As Salaamu ‘Alaykum,
And (remember) when your Lord proclaimed: “If you give thanks (by accepting Faith and worshipping none but Allah), I will give you more (of My Blessings), but if you are thankless (i.e. disbelievers), verily! My Punishment is indeed severe.” Soorah Ibraheem Ayah 7
Gratitude – the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.
The one to whom all gratitude should be shown and expressed to daily is Allaah Lord of the worlds. Although we can never be grateful enough to Allaah, the mere effort put forth is heavy in the sight of Allah. So much so that He informs us that whomever is grateful, then He will INCREASE them in blessing!
There are literally countless things to be grateful for. Things we may see as insignificant are really of great importance but we just take it for granted. For example, having the ability of vision. How many people are blind and wish they could see even if just for one minute. Our hearing, being able to hear each other’s voices and the beautiful recital of Quraan. The ability of speech. How many people have speech impediments or cannot even speak at all. How about having a home to live in ? How many people are homeless in the cold? Or food to eat yet we throw it away in the garbage when there’s someone in the world who has to risk their lives to attain even a morsel of food.
Remember that for each blessing Allaah gives you, there is someone in the world praying and begging Allaah for what you already have. Wishing if they had even a portion of what you had, how grateful and happy they would be.
In a world where accessibility, luxury, being extravagant and wasteful are the common practice of many, it’s sometimes difficult to see all the good around us. It’s always so much easier to complain about what you DON’T have than it is to be happy about what you DO have. Baanee Adam is always seeking for more and more. We are never satisfied although there is more than enough to be satisfied with. Chasing after the desires we have that lead us to greed and grief. Obtaining on thing only to be bored with it then move forward to the next desire. All are subjected to this fruitless cycle except ….. Those whom are grateful.
Allaah tells us in the Quraan that if we seek to please Him by worshipping Him alone , he will give us MORE! Be grateful to the one whom is able to provide us with all the things we need and want. Go to the source. If we please Allaah and be grateful, then our lives will be filled with joy and happiness. We would see the world so much differently. And even when hardships occur , you’d always be so happy for all that you still have of good and in turn it would make that hardship even easier to handle. As opposed to the person whom is so ungrateful , they cannot see past anything except the negatives. Their vision of the world is so narrow and distorted. So much so, their chest is tight with grief over the most trivial of affairs.
How can we cultivate our hearts and minds to be more grateful? There are steps we can take to improve in this area as this is crucial for our success in this life and the next. Listed below are some things we want to remind ourselves.
If you have a husband – There are HUNDREDS of women who do not.
If you have children – There are women begging Allaah right now to have some.
If you have good health – There are ill people around the world wishing they were you even for one day.
If you have food – There’s someone dying of hunger right now.
If you have a home – There’s someone sleeping on the pavement in the cold right now.
If you have clothing – There are people who don’t.
If you are a Muslim – There will be people in the Hereafter who will wish they became Muslim.
Yet here we are………. Complaining… Being negative… Not helping others because we are too busy being unhappy although we are surrounded with blessings upon blessings.
Make some sort of “thankful” log or journal. In this log, you are able to write down just one thing you are happy and grateful about each day. Then look around you. Start pondering about how your life would be if certain things were to be removed. This will make you happy about it still being in your life therefore increasing your appreciation for what you already have.
And when difficulties come your way, search for what is NOT going wrong during that time and say ” well at least such and such is going well alHamdulillaah.” This will always keep us in a better more grateful mindset. Along with always remembering that in every affair there is good for the Muslim if only we realized.
May Allaah aid us in being amongst those whom strive to be grateful to Him and to appreciate those around us Aameen.
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