Shukr – The Life Of A Believer

Allah has blessed us in abundance, and it would be impossible to count all of the blessings. If we look at the body, Allah has blessed the humans with 30 trillion cells. Imagine if we had had only 10 trillion cells; maybe we would have just one eye instead of two, one hand instead of two, one leg instead of two. Life would be very difficult if did not have everything we currently possess. If you then zoom and look at the environment, there are around 40 billion trees. Imagine if there were just 10 billion trees; maybe the amount of oxygen released would not have been enough to sustain life. Even though we just mentioned two types of blessings of Allah, the number of cells in our body and the number of trees on Earth, the truth is that there are a lot of blessings surrounding us and we cannot possibly count them. Allah says,
 وَإِن تَعُدُّوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَا ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَغَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ 
“And if you count the favours of Allah, you could not enumerate them. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.” [16:18] 

Not all blessings are visible to the eye; some are apparent, and others are hidden.  .… 
وَأَسْبَغَ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعَمَهُ ظَاهِرَةً وَبَاطِنَةً …  
“ …. and bestowed upon you His blessings, [both] apparent and hidden?” [31:20].  

So, what should we do given that Allah has given us blessings after blessings? We should do shukr which means we should be thankful and grateful to Allah. We can see shukr in all of the lives of the prophets. Prophet Sulayman had a lot of blessings. There is one blessing which was just for him and that was to interact and control the different types of animals and Jinns. Prophet Sulayman, with the permission of Allah, would get the Jinns to transport a big throne from one country to another within the blink of an eye. The question for us is how did Sulayman respond to all the blessings? Did he say, ‘I am the chosen one and I can do whatever I want?’ Did he say, ‘I will use this blessing however I wish?’ Did he say, ‘I am the one who earned it because I worked hard for it?’ No, but rather Prophet Sulayman gave shukr to Allah and he acknowledged that all his blessings were from Allah. Prophet Sulayman said, 
 قَالَ هَـٰذَا مِن فَضْلِ رَبِّي لِيَبْلُوَنِي أَأَشْكُرُ أَمْ أَكْفُرُ  ….  
“… This is from the favour of my Lord to test me whether I will be grateful or ungrateful” [27:40].  

So, Prophet Sulayman is saying that all blessings are a test to see how much shukr we give. The question to myself and you brothers is, how much shukr are we giving for the blessings that we have? Do we say ‘Alhamdulillah’ after we eat? Do we use our healthy body to pray for just a few minutes each day? Do we use our social media, which no doubt is a blessing, to promote good?   

One may ask, is shukr just verbal? Is it enough to say, ‘Thank you, Oh Allah’? The answer is that shukr should be felt in the heart, uttered by the tongue and demonstrated physically by the limbs. One needs to be grateful internally, with the heart and the mind. We need to internally love Allah and internally think well of Allah. Shukr also needs to be uttered verbally. Allah says, 
 وَأَمَّا بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّثْ 
“But as for the favour of your Lord, narrate it.” [93:11] 

Here Allah is instructing us to tell people about the blessings Allah has given us. Alhamdulillah, amongst the greatest, if not the greatest blessing is that Allah has made us Muslims. Imagine if we were to follow a different religion and worship cows, trees, fire, and other things. Alhamdulillah, we have food and good health, whereas the majority of the world’s population live in dire poverty. Imagine having to live without two eyes, two hands, two legs, without a brain. So, we should tell people the blessings and remind everyone of their blessings as well.  

Furthermore, shukr, gratitude should be demonstrated physically. It is not enough to say Alhamdulillah verbally only, we have to physically show it. How? Through prayer, through physically respecting elders when they walk past us, by looking after the younger ones and being a good role model for them, through physically helping our parents; whether it is during shopping or just normal chores in the house.   

Prophet Dawud had so many blessings. One of the blessings was that when Prophet Dawud would recite the Psalms, the mountains and birds would miraculously join in and recite with him. With all the blessings, Allah ordered Prophet Dawud by saying, 
 اعْمَلُوا آلَ دَاوُودَ شُكْرًا ۚ وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُورُ  
“….. Work, O family of David, in gratitude. And few of My servants are grateful.” [34:13] 

Allah is telling Prophet Dawud, and indirectly all of us, to show shukr (gratitude) physically, not just verbally.  

One of the greatest benefits and reward of giving shukr is that Allah will be pleased with us. Allah says,  
وَإِن تَشْكُرُوا يَرْضَهُ لَكُم 
“And if you are thankful, Allah’s Pleasure will be on you” [39:7] 

Subhanallah, we will earn Allah’s happiness if we continuously give shukr. So, when we do our prayers, help others, recite the Quran, read the life of our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, let’s make the intention that we you are doing them out of shukr to Allah.  

I know it is difficult to give shukr and be grateful when things are challenging and tough. When you feel low and sad, it is very difficult to be positive, but we all want to return to an average level of happiness, right? Well, still try out shukr. What do I mean by ‘still try out shukr’? Even if you are deprived of few things, say ‘Alhamdulillah’ and be grateful, because you and I know very well that we still have a lot. You and I know very well that Alhamdulillah Allah has given us hundreds of other things even if He deprived us of a few. To be honest, what we have is what others dream to have.  

When people go to psychologist and therapists to receive help for severe depression, low self-esteem and other related conditions, one of the activities the therapists do is tell the people to make a list of all the good things in their life. The therapists then train the people to internally and externally be grateful for all the good in life. Be grateful for your health, ease of life, delicious food, intelligence, technology, cars, safety and other aspects of life. Subhanallah, Allah has given us this advice of being grateful for free, so let us practice giving shukr and being appreciative during times of ease and difficulty.  

If I was to ask, if you had the option between eating a nice meal and giving shukr or fasting and showing patience, which one would you go for? Obviously you would go for eating and showing shukr. No one wants to be hungry and suffer from fatigue. There is an amazing hadith in which the Prophet ﷺ said, “The one who eats and is grateful reaches the status of the one who fasts and is patient” [Tirmidhi].  

So just by perfecting one’s thankfulness, he or she can get the same reward as the one who is hungry and patient. Subhanallah, what an amazing reward for the one who shows true gratitude to Allah. And remember, for every difficulty, for instance illness and problems that we face, there is some else who is facing a greater challenge. You just need to listen to the news about wars, famine, diseases, oppression, and deaths occurring around the world.  

In conclusion, Allah has showered us with blessings, and we should be grateful and express our thanks to Him through our hearts, tongues and body.  

May Allah give us the tawfeeq to be grateful in all situations and may Allah accept our good deeds and give us the ability to do more. Ameen.