ON GRATITUDE

You should know that Allâh attached gratitude to remembrance in His Book. Allâh says:

“The remembrance of Allâh is the greatest.” (Sûrah al-‘Ankabût, 29: 45)

Allâh says:

“Therefore remember Me, I will remember you, and be thankful to Me and do not be ungrateful.” (Sûrah al-Baqarah, 2: 152)

“What will Allâh do by punishing you if you are grateful and have conviction?” (Sûrah an-Nisâ’, 4: 147)

“And We shall reward those who express gratitude.” (Sûrah Âl ‘Imrân, 3: 145)

Allâh quotes the words of Satan, the accursed one: “I too shall certainly lie in wait for them on Your straight path.” It is said that the path that is referred to is the path of gratitude. Satan therefore said:

“And You will not find the majority of them to be grateful.” (Sûrah al-A‘râf, 7: 17)

Allâh says:

“There are few of My servants who are grateful.” (Sûrah Saba’, 34: 13)

Allâh promises to give more when there is gratefulness. He made this promise without any exception. Allâh says:

“If you are grateful, I will give you more.” (Sûrah Ibrâhîm, 14: 7)

On the other hand, He made an exception in five things: in giving wealth, in accepting supplication, in giving sustenance, in forgiveness and in repentance. Allâh says:

“Allâh will enrich you in the future through His bounty if He wills.” (Sûrah at-Taubah, 9: 28)

“He then, if He so wills, removes that misery for which you had called upon Him.” (Sûrah al-An‘âm, 6: 41)

“And Allah provides sustenance to whom He wills without reckoning.” (Sûrah al-Baqarah, 2: 212)

“and pardons sins below that of whomever He wills.” (Sûrah an-Nisâ’, 4: 48)

“Allâh will destine repentance for whomever He wills.” (Sûrah at-Taubah, 9: 15)

Gratefulness is from among the characteristics of divinity. Allâh says:

“Allâh is appreciative, forbearing.” (Sûrah at-Taghâbun, 64: 17)

Allâh made gratefulness the opening speech of the inhabitants of Paradise. Allâh says:

“They said: ‘All thanks are due to Allâh who fulfilled to us His promise.’” (Sûrah az-Zumar, 39: 74)

“And the end of their invocation [will be]: ‘All praise is due to Allâh who is the Sustainer of the entire universe.’” (Sûrah Yûnus, 10: 10)

The Messenger of Allâh said: “A grateful eating person is on the same level as a patient fasting person.” ‘Atâ’ rahimahullâh said: “I went to ‘Â’ishah radiyallâhu ‘anhâ and asked her: ‘Inform us of the most astonishing thing which you saw in the Messenger of Allâh .’ She began crying and then said: ‘Which part of his life was not astonishing!? One night he came to me and got into my bed – or she said, into my bed covering. He got so close to me that my skin was touching his skin. He then said: ‘O daughter of Abû Bakr! Let me worship my Sustainer.’ I replied: ‘I love your being close to me. However, I will give preference to your wish.’ I let him leave. He got up, went to a utensil of water, performed the wudû’without pouring excessive water, and then began offering salâh. He began crying to the extent that tears flowed onto his chest. He then went into the bowing posture (rukû‘) and began crying. He then went into prostration and began crying. He then raised his head and began crying. He continued crying in this manner till Bilâl came an informed him of the time for the [fajr] salâh. I said to him: ‘What is it that is making you cry, whereas Allâh has forgiven you all your past and future sins?’ He replied: ‘Should I not be a grateful servant? And why should I not do this when Allâh revealed this verse:

“Surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the changing of the night and day, and in the ships that sail upon the ocean with things of benefit for mankind, and in the water whichAllâh sent down from the sky thereby giving life to the earth after it had been lifeless and dispersed in it all kinds of animals, and in the changing of the winds and in the clouds that are subservient to His command between the heaven and earth - surely in all these things are signs for the intelligent.” (Sûrah al-Baqarah, 2: 164)

This shows that crying should never stop. This can also be inferred from the following story that one of the Prophets passed by a small rock from which a lot of water was gushing forth. He was astonished at seeing this. Allâh enabled the rock to speak. It said: “I am crying out of fear ever since I heard these words of Allâh : “beware of that fire whose fuel is men and stones.” [98] The Prophet asked Allâh to save this particular rock from this, and Allâh accepted his request. After some time he saw that rock in the same state [of crying]. He asked: “Why are you crying now?” The rock replied: “My previous cyring was because of fear. This crying is out of gratitude and happiness.”

The heart of a person is like that of a rock or even harder. This hard-heartedness cannot be removed except through crying out of fear and gratitude.

The Messenger of Allâh said: “An announcement will be made on the day of resurrection: ‘Those who used to praise Allâh should stand up.’ A group of people will stand up, a flag will be raised for them, and they will enter Paradise. He was asked: ‘Who are those who used to praise Allâh ?’ He replied: ‘Those who express their gratitude to Allâh in every situation.’” In other words, those who thank Allâh at times of prosperity and adversity. The Messenger of Allâh said: “Praise [thanks] is the shawl of the Merciful [Allâh ].”

Allâh addressed Ayyûb saying: “I am pleased with gratitude as a payment from My friends.” Allâh also revealed to him the description of the patient ones: “Their abode is the abode of peace. When they enter it, I will inspire them to express gratitude. Expressing gratitude is the best speech. It is when they express gratitude that I seek to give them more. And I give them more by enabling them to see Me.”

When the treasures came down, ‘Umar asked: “What type of wealth should be taken?” The Messenger of Allâh said: “You should adopt a tongue that is engaged in the remembrance of Allâh and a heart that is grateful.” He thus ordered the treasuring of a grateful heart instead of wealth. Ibn Mas‘ûd said: “Gratitude is half of îmân.”

You should know that gratitude is connected to the heart, the tongue and the other parts of the body. Gratitude with the heart entails the determination to do good and to desire the same for the entire creation. Gratitude with the tongue entails expressing gratitude to Allâh and by saying words of praise that articulate this gratitude. Gratitude with the other parts of the body entails utilising these bounties of Allâh in His obedience and abstaining from utilising them in His disobedience. This should be to such an extent that the gratitude of the eyes demands that you conceal every fault that you see of a Muslim. The gratitude of the ears demands that you conceal every fault that you hear about him. So all this is included among showing gratitude for the bounties of Allâh through these different parts of the body.

Gratitude with the tongue is to express one’s pleasure with Allâh. And this is something which we have been commanded to do. The Messenger of Allâh asked a person: “How was your morning?” He replied: “I got up with goodness.” The Messenger of Allâh repeated this question. Eventually, the third time when he asked this question, the person replied: “I got up with goodness. I praise Allâh and thank Him.” The Messenger of Allâh said: “This is what I wanted to hear from you.”

It was the practice of the past personalities to inquire of each other. Their purpose in doing so was to hear the other person thanking Allâh . This they did so that the grateful person may remain obedient and the other who asked him may also remain obedient. Their purpose was not to show off by expressing their desire [for Allâh ]. Every person who is asked about his condition will either express gratitude, complain or remain silent. Expressing gratitude shows obedience while complaining is a repugnant act of disobedience on the part of people of religion. How, then, can complaining about the King of kings in whose control is everything, not be repugnant when such a complaint is made to a slave who is owned [by Allâh ] and who is unable to do anything at all?

It is therefore more appropriate for a servant who is unable to exercise patience over adversity and destiny, and which would lead to weakness in faith and then to complaining, to rather direct his complaint to Allâh . Because it is Allâh who brings on adversity and He has the power to remove it. When a servant humiliates himself before Allâh , it is a mark of honour in his favour. But when he complains to others apart from Allâh , it is humiliating for him. To display his humiliation to another servant just like him is an abhorrent humiliation. Allâh says:

“Without doubt, those whom you worship besides Allâh have no power to provide sustenance for you. Seek, then, sustenance from Allâh, and worship Him, and be grateful to Him.” (Sûrah al-‘Ankabût, 29: 17)

“Those whom you call on besides Allâh are servants like you.” (Sûrah al-A‘râf, 7: 194)

Expressing gratitude with the tongue is thus one of the ways of showing gratitude to Allâh .

It is related that a delegation came to ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azîzrahimahullâh. A youngster stood up to speak. So ‘Umarrahimahullâh said: “An elder person, an elder person [should speak].” The youngster said: “O leader of the believers! If the matter of caliphate was based on age, someone elder than you would have been at the head of the Muslims.” ‘Umar rahimahullâhsaid: “You may speak.” He said: “We are neither a delegation that has come to ask you of something nor are we a delegation that has come to complain of any fear. Your bounties have reached us, and we therefore have no need to ask you anything. At the same time, your justice has provided us with peace and security. We therefore have no need to complain about any fear. We are a delegation of gratitude. We have come to verbally express our gratitude to you, and we will now return.”