Thankfulness

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SHUKR (THANKFULNESS)

Literally meaning gladness felt about and gratitude shown for the good done to one, Sufis use shukr to mean using one’s body, abilities, feelings, and thoughts bestowed upon one to fulfill the purpose of his or her creation: being thankful to the Creator for what He has bestowed. Such thankfulness is to be reflected in the person’s actions or daily life, in speech and in the heart, by admitting that all things are directly from Him, and by feeling gratitude for them.

One may thank God verbally by only depending upon His power and strength, as well as upon His bestowal or withholding of favors, and acknowledging that all good and bounties come from Him. As He alone creates all good, beauty, and bounty, as well as the means by which they can be obtained, only He sends them at the appropriate time.

Since He alone determines, apportions, creates, and spreads [all our provisions] before us as "heavenly tables," He alone deserves our gratitude and thanks. Attributing our attainment of His bounties to our own or to another’s means or causes, in effect thereby proclaiming that He is not the true Owner, Creator, and Giver of all bounty, is like giving a huge tip to the servant who lays before us a magnificent table and ignoring the host who is responsible for having it prepared and sent to us. Such an attitude reflects sheer ignorance and ingratitude, as mentioned in: They know only the outward face of the life of the world (apparent to them), and they are completely unaware of (its face looking to) the Hereafter (30:7).

True thankfulness in one’s heart is manifested through the conviction and acknowledgment that all bounties are from God, and then ordering one’s life accordingly. One can thank God verbally and through one’s daily life only if personally convinced, and if one willingly acknowledges that his or her existence, life, body, physical appearance, and all abilities and accomplishments are from God, as are all of the bounties obtained and consumed. This is stated in: Do you not see that God has made serviceable unto you whatsoever is in the skies and whatsoever is in the earth, and has loaded you with His bounties seen or unseen? (31:20), and: He gives you of all that you ask Him; and if you reckon the bounties of God, you can never count them (14:34).

Bodily thankfulness is possible by using one’s organs, faculties, and abilities for the purposes for which they were created, and in performing the duties of servanthood falling on each. On the other hand, some have stated that verbal thankfulness means daily recitation of portions of the Qur’an, prayers, supplications, and God’s Names. Thankfulness by the heart means that one is certain or convinced of the truth of the Islamic faith and straightforwardness. Practical or bodily thankfulness, according to others, means observing all acts of worship. Since thankfulness relates directly to all aspects or branches of belief and worship, it is regarded as half of the faith. With respect to this inclusiveness, it is considered together with patience, meaning that according to some people, thankfulness and patience are considered as the two halves of religious life.

In His eternal Speech, God Almighty repeatedly commands thankfulness and, as in the phrases: so that you may give thanks (2:52) and God will reward the thankful (3:144), presents it as the purpose of creation and of sending religion. In such verses as: If you are thankful I will add more unto you. But if you show ingratitude My punishment is terrible indeed (14:7), He has promised abundant reward to the thankful and threatened the ungrateful with a terrible punishment. One of His own Names is the All-Thanking, which shows us that the way to obtain all bounties or favors is through thankfulness, which He returns with abundant reward. He exalts the Prophets Abraham and Noah, upon them be peace, saying: (Abraham was) thankful for His bounties (16:121) and Assuredly, he (Noah) was a grateful servant (17:3).

Although thankfulness is a religious act of great importance and significant "capital," few people truly do it: Few of My servants are thankful (34:13). Very few people live in full aware-ness of the duty of thankfulness, saying: Shall I not be a servant grateful (to my Lord)?, and try their best to perform their duty of thankfulness and order their lives accordingly.

The glory of humanity, upon him be peace and blessings, whose soles swelled because of his long supererogatory prayer vigils (tahajjud), was a matchless hero of thankfulness. On one occasion, he told his wife ‘A’isha: Shall I not be a servant grateful to God? He always thanked God and recommended thankfulness to his followers, and prayed to God every morning and evening, saying: O God. Help me mention You, thank You, and worship You in the best way possible.

Thankfulness is the deep gratitude and devotion of one who, receiving His bounties or favors, directs these feelings toward the One Who bestows such blessing, and the subsequent turning to Him in love, appreciation, and acknowledgment. The above Prophetic saying expresses this most directly.

People are thankful for many things: the provisions, home, and family with which they have been favored; wealth and health; belief, knowledge of God, and the spiritual pleasures bestowed on them; and the consciousness with which God favored them so they could open themselves to the knowledge that they must be thankful. If those who are thankful for such a consciousness use their helplessness and destitution as "capital" and thank Him continuously, they will be among the truly thankful. It is narrated from God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, that The Prophet David, upon him be peace, asked God Almighty: O Lord. How can I be thankful to You, since thanking You is another favor that requires thankfulness? The Almighty responded: Just now you have done it. I think this is what is expressed in: We have not been able to thank You as thanking You requires, O All-Thanked One.

One can be thankful by recognizing and appreciating Divine favors, for feeling gratitude to the One Who bestows favors depends to a great extent on due recognition and appreciation of them. Belief and Islam (including the Qur’an) lead one to recognize and appreciate favors and thus turn to God in gratitude. One can be more aware of these favors, and that they are given to us by God out of His mercy for our helplessness and inability to meet our own needs, in the light of belief and Islamic practices. This awareness urges us to praise the One Who bestows upon us those favors and bounties that we consume. Awakening to the meaning of: As for the favor of Your Lord, proclaim it (93:11), we feel a deep need to be grateful and thankful.

Everyone is naturally inclined to praise the good and the one who does good to him or her. However, until this feeling is aroused there is no awareness of being favored by someone else, just as fish are not conscious of living in water. Furthermore, these favors may be attributed to the means and causes used to obtain them. If it is blindness and deafness not to see and appreciate the favors we continuously receive, then it must be an unforgivable deviation to attribute them to various blind, deaf, and unfeeling means and causes. The Prophetic statements: One who does not thank for the little does not thank for the abundant, and: One who does not thank people does not thank God, express blindness and deafness to favors and remind us of the importance of being thankful. Such verses as: Mention Me so that I will mention you, and give thanks to Me and do not be ungrateful to Me (2:152), and: Worship Him and give Him thanks (29:17) tell us that it is God Who truly deserves to be thanked, and also remind us of His absolute Unity.

Thankfulness can be divided into three categories. The first category consists of thankfulness for those things that everyone, regardless of religion or spiritual attainment, desires. The second category consists of thankfulness for those things that, although apparently disagreeable or displeasing, reveal their true nature to those who can see them as favors requiring gratitude.

The third category of thankfulness is that kind performed by those who are loved by God and view favors or bounties from the perspective of the One Who bestows them. They spend their lives in spiritual pleasure that begins in observing God’s manifestation of Himself through His favors, and take the greatest pleasure in worshipping Him. Although they are always enraptured with the spiritual delight flowing from their love of Him, they are extremely careful of their relationship with Him. Such people constantly strive to preserve the Divine blessings that have been bestowed upon them, and always search for what they have missed. While they constantly deepen their belief, love, and gratitude along the way toward Him, the "nets of their sight" are filled with different blessings and gifts.

O God! Include us among Your servants whom You love, have made sincere, and have brought unto You. Grant peace and blessings to our Master, the Master of those loved, made sincere, and brought near unto You.

{Soorah al-Anfal (8):53}

This is one of the ways in which Allah deals with His servants, for He made the condition of people directly related to their belief. If they change their belief, Allaah will change their condition. Allah will replace their security with fear, and their sustenance. And security and sustenance are two  Allah's greatest graces. Allah says in the Quraan,

{Soorah Quraish (106:3-4)}

Suhaib ibn Sinan narrated that the Prophet said:

"How remarkable is the case of the believer! There is good for him in everything, but this is not the case for anyone except for the believer. When the believer receives any good, he is thankful to Allah, and gets a reward. And when some misfortune befalls him, he endures it patiently, for which he is (also) rewarded."

{Fiqh as-Sunnah, vol.4, p.1.}

What is Thankfulness?

In Islamic terminology, Thankfulness is the acknowledgment of the fact that Allah is the only Grantor of graces, and full submission to Allah in a way that assures that acknowledgment. The graces (favors) of Allah are endless and countless. Allah says in His Book

{Soorah Ibrahim (14): 34}

H, the All Mighty also says:

{Soorah an-Nahl, (16): 53}

How can a servant (Abd) thank Allaah?
{The word ‘slaves’ represents mankind, for all of mankind are expected to totally submit to the will of Allah}

The servant can thank Allaah in many ways. These include:

1. Prostrating to Allah, when the servant receives a blessing from Allaah or when Allah saves him from a disaster.
The Messenger of Allaah (salallahu alaihi wasallam) used to prostrate to Allah whenever he received a pleasant thing or was told good news. This prostration is conducted for the sole purpose of giving thanks to Allaah, the Granter of the grace and benefit that the servant received.

[see Fiqh as-Sunnah by Sayyid Sabiq (English trans.) vol.2, p.45]

Abdur-Rahman ibn 'Auf relates that the Messenger of Allah (sallaahu alayhi wasallam) went out once and he followed him until he entered a grove of palm trees and prostrated. His prostration was so long that 'Abdur-Rahman feared that Allah had taken his soul. 'Abdur-Rahman came to look at him and he raised his head and said: "What is wrong, Abdur-Rahman'?" Abdurrahman mentioned what had happened, and he said: "Gibra'el came to me and said: 'Shall I not give you glad tidings'? Allah says to you, Whoever prays upon you, I pray upon him. Whoever salutes you, I salute him.' Therefore, I prostrated to Allah in thanks."

{This is related by Ahmad and by Al-Haakim who says: "It is sahih according to the criterion of al-Bukhari and Muslim}
 

2. Thanking Allah in words : The majority of the scholars agreed that if the servant does not thank Allaah for the grace he has, then that grace will go away and may never come back.
Allah's Messenger  (sallaahu alayhi wasallam)said,

"It is a fine thing when a believer praises and thanks Allah if good comes to him, and praises Allah and shows endurance if smitten by affliction. The believer is rewarded for everything, even for the morsel he raises to his wife's mouth."

{Bayhaqi transmitted it in Shu'ab al-Iman. Sunan at-Tirmidhi no.1733 See also Saheeh Muslim (7138)}

3. Talking about the benefits Allah has granted him. This is because concealing the benefits of Allah is ungrateful. Allaah says in the Quraan:

{Soorah an-Nahl (16):72}

Ibn Katheer commented that denying the favors of Allah means hiding his grants and/or relating them to others than Allah.

{Saheeh al-Bukhari (1:807)}

4. Helping people in need. It was mentioned in a Hadeeth of Prophet Muhammad  (sallaahu alayhi wasallam) that:

"As the grants from Allah to a servant increase, so will the people's needs of that blessed servant's services. If the servant ignores their needs, it will cause those grants to be removed"

(lbn Hibban).

The Prophet (sallaahu alayhi wasallam) said, "If anyone strokes an orphan's head, doing so only for Allah's sake, he will have blessings for every hair over which his hand passes; and if anyone treats well an orphan girl or boy under his care, he and I shall be like these two in Paradise," putting two of his fingers together."

{Sunan at-Tirmidhi no.4974}

Why does the servant not thank Allah?

The servant may not thank Allaah for several reasons:
1. The servant may be unaware of the general grants that were bestowed by Allah on the creatures. Many people wrongly think that money is the only thing to be considered and ignore the other general grants such as hearing, vision, sanity and health.

The Prophet (sallaahu alayhi wasallam) said, "There are two blessings which many people lose: (They are) health and free time for doing good."

{Saheeh al-Bukhari vol 8: 421}

Aaishah, the Prophet's wife said: "Whenever a servant drinks a drop of water which gets into his body and leaves it with no harm, then a thanks is due."

A man came to a good Muslim and complained that Allah made him very poor. The good man said: "Would you like to have ten thousand dinars and be insane?" The Complainer answered: "No." The good man said: "Would you like to have ten thousand dinars but have your legs chopped off" The complainer answered: "No." The good man then said: "Aren't you ashamed of yourself complaining about your Lord while all of these grants which are His; have been bestowed on you?"

2. The servant may not give thanks to his Lord because he is unaware of the people who have less bounties than him. This is mentioned in a Hadeeth in Saheeh Muslim, that:

Allaah's Messenger (sallaahu alayhi wasallam) said, "Look at those people who have less than you and never look at those who have more grants than you, this will ensure that you will not depreciate Allah's grants."

{Saheeh Muslim no.1530}

At times of hardship, one should turn his eyes towards a person who owns less worldly things than him. He will then be calmed and his ungratefulness will disappear. One will then thank his Lord and say: "Thanks to Allah who has guarded me against the harm which He has afflicted others, and who has chosen not to afflict me"

{Sunan at-Tirmidhi}

 3.  The servant may not give thanks to his Lord because he is unaware of Allah's names, attributes and laws. The real ignorant person is the one who gets deceived by the amount of money he has or by his position or his power. He forgets the fact that as Allah has granted, He may also take the blessings away.
Allaah says in His Book,
" Say, O Allah! Lord of Power (and Rule) You give Power to whom You will and You take away power from whom You will, and you endue with honor whom you will, and humiliate who you will. In Your Hand is the good. Verily, You are Able to do all things."

{Soorah al-Imran (3):26}

When does Allaah take His grants away from His servants?

1. When one commits sins :
The Messenger of Allaah (sallaahu alayhi wasallam) said, "The servant will be deprived a provision because he committed a sin"

(Musnad Ahmed).

On the other hand, fearing Allaah causes His provisions to come forth, Allah says in the Quraan,

"And whoever fears Allaah and keeps his duty to Him, Allaah will make way for him out of every difficulty, And He will provide for him from sources he never imagined"

{Soorah at-Talaq (65):2-3}

2. When the servant relates the grants to himself and does not acknowledge that Allah is their Grantor as Qaroon (a tyrannical king mentioned in the Qur'aan al-Qasas (28): 78 ) said,

Consequently. his punishment was, "So We caused the earth to swallow him and his dwelling place. Then he had no group or party to help him against Allaah."

{Soorah al-Qasas (28): 81}

3. When the servant does not give Zakaat.
The Messenger of Allaah (sallaahu alayhi wasallam)  said, "Indeed Allaah the Most High said, 'We have sent down the wealth for the prayer to be established and that Zakaat be given; and if the son of Aadam had a valley, he would love to have a second; if he had two valleys, he would love to have a third, and nothing will fill the belly of the son of Aadam except dust …"

{Musnad Ahmed & at-Tabaraanee. Saheeh al-Jaami, no.1777.}

So the money is actually Allaah's money, and we have been entrusted with it. And he (sallaahu alayhi wasallam)  said,
"Do not shut your money bag; otherwise Allah too will withhold His blessings from you. Spend (in Allah's cause) as much as you can afford. "

{Saheeh al-Bukhari 2/515}

The  Prophet of Allaah (sallaahu alayhi wasallam)  also said,
"Do not withhold your money by counting it (i.e. hoarding it), (for if you did so), Allah would also withhold His blessings from you."

{Saheeh al-Bukhari vol.2: 514}

4. When the servant of Allaah becomes arrogant due to the large amount of money he has. If the person feels superior to other people, and his wealth becomes his only business, if he talks about it and only about it wherever he goes, and forgets to remember Allaah and praise Him; if he starts evaluating people based on their wealth, then Allaah will remove his grants.
Allaah says in the Quraan,

"Woe to every slanderer and back biter. Who has gathered wealth and counted it. He thinks that his wealth will make last forever. Nay! Verily, he will be thrown into the crushing fire."

{Soorah al-Humazah (104):1-4}

And finally there is no better example for us than the Messenger of Allaah (sallaahu alayhi wasallam) who used to offer night prayers till his feet became swollen. Somebody said to him, "Allah has forgiven you, your faults of the past and those to follow." On that, he said,

{Saheeh al-Bukhari vol.6: 360}

Thankfulness 2

by Abdalhaqq Bewley

We gratefully acknowledge and thank Aisha Bewley for permission to reproduce this.

Praise be to Allah for the blessing of Islam. It is blessing enough. Truly the mere fact of being a Muslim in this darkest of times is in itself a gift beyond price. To be able to remember and invoke the Lord of existence when such a large percentage of humanity is floundering about in the pitch darkness of shirk and unbelief is already in itself a great victory. Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib, may Allah cover him with mercy, used to say, "In this time of ours, if a man goes to sleep having prayed his five prayers for Allah, he has won."

Shaykh Ibn 'Ata'llah says in his Hikam, "It is enough reward for an action that He considered you worthy of performing it." So the sheer fact of being able to say, la ilaha illa'llah Muhammadun Rasulu'llah with sincerity and to act according to it - the great gift of guidance - is, on its own, a treasure beyond estimation; and if we add to it our existence itself, and the generous provision with which it is sustained, and the blessing of our families and companions, and the overwhelming beauty of the world and universe which we inhabit, and all the innumerable other blessings with which our lives are unceasingly filled minute by minute, we can only repeat the ayat in Allah's Book:

If you try to count up the number of the blessings of Allah, you will never be able to calculate it.

There is only one course open to us and that is to give thanks to Allah for them, even though that thanks itself is a further blessing, for as Allah Himself says,

If you are thankful I will give you increase.

So our giving thanks is itself a means to greater reward.

The question is how can we possibly thank Allah for all this. One answer is that it is quite impossible! One of the people of Allah of the past used to say, "O Allah, You know that I cannot possibly thank you sufficiently for all the gifts You have given me so I ask You to thank Yourself on my behalf!"

This may be the reality of the situation but, al-hamdu lillah, Allah has given us the means to thank Him and moreover in His overwhelming generosity promised to reward us for doing it.

The people of knowledge have said that thankfulness should be expressed in three ways: with the heart, with the tongue and with the limbs.

Thankfulness of the heart consists in actually being consciously aware of the immeasurable gifts and blessings of Allah and in attributing them to Him and no one else. It lies in understanding that existence in all its varied manifestations is a continuous outpouring and overflowing from a compassionate and generous Creator. It is understanding the sixth pillar of Iman, Acknowledgement of the Decree, both its good and its bad, and understanding that, in reality, even its bad is a blessing. The Prophet, salla'llahu 'alayhi wa sallam, said, "How marvellous is the affair of the mumin! If good comes to him, he is thankful and Allah gives him increase and if bad comes to him he has sabr, acts with patience and fortitude and steadfastness, and Allah rewards him for that." And what is the reward of patience? The companionship of Allah tabaraka wa ta'ala Himself, for Allah says: "Allah is with the steadfast."

And what could possibly be better than the companionship of Allah?

So it can be seen from this that thankfulness of the heart is, in fact, directly connected to the way the mumin sees and experiences existence. However knowing this and actually experiencing it are two very different matters. The problem is that we have been brought up and educated in a world where a quite opposite view of existence is the norm and, more than that, we have been actively indoctrinated into taking on that world view.

The kafir world view - it is worth noting that as well as meaning to reject Islam, the word kafara also means to be unthankful - clearly expressed and propagated by Descartes and his followers, and drummed into us from an early age, is that the human being is a mind trapped in a body looking out onto a basically hostile and untrustworthy world outside of himself which he must overpower and control. It is you against the world. If you don't get it, it will get you.

This view of existence was brilliantly portrayed by Cervantes in Don Quixote, who goes out into the world in search of conflict ready to take on all comers and if he can't find a human opponent, he has to conjure up adversaries out of windmills and trees. His identity can only find expression in conflict with the other.

This view of existence, which we have been taught as normal, was that formulated by the so-called "Enlightenment" and propagated under the name of liberal individualism. How different it is from the viewpoint of the mumin who sees himself not so much as observer but as observed, in the eye of his benevolent Creator, who desires nothing but good for him; everything outside himself is, therefore, rather than something threatening or hostile, simply the means for him to come closer to his Lord.

Another aspect of the kafir - ungrateful - view of existence is that, when difficulties or problems occur, the other is always to blame. The embattled identity must be defended at all costs against all comers. The blame for what happens is always outside the self. In the words of the Qur'an, they feel, "Every cry is against them." Existence is wrong - they are right - even in some instances, ironically, to the extent of self-destruction. People who cut off their nose to spite their face. For such a self any gratitude is difficult almost to the point of impossibility and, to the extent to which we see ourselves in this light, or rather darkness, thankfulness of the heart is correspondingly out of reach.

The mumin, on the other hand, if he experiences difficulties and problems, does not blame them on anything outside but rather attributes their cause to himself. Since existence is the compassionate outpouring of a benevolent Creator there can be nothing wrong with it. If he finds something a problem, then the source of the problem must lie in his own perception, not the thing itself. There are two extraordinary ayats in the Qur'an made all the more so by their proximity to each other which makes this clear. They occur close together in Surat an-Nisa' (4). The first is:

Say, "Everything comes from Allah."

The second:

Any good thing that happens to you comes from Allah. Any bad thing that happens to you comes from yourself.

So the mumin, if he sees any flaw in existence sees it as lying in himself, not in the other. For the person who experiences existence in this way, thankfulness for what comes to him from Allah is a natural and inevitable extension of his state.

There is a story which was told to us by Sidi Salih, may Allah have mercy on him, a Darqawi shaykh of the Middle Atlas in Morocco, which exemplifies these two ways of viewing existence very well.

Some fuqara' asked their shaykh to explain to them the difference between false knowledge and true knowledge. He said to them that rather than tell them about it he would demonstrate it to them so that they would really understand it. He told them that two men were shortly coming to visit him, one a highly respected scholar from Fes with extensive knowledge of different tafsirs of the Qur'an, an acknowledged authority on hadith and a mine of information regarding the details of fiqh, the other an Imam from the mountains who had recently joined the tariqa. He said that when the two men arrived and came into the zawiyya and greeted the fuqara, they were not to answer them.

The first to arrive was the renowned scholar. He came in, stood inside entrance, and loudly and deliberately pronounced the greeting, 'Assalamu 'alaykum! -- No reply. The fuqara' continued talking among themselves. A second time the scholar called the greeting, this time a little irritably. Again no reply. Once more the scholar, now quite angry, almost shouted the greeting, by doing so completely belying its meaning. Upon receiving no reply a third time, he burst out angrily, "What is wrong with you people? Are you Muslims or not? Don't you know that the Shari'ah says you should always respond to someone who greets you. I thought your shaykh was a man of knowledge who taught his followers the deen but if you are any example to go by . . . your behaviour is only worthy of animals!" Upon this, the shaykh appeared, warmly greeted the scholar, accompanied the disgruntled man to his quarters and mollified him with courtesy and hospitality.

Soon after this the Imam arrived, entered the zawiyya and seeing the fuqara' sitting in one corner, started across towards them, pronouncing the greeting as he did so with eagerness and warmth: 'Assalamu 'alaykum!' No reply. The assembled fuqara' paid no attention to him, carrying on talking among themselves. A second time the Imam greeted them, this time a little hesitantly. Again there was no reply. Once more he greeted them, this time in quiet almost broken tones and again they ignored him completely. "O my brothers," he said almost in tears, "what have I done to offend you? Please tell me what it is, so that I can set it right and become worthy of your companionship."

At this point the shaykh appeared again and explained the situation to the Imam, who immediately thanked and praised Allah and joined the fuqara' who now embraced him warmly.

Then the shaykh turned to the fuqara' and addressed them, saying, "Do you now understand the difference between false knowledge and true knowledge?"

This is just a little about thankfulness of the heart, but the important thing to realize is that without it any outward expression of thanks can never be more than just that, a form devoid of any meaning whatsoever, a stillborn child. It is the essential secret ingredient.

In connection with this, it is vital to grasp that good qualities, such as thankfulness, cannot be acquired, they must be uncovered in the being. Ash-Shakur, the Thankful, is one of the names of Allah, meaning, in His case, the One who rewards good actions with a reward out of all proportion to their worth. Human thankfulness is a faint reflection of this divine quality when it is uncovered in the human heart.

These qualities can be desired and striven for but never imposed by will. The result of trying to impose good character by force of will is that awful niceness adopted by Christians in the name of virtue - and, unfortunately, increasingly by Muslims under the influence of the same false concepts. The smile concealing a naked blade. Total inauthenticity. Good qualities can only be attained by understanding and rejecting the false view of existence that has been thrust upon us and by purifying the heart of those negative characteristics that stand in the way. And success is only by the power and mercy of Allah.

This being understood, it is clear that thankfulness, when its reality exists in the heart, must inevitably be expressed outwardly in the two ways mentioned previously, thankfulness of the tongue and thankfulness of the limbs.

It is with our tongues that we give clear expression to what is in our hearts, and genuine thankfulness to Allah tabaraka wa ta'ala will automatically appear on our tongues. Its first expression is to directly thank Allah for His gifts to us - the gift of food, the gift of good health, all the blessings of life we daily receive. Our response to these things will be to directly thank the One to whom we owe them and the words, al-hamdu lillah wa shukru lillah will never be far from our tongues. But thanks with the tongue goes beyond this simple acknowledgement of blessing.

Thankfulness brings with it the desire to please the One from whom a gift has come and so part of thanking Allah with our tongues is to use them in a way that we know is pleasing to Him, such as learning and recitation of His own words in the Qur'an and much dhikrullah. Connected with this is the avoidance of those types of speech that are displeasing to Him such as profanities and idle gossip. A further aspect of thankfulness is the desire to tell others about the qualities and generosity of your benefactor and so the thankful tongue will be eager to talk about Allah and to teach others all it knows about Allah and also about His Messenger, for it is only through the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that we have access to Allah and knowledge and experience of His qualities and attributes.

The essence of thankfulness of the limbs is in the example of the Prophet, salla'llahu 'alayhi wa sallam, who, upon being asked why he stood at night in prayer so that his feet became swollen, when all his past and future wrong actions had been forgiven, replied, "Should I not be a thankful slave?" It is clear from this that thankfulness entails wearing out the body in the service of and submission to Allah. In practical terms this means first and foremost obedience to all the commands of Allah and avoidance of what He has prohibited and following the Sunna of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and treading in the footsteps of his Companions, may Allah be pleased with all of them. They all wore themselves out in their scrupulous taking on of Allah's deen as its parameters become clear to them and in their implacable struggle to see it established in the world.

We are once more in a situation which is very similar to theirs in that there is now nowhere on the surface of the earth where the reality of Islam - that total life practice which the Prophet, salla'llahu 'alayhi wa sallam, transmitted to us from His Lord and which he and his Companions lived and died to establish - still exists. Therefore our thankfulness to Allah tabaraka wa ta'ala for the greatest of His blessings that He has given us, that of guiding us to Islam, can only be expressed in our taking on to the utmost, the job of establishing Allah's deen in its totality in the world once more. This will undoubtedly mean a fight. There is no changing the sunna of Allah. Allah says: "Fight them until the deen is purely Allah's." And the Prophet, salla llahu 'alayhi wa sallam, made it quite clear that the obligation of Jihad - fighting to establish and preserve Allah's deen - would go on until the Last Day.

At this point I should make clear the differences between this fight of the Muslims and the fight of the embattled kafir soul I spoke of earlier. The kafir confronted by his "hostile" world, fights to preserve his own identity or its extension in his family or nation or people. The enemy, out there, is seen as a personal threat. He is entrapped in his own self limiting view of existence. By definition the Muslim is forbidden to fight for himself. In fact, if anything, he is fighting to lose his identity. His enemy is not the men confronting him but the resistance to the Truth they represent. If they submit to the Truth they immediately cease to be his enemies and become his brothers. His fight is not of this world but beyond it.

I ask Allah ta'ala to fill our hearts with the reality of thankfulness to Him accompanied by the words and actions that flow from it.

O Allah assist us in remembering You and thanking You and worshipping You in the best way!