How to be Grateful

The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) once told Muadh (radi Allahu anhu): “By Allah, you are dear to me! So do not forget to say at the end of each prayer, ‘O Allah, help me in remembering You, in being grateful to You and in serving You well.’” [Ahmad; al-Musnad]

Gratitude is thanking the One who grants blessings for His generosity. The gratitude of a servant should have three qualities, without which it can hardly be considered to be gratitude. They are the inner recognition and appreciation of the blessing, speaking about it openly, and using it as a means to worshipping Him.

Gratitude is a matter for the heart, the tongue and the limbs. The heart is for knowledge and love of Him; the tongue is for thanking and praising Him; and the limbs are to be used in obeying the One Who is being thanked, and in holding back from committing disobedient acts.

Abu Hazim said: “As for the one who uses only his tongue to express his gratitude, he is like a man who only covers himself with the hem of his garment without putting it on, so it is of no use to him in either the heat, or the cold, or the snow, or the rain.”

We have to remember Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) in our hearts, be grateful to Him with our tongues, and serve Him with all our faculties.