Gratitude in Islam Is a Way of Life

Occasion: Summary of a Friday sermon delivered on November 25, 2016Source: A transcription of a video sermon by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

Praise be to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, seek His guidance and seek His forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from our bad deeds. Whomever Allah guides, none can lead astray, and whomever He leaves astray, none can guide. We bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner, and that our master and Prophet Muhammad is His servant and Messenger ﷺ; he conveyed the message, fulfilled the trust, gave sincere counsel to the community, and through him Allah removed the gloom, so may Allah reward him on our behalf and on behalf of the community of Islam with the best of rewards. To proceed:

People these days are in high spirits. Thanksgiving in the West, or in America, is tied to two basic notions: gathering over food, families returning to one another and coming together around a table; and then a dimension tied directly to shopping, that is, "Black Friday." The pulpit ought not to be cut off from what people are living, so today we speak about two questions: what does gratitude signify for Muslims? And do we wait the whole year to thank Allah, or do we stand before Him in every prayer and say: ﴿الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ۝ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ ۝ مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ ۝ إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ ۝ اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ ۝ صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ﴾ [al-Fātiḥah: 2-7] ("All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, the Most Merciful, the Especially Merciful, Master of the Day of Judgment. You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help. Guide us to the straight path, the path of those You have blessed, not of those who have earned anger, nor of those who are astray")?

Praise in Every Rakʿah

In every prayer and in every rakʿah we affirm praise (ḥamd), a notion broader than gratitude (shukr): complete praise to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And it is from Allah's favor upon us that "al-ḥamdu lillāh" is repeated on our tongues night and day: How are you? Al-ḥamdu lillāh. All well? Al-ḥamdu lillāh. It has become a word known to everyone who has come to know this culture. So praise and gratitude for us are tied to the deeds of the day and the night; they are not separate from our lives.

We affirm that Allah is the One who created us; we did not come from chance, nor from a nature that did its work and then turned away from its affair. We have a Creator who measured out and guided; He is the Causer of causes, who brought spouses together and produced offspring from them. Then we are certain that we have no life, moment after moment, except by sustenance from Him, and that when life ends, it is by His command. He is the One who decrees for us and arranges our affairs, gives us what He wills and withholds from us what He wills.

We believe that, but the question remains: do we live praise as a word only, or ought we to live it as a living reality?

The Stages of Gratitude

How is gratitude to be? The scholars say that gratitude is divided according to deeds and times, so for every stage of a servant's life there is a kind of gratitude. There is a stage in which the servant reaches the utmost of what he sought and comes to know the reality of this world, its origin, what comes of it and its fluctuations, so he says: ﴿رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِي أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيَّ وَعَلَىٰ وَالِدَيَّ﴾ [al-Aḥqāf: 15] ("My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents").^[1] And there is another stage in which the servant strives laboriously to obtain what he wants and accomplish what he seeks, and the praise in it is partial: every time he crosses a stage he praises Allah for what it has produced, then moves on to the next, like one who gathers things and praises Allah every time something becomes available to him. These are kinds of praise that differ as times and ages differ.

The First Basis of Gratitude: Knowing Whom You Are Dealing With

Let us imagine a servant upon whom Allah has bestowed lawful, wholesome provision, who then saw more money coming to so-and-so from shady deals, or from a source of income that is not purely lawful, and he said: let us try, let us take a risk this time. And then he loses everything. What led you to step beyond Allah's protection of you? Do you know, when you put your small child in a crib with railings, and he wants to climb over them to get things that are not within his narrow space, and then he falls on his head: is that his rescue or his ruin? If Allah has given you a setting of lawful, wholesome provision in which you live content and satisfied, you enter your home and find smiles on the faces, you sleep at the end of the day with your conscience at rest, you look at those around you and find that existence itself is happy with you and you are happy with it, then you are in a state of stability; but the soul aspires, the eye looks out, and the heart may open toward what others have. How do we get what we cannot afford? So we open doors upon ourselves, and then the Lord of the worlds shows you the outcome of your affair. So how is gratitude in this case? That you remain constant in what Allah has blessed you with.

And look at another person for whom Allah has made easy the paths of seeking knowledge: he is distinguished and brilliant among his peers, achieving the highest grades at every stage, Allah has granted him success in what others were not granted, and his life is stable and upright; but he goes near wine one night, or looks toward what is forbidden, and then Allah takes away the cells of his mind without his realizing it, and the matter turns against its owner. So how is gratitude in this case? That you recognize Allah's blessing upon you and keep proper courtesy with Him. And this is the first basis of gratitude: that you know whom you are dealing with, so that when you say "al-ḥamdu lillāh" or "thank you" or "I am grateful," you know whom you are addressing, and you do not dare to cross the limits the Giver of blessings has drawn for you. We keep courtesy with the gifts of human beings and do not overstep our bounds, so why do we dare to do so with Allah?

A Ship Sailing Calmly

And look at a man whose home is stable, whose wife guards his sanctuary, whose children are being raised in his care, and life is tranquil by Allah's permission. The problems of life meet us; we stumble at times, we need some money and borrow from here and there, and a problem arises at home: the boy did something, the girl said something, the wife is angry. These are natural matters, but the boat sails on amid this calm swell. Yet our man looks out toward another boat; the matter pleases him and grows attractive in his head, so he jumps from his boat trying to put one foot on this side and the other on that, and then they draw apart, so either he falls in and drowns, or he remains on one side without the other and his affairs never settle afterwards, since he did not take the lawful, wholesome path that Allah prescribed.

Each of us looks out at things, for we are human and there are desires in our souls; but the wise one is he who controls his movement in a way that guarantees the safety of his course. The wise one is he who looks at the horizon to know where the path he is taking will lead him. If I am going to reach quick wealth through a forbidden means, what about my son whose flesh will grow from unlawful food? Will he ever be a believer? Will the Qur'an settle in his heart?

And here is another example of the utmost simplicity: a woman who is not content with her situation and does not live her life; she wants more and objects to everything: to the man's traits, to the narrow house and to the little money. Allah has honored her with a chivalrous man who has his manliness, who worries about her and spends all his effort to make her happy, offering her every means of love and affection, yet she is not content. And Allah has honored her with children whose proper place is to be raised in this family nest, yet she continues her rebellion against her life, and then she is ruined in herself, her children are lost, and her husband is scattered. And a life that was stable by Allah's permission changes into something other than what was expected, and we do not know where it will end.

Every Blessing Is from Allah

Servants of Allah, we are facing a life with which Allah has blessed us, and we have no other source that earns us what we are in except Allah, and we have no power of our own: ﴿وَمَا بِكُم مِّن نِّعْمَةٍ فَمِنَ اللَّهِ﴾ [al-Naḥl: 53] ("And whatever you have of blessing is from Allah"). There is no debate about this. So do not think that you can do anything by yourself; respect, and keep courtesy with, a God who created in you and entrusted to you ability and giving, and these human secrets which are from none other than the Creator of man.

And we are commanded to give thanks in the hours of the night and at the ends of the day, and no one is excepted from this rule, not even the prophets and messengers. Allah praised Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him), saying: ﴿شَاكِرًا لِّأَنْعُمِهِ﴾ [al-Naḥl: 121] ("grateful for His favors"), and Nūḥ (peace be upon him), saying: ﴿إِنَّهُ كَانَ عَبْدًا شَكُورًا﴾ [al-Isrāʾ: 3] ("Indeed, he was a grateful servant"). And so are the prophets and messengers: their state with Allah is that of one who recognizes the blessing and spends his effort to thank his God and Creator. So be on this path of gratitude in the hours of the night and at the ends of the day.

A Practical Step: The House of Allah Every Day

Allah has given you a blessing and given you the means to thank Him: that you come to His house once in your day, just once, at the ʿIshāʾ prayer, and thank Allah for the blessing He has given you by coming to His house once a day. And if you come to the mosque once a day, perhaps Allah will increase your desire to come after that again and again, willingly and eagerly, and grant you more of His bounty.

Allah has blessed us with homes, wives and children. So recognize the blessings of Allah that He has given you and thank Him, Glorified is He; be upright in your lives, and look into your earnings and your food, for the Lord of the worlds purifies and blesses whoever is on His path. And His punishment is painful, so avoid the places of the King's anger, Glorified is He. I say these words of mine and seek Allah's forgiveness for myself and for you.

The Second Sermon: The Law of Mutual Repelling

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds; the final outcome belongs to the God-fearing, and there is no hostility except against the wrongdoers. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that our master and Prophet Muhammad is His servant and Messenger; may Allah send abundant blessings and peace upon him, his family and his Companions.

I want to comment on what Facebook pages have circulated, that fires which broke out are a punishment from Allah by which He burned down people's homes, places and families. I ask that we think with some rationality.

Moreover, the matter of Allah sending a punishment upon a people was before the coming of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. When he ﷺ came, we learned from his life and from the method of the Qur'an that there is what is called "the law of mutual repelling" (sunnat al-tadāfuʿ). Read the words of Allah the Exalted: ﴿وَلَوْلَا دَفْعُ اللَّهِ النَّاسَ بَعْضَهُم بِبَعْضٍ لَّهُدِّمَتْ صَوَامِعُ وَبِيَعٌ وَصَلَوَاتٌ وَمَسَاجِدُ يُذْكَرُ فِيهَا اسْمُ اللَّهِ كَثِيرًا﴾ [al-Ḥajj: 40] ("And were it not that Allah repels some people by means of others, there would have been demolished monasteries, churches, synagogues and mosques in which the name of Allah is much mentioned"). That is, some people push this way and others push that way; people with falsehood and people with truth repelling one another. So preserving the mosques is first and foremost a human responsibility, under Allah's watch and oversight; but if we neglect the mosques they may be demolished, and if we give up our rights, Allah will not preserve them in our hands.

And if you were to challenge me, I would say to you: what did matters come to at the Battle of Uḥud, with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ among the people? Did the Muslims win to the end of the battle? No. Why? Because some of them did not carry out the duty that was upon them in the most complete way. So when there was shortcoming among soldiers, even if they were around Muhammad son of ʿAbd Allāh ﷺ, a universal law overtook them. Would it have been hard for Allah that not one of them reach the forehead of the Prophet ﷺ and make blood flow from it? But the Lord of the worlds teaches us that causes are causes, and that you must support your religion as much as you can; then when your effort is exhausted, your energy spent, and the means pursued in the most complete way, help comes from Allah, even if that help is angels descending from above the seven heavens: Allah supports whoever supports Him.^[2]

And at the Battle of the Trench, the Prophet ﷺ was digging, striving and toiling, and there was no money and no food, and there was cold and seasons turning upon the people; when they had taken the means, given what they could and done everything within their capacity, and nothing remained but for a command to come from Allah to rescue them, it came from Allah; but after people had given what they could. As for us, we sit eating, and, al-ḥamdu lillāh, we are as comfortable as can be, waiting to rejoice, clap and say: such-and-such a place is burning. So what are we doing? One or two rakʿahs in the depth of the night in which you ask Allah to support His religion: this is action. That you reflect on an issue, live with it and strive to think through its solutions: this is action. That you give what you can to serve people or to revive people: this is action. But that we keep repeating slogans, that is not a response worthy of people who have learned knowledge and come to know its principles, foundations and results. We ought to think in different ways, and we are the ones who pay the price, first and last. We ask Allah for well-being and safety, O Lord of the worlds.

Black Friday and the Price Trap

As for the last point, and I have kept you long, it is what remains of "Black Friday," the discounts and the prices, with people sometimes barely coming to pray Jumuʿah and then going back to catch what is left. There is what might be called a "price mafia." If you do not truly need something, do not swallow this bait; today and tomorrow are a likely occasion for waste into which many of our women and daughters fall, and we ourselves as well, and then we regret it afterwards. You swipe the credit card, take the bags and walk out happy with them, then you go home and throw the things in every corner, and then at the end of the month you find yourself wringing your hands. Everyone knows over what he wrings his hands at the end of the month.

We ask Allah to grant us sound judgment, to favor us with the blessing of well-being, to show us the good that lies before us and grant us to follow it, and to show us the evil that lies before us and grant us to avoid it. O Allah, keep us safe, keep safety for us and through us, preserve for us the well-being of our hearts and give security to our souls. O Allah, we ask You for faith with which our lives are filled and well-being which our bodies enjoy forever, O Most Merciful of the merciful. O Allah, make easy for us the paths of obedience and keep us attached to Your house as long as we live. And our final call is that praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds; and O Allah, send blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The wording of the supplication occurs in al-Aḥqāf 15 and in al-Naml 19; the al-Aḥqāf location was adopted because its context mentions reaching forty and full maturity. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: The speaker uttered the meaning "Allah supports whoever supports Him" and did not recite the verse or name the sūrah; its meaning is in the words of Allah the Exalted: ﴿وَلَيَنصُرَنَّ اللَّهُ مَن يَنصُرُهُ﴾ [al-Ḥajj: 40] ("And Allah will surely support whoever supports Him").