Grateful or Ungrateful ? Which Side of The Line Do You find Yourself?

Grateful or Ungrateful ? Which Side of The Line Do You find Yourself?

by Nisaar Y. Nadiadwala on Friday, August 5, 2011 at 5:42am

 

'Shukr' means to acknowledge the obligations and thank, both the things are considered, just thanking is not enough but acknowledging the obligation is a real display of thanks. In Islamic shariah acknowledging the blessings of Allah and thank Him is counted as Ibadah,i.e. worship.

   The main purpose of the creation of man is to worship Allah and thanking Him for the blessings is one of the ways of worships. Consider this Qur’anic verse from Surah Nahl, ch 16, verse 78 : It is He who brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers when you knew nothing: and He gave you hearing and sight and intelligence and affection so that you may give thanks…..

   Every Muslim thinks that he really thanks Allah for his blessings and never introspect his intensity of thankfulness. Most of us are carelessly thankful because if we put ourselves on the parameters of thankfulness most of us will fail to get even  an ‘F’ grade. The Qur’an has already given out the results of this test.  The results are fixed up in Surah Nahl, for us to read and find out if we are among the failures : And most of them are ungrateful….. In Surah Saba’… But only a few of my worshippers are grateful….Ask your selves “ Am I from the majority of ungrateful or a few ones of grateful….

     Ibn Hambal has quoted an incident in his Book : A Bedouin was sitting in the company of Caliph Umar.. al of a sudden the Bedouin exclaimed.. O Alllah ! make me among the few ones….. Umar r.a.  was astonished and reprimanded him for invoking such a supplication.. the villager insisted that he was not wrong and he recited the above verse…

    In Qur’anic terminology the opposite of shukr is kufr..i.e. ungratefulness to Allah’s blessings can lead to kufr. Surah al Baqarah…So Remember me and I will Remember you.. and be grateful to me and do not  do kufr (do not reject my blessings, do not be ungrateful). Note another important Qur’anic injunction in Surah Nahl verse 83: They recognize the  favours of Allah and then they deny them and most of them are ungrateful ( Kafiroon)

 Have you ever considered the number of dishes that we have on our table spread for Iftar and suhur? Even a poor man finds a variety of dishes some coming from his neighbours some at his home, some in the masjid if he breaks his fast even in a Masjid in a slum . Just count the number of dishes today itself…Then recall the following  verse from Surah Nahl verse 114

  So eat of the sustenance which Allah has provided for you , lawful and good, and be grateful for the favours of Allah if it is He whom you worship…

 Read the above verse again and note what Allah says : AND  BE GRATEFUL FOR THE FAVOURS OF ALLAH… How many times do we recite the supplication meant for thanking Allah after every meal ? Most of us don’t even know the supplications! Right? Just a small test it is to see which side of the line we belong to.. A few numbers of grateful or a majority of ungrateful ?

Author: Nisaar Nadiadwala writes and speaks on Islamic issues to motivate people to take up Islam as their ideal way of life.. He can be reached at nisaar_yusuf@yahoo.com

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