and do not be ungrateful to Me ( لي و ال تكفرون (واشكروا Day 6 (قوة الشكر ( Gratitude Power of Anything which Allah وتعالى) (سبحانه commands us has power. The power of gratitude was only discovered by researched after some years though Allah وتعالى) (سبحانه is already telling us. From observation in life, gratitude is: 1. Way of success: It was found the most successful people in the world, in any field, have a common quality which is gratitude and appreciation. Allah وتعالى) (سبحانه already tells us if you re grateful then He will increase you ( شكرتم ألزيدنكم.(ولئن Gratitude is an easy way to success. Take the opposite, when you re ungrateful then it s a way to failure. Imagine a boss in a company who s appreciative of his staff, and another who demotivates them and is unappreciative, what will happen? Then they will be unproductive. Apply it at home as well, when the wife is appreciating the husband whether he s good or not, then she will find success in her home. She says alhamduliah I have a husband, alhamdulliah I have children, alhamduliah I have a maid. How is a wife appreciative? She s not demanding, she doesn t say, why didn t you give me an Eid gift? Why didn t you take me out?.(سبحانه وتعالى) makes your husband do something or not it s all from Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) When Allah And when you re appreciating him, then he will appreciate you too ( جزاء اإلحسان اال اإلحسان (فهل (is not the reward for good only good). And when you re appreciative of him, he will be successful at well in his work. People say, behind every great man is a great woman but this can be adjusted to say, behind every successful person is a person who appreciates them. There s a story of an educator who said she appreciates her first teacher. She was born abroad and when she returned to her home country she couldn t speak Arabic. She entered an all Arabic school and was falling behind. She said it s not because she couldn t learn, but with the teachers it was very strict with everything being 1+1=2. She said until one teacher accommodated her. She would take her every day and teach her the letters and how to read. Finally she became fluent and was the first in her class. She became the first in her class every year and when she graduated she said she wants to be a teacher. She said this teacher appreciated her and even if she didn t do well, she d tell her you did fine. Many times we don t appreciate a person if they re not doing a good enough job. But we need to be appreciative of everyone. Don t expect people to be like you and do what you can do. If everyone can do the same as you then it wouldn t be a test, subhan Allah. Appreciate your mother, your husband, your children they re different from you, they can t do what you can do, but you need to appreciate them. We should also be happy with whatever is chose for us. For example in school, the children are chosen for each teacher, and this is already decreed by Allah وتعالى).(سبحانه And when the parents are unhappy, they say change the class, change the teacher, and you will find you will always end فخذ ( ones up getting something worse. We need to take whatever is given to us and be from grateful.(ما أتيتك و كن من الشاكرين Don t look at others don t say she has a better husband, better children, better maid etc. Don t say why do we live in this house?, etc. If you don t accept what you have, then the substitute will Page 1
بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم always be worse. Which is better? Allah s choice or your choice? Allah s choice. Gratitude is submission. Whatever comes to you, accept it and be grateful. Whatever you choose after Allah s choice will be a problem because Allah وتعالى) (سبحانه will give you your choice but then it s to see what can you do, subhan Allah. 2. Way to creativity and innovation: when a person is appreciated then it will make him vast and broad, he will not be narrow-minded. We need to have children that are creative. If a child loves gardening then take him to a garden, and he will learn different things there. When the child is stuck watching tv then it takes away from his creativity. When a person is appreciated, then he will be innovative and this will lead to ihsan. We can t do things in excellence if we re not grateful. 3. Way to happiness: when you appreciate someone then you will make them happy and this is a sadaqah. When you appreciate your children as a son or daughter, you will find it will change their behavior. You love them because that s your son or that s your daughter. Human beings want to be accepted, especially from their parents. It s difficult to be rejected by the parents. 4. Way to be emotionally stable: if the emotions are unstable and not settled from an early age, then it will cause the person to be fearful and insecure when he s older. He s afraid people will leave him, etc. Someone who s grateful is not disturbed, but when a person is imbalanced then it can lead to very aggressive reactions. If gratitude wasn t important then Allah وتعالى) (سبحانه wouldn t call Himself Ash Shakir Ash Shakoor, subhan Allah. 5. Remedy for everyday problems: your solution to your issues is gratitude. Why are you sick, why are you always having the same problem? Surah An Nisa a 147: ( ي فع ل ٱ لل ب ع ذ اب ڪ م إ ن ش ك ر ت م و ء ام نت م (م ا (Why should Allâh punish you if you have thanked (Him) and have believed in Him) Appreciate yourself appreciate who you are, how you look you need to have peace with yourself. You will find those who don t appreciate themselves want to change how they look, they re even will to break their bones and their ribs in order to have a smaller waist. It ends up becoming an addiction and when people look at their past pictures, they say you looked more beautiful before, subhan Allah. It s very important to know we are all responsible to spread vibes of gratitude in society and at home. Allah وتعالى) (سبحانه taught us gratitude and now we need to apply it. As a student of knowledge, ingratitude should not come from you. May Allah وتعالى) (سبحانه help us to be grateful. Ameen. If we re ungrateful, then what about others whom the knowledge hasn t reached? Subhan Allah. You will get tested with someone ungrateful, they will tell you, why did you make this food like this? Why did you wear that? we need to ask Allah وتعالى) (سبحانه to make us patient. When you re grateful then others will be grateful too. (مواطن الشكر ( grateful Places we need to be Day and night Surah Al Qasas :73 ( و م ن ر ح م ت ه ۦ ج ع ل ل كم ٱل ي ل و ٱلن ه ا ر ل ت س كنوا ف ي ه و ل ت ب ت غوا م ن ف ض ل ه ۦ و ل ع ل ك م ت شكرو ن ) (It is out of His Mercy that He has made for you the night and the day, that you may rest therein (i.e. during the night) and that you may seek of His Bounty (i.e. during the day), and in order that you may be grateful) Page 2
بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم We need to be sensitive to the blessings, even the smallest bit. How can you be sensitive to the blessings? You need to imagine if you didn t have that blessing, and this will break the habit of being used to it. When you get used to the blessing then you won t be grateful, you ll actually start to see only faults. When there s something new, you like it, but the older it becomes the more you get used to it and start to only see the faults, and this especially true with marriage. So what should you do? You need to be sensitive to the blessing and imagine what it would be if you didn t have it. Don t take coming to the markaz or going to your house for granted, and don t take your friends for granted. When we befriend someone new, we re all good and well-behaved, but when we get used to them then we can misbehave. When you have a new-born baby, you re so sensitive and careful, but as they get older you could care less. The day and night are great blessings, and we have the morning/evening supplications to remind us of this. The night is for rest and the day is to seek from Allah s favors. If we don t appreciate the day and night, then we ll see it as something normal. For example when you re starting a new job, you appreciate the first day, but after a month you don t appreciate it anymore. When you pray, you appreciate it the most after your menses. In Ramadan, you appreciate the foods you eat in iftar even though you might eaten the same foods while outside of Ramadan. You appreciate it more because you hadn t eaten the whole day. Winds as glad tidings و م ن ء اي ت ه ۦ أ ن ير س ل ٱلري ا ح مب شر ٲت و ل يذ يق كم من ر ح م ت ه ۦ و ل ت ج ر ى ٱلف لك ب أ م ر ه ۦ و ل ت ب ت غوا م ن ف ض ل ه ۦ و ل ع ل ك م ( :46 Surah Ar Room (And among His Signs is this, that He sends the winds as glad tidings, giving you a taste of His (ت ش كرون Mercy (i.e. rain), and that the ships may sail at His Command, and that you may seek of His Bounty, in order that you may be thankful) Ayat are signs to make you believe in the unseen. What are the ayat mentioned here? He sends the winds as glad tidings which come before the rain. Getting the blessing immediately is different than when it comes in stages as an introduction to the blessing. For example, you don t immediately give birth to a baby, first you hear news of a pregnancy, then you see an ultrasound, etc. When there s wind, then it will gather the clouds and rain will fall. You will taste His mercy, and with the rain the land and people will be enlivened. When you taste the tangible mercy of rain, then it makes you long to taste the special mercy of Allah وتعالى).(سبحانه As a result you want to increase in good deeds. The introduction before anything builds excitement and as a result it will build your gratitude. Give thanks to your parents ن ى ح م يد )٢١( و إ ذ ( 12-14: Surah Luqman و م ن ي ش ڪر ف ن م ا ي شكر ل ن ف س ه ۦ و م ن ك ف ر ف ن ٱ لل و ل ق د ء ات ي ن ا ل ق م ن ٱل ح ك م ة أ ن ٱش كر لل نس ن ب و ٲل د ي ه ح م ل ته أم ه ۥ و ه ن ا ل ى و ه ن ق ال ل ق م ن ل ب ن ه ۦ و هو ي ع ظه ۥ ي بن ى ال تش ر ك ب ٱ لل إ ن ٱلشر ك ل ظلم ظ يم )٢١( و و ص ي ن ا ٱإل (And indeed We bestowed upon Luqmân Al Hikmah ) و ف ص له ۥ ف ى ام ي ن أ ن ٱش ڪر ل ى و ل و ٲل د ي ك إ ل ى ٱل م ص ير )٢١ ) (wisdom and religious understanding) saying: "Give thanks to Allâh," and whoever gives thanks, he gives thanks for (the good of) his ownself. And whoever is unthankful, then verily, Allâh is All Rich (Free of all needs), Worthy of all praise. (12) And (remember) when Luqmân said to his son when he was advising Page 3
him: "O my son! Join not in worship others with Allâh. Verily! Joining others in worship with Allâh is a great Zûlm (wrong) indeed. (13) And We have enjoined on man (to be dutiful and good) to his parents. His mother bore him in weakness and hardship upon weakness and hardship, and his weaning is in two years give thanks to Me and to your parents, unto Me is the final destination. (14)) Allah وتعالى) (سبحانه gave Luqman wisdom and this shows wisdom is from Allah وتعالى).(سبحانه Wisdom (سبحانه وتعالى) is to do and speak at the right time, and to have wisdom is much goodness. May Allah grant us wisdom. Ameen. When Allah وتعالى) (سبحانه favors you with any qualities, then you need to be grateful by attributing it to Him. And when you re thankful to Allah وتعالى) (سبحانه then it s you who will benefit, not Allah وتعالى).(سبحانه When you appreciate and are grateful, then it will go back to you. When you re grateful, you re happy and it even protects you from sicknesses, and those who are ungrateful are found to be depressed. It s especially important for women to be grateful as mentioned in the hadith. When the woman is ungrateful at home then it spreads among the rest of the household. When the mother is complaining, then you ll find the children complaining as well, it s like a flame that spreads in the house; everyone will be ungrateful. If you re ungrateful, then Allah وتعالى) (سبحانه is the Most Rich and Most Praiseworthy; He s in no need of your gratitude, it s just good for you. Allah وتعالى) (سبحانه mentions specifically your parents and your mother, so you need to appreciate them. Why does Allah وتعالى) (سبحانه mention the bees in the Quran and names a surah after them? Because we need to appreciate them, we need to appreciate everything because everything is playing a role in our life whether we know it or not, subhan Allah. Allah وتعالى) (سبحانه is instructing us to appreciate our parents. We didn t like it when they told us to eat this, wear this, go pray, but then we say may Allah have mercy on them. Most of the times we won t appreciate our parents until we become parents ourselves, but we don t want to wait until then. Allah وتعالى) (سبحانه is telling us all mothers carried their children in their stomachs and there is tiredness in this. And this should make us grateful regardless of what they do or don t do. We need to be grateful to Allah وتعالى) (سبحانه and to our parents. We need to be thankful to Allah that He gave us our parents as our parents. Children complain and say why do I have (سبحانه وتعالى ( this mother? Istaghfar Allah. And you need to be grateful to your parents, how? By ihsan. Speaking good to them and doing good to them. The rights to your parents are the greatest because you wouldn t exist without them. Anyone who plays a role in your life by nurturing you then you need to appreciate Allah وتعالى) (سبحانه and the means. When you appreciate your parents, then you will appreciate your husband, your children it s a sequence. When you have your husband and children, who do you appreciate first? Your husband because without your husband you wouldn t have your children. But you find the mother starts to appreciate the children more than the husband. We will all return to Allah وتعالى) (سبحانه because we will be asked about this. When you have help Page 4
ي ع م ل ون ل ه ۥ م ا ي ش ا ء م ن م ح ر ي ب و ت م ث ي ل و ج ف ان ك ٱل ج و ا ب و قدور ر اس ي ت ٱ م ل و ا ء ا ل د او ۥ د شكر ا و ق ل يل م ن ( :13 Saba Surah (They worked for him as he desired, (making) high rooms, images, basins as large as ) ب اد ى ٱلش كور reservoirs, and (cooking) cauldrons fixed (in their places). "Work you, O family of Dâwud (David), with thanks!" But few of My slaves are grateful) The scholars said when Suleiman (as) killed his horses, Allah وتعالى) (سبحانه replaced it by subjecting the wind and jinn for him. Allah وتعالى) (سبحانه subjected the jinn only to Suleiman (as) and no one else. The jinn would do (سبحانه وتعالى) everything as he commands they were constructing, building vessels and pots. Allah commands the Family of Dawud to worship as gratitude. When you have someone doing a job for you, then you need to increase in worship. The more help you have, the more worship is required from you. When you have someone helping you at home, then don t make this free time as leisure for yourself, but to worship Allah وتعالى).(سبحانه But you will find most people are ungrateful, subhan Allah. Appreciate everyone ت أڪلو ن ل ح م ا ط ر ي ا و ت س ت خ ر جو ن ( :12 Surah Fatir و م ا ي س ت و ى ٱل ب ح ر ا ن ه ذ ا ذب ف ر ات س ا ٮ غ ش ر ابه ۥ و ه ذ ا م لح أج اج و م ن كل (And the two seas (kinds of water) are not ) ح لي ة ت ل ب سون ه ا و ت ر ى ٱلفل ك ف ي ه م و اخ ر ل ت ب ت غوا م ن ف ض ل ه ۦ و ل ع ل ك م ت شڪرو ن alike, this is fresh sweet, and pleasant to drink, and that is salt and bitter. And from them both you eat fresh tender meat (fish), and derive the ornaments that you wear. And you see the ships cleaving (the sea water as they sail through it), that you may seek of His Bounty, and that you may give thanks) You have two bodies of water which are not equal one is sweet water which you can easily drink, and the other is salty and bitter. Allah وتعالى) (سبحانه could have made the water just one type but there are benefits from each. So we need to appreciate everyone some people are sweet and some are bitter, some you can swallow and some you can t, subhan Allah. We need to appreciate everyone because there s benefit from all. And from both waters you have fish you can eat there is sweet and salt water fish. And you get adornment to beautify yourself. Salty water is a benefit to all because it preserves and it eliminates the smell of dead animals, subhan Allah. May Allah وتعالى) (سبحانه help us to act on what we ve learned. Ameen. Page 5