We perform worship yet, despite this, we are unsuccessful. For example, we fail to obtain the objective of prayer which is attaining the pleasure of Allah ta'ala.
We may be grateful servants to Allah ta'ala, however, we fail to display our gratitude to Him the way it is due.
"And ˹remember˺ when your Lord proclaimed, ‘If you are grateful, I will certainly give you more. But if you are ungrateful, surely My punishment is severe.’” [14:7]
Who is considered a grateful perso
nshment of Allah ta'ala.
Gratitude is not expressed through mere words. 'Alhamdulillah for such and such.' A truly grateful servant is he who observes his prayers, implements the orders of Allah ta'ala and safeguards himself from sins. The doors of Paradise are opened for such a person and he will be free from reckoning.
All other worship depend on displaying gratitude and without it, we cannot reach our objective.
This verse informs us that if we are grateful, then we will be enabled to perform all worship correctly, we will be prevented from sins and we will be enabled to fulfil what is lacking in our lives.
We should assess how much gratitude we truly express, as the biggest act of worship is to become a grateful servant of Allah ta'ala.
The grateful servant will be granted a great reward and he will be protected from Hel
lfire. With every moment spent in this world, his status is increased and when he departs this world, he will also achieve a high rank.
On the other hand, the ungrateful person will be raised with the rejected people.
We have made our own definition with regards to the bounties of Allah ta'ala. Only those bounties which we like and desire, we are thankful for and what we dislike, we do not even consider it a bounty from Allah ta'ala. For example, when a boy is born, we consider it a treasure from Allah ta'ala, however, we do not consider it a treasure when a girl is born. If we are not granted what we desire, we complain to Allah ta'ala. Our definition of success, is that if we receive something which we like, then Allah ta'ala has rewarded us. This is the wrong mindset to have and this is why we are ungrateful.
In reality, we have not understood the concept of being grateful and what is considered a true bounty.
"If you tried to count Allah’s blessings, you would never be able to number them. Surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful." [16:18]
We are so narrow minded with what we have defined as the favours of Allah ta'ala. In reality, we should always be grateful to Allah ta'ala because His bounties are limitless. We are merely following our desires. If we do not attain what we desire, we give up and lose hope which is completely wrong.
We should be so grateful to Allah ta'ala for allowing us to attend the Dhikr gathering which He has established within the land of disbelievers. Despite our severe sins, Allah ta'ala has establish
ed these gatherings for us out of His mercy. He has granted us these opportunities to be forgiven.
We should make sacrifices to attend these gatherings by abandoning our sleep and our jobs and businesses. We should make the most of these gatherings before it is too late. We will regret these gatherings which we abandon due to laziness. A grateful servant of Allah ta'ala is he who makes a sacrifice and attends the Dhikr gathering.
وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُورُ
˹Only˺ a few of My servants are ˹truly˺ grateful.
34 13
There are innumerable treasures of Allah ta'ala bestowed upon us and we will be questioned regarding our gratitude towards all these treasures granted to us.
No matter the circumstances we face in life, we should never complain to Allah ta'ala and we should never criticise. We must be grateful for even the seemingly small bounties, like our limbs and our body parts and the ability to utilise them for various benefits. In reality, every second we are indebted to Allah ta'ala. He has given us a great life and has rewarded and favoured us with every passing second. Simply being able to move our bodies freely, move from one posture to another, is a great favour from Allah ta'ala.
If we are grateful to Him, He will multiply the favours for us.
If we remember Allah ta'ala during the time of need or difficulty, it means we are grateful to Him. For example, a person is put to trial, yet, he recounts the many blessings of Allah ta'ala which he possesses, instead of complaining. This refers to having a positive approach. Through this, even his pain and difficulties are temporarily forgotten.
In every circumstance we should be grateful to Allah ta'ala. Before complaining and making a fuss and abandoning worship, we should be thankful over the other many blessings Allah ta'ala has granted us.
The first case which will be presented on the day of Qiyamah is that of the husband and wife. Allah ta'ala will question both in regards to their treatment towards each other.
Women are generally anxious because they are very ungrateful and they complain to Allah ta'ala. They are ungrateful towards their husbands. A wife should withstand her husband's ill treatment towards her and in Paradise, she will receive a very high status. All hardships come from Allah ta'ala and it is our duty to bear the difficulties for His sake. Avoiding complaining equals observing true patience and through this
, we attain success. If our spouse gives us a hard time, then they are creating Paradise for us.
We should turn to Allah ta'ala in the face of hardship and this is an act of worship. We must look at the bright side and seek the positive aspects in the face of difficulties.
The true purpose of marriage is not to fulfil our lust or experience the enjoyment of fulfilling our desires. Rather, we marry to increase our progeny. Even the pleasure and excitement experienced within copulation, is short lived, so that time is not wasted on such activities.
How to become grateful to Allah ta'ala?
By implementing the laws of Allah ta'ala according to their due rights and fulfilling the rights of His bounties in the manner which Allah ta'ala expects us to.
For example, Allah ta'ala has granted us eyes. We should be grateful for our vision by abstaining from glancing at unlawful things. We should utilise our eyes to gaze at the pious people, recite the Quran and gaze at the Ka'bah Shareef. We should not utter wrong with our tongues, nor should we listen to unlawful things with our ears, otherwise, one will become unable to see or listen to the truth after this. They'll never be granted wisdom due to their sins. They will live and die like animals.
When a person utilises Allah ta'ala's gifts in the incorrect manner, it shows that he is an ungrateful individual and deserving of punishment. Allah ta'ala removes His mercy from this person.
On the other hand, the one who is truly grateful and utilises his gifts correctly, then Allah ta'ala makes this person illuminated and the inhabitants of the heavens also witness this light.
Those who are truly grateful to Allah ta'ala, their difficulties never become hurdles and barriers between him and Allah ta'ala. Despite all tragedies of life, he attains the nearness of Allah ta'ala.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَغَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
"Surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful." [16:18]
Why has this been mentioned?
Allah ta'ala instructs us to beware of being ungrateful, otherwise, we will be punished and we will remain unsuccessful. Allah ta'ala is most forgiving, so if we truly seek forgiveness from our sins, then He will wipe them away. However, we must promise to strive to become a grateful person and utilise the bounties according to their due rights. Such a person will be forgiven and granted a high status.
Paradise will be granted to us due to the mercy of Allah ta'ala, not due to our gratitude, or our good deeds. Despite our achievements and our
status, we should be humble and sincere and consider that we have nothing to our names. We will only be forgiven through the mercy of Allah ta'ala.
In every condition and through every emotion we face, we should be grateful to Allah ta'ala by being obedient to Him and avoiding all sins. We will be forgiven only through His Mercy.
May Allah ta'ala allow us to become grateful servants. Ameen.
We perform worship yet, despite this, we are unsuccessful. For example, we fail to obtain the objective of prayer which is attaining the pleasure of Allah ta'ala.
We may be grateful servants to Allah ta'ala, however, we fail to display our gratitude to Him the way it is due.
وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ ۖ وَلَئِن كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِي لَشَدِيدٌ
"And ˹remember˺ when your Lord proclaimed, ‘If you are grateful, I will certainly give you more. But if you are ungrateful, surely My punishment is severe.’” [14:7]
Who is considered a grateful perso
nshment of Allah ta'ala.
Gratitude is not expressed through mere words. 'Alhamdulillah for such and such.' A truly grateful servant is he who observes his prayers, implements the orders of Allah ta'ala and safeguards himself from sins. The doors of Paradise are opened for such a person and he will be free from reckoning.
All other worship depend on displaying gratitude and without it, we cannot reach our objective.
This verse informs us that if we are grateful, then we will be enabled to perform all worship correctly, we will be prevented from sins and we will be enabled to fulfil what is lacking in our lives.
We should assess how much gratitude we truly express, as the biggest act of worship is to become a grateful servant of Allah ta'ala.
The grateful servant will be granted a great reward and he will be protected from Hel
lfire. With every moment spent in this world, his status is increased and when he departs this world, he will also achieve a high rank.
On the other hand, the ungrateful person will be raised with the rejected people.
We have made our own definition with regards to the bounties of Allah ta'ala. Only those bounties which we like and desire, we are thankful for and what we dislike, we do not even consider it a bounty from Allah ta'ala. For example, when a boy is born, we consider it a treasure from Allah ta'ala, however, we do not consider it a treasure when a girl is born. If we are not granted what we desire, we complain to Allah ta'ala. Our definition of success, is that if we receive something which we like, then Allah ta'ala has rewarded us. This is the wrong mindset to have and this is why we are ungrateful.
In reality, we have not understood the concept of being grateful and what is considered a true bounty.
وَإِن تَعُدُّوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَا ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَغَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
"If you tried to count Allah’s blessings, you would never be able to number them. Surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful." [16:18]
We are so narrow minded with what we have defined as the favours of Allah ta'ala. In reality, we should always be grateful to Allah ta'ala because His bounties are limitless. We are merely following our desires. If we do not attain what we desire, we give up and lose hope which is completely wrong.
We should be so grateful to Allah ta'ala for allowing us to attend the Dhikr gathering which He has established within the land of disbelievers. Despite our severe sins, Allah ta'ala has establish
ed these gatherings for us out of His mercy. He has granted us these opportunities to be forgiven.
We should make sacrifices to attend these gatherings by abandoning our sleep and our jobs and businesses. We should make the most of these gatherings before it is too late. We will regret these gatherings which we abandon due to laziness. A grateful servant of Allah ta'ala is he who makes a sacrifice and attends the Dhikr gathering.
وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُورُ
˹Only˺ a few of My servants are ˹truly˺ grateful.
34 13
There are innumerable treasures of Allah ta'ala bestowed upon us and we will be questioned regarding our gratitude towards all these treasures granted to us.
No matter the circumstances we face in life, we should never complain to Allah ta'ala and we should never criticise. We must be grateful for even the seemingly small bounties, like our limbs and our body parts and the ability to utilise them for various benefits. In reality, every second we are indebted to Allah ta'ala. He has given us a great life and has rewarded and favoured us with every passing second. Simply being able to move our bodies freely, move from one posture to another, is a great favour from Allah ta'ala.
If we are grateful to Him, He will multiply the favours for us.
If we remember Allah ta'ala during the time of need or difficulty, it means we are grateful to Him. For example, a person is put to trial, yet, he recounts the many blessings of Allah ta'ala which he possesses, instead of complaining. This refers to having a positive approach. Through this, even his pain and difficulties are temporarily forgotten.
In every circumstance we should be grateful to Allah ta'ala. Before complaining and making a fuss and abandoning worship, we should be thankful over the other many blessings Allah ta'ala has granted us.
The first case which will be presented on the day of Qiyamah is that of the husband and wife. Allah ta'ala will question both in regards to their treatment towards each other.
Women are generally anxious because they are very ungrateful and they complain to Allah ta'ala. They are ungrateful towards their husbands. A wife should withstand her husband's ill treatment towards her and in Paradise, she will receive a very high status. All hardships come from Allah ta'ala and it is our duty to bear the difficulties for His sake. Avoiding complaining equals observing true patience and through this
, we attain success. If our spouse gives us a hard time, then they are creating Paradise for us.
We should turn to Allah ta'ala in the face of hardship and this is an act of worship. We must look at the bright side and seek the positive aspects in the face of difficulties.
The true purpose of marriage is not to fulfil our lust or experience the enjoyment of fulfilling our desires. Rather, we marry to increase our progeny. Even the pleasure and excitement experienced within copulation, is short lived, so that time is not wasted on such activities.
How to become grateful to Allah ta'ala?
By implementing the laws of Allah ta'ala according to their due rights and fulfilling the rights of His bounties in the manner which Allah ta'ala expects us to.
For example, Allah ta'ala has granted us eyes. We should be grateful for our vision by abstaining from glancing at unlawful things. We should utilise our eyes to gaze at the pious people, recite the Quran and gaze at the Ka'bah Shareef. We should not utter wrong with our tongues, nor should we listen to unlawful things with our ears, otherwise, one will become unable to see or listen to the truth after this. They'll never be granted wisdom due to their sins. They will live and die like animals.
When a person utilises Allah ta'ala's gifts in the incorrect manner, it shows that he is an ungrateful individual and deserving of punishment. Allah ta'ala removes His mercy from this person.
On the other hand, the one who is truly grateful and utilises his gifts correctly, then Allah ta'ala makes this person illuminated and the inhabitants of the heavens also witness this light.
Those who are truly grateful to Allah ta'ala, their difficulties never become hurdles and barriers between him and Allah ta'ala. Despite all tragedies of life, he attains the nearness of Allah ta'ala.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَغَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
"Surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful." [16:18]
Why has this been mentioned?
Allah ta'ala instructs us to beware of being ungrateful, otherwise, we will be punished and we will remain unsuccessful. Allah ta'ala is most forgiving, so if we truly seek forgiveness from our sins, then He will wipe them away. However, we must promise to strive to become a grateful person and utilise the bounties according to their due rights. Such a person will be forgiven and granted a high status.
Paradise will be granted to us due to the mercy of Allah ta'ala, not due to our gratitude, or our good deeds. Despite our achievements and our
status, we should be humble and sincere and consider that we have nothing to our names. We will only be forgiven through the mercy of Allah ta'ala.
In every condition and through every emotion we face, we should be grateful to Allah ta'ala by being obedient to Him and avoiding all sins. We will be forgiven only through His Mercy.
May Allah ta'ala allow us to become grateful servants. Ameen.