Allah Will Give You More if You Are Grateful - Shaykh Yasir Qadhi

Allah Will Give You More if You Are Grateful

I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, there is no partner but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. O you who believe, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims.

Allah says in the Quran:

When we bless mankind, when blessings are surrounding mankind, the response of man is that he turns his back. He takes it for granted. He has a puff of pride and arrogance. أَعْرَضَ وَنَأَىٰ بِجَانِبِهِ — He turns away from all of these blessings, assuming the blessings will continue. There is no acceptance, there is no gratitude, there is no recognition. Rather, there is a sense of entitlement. وَإِذَا مَسَّهُ الشَّرُّ — And when some calamity happens, when the slightest hint of a problem happens, كَانَ يَئُوسًا — he becomes bitter, he becomes complaining, he becomes somebody who is not satisfied with the reality.

Allah mentions in this verse one of the main characteristics that we all are so familiar with. And that is, we take blessings for granted, and the slightest tragedy, the slightest problem, we find it to be the biggest issue — constantly moaning, groaning, complaining about this. So the question therefore is: how do we change this attitude such that we appreciate the good and we can overcome and overlook the negative?

The Reality of Shukr

There are multiple responses, but today's khutbah will illustrate one of the most important Qur'anic, Islamic manifestations of how to change our mindset. And that is the reality of shukr to Allah. Shukr — to be grateful for what we have.

Shukr — to understand and appreciate the blessings Allah has given us — is a mind changer. It is a paradigm shift. When we become of the shakireen, when we become of the thankful, when we start thinking of the positives, when we start looking at the good, then all of a sudden this impacts how we view the world.

In fact, Allah reminds us in the Qur'an that He created us to separate those amongst us who are grateful from those who are not grateful. There are only two categories of people: either the first category — those that understand and appreciate — or the second category — those that are complacent and arrogant and reject.

Allah says in the Qur'an:

We showed him the path, now it is up to him. We showed him the hidayah, it is very clear — truth and falsehood. And now, mankind will decide: إِمَّا شَاكِرًا وَإِمَّا كَفُورًا — either mankind will choose the path of thankfulness, شَاكِر, or mankind will choose the path of ungratefulness, كَفُور.

By the way, the term كُفْر or كَافِر — it has two meanings in the Qur'an. The primary meaning that we associate is the one who rejects Allah. But in fact, the Qur'an has the term كُفْر not only for rejection of Allah, but also for a rejection of thanking Allah. Because the ultimate كَافِر is the one who rejects thanking Allah by worshipping Him. The ultimate كَافِر doesn't just reject thanking Allah — the ultimate كَافِر rejects ascribing blessings to Allah, and thereby ends up rejecting Allah.

It is not a coincidence that the same root that describes ungratefulness also describes disbelief in Allah. Let that sink in. When you are ungrateful, the Qur'an uses the term كُفْر. And when you reject Allah, the Qur'an uses the term كُفْر. In other words, to be very simplistic: كُفْر, one of its opposites is iman, and كُفْر, the other opposite is شُكْر.

لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ — If you show Me شُكْر, I will give you more. وَلَئِن كَفَرْتُمْ — the opposite of شُكْر is also كُفْر. The opposite of iman is also كُفْر. Because the root is the same, the concept is the same — that you reject the blessings Allah has given you. You do not appreciate the blessings Allah has given you.

And therefore, O Muslim, one of the seminal characteristics of iman is that iman causes you to be of the shakireen. Iman causes you to constantly look at the positive and not take it for granted. Iman always, always brings about a positive paradigm.

Look at the good, look at all the blessings. Allah says in the Qur'an:

If you attempted to count Allah's blessings, you would never be able to finish that list. You cannot even count Allah's blessings, but we take them for granted. Allah says in the Qur'an:

He has immersed you. أَسْبَغَ — you are swimming in Allah's mercy. You are surrounded by Allah's mercy. ظَاهِرَةً وَبَاطِنَةً — some of them are obvious and others are not that obvious, but you are surrounded by Allah's mercy.

Allah says in the Qur'an:

My rahma encompasses every created being. Allah's rahma is much, much more than we can imagine. We are surrounded by Allah's rahma. We would not be here without Allah's blessings. Every breath that we take, every sip of water, every single blessing — Allah has given it to us. And yet we take it for granted. We don't even acknowledge it. We don't show shukr for it.

So realize, O Muslim, that shukr is that one element that changes our perspective. It makes us optimistic. It makes us positive. It makes us appreciate the good of life. If we don't have shukr, then all of the good that we have becomes trivial and irrelevant, and the smallest negative becomes the biggest issue for us. It impacts our psyche. It impacts our psychology. The one who is shakir is the most pleasant person to be around — the most optimistic person to be around, the one who's always cheerful. The one who doesn't have shukr — you don't want him around you. This person is always looking at the negative.

How Do We Inculcate Shukr?

Once we understand how important shukr is, once we understand that Allah created us to separate the shakir from the kafur, and Allah wants to see shukr — now the question arises: how does one demonstrate shukr? How does one bring about shukr into our hearts?

Multiple things can be said here. And of them, it all begins from the perception, from the niyyah, from the qalb. Everything begins from your own perception.

Sulayman vs. Qarun: Two Paradigms

We learn in the Qur'an that when Sulayman (alayhi as-salam) saw the blessings Allah had given him — when Sulayman looked around and he saw all of the wealth and the power and the might — the first thing that he said was:

All of this is from Allah's blessings upon me. All of this is Allah's fadl. I didn't deserve it. I didn't earn it. I was not able to acquire it myself. Allah gave it to me. هَٰذَا مِن فَضْلِ رَبِّي — it is an attitude. It is a paradigm shift. Everything begins from how you look at the world.

When Sulayman (alayhi as-salam) sees all of these blessings, there's no arrogance, there's no entitlement, there's no "I earned this, I deserve this." Contrast this with Qarun — that multi-billionaire whom Allah mentions in the Qur'an as being so wealthy that the keys to his treasure chest could not be lifted except with a group of men. When Qarun saw his wealth, and somebody said to him, "You should be thankful," Qarun said:

This is my skill. I was able to acquire my wealth. I know how to do business. This is my talent that got all of this.

Contrast Qarun with Sulayman. Even though Sulayman had much more than Qarun — Sulayman had the wealth, the power of the jinn, the power of the creation, the power of the animals. Sulayman had the wind on his back. Sulayman had all of the armies. People couldn't even imagine — of what use is gold and silver when you have the power of nature? And still Sulayman said, هَٰذَا مِن فَضْلِ رَبِّي — this is from my Lord, and Allah gave it to me. Why? Not because I am so pious — even though he was pious. Not because I'm so holy — even though he was holy. But he realized: هَٰذَا مِن فَضْلِ رَبِّي لِيَبْلُوَنِي أَأَشْكُرُ أَمْ أَكْفُرُ — this is from Allah's blessings, so that Allah tests me: am I grateful to Allah, or am I ungrateful to Allah?

It's all about the paradigm shift. When Qarun was ungrateful, Allah took all of his wealth in a millisecond and the people saw. And when Sulayman was grateful, Allah gave him even more power and izzah. When Sulayman demonstrated shukr, it only increased his power and izzah. And when Qarun demonstrated ingratitude, Allah took it away in a millisecond. So learn from these lessons and understand — shukr is what changes all of this.

The Five Pillars of Shukr — Al-Fayruzabadi

One of our scholars of the past — a great scholar and linguist — his name is Al-Fayruzabadi. He said that there are five pillars of shukr, manifestations of shukr that need to be demonstrated in five different areas. And of course, this is one interpretation — Al-Ghazali has others, and other scholars have given others. But for our khutbah today, let us use Al-Fayruzabadi's categorization in order to get an appreciation of how we develop the attitude of shukr.

Pillar One: Humility of the Heart

He says: number one, the first manifestation of shukr is that the heart must be humbled to the one who has given you everything. Shukr begins with humility, not arrogance. There must be humility, not entitlement. And I just gave you the example of Sulayman versus Qarun. Sulayman was humble, Qarun was arrogant. So it begins, number one, with a sense of appreciation and humility: I didn't deserve this. Allah blessed me with this wealth, this health, my family, my children — all of this Allah gave to me. I did not earn it. It is Allah's.

Pillar Two: Love and Awe of Allah

Number two: once that humility comes, it should then be followed by a genuine sense of loving Allah and appreciating the generosity of Al-Kareem. Because Allah is indeed Akramul Akrameen, and Allah has given you all of this without even you asking — imagine if you were to ask, how much more would He give you. And so the second manifestation of shukr is that once you have humbled yourself, you now love and appreciate. You now have a sense of awe. You have a sense of genuine iman. And you want to praise Allah, you want to worship Allah, because Allah has given all of this to you.

And of course, this notion of appreciating, this notion of recognizing — that should lead to worship. This is very explicit in the Qur'an. The first commandment in Surah Al-Baqarah:

O mankind, worship the one who created you and all those before you. Allah created you, so worship Him in return. Allah gave you all of this, so have that uboodiyah to Allah. So the second manifestation is that your heart should be full of awe, of humility, of love, of gratitude — and you want to worship Allah.

Pillar Three: Obeying the Commandments of Allah

This should lead to point number three: how is worship done? Once you have humility — point number one — that humility then leads to awe and servitude — point number two — point number three: what is servitude? What is worship? Point number three is to obey the commandments of Allah by fulfilling the rights of Allah and avoiding the prohibitions of Allah. A part of being of the shakireen is that you obey the shari'ah of Allah. A part of demonstrating shukr is to live your life in accordance with the shari'ah of Allah.

Allah has mandated rituals upon us — this is one of the ways to manifest shukr. That Allah has given us wealth and health and time. Every few hours, we take away a few minutes and we worship Allah facing the qibla. We do wudu, we stand up, we demonstrate piety. Allah has given us so much wealth — once a year, we are required to give a small percentage of that wealth for the fuqara. Allah has given us so much time — one month of that we dedicate for the worship of Allah when it comes to the siyam of Ramadan, and so on and so forth. Likewise, committing sins needs to be minimized, and if and when a sin is done, shukr should cause us to repent as quickly as possible from that sin.

Pillar Four: Using Allah's Blessings Righteously

Point number four: one of the greatest manifestations of shukr is to use what Allah has given you in the worship of Allah, and to be ashamed to use what Allah has given you to disobey Allah. In other words, when Allah has given you so much, how can you use what Allah has given you to disobey Him? There should be a sense of gratitude in demonstrating that what Allah has given me, I need to give to others as well. When Allah has given me wealth, allow me to share that wealth with others. When Allah has given me health, allow me to use that health to benefit other people. When Allah has given me time, allow me to use that time for other people.

Likewise, when Allah has given all of these blessings, how can I use those blessings to disobey Allah? There should be a sense of shame: I'm not going to use the very gifts Allah has given me to disobey Allah. And therefore, point number four is to use the blessings and give them to others, and to not use Allah's blessings in a way that is not befitting.

Pillar Five: Speaking of Allah's Blessings

And this leads to point number five. Of the ways Imam Al-Fayruzabadi says you demonstrate shukr: you literally think to yourself about how Allah has blessed you, and you talk to those whom you love and trust — those who will not get jealous — and you remind them. For example, remind your family of Allah's blessings on all of you. Remind your loved ones of Allah's blessings so that you don't take it for granted.

And Imam Al-Fayruzabadi says this is based on the verse:

As for Allah's blessings, tell it to other people. And our Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said: tell the blessings to those whom you love. We don't brag and boast about blessings, but there are people who love us, we love them back, and amongst those whom we can trust, we don't take these blessings for granted.

It is a part of demonstrating shukr that we remind ourselves. For example, when you're sitting with family, you literally bring up: "Alhamdulillah, Allah has blessed us with a loving family." Just to say it like this is one of the ways you are thanking Allah. You're not taking it for granted. You are demonstrating وَأَمَّا بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّثْ — the ni'mah that Allah has given you, mention it to other people.

The Three Dimensions of Shukr — Ibn al-Qayyim

These are five manifestations of shukr. Ibn al-Qayyim has a slightly different categorization — the concept is the same. Ibn al-Qayyim says to show shukr to Allah implies three things. And again, all of these categorizations are valid — it's just a matter of how you want to express what shukr is.

Ibn al-Qayyim says shukr to Allah is manifested first and foremost in the heart, then in the tongue, and then in the body. It begins from the qalb, then it moves on to the tongue, and then it is completed in the body.

The qalb, the heart, is the repository of shukr. Because in the heart, you acknowledge Allah's blessings upon you, and you show the sense of thankfulness and appreciation and humility. It is similar to what Imam Al-Fayruzabadi said when he says it begins with humility. Ibn al-Qayyim says it begins with the qalb — the same thing.

Then, when the qalb acknowledges what Allah has given you, the tongue will automatically move in praising Allah, in thanking Allah — alhamdulillah. And he mentions the story of Nuh (alayhi as-salam). That our Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said: Nuh (alayhi as-salam) was so thankful to Allah that not a single sip of water could he take except that he would say alhamdulillah for that sip. And not a single morsel of food except that his tongue would say alhamdulillah — not for every meal, for every morsel. For every time something entered his mouth, he would say alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah. So conscious of Allah.

So it begins with the qalb, moves on to the tongue, and then Ibn al-Qayyim says it is perfected in the body — when the body becomes the perfect worshipper of Allah, when the body outwardly and inwardly becomes pious and muttaqi, and ihsan is demonstrated. This is the highest manifestation of shukr.

And then he mentions the famous verse in the Qur'an:

اعْمَلُوا آلَ دَاوُودَ شُكْرًا — O family of Dawood, demonstrate your shukr through your amal. Ibn al-Qayyim says this verse shows shukr is not just in the heart, it's not just in the tongue — it must be in the amal. Show your shukr through your good deeds, O family of Dawood. Family of Dawood means Dawood and Sulayman. O family of Dawood, show me how thankful you are — and that showing is done by the amal.

Shukr as the Core of Iman

O Muslims, the concept of shukr is one of the primary manifestations of iman. When you have iman in Allah, automatically — as I said — it will be a paradigm shift. You will be grateful for what Allah has given you. You will be thankful for all the blessings you have. You will become an optimistic and cheerful person. Otherwise, when you don't have shukr, you become petty, you become stingy, you become grumbling and complaining all the time, you become entitled and arrogant. And this is not the way of the believer, O Muslim.

Allah loves the shakireen. And Allah blesses the shakireen. Allah says in the Qur'an:

If you are thankful, I will give you even more. But if you are ungrateful, then know that My punishment is very severe. We want Allah's blessings. We want Allah's pleasure. And we seek refuge in Allah from Allah's punishment. May Allah bless me and you with the truth of the Qur'an. And may He make us of those whose verses they understand, and who applies halal and haram throughout their lifespan. I ask Allah's forgiveness — you as well, ask Him for His ghafoor and rahman.

Second Khutbah: The Greatest Blessing and Practical Advice

O Muslims, as we look at all of these blessings that Allah has given us, without a doubt the greatest blessing that Allah has given us is the blessing of iman. The biggest blessing is the blessing of iman.

And of the blessings of iman is the blessing of the Qur'an and the blessing to be in the ummah of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam). There is no blessing that is greater than the blessing of being a Muslim. And the blessing of being a Muslim is manifested in believing in the Qur'an and in believing in the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wasallam). And of the greatest manifestations of appreciating that blessing is to live our lives in accordance with the Qur'an and the teachings of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam).

Practical Advice: Be Content

O Muslim, our Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) gave us some practical advice to make sure that we show shukr and demonstrate shukr. Of them, the famous hadith where the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4217)

Be content with what Allah has given you, and you will find yourself the most thankful of all mankind. Be content, don't be greedy. Don't compare yourself to those with more than you. Be content and you will find that you are the most thankful for what you have.

O Muslim, our blessings are too many. Yet when we compare with those who have more than us, we trivialize our blessings. There is no blessing greater than the blessing of iman — thank Allah for that blessing. After that, the blessing of health is the most precious blessing. Wallahi, of what use are millions or billions if you don't have good health? So when you have health, be thankful to Allah.

A man came to Hasan al-Basri and he said, "Ya Hasan al-Basri, I am impoverished. I have nothing. Make du'a for me." Hasan al-Basri looked at him and he said, "You seem healthy and young. Would you give me a million gold coins for your eyesight?" The man said, "No, of course not." "Okay, would you give me a million for the ability to walk?" "Of course not." "How about a million for your hands?" "Of course not." "A million for your health?" "Of course not." Hasan al-Basri said, "I see you walking around a multi-millionaire, and yet you complain you don't have anything. You have health, and yet you are complaining you have nothing."

This is why our Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said: be grateful, be content with what Allah has given you — you will be the most thankful of all of mankind. Be content and don't be greedy, and automatically it will lead to a paradigm shift.

Practical Advice: Look Below in Dunya, Look Above in Deen

Also, our Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said — and this hadith is in Tirmidhi — two things: whoever does them will be written amongst the shakireen and the sabireen. Two things — if you do them, you will be a shakir and a sabir. He said:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2512)

When it comes to this dunya, look at those who have less than you — and you will be thankful to Allah. And when it comes to the religion, look at those higher than you — and you will strive for excellence.

This hadith is an important hadith about how to be of the shakireen. Don't compare yourself to the top 10%, the top 1%, the top 0.1%. Compare yourself to those who are living in places where bombs are dropping. Compare yourself to those who don't have three meals a day. Compare yourself to those who don't have what you have. And all of a sudden your heart will say, "Alhamdulillah, I am so fortunate."

And when it comes to the religion, don't look at the drug addict and say, "At least I'm not like him." No. Look at the one who's praying fajr in the masjid and say, "Why am I not like him?" Look at the one who, even though he's working just like you, is also memorizing Qur'an, also giving charity — and ask yourself, "Why can't I be like that person?" Our Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said: if you follow these two characteristics — when it comes to the religion, look up; when it comes to the dunya, look at those whom you have been privileged over — do this, and you will be from the shakireen and the sabireen.

Practical Advice: Make Du'a to Be Among the Shakireen

And the final point of advice — and khutbahs always have to be concise, there is so much more to be said — I remind myself and all of you: when you want to be of the shakireen, raise your hands to Allah and make du'a to Allah to make you of the shakireen. Our Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) taught Mu'adh ibn Jabal and said: never ever forget to make this du'a after every single salah:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 1522; Sunan al-Nasa'i, Hadith 1303)

O Allah, help me to remember You, and help me to be thankful to You, and help me to worship You in the best manner. You make du'a to Allah: "O Allah, I don't want to be arrogant, I don't want to be self-entitled, I don't want to be moaning and complaining — I want to be grateful. O Allah, make me from the grateful." So you raise your hands after every single salah and you say, Allahumma a'inni 'ala dhikrika wa shukrika wa husni 'ibadatik.

When you do all of these things, wallahi O Muslim, it won't just help your akhirah — it will help your dunya as well. You will be a better person, you will be a more pleasant person. Your family and your friends are going to see this difference. Why? Because the barakah and the blessings of iman and the sweetness of shukr — it is going to be manifested in your own personal life. And when you do so, Allah will bless you with even more. Never forget:

If you show Me shukr, I will give you even more. And wallahi, I want more, and you want more. I want more from Allah. The way to get more from Allah is to show shukr to Allah. May Allah make us of the shakireen.

Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet. O you who believe, send blessings upon him and salute him with a worthy salutation.