Ibaadah - Worship & Obedience of Allah ﷻ
Being grateful in difficult and times of ease.
Gratefulness is a realization that comes from within, it is expressed from within one’s heart and this realization is generated as a result of a blessing that one has, which one truly understands and knows that it could not have been given had it not been the will of The Most Gracious (Al Rahman). Such a feeling causes oneself to naturally proclaim the praises, glorification, greatness and thankfulness to Allah ﷻ, firstly in one’s heart, which results also being expressed by the tongue in our prayers to one’s own self, and then to those around us. Allah ﷻ says: “If you are grateful, surely I will increase you. But if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.”[1] Allah ﷻ teaches us to be grateful at all times in all situations so that our hearts and our lives become spiritually blessed even though outwardly we may not appear materially fortunate but within our inner self we will learn to be grateful. How to gain this realization is taught in the blessed words of the Prophet ﷺ who said: “Look at those who are beneath you and do not look at those who are above you, for it is more suitable that you should not consider as less the blessing of Allah.”[2] The moment we greed for things we do not have, we will consider ourselves to be less fortunate thus depriving ourselves of the realization to be grateful with what we have. Such a feeling of deprivation itself becomes a source of punishment. Once we observe those who are less fortunate we will always feel blessed regardless of whatever our situation because there are always times which could be much worse. Such positive attitude becomes a source of Allah’s pleasure. At this point, there is one very important thing to understand about being grateful. The life of a believer in Islam is not his, it belongs to his Creator and life of a believer is fair whether in hard times or good times, as Allah ﷻ reminds us: “God has bought of the believers their lives and their possessions, promising them paradise in return.”[3] Whether it is hard or good times, keeping in mind that this life is nothing but a test, a believer should act grateful, as there is good in both conditions, and a prophetic hadith teaches us: “how wonderful is the affair of the believer, for all his affairs are good, and this applies to no one but the believer. If something good happens to him, he is thankful for it and that is good for him. If something bad happens to him, he bears it with patience and that is good for him.”[4] This narration tells us that even in difficult times it is good for the believers provided they remain patient because Quran teaches: “Allah is with those who are patient.”[5] By praying and expressing ones neediness only to Allah ﷻ while observing patience in difficult times they will feel spiritually closer to Him due to which He makes their heart strong in bearing difficulties and that is most definitely good for them. References: [1] Al Quran 14:07 [2] Vol. 5, Book 37, Hadith 4142 [3] Al Quran 9:111 – Asad Translation. [4] Riyad as-saliheen Book 1, Hadith 27 [5] Al Quran 2:153
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Ibaadah AuthorZaid Shaw Archives
August 2019
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