Fellow Muslims, if one looks at other people, one will see different nations and ethnicities; one will see that people are not alike, some people have different desires and opinions than others, some are believing Muslims and some are not, some are pious and some are not. Each community or nation may have their own habits and traditions. However, only a few of these people truly thank Allah for the many endowments that Allah granted them. This is revealed in the Qur’an in the verse:
{إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَذُو فَضۡلٍ عَلَى ٱلنَّاسِ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكۡثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَشۡكُرُونَ ٦١}
In fact, most people do not know the meaning of truly thanking Allah and what they are obligated with regarding this matter. The person whom Allah guided to the proper belief needs to be thankful to Allah.
Let it be known that thanking Allah is of two types, an obligatory thanking, and a recommended thanking. The obligatory thanking means to not use the endowments that Allah granted the person in disobeying Him. Among the endowments are the body parts and the money, so one should not use such endowments in disobeying Allah. For example, one thanks Allah for the endowment of the tongue by not uttering something sinful, one thanks Allah for the endowment of hearing by not using his ears in listening to something sinful, one thanks Allah for the endowment of sight by not looking at something sinfully, and one thanks Allah for the endowment of money by not spending it in a sinful way. This entails that one should learn what are the sins of the different body parts so that one avoids committing them, and one should learn what are the rules of dealings and transactions so that one gains money and spends it in a lawful way.
As for the recommended thanking, it is done by using one’s tongue in thanking Allah for the endowments Allah granted the person without Allah being obligated to do so.
Some people do not thank Allah at all, and some may thank Allah but not in a perfect way. The people who do not thank Allah at all are like the arrogant ones who refuse to believe in Allah or in the Angels or in the Prophets or in the hereafter. Such people are blasphemers who rejected the truth. They missed out on the best and most important obligation which is to believe in Allah properly. Without this belief, the good deeds by the person are not accepted, as Allah said:
{وَقَدِمۡنَآ إِلَىٰ مَا عَمِلُواْ مِنۡ عَمَلٍ فَجَعَلۡنَاهُ هَبَآءً مَّنثُورًا ٢٣}
Allah praised Prophet Ibrahim, where Ibrahim was described as a sincere thankful person who did not associate partners with Allah.
And there are people who are believers, but they commit some sins while acknowledging that they are sins, or they may leave out some obligations like the prayer knowing that they are falling short. Such people are not thanking Allah the obligatory way they should. Hence these people are under the will of Allah, they are either forgiven by Allah, or they may be tortured for a period of time in hellfire, but they will eventually come out of hellfire and enter Paradise because they died as believers. Allah said:
{إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَغۡفِرُ أَن يُشۡرَكَ بِهِۦ وَيَغۡفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَن يَشَآءُۚ}
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said that the one who died having the correct belief in his heart will come out of hellfire.
If a person was kind to you by giving you a gift or the like, then having good manners entails that you thank him in return. It is more worthy for us to thank our Lord Allah for all the endowments He granted us without Him being obligated to do so. Al-Imam al-Junayd was asked about the obligatory thanking, he replied “do not disobey Allah with the endowments that Allah granted you”. The person should be always thankful to Allah in all situations, one should not fall short in performing the obligations and one should not commit what Allah made unlawful.
The one who performs the obligations and avoids the sins is a thankful slave. In addition, if the person is not distracted by worldly matters, rather, one uses the endowments in doing optional good deeds then this person is called a “shakur” slave, that is a very thankful slave. There are not many people who are “shakur”, as Allah said:
{وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنۡ عِبَادِيَ ٱلشَّكُورُ ١٣}
The truly pious people are not that many among the believers. Allah praised in the Qur’an Prophet Nuh as being a very thankful slave,
{ ذُرِّيَّةَ مَنْ حَمَلْنَا مَعَ نُوحٍ إِنَّهُ كَانَ عَبْدًا شَكُورًا ٣}
So be very thankful to Allah my fellow Muslims, like your father Prophet Nuh was. He used to thank Allah in all situations, if he ate or drank, he praised and thanked Allah, if he wore clothes or put shoes on, he praised and thanked Allah, if he slept or if he woke up, he praised Allah.
It is mentioned in the Hadith that most people fall short. The people of high merits who are detached from worldly matters, who truly thank Allah, are few. I ask Allah to make us among the thankful slaves, and may Allah forgive my sins and yours.
