًا ﴿١٤٧
What would Allah do with your punishment if you are grateful and believe? And ever is Allah Appreciative and Knowing. (147) [Qur'an, An-Nisa 4:147]
Allah has joined together gratefulness and belief, and in fact mentioned gratefulness first. It is as if you are not truly grateful, you cannot truly believe. And Allah says, “What would Allah do with your punishment if you are grateful and believe?” as if, if gratefulness and iman combine, we are safe from the punishment of Allah.
Gratitude is a quality that Allah loves so much that He will grant for it rewards immediately and is guaranteed. For other qualities, Allah does at times put a condition. For example for forgiveness, Allah says,
وَلِلَّهِ مُلْكُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ يَغْفِرُ لِمَن يَشَآءُ وَيُعَذِّبُ مَن يَشَآءُ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا ﴿١٤
And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. He forgives whom He wills and punishes whom He wills. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful. (14) [Qur'an, Al-Fath 48:14]
.. لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ ...
...If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; ... [Qur'an, Ibrahim 14:7]
The ultimate aim in life for us all should be, that at the end of the day, after all we suffer and go through in this life, that Allah subhana wa ta’ala be pleased with us on the Day of Judgment. Allah says in the Qur'an,
... وَإِن تَشْكُرُوا۟ يَرْضَهُ لَكُمْ ...
... if you are grateful, He is pleased with you ... [Qur'an, Az-Zumar 39:7]
Gratitude is the soul of worship, the purpose of our creation
Allah says in the Qur'an,
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ ﴿٥٦
And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me. (56) [Qur'an, Adh-Dhariyat 51:56]
And then Allah also mentions in another part of the Quran,
وَٱللَّهُ أَخْرَجَكُم مِّنۢ بُطُونِ أُمَّهَـٰتِكُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ شَيْـًٔا وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ ٱلسَّمْعَ وَٱلْأَبْصَـٰرَ وَٱلْأَفْـِٔدَةَ ۙ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ ﴿٧٨
And Allah has extracted you from the wombs of your mothers not knowing a thing, and He made for you hearing and vision and intellect that perhaps you would be grateful. (78) [Qur'an, An-Nahl 16:78]
In one ayah He says He created us to worship Him, and in another ayah He says He created us so that we might be thankful. Combining the meaning of both ayat it is clear that worship and gratitude are two inseparable entities.
To be truly grateful, we need to worship Allah (do that which He loves and is pleased with), and to truly worship Allah, we need to be grateful. And if we take in the essence of gratitude, worship becomes easier.
May Allah make us of those who are grateful to Him and may Allah increase us in iman and taqwa. Ameen.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam.
And Allah knows best and is Most Wise, and He alone grants success, and to Him is the final return of all.
Wassalaam
JAZAKALLAH
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