Being Thankful To Allah

Opening — Khutbah al-Hajah

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ

Being Thankful to Allah for His Blessings

This khutbah is about being thankful to Allah azza wa jal for His blessings. Many times someone will come to you and they will lay out all the problems that are in their life, and sometimes you get a sense that the person doesn't appreciate all the other blessings that they have in their life.

Concerning being thankful to Allah azza wa jal, Allah azza wa jal says in the Quran:

"And few of My servants are truly thankful." This is a verse that should put us to shame when we hear it, because every single one of us has so many blessings from Allah — to the point that we can't even count them. Allah azza wa jal says in the Quran:

"If you were to try to count the blessings of Allah, you would not be able to enumerate them." Every single one of us has so many blessings that we couldn't even count them. So why wouldn't we all be very thankful to Allah azza wa jal? And yet Allah azza wa jal says: وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُورُ.

Shakir vs. Shakoor — Two Levels of Gratitude

In Arabic you have shākir and shakoor. The shākir is the one who thanks Allah azza wa jal, and for the most part they thank Allah azza wa jal for the usual blessings here and there. But shakoor is a higher level. That's why when Allah described Nuh, the Prophet Nuh alayhi salam, in Surah al-Isra', Allah azza wa jal says:

Not shākiran — the higher level. So then, what is the difference between the two?

The shakoor — the individual who is very and truly thankful to Allah azza wa jal — first of all, they recognize blessings that people have taken for granted, and they thank Allah azza wa jal for those things. And they thank Allah even at times of difficulties and calamities, because they know that Allah is testing them, because they know that Allah wants them to draw nearer to Him, because they know that these difficulties and calamities will expiate their sins, and they know that these difficulties will raise them in rank in al-paradise — in Jannah. So they are thankful to Allah even at difficult times.

In Surah al-Insan, Allah describing the human being says:

So Allah says: "We guided him to the path — either he is thankful." And Allah didn't say shakoor here, but shākiran, because that's where the majority of people will be — the majority of people will be in the lower level of being thankful to Allah. As we said, the few will be in the higher level. But when it comes to being ungrateful, Allah uses the higher form — not kāfiran but kafūran — because most people will fall into this category: being very ungrateful to Allah.

Blessings We Take for Granted

So when we come to thank Allah azza wa jal — and let's understand why Allah azza wa jal says "few of My servants are truly thankful" — the majority of us thank Him for the usual things. You have a meal, you thank Allah azza wa jal. You see someone who is blind or injured, you thank Allah for your health, and so on and so forth. But there are so many blessings that we take for granted — and how many of us have paused and remembered to thank Allah for these specific blessings?

Like, for example — teeth. All of us have teeth. How many people paused and thanked Allah azza wa jal for their teeth? But we always give the example: if one of them gives you a head-splitting headache and it's causing you excruciating pain, you rush to the dentist and you give him money and he removes it and throws it in the trash, and you thank him for getting rid of it — while you had all the rest for years and years and they never caused you any pain. How many people stopped and thanked Allah azza wa jal for their teeth?

How many people stopped and thanked Allah for having good skin, or for having good hair, or for having a full head of hair, or for having good eyesight? How many people remember to pause? We just take them for granted. You get in your car and it's hot in Texas, you turn the car on, you turn the AC on — how many people have stopped and paused and thanked Allah azza wa jal for that blessing? We just take it for granted.

Then on top of that, we have blessings that we might not even be aware of — things that are happening internally in our bodies, our organs that are functioning — things that if they weren't functioning in that way, our life would be so difficult. How many people can even know these things in order to stop and thank Allah azza wa jal for them?

And then on top of that — how can you possibly thank Allah azza wa jal for all the potential bad things in the world of the unseen that you don't even know about, that Allah protected you from? How many possible car accidents could you have gotten into that Allah saved you from? How many bacteria have you come into contact with that could have made you sick but didn't? How many times did you slip and almost fall and injure yourself or break a bone, but you didn't? How do we thank Allah azza wa jal for all the potential bad things that He kept away from us?

And that's why the verse should put us to shame:

After all these blessings, and after all this good that every single one of us is receiving, few of us are at that high level of being thankful — it should have been everybody. And whenever you hear قَلِيلٌ — "a few of them" — you aspire to be from amongst the few. You want to be from that group of the few.

Etiquettes of Gratitude to Allah

1. Do Not Use Allah's Blessings to Disobey Him

The scholars mention certain etiquettes when it comes to being grateful to Allah. One of the most important ones they said is that you should never use a blessing that Allah has given you to disobey Him. Allah gives you a blessing and a gift, and you use it to disobey Him and to anger Him — and that is the case every time we sin against Allah. We are using a blessing that He has given us to anger Him and to disobey Him.

That's why you've never seen a blind person looking at haram images, or a deaf person listening to something haram or eavesdropping on people. You've never seen someone who is mute, unable to speak, who is backbiting or using profanity. But it's only the people who have these magnificent blessings — blessings we could not put a price on — it's those people who use them to disobey Allah.

So they said: when Allah gives you a blessing, make sure you use that blessing in the obedience of Allah. Allah azza wa jal gives you wealth — use that wealth in the obedience of Allah. Allah azza wa jal gives you health — use it in the obedience of Allah azza wa jal. And try your best to never use it in disobeying Him.

The Story of Ibrahim Ibn Adham and the Five Pieces of Advice

One of the righteous men from the early nations — his name was Ibrahim ibn Adham rahimahullah — a man came to him and this man used to sin a lot. He says: "I sin a lot against Allah azza wa jal, so give me advice." So Ibrahim ibn Adham tells him: "I'll give you five pieces of advice."

"The first one: if you insist upon sinning against Allah azza wa jal, then at least do not use any of His provision — any of the wealth that He gives you, any of the food, any of the drink. Don't use anything that you get from Allah, because you're going to disobey Him."

So the man said: "How can I do that? Everything I have comes from Allah." So he tells him: "Does it make sense that you disobey Allah while using His wealth and His food and His drink and His provision?"

He said: "Give me the second piece of advice." He says: "If you insist upon disobeying Allah while using His provision, then at least do not do it on any land that belongs to Allah." So the man said: "This is greater than the first one — doesn't all the land belong to Allah?" So he tells him: "Does it make sense to disobey Allah on His land while you're eating His food and using His wealth?"

He said: "Give me the third piece of advice." He said: "If you insist upon disobeying Allah on His land while using His provision, then at least go and do it where He cannot see you." So the man said: "Everywhere I go, Allah can see me."

He says: "Then keep doing what you're doing, but when the angel of death comes to you, tell him: just give me a minute and I'll pray two rak'at and repent to Allah at that point." He says: "He won't give me that time."

He says: "Then when the angels are commanded to throw you into the hellfire, just refuse to go with them." So the man said: "Qat, qat" — meaning: "Enough — the message has reached." And it is said that from that day he disobeyed Allah far less than before.

2. Show Gratitude to People as Well

The scholars also added that part of being thankful is you also show gratitude to people. When a blessing comes to you by way of another human being, you must show gratitude to that human being. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said in a hadith:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 4811; also recorded in Musnad Ahmad)

"The one who does not show gratitude to people is not showing gratitude to Allah." So you have to show gratitude to people as well when a blessing comes to you through them.

And then the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam showed us the best way to thank someone. He said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2035 — graded hasan by al-Tirmidhi)

"Whoever has something good done to them by someone else, and then they say to the one who did it: جَزَاكَ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا — then you have given them their due praise; you have thanked them to the fullest."

Gratitude Increases Blessings

Allah azza wa jal says in the Quran:

Allah says: "Your Lord has decreed that if you are thankful, I will increase you — and if you are ungrateful, My punishment is most severe." So in this verse Allah is saying that when you thank Him, He will increase you in blessings.

That's why Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz used to say: "Qayyidu ni'ma Allahi bi dhikri Allah" — "Tie down the blessings of Allah." You want to keep something with you, you want to keep it firm — you tie it down. So he's saying: tie down the blessings of Allah, keep them there, by thanking Allah azza wa jal. Meaning: you thank Allah, the blessings will remain.

So in this verse Allah is saying: if you thank Him, He will increase you in blessings. That means thanking Allah keeps the blessing for you and it increases the blessing. And something that keeps a blessing and increases a blessing must be a blessing in and of itself. That means thanking Allah azza wa jal is itself a blessing — and what do you do when you get a blessing? You thank Allah azza wa jal for it. So you see it's a never-ending circle.

That's why it is said that the Prophet Dawud alayhi salam said: "Oh Allah, how can I thank You enough, when thanking You is itself a blessing that is deserving of thanks?" How can we ever thank Allah enough, when thanking Him deserves thanks itself — and then that thanks will deserve thanks — and you get the idea.

Look at Those Who Have Less

The scholars would say that when it comes to the dunya, you look at those who have less than you — so you feel thankful for what you have. If someone has a tired, beat-up car, they don't look at those who have million-dollar vehicles and then feel that they don't have anything. Look at those who don't have a vehicle. Look at those waiting at the bus stop. Look at those walking in the heat. And so you become thankful for what you have.

Someone who has a simple, modest home — don't look at mansions, which is now the fashion. People are always looking at those who live like billionaires and the lifestyles of the millionaires, and then they feel they have less. They said: look at those who have less than you — you will feel that you have more, and you will thereby become thankful to Allah azza wa jal.

Whereas when it comes to the religion — look at those who have more than you. Someone who prays on and off: don't look at your friends who don't pray and say "Alhamdulillah, I'm doing okay." You look at those who are higher than you and are better than you, and then you aspire to become better.

Ibrahim Ibn Adham and the Beggar

Every single one of us has some kind of test, some kind of difficulty, some kind of calamity in our life. But those tests and difficulties should not make us forget the many other blessings that we cannot even count — the many blessings that we have from Allah. The idea is to focus on what you have more than your focus on what you don't have. When you encounter people who only focus on what they don't have, they are living a very difficult life and they are depressed and having a difficult time — whereas if they focused on what they had, things would shift.

There is another story: Ibrahim ibn Adham saw a man who was begging — begging people aggressively, as if he was angered at Allah for the situation that he was in. So Ibrahim ibn Adham comes to this beggar and he says: "Why don't you thank Allah for the many blessings that He has given you?" So the man angrily said: "What blessings has He given me?" He didn't recognize any.

So Ibrahim ibn Adham makes him an offer. He says: "Will you sell me your two eyes right now — they will be removed from your head — and I will give you 100,000 gold dinars?" The man refused. "Cut off your tongue — I'll give you 100,000 gold dinars right now." The man refused. "Cut off your ears." The man refused. "Your arms." The man refused. "Your feet." The man refused.

So Ibrahim ibn Adham tells him: "SubhanAllah! I see that you own hundreds of thousands of gold dinars, and yet you say that you are poor." He was trying to get him to recognize all the other blessings that he has, and not focus on what he doesn't have.

The Story of the Man in the Desert — A Profound Illustration

An excellent illustration of this: Imam al-Dhahabi rahimahullah mentions a story in his book Siyar A'lam al-Nubala' that happened to a righteous man from the early generations of this ummah. His name was Abdullah ibn Muhammad.

This man Abdullah ibn Muhammad says: I was on a journey and then I got lost, so I started to look for signs of human beings so they could show me the way back. I saw in the desert, from a distance, a tent — a small tent in the middle of the desert, just by itself. So I started to make my way towards that tent. As I got closer to it I saw that it was in very bad shape — it had huge tears and holes in it, and the wind was entering from every direction.

I got to it and I looked inside, and there was nothing there. There was just one man sitting on the floor, and the tent — he said — was even in worse shape than what he could see from far. But there was one man sitting on the ground — and this man's description was that he was blind, and he was without arms and without legs — or perhaps he was paralyzed, Allah knows — but the man was sitting without arms, without legs, and he was blind, and he was clearly extremely poor, and there was nothing of value in the tent, and the tent itself was in bad shape. And yet this man kept repeating over and over and over again:

He kept saying over and over again: "Alhamdulillah" — he is praising and thanking Allah who has preferred him over so many of His servants in so many different ways. And the man just kept repeating it and repeating it.

So Abdullah ibn Muhammad said: I said to him: "Assalamu alaykum." The man answered. Then he said: "I am a traveling man who got lost, and I'm looking for someone to guide me back on my way. But before that I want to ask you a question." And the old man said: "I'll answer your question, but you have to promise to do something for me as well." So they made that agreement.

So Abdullah ibn Muhammad asked him: "I see that you are poor and you're blind and you're without arms and legs, and yet you keep thanking Allah for preferring you over so many of His servants in so many different ways. So I wanted to ask you — how has Allah preferred you?"

The man said: "Do you not see that I am able to speak?" He said: "Yes." He said: "How many of the servants of Allah are not able to speak?" He said: "Many." He said: "Then alhamdulillah who has preferred me over so many of His servants who were unable to speak."

"Do you not see that I am able to hear?" He said: "Yes." He said: "How many people can't hear? So alhamdulillah who has preferred me over all these people who can't hear."

"Don't you see that I am of sane mind — and how many people are insane or have a mental defect?"

"And then — do you not see that I am upon Islam, and how many people are worshipping trees and rocks and worshipping idols? So alhamdulillah who has preferred me over so many of His servants in so many different ways."

So then it came time for his favor. He said: "What do you need?" He said: "I have a young boy — and that is the only thing left, my son. He is the only one who helps me. As you see, I am not able to help myself. But this boy went out yesterday and until now he hasn't come back. So I just need you to go look for him."

So Abdullah ibn Muhammad said: I went out and I started looking left and right, and I couldn't find any traces of this boy. Then in the sky, in the distance, I noticed some vultures were circling — and I know that they only do that if there is some carcass or dead body. So I made my way to that area and I found the little boy — a wolf had attacked him and eaten him.

He said: I didn't know how to go back to this old man — who has nothing left in this world but this boy — to tell him that the boy has been killed by the wolf. It came to the point that I thought of not going back to him, just leaving him. But I couldn't do that to him. I didn't know what I was going to say to him.

When I got close to the tent, I remembered the Prophet of Allah, Ayyub alayhi salam. So when I entered the tent, the old man said: "Where did you find him?" — and he was so confident that I would find him. I said: "Let me before that ask you a question. Who is more beloved to Allah — you or His Prophet Ayyub?" He said: "No doubt — Ayyub alayhi salam." I said: "Then who was tested more by Allah — you or Ayyub alayhi salam?" He said: "Ayyub alayhi salam." I said: "Then if that is so, seek the reward from Allah. I found your boy — the wolf has killed him and has eaten him."

He said: When I said that to him, the old man began to take deep breaths — like this — and he would say:

So I went to him and I took him and I put his head on my lap, and he just kept breathing hard and saying: أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ — إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ — "To Allah we belong and to Him we will return." And he kept saying that and saying that until his soul left his body.

He said: After that I washed him and I wrapped him, and I found a group of travelers who assisted me. We buried him and we prayed over him. Then I continued with those people on my journey. When we reached the stop at night and I fell asleep, I saw the old man in my dreams. He was in excellent shape and in excellent health and he looked good. So I said to him: "How did you end up in this situation?"

And the old man said: Allah entered me into paradise, and it was said to me:

"Peace be upon you for what you have been patient upon — so what an excellent abode you get in the end."

Closing Reminder

Brothers and sisters in Islam — no doubt every single one of us has a list of problems and calamities and complaints in our life, for which we need solutions from Allah. One — we turn to Allah azza wa jal to help with these solutions. And two — no matter how many they are, don't let them make you forget all the other magnificent blessings that He has given us. The blessings that we cannot enumerate. The blessings that we could never thank Allah enough for.

Du'a