Gratitude

Friday December 11, 2009; Sheikh Mokhtar Maghraoui Halaqah at masjid al hidaya

We owe Allah subhana wa ta'ala (swt). For who He is and, for what He (swt) bestows upon us, we owe him shukr. This gratefulness with our bodies, hearts, tongues, senses. These gifts Allah (swt) gave us, legs, might, power, drives, feelings - are all the grace of Allah. To show gratitude we need to use his bounties in the way that He loves; if we don't, we are people who are ungrateful.
Allah is the Creator of everything; love, peace, space, time; How can we use what He gave us in ways that are displeasing to Him?
Gratefulness to Allah brings us more grace and bounty, because Allah says so. Allah tells us, "If you are grateful I shall multiply for you." If we are not grateful the ni3mah may disappear. Or may come back as torment. We need to look at our own behaviors and correct and rectify; we should not just have these beautiful meanings and do nohing to apply them while boasting of having them. We lose by not striving to apply. We do not display a face worthy of Islam, and then become a source o fitnah to those who do not know of Islam.

Oh Allah, don't make u a fitnah to the disbelievers, who see us and think "I don't think I should become a Muslim." Because I behave in a way not consistent with Islam, but with the face of a Muslim.

We are spendthrift in our homes. Throwing away food, buying expensive things - this is not the way we should use the grace bestowed on us by Allah.
How we use our knowledge/power - in constructive, moral, good, beautiful, clean, pure ways, as opposed to a way that Allah (swt) is not pleased with?

Righteous spouses, righteous parents, righteous children - we should be grateful for the ni3mah before Allah takes it from us.


The ni3mah of Allah are both external and internal;
Internal ni3mah include righteousness; knowledge; compassion; truthfullness; trustworthiness; feeling of serenity and security, pure heart, beauty.
..If you were to count the ni3mah of Allah, you would not be able to.
However keep in mind, it is only a ni3mah if I use it in a proper way; if I misuse something of Allah's beautiful gifts, it is a torment - our tongues, ears, drives, eyes. If we are the true followers and children of Ibrahim, we must be very grateful.

The Prophet Muhammad salallahu Alayhi wasallam used to perform qiyaamul laiyl until his heels would swell. His companions would say, "Why do you do so much?? All of your sins are forgiven!" And He replied, "Therefore, I should be very grateful."
Gratitude comes in every action of our daily lives; when we harbor a feeling that Allah loves with respect to something in this life, we are being grateful.

A few stories..
1-

The story of the blind man whose wife cautioned him against going to the masjid on a particularly rainy night for Isha. He responded to her, I am walking to the masjid to show gratitude to Allah for my feet, and my ability to walk.

2-

A young man was looking at a woman, about to approach her/flirt with her. A righteous man saw him and said to him, "Young man, this is not the way you should show gratitude for the bounties Allah gave you."

3-

Some people are so generous in their shukr; there was a man who always left his door unlocked, saying anything taken will be "fi sabillillah;" this was his niyyah!

4-

A faqeer who had what little he had, stolen. He complained to his teacher, who instructed him to say "Alhamdulillah." The student said "...How/what?"

"Yes. Say Alhamdulillah." And he kept saying this. Finally the faqeer complied. His teacher said, "Say Alhamdulillah that last night shaiytaan didn't enter your heart and steal your imaan."

Allah orders us to be grateful for our OWN GOOD! Inal insaana li rabbihi la kanood. "Truly man is, to his Lord, ungrateful" (Suratul Aadiyat) Kanood is the person who when hit by hardship never forgets it, but when given grace quickly forgets. Of all the good times we have, when befallen by bad, whether 1/100th or 1/10th of the year, we do NOT forget those times. We in fact count the bad times and can always remember them. But the hasanat..we are very quick to forget. How often do we use Allah's grace against Him.

OH Allah, it is because of You generosity that one obeys and does not disobey you. Because it is He who made it possible for me to obey him and kept me away from disobeying Him. And it is from you forbearance that you are disobeyed but it is as if you do not see."

Is there any instant of time in which the inhabitants of Your earth haven't disobeyed you, and yet You forgave them, and give them, again and again?

The goodness, gifts, generosity o Allah swt continues to descend to us and we continue to allow ingratitude to ascend to Him.

Shakoor vs. Shaakir
Shakoor is someone who is intensely thankful; thankful even for that which he is NOT given. Or for example if Allah took someone/something very dear to us, we're still grateful. (how many of us are like this) The shaakir is grateful for what he is given.


Allah is grateful and loves those who are grateful. ...How is Allah grateful? He has no need of us. Allah is grateful for the good things we do. THIS is divine character. Consistent with the way in the Qur'an in which Allah asks us to spend of our bounty in His way - he asks us for a loan. Allah owns everything and yet asks us for a loan. Another example of the adab of Allah with His creation. How then should we be with His creation, and with Him?
Good manners: Doing the right thing *in the right way.* Living the right way. When we lack that adab we need to go back to the stable, to be disciplined and trained.


Maseeha from the Sheikh ("Becaue we need to rectify our situations as humans and in particular as Muslims.")
With regards to cleanliness - no other deen emphasizes cleanliness as much as Islam. However collectively, we do not show that. Only if driven, sometimes by law. The Prophet (salallahu alaiyhi wasallam) said "Allah is tayyib (pure) and loves that which is pure?" This applies to a plethora of human behavior. Including the prophet (s)'s mission - that He was sent in order to "make lawful for them that which is Tayyib." There is no religion that emphasizes cleanliness this much. If we don't hold this as a principle, our houses, masajid, lives, will not be as clean.
Putting things in their proper places.

Q&A

-how to advise a sister who doesn't want to wear hijab for fear she will misrepresent Islam in light of some of her other actions
A: Wallahu alam, and "nobody's perfect." The sister should be rewarded for her insight and concern, but overall when we cannot do all of something that doesn't mean we should give up and not do any of it. It is like saying "well I don't want to perform salah because I would misrepresent Islam by the other things I do." The correct way is to perform your salah/wear your hijab, and DO. YOUR. BEST.

-what is the difference between "alhamd" and "shukr?"
Alhamd can be with the tongue and with the deeds, but is really more from the tongue. Shukr is more specific. It too can be with the tongue and deeds, but it is mostly DEEDS; shukr is the act of gratefulness.

-If you are in dhikr of Allah in your heart, Allah is in dhikr of you
-If you remember Allah in the midst of a crowd, ALlah is in dhikr of you among a nobler crowd
-When we conceal the ni3mah of Allah and conceal our gratitude o rwhen Allah gives us something we never say "Allah gave me this" and instead hoard it - it's kufr'un ni3mah - concealing the ni3mah of Allah. The sahaaba used to publicly ask each other how they were doing, so they could respond, loudly, "Ahmad Allah ilayk." "I am grateful to Allah, to you." - making the asker a witness to their gratitude.

-What does "la malja wala manja mink ila ilayk" from dua qunoot recited during taraweeh mean?
There is no refuge and no safety from you except to you. It is a statement of hope - Allah opens all the gates of hope. No matter how much you've done, can you go anywhere except to Him? Any spot outside of his control/sight? We should not TRY to go anywhere else, except to Allah.