The Profound Wisdom Of Luqman: Gratitude And Avoiding Shirk

Opening

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon the most honored of Prophets and Messengers, our Prophet Muhammad, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him and upon his family and companions.

Allah says in the Glorious Qur'an:

And he also supplicated:

The Wisdom of Luqman: Shukr (Gratitude) to Allah

These verses are not only for Luqman's son, but for the entire mankind at large — that we should look at these advices and we should implement them into our lives as well. Allah mentions:

That surely We have given Luqman wisdom — أَنِ اشْكُرْ لِلَّهِ — that to be thankful to Allah. وَمَن يَشْكُرْ فَإِنَّمَا يَشْكُرُ لِنَفْسِهِ — the one who is thankful to Allah, indeed in reality he is only thankful for himself. The benefit of the shukr of Allah will only benefit that person. وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ حَمِيدٌ — and the one who is ungrateful to Allah, indeed Allah is independent; He is not in need of the shukr, and He is all-praiseworthy.

If we look at the shukr of Allah, it is something which in reality will benefit us mostly. Allah is not in need of our shukr. He does not gain any benefit from us thanking Him. Rather it is only for our benefit.

A Story of Two Men and Musa

It comes in one story that there were two men. One of the men came to Musa (peace be upon him) and he was a very wealthy and rich person. He mentioned that he had so many things, and he asked if Musa could please ask Allah to not give him as many things — that he didn't need this much money, he didn't need this many items.

Then another person came to Musa (peace be upon him) and this person was very poor — he was miskeen. He had nothing except for a cloth on his body; that is all he had. So this person said: "Oh Musa, could you please ask Allah to give me some wealth, to give me some items, because I am so poor?"

So then Musa (peace be upon him) went to Allah, and then he came back to the people. He went to the rich person and said: "Allah said that if you do not want as many things, then stop doing shukr to Him — stop thanking Allah for the bounties He has given you. Because if you thank Allah, He will give you more."

But then that person said: "How can I not be thankful to Allah? He has given me so many things — He has given me my eyesight, my health, my wealth. How can I not be thankful to Allah?"

And then Musa (peace be upon him) went to the poor person and said: "Allah said that if you want the riches of the dunya, if you want more things, then you must be thankful to Him."

But then that poor person said: "What can I be thankful to Allah for? I have nothing. I only have one piece of cloth on my body." But then as soon as he said that, a wind came and blew that one piece of cloth away too.

So if we are not thankful to Allah, then the things we have in this dunya will go away. And if we are thankful to Him, then they will only multiply.

Luqman's Advice: Avoiding Shirk

Then in the next verse, Luqman (peace be upon him) mentions to his son — he says: "Oh my beloved son, do not make partners to Allah, for indeed shirk is a great oppression." Shirk is one of the greatest sins; it is a sin which will not be forgiven if we die upon it. So we must ask Allah to protect us from shirk and everything that leads up to it.

Luqman's Further Advices

Now after these two verses of Luqman (peace be upon him) to his son, after that there is a break of two verses. And then Luqman (peace be upon him) continues on his advices to his son. He says:

• Order with goodness — order people to do good things, and prohibit them from evil.
• Be patient upon those calamities which afflict you.
• Be moderate and be mindful and modest in the way you walk — do not walk too fast, do not walk too slow.
• Lower your voice — do not curse, do not speak loudly; speak in a respectable manner.

These are different advices that Luqman (peace be upon him) is giving his son. And this also shows how beautiful Islam is — that every single thing in Islam is laid out for us. Even the way to walk, even the way to talk — all of this is laid out in a step-by-step manual in the Qur'an and in the Sunnah of Nabi (peace be upon him).

The Central Verses: Honoring Parents

Now, we mentioned that in the beginning are the verses of Luqman (peace be upon him) to his son, and in the end are the verses of Luqman (peace be upon him) to his son. But in the middle there are a couple of verses where Allah Himself is speaking and ordering us to do something.

Before we get into the content of those verses, we must mention: why were these verses brought here? Why were they not brought after the advice of Luqman? In Tafsir Nasafi — in Madarik al-Tanzil — Imam Nasafi mentions that the reason these verses are brought in the middle was to emphasize the importance of the content of these verses. That we are reading the advice of Luqman (peace be upon him), and then all of a sudden there is a break and Allah says:

That We advise, We order mankind — to do what? To be kind to his parents. And the reason why? حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُ وَهْنًا عَلَىٰ وَهْنٍ وَفِصَالُهُ فِي عَامَيْنِ — it is the mother who carried us from weakness upon weakness. During pregnancy, as the pregnancy time went longer and longer, and as we grew bigger and bigger in the womb of our mother, we grew a bigger burden on her — not only physically in terms of our weight, but also in terms of the nutrients that we took from our mother. And she gave those nutrients not in hostility — she wasn't upset that we were taking from her — rather she gave lovingly. Our mothers wanted us to nourish from her. She wanted us to live and be born in a healthy way.

The Sacrifice of the Mother

This is what the mother does during pregnancy. And then after pregnancy, during childbirth, a mother goes through the most painful thing she will go through in her life — something that men do not go through. And they go through this again lovingly; they want us to come out healthy.

And then after that, وَفِصَالُهُ فِي عَامَيْنِ — after the childbirth comes the time where the mother is breastfeeding us. During this time the mother is the one who is supporting us with her milk — that is the only thing we are drinking, and that is how we grow up and get strong through her milk. She does not eat certain things and she always makes sure that her body is in good health so that she can help us as well.

After these two years of breastfeeding is the period of weaning, and this is also a difficult period. During this time, and after the nursing period, the mother also has to make sure that she does the tarbiyah of the child. And this is a responsibility that the mother is given from Allah.

Many mothers give up their educational careers. They give up their work just for the tarbiyah of the child. I know many parents, many mothers who were in medical school, who were in an engineering career, but as soon as they got pregnant, as soon as they had a child, they left all of that just to do the tarbiyah of the child. And today in society, people think of this as something lowly — if they see a mother who is staying at home with her child, this is considered something lowly. But rather it is the complete opposite. This is something which is loved by Allah.

It is the mother's responsibility to do the tarbiyah of the child, and it is the father's responsibility to bring the money home and to support the home. The lap of the mother is the first school for the child — in the lap of the mother the child learns how to read, the child learns the different aqā'id of the deen, the different fundamentals of the deen of Allah, and how to go about their day and their life. This is where the child learns all of this, through the mother.

The Command to Honor Parents

Now after all the sacrifice the mother goes through, we have the audacity to treat our parents in a way which no one should be treated. Allah mentioned in the Qur'an:

فَلَا تَقُل لَّهُمَا أُفٍّ — a child should not even say the word "uff" to their parents. When their parents do something which they do not like, they say the word "uff" of dislike. Even this is haram to say to our parents. وَلَا تَنْهَرْهُمَا — and do not rebuke your parents; do not speak to them in a dislikable way. وَقُل لَّهُمَا قَوْلًا كَرِيمًا — rather speak to them in an honorable and noble, kind way. وَاخْفِضْ لَهُمَا جَنَاحَ الذُّلِّ مِنَ الرَّحْمَةِ — lower down the wings of humility for your parents; we should be completely subservient and have the most humility toward our parents.

وَقُل رَّبِّ ارْحَمْهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِي صَغِيرًا — and here Allah is giving us a du'a to make for our parents. He says: "My Lord, have mercy on my parents just as they raised me when I was a child." That the difficulty they went through — give them that much mercy.

This is a du'a that we should constantly make — after every salah, every time we raise our hands, this du'a should come out of our mouths:

Jannah Is at Her Feet

It is also mentioned in a narration that a person once wanted to go out to battle. So he came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said: "Oh Nabiullah, would you allow me to go out in battle?" The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked him: "Are your parents alive?" The person said: "Yes, my mother is alive." The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

(Sunan al-Nasa'i, Hadith 3104; also recorded in similar wording in Musnad Ahmad)

"Stick to your mother. Stay with your mother. Be kind and take care of your mother. Indeed, Jannah is beneath her feet."

Going out in the path of Allah is one of the most rewardful things — giving your life to Allah — but the Prophet (peace be upon him) told this person that instead of doing that, go and take care of your mother. This shows how great of a reward this is, and how important it is in the eyes of Allah. So at every single moment that we can, we should try and be kind to our parents and take care of them.

Du'a for Parents Who Have Passed Away

And for those whose parents have passed away, one thing they can do is make du'a for them. A person who has passed away will ask Allah: "How did I get to this rank? What did I do to get to this rank?" And Allah will say: "It is because of the du'as of your children that you left behind that you got to this rank." So the du'as that we make for our parents who have passed away — these du'as go a long way.

Practical Steps to Serve Our Parents

Now, more importantly, for the people whose parents are still alive — what can we do to make sure that we fulfill these orders of Allah of doing shukr to them?

Number one: We should make sure that we call them and we speak to them on a regular basis. Those people who are long distance from their parents — one call can go a long way. We might think that it is something that doesn't have much importance, but one call to your mother, one call to your father, speaking to them for five minutes, is something which they would cherish in their heart.

Number two: Especially for the young people — people in high school and college — when we go home to our parents we should try and serve them as much as possible. At first it might seem, if we are not used to it, as something out of the ordinary — that us cleaning, or for example massaging our parents' feet or massaging their head — we might think this is something weird. But we must break that barrier and we must try and serve them as much as possible, because Allah ordered us to. So with the love of Allah, to fulfill His orders, we must go to our parents and we must try and serve them as much as possible.

For example, maybe one time in the week we should try and take one task that they do — one task such as cleaning the dishes — and do that for the entire week: "I am going to clean the dishes." And this will bring the du'as of your parents. And the du'as of the parents for the child are something which Allah accepts. There is no barrier between Allah and that du'a; it will go straight to Allah. So we must try and earn these du'as as much as possible.

Closing Du'a

I ask Allah that He allows us to serve our parents. And for those parents who have passed away, may Allah enlighten their graves and allow them to reach Jannah.

Second Khutbah

All praise is due to Allah alone. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon the seal of the Prophets. Allah says in the Glorious Qur'an:

And Allah says:

O servants of Allah, may Allah have mercy on you. Indeed Allah commands with justice and excellence and giving to relatives, and He forbids immorality, wrongdoing, and oppression. He admonishes you so that perhaps you will remember.

فَاذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوا لِي وَلَا تَكْفُرُونَ — Remember Me, I will remember you; be grateful to Me, and do not be ungrateful. And establish the prayer. Allahu Akbar.

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