Gratefulness to Allah (God)
In his well-known book, Al-Hikam (Words of Wisdom), sheikh Ahmad Ibn `Ataa`illah As-Sakandari says:
You risk losing your blessings when you do not thank Him for them,
and you tie them to you firmly when you do. And if you do not advance
towards Him by doing excellent deeds, He will pull you towards Him with
the chains of tests.
One of the universal laws of Allah which govern the issue of
providence with all its kinds is that if we thank Allah, He will
multiply the blessings or replace them with something better. Allah
says, {If you are grateful [to Me], I shall most certainly give you more
and more}. (Ibrahim 14: 7)
Allah declared that we will not be able to count all Allah`s
blessings. Allah says, {And should you try to count Allah`s blessings,
you could never compute them}. (Ibrahim 14: 34) Every Muslim should do
his best to thank Allah for whatever He gives him.
Then Allah says, {but if you are ungrateful, verily, My
chastisement will be severe indeed!}. (Ibrahim 14: 7) The Arabic word
`kafartum`, in this verse, means being unthankful to Allah for His
blessings. It does not mean disbelief in Allah, as the literal meaning
implies, but it shows the gravity of this flaw. Non-thankfulness, then,
is another flaw that Ibn `Ataa’ is teaching us about in this word of
wisdom.
Ibn `Ataa’ says: "You risk losing your blessings when you do not
thank Him for them, and you tie them to you firmly when you do". The one
who thanks Allah for His blessings, he is tying them to him firmly.
Allah`s promise of rewarding those who thank Him is a true promise. It
is a guarantee for the continuation of your blessings or more. It does
come with one condition, however, which is to thank Allah for these
blessings.
Thankfulness is not only limited to saying al-hamdullilah (praise
to Allah). However, thankfulness can be offered through actions. Allah
says: {Labor, O David`s people, in gratitude towards Me}. (Sabaa’ 34:
13) Thankfulness through actions requires that everyone should ask
himself the following: What am I going to do with this blessing? Am I
going to use it in a good way? Am I going to contribute with it to good
causes? Or am I going to waste it, which is a form of denying the
blessing?
Therefore, if you do not thank Allah for His blessings with sayings
and actions, you will risk losing them. But if you thank Allah, you are
tying His blessings to you firmly.
Then the Sheikh says: "And if you do not advance towards Him by
doing excellent deeds, He will pull you towards Him with the chains of
tests". Thus, if you do not thank Allah for His blessings and advance to
Him until you reach the level of excellence, Allah will put you to
tests. By putting you to tests, Allah is giving you chances so that you
can reach the level of excellence. This is also a universal law.
Through tests, Allah is elevating you and purifying your heart.
When you are afflicted with tests, you will draw closer to Allah and He
will forgive your sins. Allah says: {And, indeed, We tested them [the
hypocrites] through suffering, but they did not abase themselves before
their Sustainer; and they will never humble themselves}. (Al-Mu’minun
23: 67) When Allah puts you to tests, you have to humble yourself, and
pray to Allah. Allah also says about the hypocrites: {Are they, then,
not aware that they are being tested year-in, year-out? And yet, they do
not repent and do not bethink themselves [of Allah]}. (At-Tawbah 9:
126)
Allah does not want to punish you by testing you. But He wants to
draw you closer to Him and to make you count His blessings which He
bestowed on you. He wants you to thank Him by your tongue and actions.
When Allah puts you to a test by losing some blessings, He is
testing you by a ‘touch of chastisement’, as the other verse says. Every
one of us has billions of uncountable blessings. When Allah puts one of
us to a test by losing one, two or even five blessings, he feels that
he is faced with a severe crisis. While in reality he has billions of
blessings which Allah is bestowing on him every moment.
In every cell in your body, there are countless blessings. In every
second you live, there are countless blessings. In every breath you
breathe, there are countless blessings. In every glance you make, there
are countless blessings. Allah is the One who is worthy of thankfulness.
When Allah tests you by losing one or two blessings, He, according to
Ibn `Ataa’, is ‘pulling you towards Him’. By losing a blessing, Allah
wants you to return and repent to Him. He also wants you to remember His
blessings and reflect on them.
And if you sincerely repent to Allah, the test is over. Allah says:
{And, behold, with every hardship comes ease: verily, with every
hardship comes ease!}. (Ash-Sharh 94: 5-6) We notice that Allah repeated
the verse twice. In another verse we read: {Allah will grant, after
hardship, ease}. (At-Talaq 65: 7) Sometimes matters get worse, but Allah
makes a way-out and with difficulty comes ease. When you are faced with
a problem or afflicted with a calamity, Allah brings ease in the middle
of the crisis and also after the crisis. And in any case, if this state
of hardship draws you closer to Allah, this is in itself a blessing
from Allah.
If one would like to avoid trials at all, one should always advance
towards Allah and never fall into any mistake. In reality, though, this
will never happen because we are humans! We cannot maintain thanking
Allah all the time and a clear record. The Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him) said: "Every son of Adam makes mistakes, but the
best of those who make mistakes are those who repent". (At-Tirmidhi)
Therefore, Allah is helping us in our journey by putting us to tests in
order to give us a chance to repent.
By: Jasser Auda
