Be Grateful to Allah
Khutbah on the Importance of Being Grateful to Allah
by Khalil Moya
Alhumdulillah, Alhumdulillahi Rabbil Alamiin. Brothers and Sisters in Islam, Insha’Allah, the topic for today’s Khutbah will be about the importance of being grateful to Allah.
And this reminder is for me first, and then for whomever else may benefit from the reminder. Many times we get caught up in the daily routine of our lives, and it is easy to take the blessings that Almighty Allah has given us for granted. We use, and abuse, the blessings of Allah, and don’t think twice about it, and this is us being ungrateful to Allah.
Brothers and Sisters, we need to always remember that everything that we have we owe to Allah. It is Allah who has given us life. It is Allah who gives us our Risq (provisions), our food, our clothing, our homes, our families, our health, our wealth. It is Allah who gives us the abilities to do the things that we do.
** Qalla lahu ta A’la, fi Suratul Ibrahim (14), ayat 34
وَآتَاكُم مِّن كُلِّ مَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُ وَإِن تَعُدُّواْ نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ لاَ تُحْصُوهَا
إِنَّ الإنْسَانَ لَظَلُومٌ كَفَّارٌ
And He gave you of all that you asked for, and if you try to count the blessings of Allah, never will you be able to count them. Verily, man is indeed unjust and ungrateful
Brothers and sisters, Allah gives us blessings that we ask for, and many that we don’t even ask for. Allah gives us blessings for free, and still we’re ungrateful to Him, we take these blessings for granted. And this is wrong, we should appreciate the blessings from Allah.
** Imam Bukhari has related that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) used to make the following dua:
«اللَّهُمَّ لَكَ الْحَمْدُ غَيْرَ مَكْفِيَ وَلَا مُوَدَّعٍ وَلَا مُسْتَغْنًى عَنْهُ رَبَّنَا»
“O Allah ! All praise is due to You, without being able to sufficiently thank You, nor ever wishing to be cut off from You, nor ever feeling rich from relying on You; our Lord!”
Brothers and sisters, we should be grateful to Almighty Allah because He tells us to be grateful to Him.
** Qaalallahu Ta A’la, fi Suratul Baqarah, 2:152,
فَاذْكُرُونِى أَذْكُرْكُمْ وَاشْكُرُواْ لِي وَلاَ تَكْفُرُونِ
Therefore remember Me (by praying, glorifying). I will remember you, and be grateful to Me (for My countless favors on you) and never be ungrateful to Me.)
Brothers and Sisters, if we’re grateful to Allah, then it’s for our benefit, and if we’re ungrateful to Allah, then we’re only harming ourselves.
** Qaalallahu Ta A’la, fi Suratul Ibrahim, 14:7,
وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ وَلَئِن كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِى لَشَدِيدٌ
And (remember) when your Lord proclaimed: “If you give thanks, I will give you more; but if you are thankless, verily, My punishment is indeed severe.”)
Being ungrateful to Allah means denying His blessings, not appreciating them, and misusing them, which will lead to sin, and so Allah reminds us about His Punishment.
Brothers and sisters, all of us have many blessings for which we should be grateful. The first one being that Allah has blessed us with Islam.
Brothers and sisters, is there anything else that will save a person on Yawmul Qiyaama, other than being Muslim? Allah gave us this for free! This is more valuable than the world and everything in it, because we know that the world and everything in it won’t save a person on Yawmul Qiyaama, who was not Muslim. And yet we take it for granted. We drag our feet when it comes to the ibadaat, we don’t read Qu’ran, we don’t learn hadith, we dis-obey Allah, who blessed us with Islam, the only ticket that will guarantee us removal from the Hellfire!
Brothers and sisters, how many of us who came here today have two eyes, two ears, a tongue, arms and legs? All of us, but how many of us thank Allah for these huge blessings? How many of us reflect on the blessing of being able to see, to hear, to talk, to move around from place to place? How many of us are truly grateful to Allah when we reflect on the blessings that He has given us for free! We didn’t do anything to earn these blessings! And yet we don’t reflect and we’re not grateful.
** Qaalallahu Ta A’la fi Suratul Mu’minun, 23:78,
وَهُوَ الَّذِى أَنْشَأَ لَكُمُ السَّمْعَ وَالاٌّبْصَـرَ وَالاٌّفْئِدَةَ قَلِيلاً مَّا تَشْكُرُونَ
It is He Who has created for you hearing, eyes, and hearts (understanding, intellect). Little thanks you give.)
Brothers and sisters, is Allah describing us? Are we the ungrateful servants of Allah?
** It is reported that Talq b. Habiib (rh) said, “The right of Allah is too great and heavy for the creation to fulfill. And the blessings of Allah are too many to count, so you should remain repentant, morning and evening.”
Brothers and sisters we will never give the right to Allah, as He is most deserving, and we will never be able to count all the blessings that Allah has given us, so if we’ve been ungrateful to Almighty Allah for the many Blessings that He gives us day in and day out, then we should make tawba again, and again, and work hard to become the grateful servants of Allah.
Aqullukawlihatha, wa astaghfirullaha li wa lakum.
Alhumdulillahi Rabbil Alamiin, was salaatu was salaamu ala Muhammad, wa ala alihi, was as-habihi, wa man tabiahum bi ihsan ila yawmidiin, amabad.
Brothers and sisters we need to be grateful to Allmighty Allah because we need Him, and He is in no need of us.
** Qaalallahu Ta A’la, fi Suratul Luqman, 31:12,
وَمَن يَشْكُرْ فَإِنَّمَا يَشْكُرُ لِنَفْسِهِ وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِىٌّ حَمِيدٌ
And whoever gives thanks, he gives thanks for (the good of) himself. And whoever is unthankful, then verily, Allah is All-Rich, Worthy of all praise
We should take time to reflect on the blessings that Allah has given us. How many of us would be willing to sell any of these things; that Allah has given to us for free, for any amount of money?
How many of us would be willing to sell our health, for some dollar amount? How many of us would be willing to sell our ability to sleep soundly at night, for some money? How many of us would be willing to sell our eyes, or our hearing?
These are all things that Allah, Subhana wa ta A’la gives to us for free, and yet we’re not thankful. Often times it is not until we lose one of these things that we realize the huge blessing that we had.
Brothers and sisters in Islam, too many times we get caught up in thinking about the things that we don’t have, and we may get depressed or sad, and we forget to be grateful for the things that we do have. And this is not the way that the Muslim should be.
** Imams Bukhari and Muslim have both recorded in their sahihs,
… Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah’s Apostle said, “If anyone of you looked at a person who was made superior to him in property and (in good) appearance, then he should also look at the one who is inferior to him. …
حَدَّثَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي مَالِكٌ، عَنْ أَبِي الزِّنَادِ، عَنِ الأَعْرَجِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ” إِذَا نَظَرَ أَحَدُكُمْ إِلَى مَنْ فُضِّلَ عَلَيْهِ فِي الْمَالِ وَالْخَلْقِ،
فَلْيَنْظُرْ إِلَى مَنْ هُوَ أَسْفَلَ مِنْهُ ”.
And this is excellent advice from Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The best remedy for this condition (where you get caught up in wanting what others may have, and not appreciating what you have been given) is to look at those people who have less than you. No matter how little you may have, or what condition you may find yourself in, there are always people who have less than you, or who have it harder than you. And this should help to refocus our thinking and our hearts on the blessings that Allah has bestowed upon us.
Brothers and sisters, we need to show Allah that we’re grateful to Him, for all the blessings that He gives us, day in and day out. We need to show Allah, and not just tell Him.
Brothers and sisters, we say thank you to the person that holds the door open for us, we say thank you to the girl who hands us our bag at the food store, we say thank you to the waiter at the restaurant, is Allah not more deserving than just a thank you, from us?
Brothers and sisters we need to show Allah that we’re truly grateful.
We can start by using His blessings in ways that will earn His pleasure. We need to increase in good deeds.
If Allah has blessed us with a roof over our heads, and a bed to sleep in, then we should get up for Salaatul Fajr, and maybe even come to the Masjid.
If Allah has blessed us with wealth, then we should give sadaqa.
If Allah has blessed us with food, then we should give some food to the needy.
If Allah has blessed us with Islam, then we should be Muslim! We should obey Allah, and not disobey Him!
Brothers and sisters, we need to show Allah that we’re grateful, not just say it to Him.
** Imam Abu Dawud has related: Narrated Abu Bakrah:
When anything came to the Prophet () which caused pleasure (or, by which he was made glad), he prostrated himself in gratitude to Allah. Sunan Abi Dawud 2774
عَنْ أَبِي بَكْرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَنَّهُ كَانَ إِذَا جَاءَهُ أَمْرُ سُرُورٍ أَوْ بُشِّرَ بِهِ خَرَّ سَاجِدًا شَاكِرًا لِلَّهِ .
… Narrated Al-Mughira: The Prophet used to offer night prayers till his feet became swollen. Somebody said, to him,” “Allah has forgiven you, your faults of the past and those to follow.” On that, he said, “Shouldn’t I be a thankful slave of Allah)?” …
حَدَّثَنَا صَدَقَةُ بْنُ الْفَضْلِ، أَخْبَرَنَا ابْنُ عُيَيْنَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا زِيَادٌ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ الْمُغِيرَةَ،
يَقُولُ قَامَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم حَتَّى تَوَرَّمَتْ قَدَمَاهُ
فَقِيلَ لَهُ غَفَرَ اللَّهُ لَكَ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِكَ وَمَا تَأَخَّرَ
قَالَ ” أَفَلاَ أَكُونُ عَبْدًا شَكُورًا ”.
So what about us? Should we not also be the thankful, grateful slaves of Allah? Brothers and sisters, I encourage you, as well as myself, to strive to remember the many blessings that Allah has given to us, and to strive to be thankful and grateful to Allah, both in our words and in our actions.
رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّآ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ
رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِنَا فِى الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الاٌّخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ
رَبَّنَا لاَ تُزِغْ قُلُوبَنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا وَهَبْ لَنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْوَهَّابُ
Allahuma’ Eghfir Lil’ Muslimeena wal Muslimat, Wal Moumineena wal Mouminaat, Al-Ahya’ee minhum wal amwat, Innaka samee’un mujibul dawat
Inna Llaha wal malaikatahu yassalluna ala nabi, Ya ayuhaladhina amanu, sallu alaihi wa sallimu taslima.
Allahumma salli ala Muhammad, wa ala alli Muhammad, kama sallaita ala Ibrahima, wa ala ali Ibrahima
Allhuma barak ala Muhammad, wa ala ali Muhammad, kama barakta ala Ibrahima, wa ala ali Ibrahima, fil alamina innaka hamidun majid
Ibada Allah, Inna Allaha Ya’amuru Bil Aadli wal Ihsanee, wa Ita’ee Dhil Qurbaa. Wa Yanhaa Anil Fahshaa’ee wal munkaree wal bagh’yi. Ya’idhukum La’allakum tadhakkaroon” Wa Aqimu Salah (16:90)