Welcome to the University of Sufism's Ramadan reading of Rosina Fawzia Alrawi's book,
The Call of Allah,
A Companion to the Holy Month of Ramadan.
Today I will be sharing at day nine about gratefulness,
Otherwise known as shukr.
If you are grateful to me,
I shall most certainly give you more and more.
Quran 14 7.
We experience God's love in a deeply touching way when Allah,
In His mercy,
Puts gratitude in our hearts and inspires us to praise Him.
Keep your heart open and turn to Him in taqwa,
Aware of His closeness.
Gratitude,
Shukr,
Opens a space in our hearts which lets us experience that Allah is constantly pulling us to Him through His love.
Gratitude heals the heart.
It is to turn clearly to the giver of all gifts and yet we take so many things for granted and often only acknowledge our blessings once they are gone.
He endows you with hearing and sight and feelings as well as minds,
Yet how seldom are you grateful.
Quran 32 9.
In the Quran,
Allah shows us how Luqman the wise prepared his child for life here on earth by saying,
Be grateful unto God,
For he who is grateful unto him is but grateful for the good of his own self,
Whereas he who chooses to be ungrateful ought to know that.
Verily,
God is self-sufficient ever to be praised.
Quran 31 12.
Gratitude is a power which serves us,
For Allah has no need of our gratefulness.
It is a humble offering to the one who gives us everything and needs nothing.
It is gratefulness which helps us take off our masks of pride,
Arrogance,
And vain complacency.
The month of Ramadan exists so that the gratefulness may spread in our hearts,
For it is during that month that He sent us the Quran to guide us.
It is especially in this month that Allah gives us a framework within which we can restore the balance between materialism and spirituality in our life and loosen the shackles of the world.
Nothing achieves this like distance from all things external and opening the heart to gratitude.
Gratefulness makes us rich.
We start to treasure all that we have and every one of our capabilities,
And we also see the blessings therein.
Abstinence during Ramadan also teaches us to treasure the gifts in our life which we all too often tend to take for granted and which would normally not summon any thanks in our heart.
The water when we break fast,
The dates and the bread after the thirst and the hunger.
Gratitude is not a feeling but an attitude.
To be grateful when we get what we want is not really gratitude.
Gratitude is not only to see the half full bottle after having seen it half empty,
It is also to experience the underlying wisdom of the empty bottle.
True gratitude can only come into our heart and our spirit when we trust Allah,
Knowing that whatever comes is given by the one who plans everything with love,
Wisdom,
And kindness.
There are so many things in this life which escape our immediate understanding.
So often do we doubt and even despair about what we are not being given or what is taken away from us.
It is especially when we fast and abstain from things otherwise permitted,
When our life is suddenly lent an entirely different rhythm and direction,
That our strength grows and we become certain that difficulties should not be seen as merely negative.
We need to live those experiences in order to grow and mature.
Gratitude can help us cope more easily with those situations.
It can alter our perspective and transform us.
Thus can faith and gratefulness transform that which is difficult into something positive.
Gratefulness and patience is faith in Allah,
Is surrender and trust.
It is seeing the despite not understanding it or not yet.
It is a calm,
Silent,
Peaceful feeling,
Knowing that Allah only tests us out of love,
Moving our hearts to and fro until we always find our way home,
Regardless of all outer conditions and distractions.
Until our gratitude no longer depends on outer forever fluctuating circumstances,
But on God who is immutable and eternal.
The beauty of gratitude,
Shukur,
Is that it removes from our hearts the burden of discontent.
To know that being grateful to God itself requires gratefulness,
Because He is the one who inspires gratitude in us,
And that He is the absolute source of our existence.
The ever giving makes us understand more deeply our bond with Him.
Realizing that we cannot thank in a really adequate manner is the very essence of gratitude.
For it is Allah who puts gratefulness into the heart of those who invoke Him and grants us contentment with what comes from Him.
Gratitude and patience protect us from the weaknesses of our lower instincts.
Imam Ali says,
When blessings come to you,
Do not drive them away by being ungrateful.
The blessed month of Ramadan is the best time for us to reflect upon Him to whom all thanks are due and how we can express them to our fellow human beings.
Gratitude manifests itself when we become providers and nurturers for the hungry and the needy.
It shows itself in the way we behave towards creation.
Our beloved prophet,
Alayhi wasalam,
Teaches us,
Whoever is not grateful to the people is not grateful to Allah.
Gratefulness also means to be awake to all the qualities you carry,
To bow before them as you would bow before your guests,
And to use them in the best possible manner.
So show your gratefulness by putting your spiritual and mental talents to the best possible use,
Both for yourself and others.
Allah tells us,
O man,
What is it that lures thee away from thy bountiful Sustainer,
Who created thee,
And formed thee in accordance with what thou art meant to be,
And shaped thy nature in just proportions,
Having put thee together in whatever form he willed thee to have.
Quran 82,
6 through 8.
And he reminds us time and again of his all-encompassing love.
God does not want to impose any hardship on you,
But wants to make you pure,
And bestow upon you the full measure of his blessings that you might have cause to be grateful.
Quran 5,
6.
May our fast and our gratefulness help us outwit our ego's presumptuousness and remain constantly aware of God's kindness.
Remain then conscious of God so you might have cause to be grateful.
Quran 3,
123.
Practice suggested for today.
Very consciously take gratitude as your companion for all of today.
It is not easy for our mind to acknowledge that which our heart has always known.
I have you,
Allah,
To thank for my whole existence,
My life,
My body,
My senses,
My achievements,
And all my talents.
Alhamdulillah wa shukur Allah.
All praise,
All honor,
And all thanks belong to Allah.
Allahumma aina dhrikaka wa shukrika wa husniya baraka.
O Allah,
Help me remember you,
Thank you,
And worship you in the best of ways.
Thank you for joining us for Day 9.
Have a blessed day.
