11 Great Ways To Be More grateful To Allah

June 25, 2021 Islam

11 Great Ways To Be More grateful To Allah

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بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

Yasmin Mogahed once shared a story of a lady who has a type of genetic disease where every time she gives birth, her babies would slowly lose their physical senses (sight, hearing, taste etc) one by one after a few months.

At the time, she had 3 children and all three of her children would go through the same deterioration in their physical senses. But the remarkable part is, this lady continued to think good of Allah and give thanks to Him for whatever befalls her.

How did she do it?

I suppose with a high level of iman, it is definitely possible. After all, we are all slaves of Allah. So, what right do we have to question Allah’s decree? 🙂 But Allah knows best. He would not test us with calamities we couldn’t handle. The best we can do as His best slaves is to continue to give thanks for everything He has given us.

The best part about being grateful to Allah is that Allah appreciates it!

Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “While a man was on the way, he found a thorny branch of a tree there on the way and removed it. Allah thanked him for that deed and forgave him.” [Bukhari]

Even just removing a branch on the road is acknowledged by Allah, what more if we love others sincerely and continue to do good deeds every day to gain His pleasure? It is priceless to Him. 🙂

So, today I’d like to share with you 11 ways you can show gratefulness to Allah.

1. Be grateful to others

“Whoever is not grateful to the people, he is not grateful to Allah.” [Tirmidhi]

The people in our lives were put in our lives by Allah for a reason. Every person that we ever come across has a purpose in our lives, whether to help us grow, help us remove obstacles or just accompany us in this world of never-ending ‘tests’ from Allah.

So, when we acknowledge and show appreciation to the people in our lives, automatically we are giving thanks to Allah for bringing in each and every one of them into our lives.

Now, I know some people come into our lives with bad intentions and bad influence, but even so, they are still brought into our lives for a reason. And that is to test us. Allah wants to see if we are able to rely on Him alone despite all the negatives these people have brought into our lives.

If you choose to get closer to Allah, it shows that you are grateful to Him. Alhamdulillah. Kudos to you! Just keep it up 🙂

As for your loved ones who have relentlessly been there for you, make sure to go out of your way to SHOW them your appreciation.

Jabir ibn ‘Abdullah al-Ansari reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Whoever has a favour done for him should repay it. If he cannot find anything he can use to repay it, he should praise the one who did it. When he praises him, he thanks him. If he is silent, he is ungrateful to him. If someone adorns himself with something he has not been given, it is as if he was wearing a false garment.” [Sahih Al-Bani]

The Hadith above specifically said:

‘Repay their kindness’ – let’s say you have a neighbour who always sends you food when they cook something nice, try to repay it whenever you cook a nice meal too. 🙂
‘Praise the one who did it’ – From the example above, if you are not able to repay with another meal, tell her what a great cook she is and that your family really enjoyed her cooking. 🙂 It would make her day I’m sure insyaAllah.

Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said. “If one is done a kindness and [expresses his gratitude] to his benefactor by saying ‘May Allah give you a good reward’, he has fully expressed his appreciation.” [Tirmidhi]

2. Be grateful for your food

“A grateful eater will have a reward like that of a patient fasting person.”” [Ibn Majah]

Again, FOOD! I love food and I love eating good food! Don’t we all? 😉 Alhamdulillah. The best way to be grateful for our food is to practice handling our food the Sunnah way. How does Prophet Muhammad SAW handled his food?

He would never complain about his food or criticise it no matter how untasty it is.
He would start eating by saying ‘Bismillah – In the Name of Allah’.
He would wash and use his right hand to eat.
He would stop eating before he is full.
He would say ‘Alhamdulillah – Praise and Thanks be to Allah’ when finish eating.

Prophet Muhammad SAW said a grateful eater will be rewarded the patience of someone who is fasting. MasyaAllah. Even eating gratefully has its rewards. Amazing right? Alhamdulillah.

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3. Prostrate to Allah

It was narrated from Abu Bakrah that when the Prophet (ﷺ) heard news that made him happy, or for which one should be happy, he would fall down prostrate in gratitude to Allah, the Blessed and Exalted. [Hasan Ibn Majah]

We call this ‘Syukr Sujood – grateful prostration’. Whenever you receive good news or anything that pleases you, make a quick prostration at that moment.

If you’re at home, this would be easier to do but if you’re in public, you can ‘postpone’ that prostration and do it during prayer time. InsyaAllah.

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4. Say ‘Alhamdulillah’

Abdallah b. ‘Amr reported God’s messenger as saying that “Praise be to God” is the beginning of thanksgiving, for the man who does not praise God has not thanked Him. [Mishkat Al-Masabih]

I was listening to Nouman Ali khan the other day about Surah Al-Fatihah. He explained ‘Alhamdulillah’ from the second verse of the surah for almost half of the lecture. That’s how significant it is.

Since ‘Alhamdulillah’ is such a common expression among us – Muslims, many people have adopted different translations of the word. But the most accurate translation of ‘Alhamdulillah’ is ‘All praises AND thanks be to Allah.

Nouman Ali Khan explained that praise and thanks are 2 different things.

Praise:

Praise is reserved for anything you admire.

When you admire an athlete, you praise him. You don’t thank him because he didn’t do anything for you.
When you admire a newborn baby, you express its cuteness. You don’t thank him.

Thank:

Thanking someone is a byproduct of an act.

When someone does something for you, you thank them by returning the favor.
When your mum cooks for you, you return the favor by cooking a nice meal for her too.

When it comes to Allah, we are taught to do both ‘Praise and Thank’ Him. How do we do that?

Praise:

Acknowledge and ponder upon His qualities.

When we admire His creations, we praise Him by acknowledging that He is the Creator.
When we admire how smart our children are, praise Allah for giving that quality to our kids.

Thank:

Taking good care and treating the things that were given by Allah with the best kindness

When Allah gives us parents and we treat them kindfully and respectfully, that’s thanking Allah.
As wives, if we fulfill our husband’s rights and love him correctly, that’s thanking Allah.
You appreciate the things Allah has given you by maintaining and taking care of them.

Here’s a little bit of the grammar part of his talk, but it’s worth sharing. 🙂

The word ‘Alhamdulillah’ is a noun – ‘All praises and thanks be to Allah’. Allah did not say ‘Praise and Thank Me for everything’ which is a verb.

So, Nouman Ali Khan pointed out that Allah chose a noun instead of a verb because He wants to show that He is independent of our praises and thanks. It does not matter whether the whole world praises and thanks Him or not, it does not diminish the fact that He alone is worthy of praise and thanks.

SubhanAllah. Amazing, right? I hope you’re inspired by this just as much as I am, if not more. So, let’s strive to be more grateful to Allah InsyaAllah. May we all be His most grateful slaves. Ameen. 🙂

Here’s a hadith about saying ‘Alhamdulillah’ before starting recitation.

The Prophet (ﷺ), Abu Bakr, and Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, would start their recitation with: “All the praise and thanks be to Allah, the Lord of all that exists. [Sahih An-Nasai]

Prophet Muhammad SAW and his Sahabahs would start every recitation with ‘Alhamdulillah’. So, we should follow them insyaAllah. 🙂

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5. Perform the night prayer

‘Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) said: The Prophet (ﷺ) would stand (in prayer) so long that the skin of his feet would crack. I asked him, “Why do you do this while your past and future sins have been forgiven?” He said, “Should I not be a grateful slave of Allah?” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Waking up on the 3rd of the night just to make Salah is HARD. There’s nothing easy about it. But if our hearts are attached to Allah, you will find that you naturally yearn to meet Him and be with Him in that beautiful ‘window’ of the night.

This is because there is nothing like it. You will not get that same peace and comfort from anything else other than sacrificing a little bit of your sleep and spending quality time with Allah. The most serene, quiet and uninterrupted time of the day that you will ever have is when everyone else is asleep.

Prophet Muhammad SAW used to pray Tahajjud (the night prayer) until his feet hurt. That’s how much he wanted to show gratitude to Allah.

I think that’s the most sincere form of gratitude to Allah because no one knows it but you and Him. 🙂

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6. Be grateful in good and bad times

Strange are the ways of a believer for there is good in every affair of his and this is not the case with anyone else except in the case of a believer for if he has an occasion to feel delight, he thanks (God), thus there is a good for him in it, and if he gets into trouble and shows resignation (and endures it patiently), there is a good for him in it. [Sahih Muslim]

As Muslims, we must realize that every event that takes place in our lives is by the decree of Allah.

Nothing happens by accident. And Allah purposely gave us good and bad experiences in our lives with ONE purpose only, and that is to test us to see if we would continue to turn back to Him and trust Him in all those events.

So, with that mindset, can you see how a believer becomes ‘strange’ in their affairs?

In good times, they feel happy and give thanks to Allah because they know everything is from Allah. In bad times, they endure with patience and faith because they know Allah wants them to turn back to Him.

When you are able to return to Allah in ANY situation whether good or bad, that is the ultimate gratefulness to Allah. You acknowledge that He owns you, therefore you submit and surrender to Him while doing your best in your ability to please Him.

Amazing! A grateful Muslim is truly amazing MasyaAllah. May we all be grateful Muslims. Ameen. 🙂

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7. Fast like the past Prophets

When the Prophet (ﷺ) came to Medina, he found (the Jews) fasting on the day of ‘Ashura’ (i.e. 10th of Muharram). They used to say: “This is a great day on which Allah saved Moses and drowned the folk of Pharaoh. Moses observed the fast on this day, as a sign of gratitude to Allah.” The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “I am closer to Moses than they.” So, he observed the fast (on that day) and ordered the Muslims to fast on it. [Sahih Bukhari]

This hadith refers to the day of Ashurah (10th of Muharram). We are recommended to fast on that day as well but it is not obligatory.

An obligatory fast for the followers of Prophet Muhammad SAW is during the month of Ramadhan. When we fast for a whole month with the sole intention of pleasing Allah, we are expressing our gratitude to Him.

Allah loves our fast so much to the point that He says:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “(Allah said), ‘Every good deed of Adam’s son is for him except fasting; it is for Me. and I shall reward (the fasting person) for it.‘ Verily, the smell of the mouth of a fasting person is better to Allah than the smell of musk.” [Sahih Bukhari]

Every other good deed or ibadah has benefit for us and has its own set of rewards. But when it comes to fasting, we are purposely restraining ourselves from our natural needs such as food, intimacy and water.

So, Allah says He himself will give the reward according to His divine knowledge. MasyaAllah.

Let’s observe our fast and be more mindful that we’re doing it solely to please Him. InsyaAllah.

When not in Ramadhan, you can opt to fast on Mondays and Thursdays which was also done by our beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW. 🙂

Aishah narrated: “The Prophet used to try to fast on Mondays and Thursdays.” [At-Tirmidhi]

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8. Be grateful for good dreams

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “If anyone of you sees a dream that he likes, then it is from Allah, and he should thank Allah for it and narrate it to others; but if he sees something else, i.e., a dream that he dislikes, then it is from Satan, and he should seek refuge with Allah from its evil, and he should not mention it to anybody, for it will not harm him.” [Sahih Bukhari]

Can you remember the dreams you had as a child? Or more recent ones? Some are beautiful, scary or even confusing. I love most of my dreams, they are always weird and bring me to another world which is fascinating. Alhamdulillah. 🙂

What are yours like?

Allah says, the dreams that pleases you are from Allah and the ones that don’t are from the syaitan. So, when we have a good dream, give thanks to Allah and say Alhamdulillah because He gave it to you.

If it’s a horrible dream, say:

“Allahumma inni a’udhu bika minash-Shaitanir-rajim, wa hamzihi wa nafkhihi wa nafthihi (O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the accursed Satan, from his madness, his pride, and his poetry).” [Hasan Ibn Majah]

That’s a way of showing gratitude to Allah. 🙂

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9. Make dua to be grateful

Abu Hurairah said: “There is a supplication that I memorized from the Messenger of Allah which I do not leave off: ‘O Allah, make me revere gratitude to You, make me increase in remembrance to You, make me follow Your advice, and (make me) guard over that which you have commanded (Allāhummaj`alnī u`aẓẓimu shuraka wa ukthiru dhikraka wa attabi`u naṣīḥataka wa aḥfaẓu waṣīyatak).” [Sahih Tirmidhi]

This is a beautiful dua we can make for ourselves and for others.

I told my husband one time. Every family has their own theme. Some families value success and hard work. Some value love and gentleness.

For my family, when my husband and I have our own kids one day insyaAllah, I want our family theme to be gratefulness. To me, gratefulness is the key that puts everything else in place – Allah’s love, appreciation for others, strong family ties etc.

When all our family members are grateful to Allah and one another, insyaAllah we can build a strong and healthy Muslim family. Ameen. 🙂

That is why Prophet Muhammad SAW prescribed this dua to his beloved Sahabi Mu’adh Ibn Jabal.

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) held my hand and said, “O Mu’adh, By Allah, I love you and advise you not to miss supplicating after every Salat (prayer) saying: ‘Allahumma a’inni ‘ala dhikrika wa shukrika, wa husni ‘ibadatika,’ (O Allah, help me remember You, expressing gratitude to You and worship You in the best manner)”. [Hadith Sahih].

We can recite it after Salah too insyaAllah. 🙂

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10. Give (Sadaqa) charity

Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “There is a (compulsory) Sadaqa (charity) to be given for every joint of the human body (as a sign of gratitude to Allah) everyday the sun rises. To judge justly between two persons is regarded as Sadaqa, and to help a man concerning his riding animal by helping him to ride it or by lifting his luggage on to it, is also regarded as Sadaqa, and (saying) a good word is also Sadaqa, and every step taken on one’s way to offer the compulsory prayer (in the mosque) is also Sadaqa and to remove a harmful thing from the way is also Sadaqa.” [Sahih Bukhari]

We often think of Sadaqa (charity) in the form of money, but actually it is everything that we do for the benefit of others and for ibadah to Allah.

(From the hadith above) This includes:

Helping two people solve an issue justly
Helping someone lift their belongings into their vehicles
Giving valuable advice
Walking to the masjid and removing anything harmful on the road

The list is endless really. And Allah said:

‘If you are grateful, I will certainly give you more.”
[Surah Ibrahim, 14:7]

So, if you want more of something, be grateful for it by using it as a means to please Allah.

For example, if you want money, give more of it in the cause of Allah – maybe to your family or local charity. That way Allah knows that you are worthy of receiving more because you have proven to Him your capability of handling more money and using it wisely in His cause.

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11. Praise Allah before asking for anything

The Prophet ﷺ said: “When any one of you prays, let him begin by praising Allah, then let him send blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ, then let him ask for whatever he wants.” [Tirmidhi]

When we meet a king with the intention of asking for a favor, how would we try to win his heart? Maybe we would praise him, give him gifts or follow his orders in return.

Now, Allah is infinitely more powerful than any king on this earth. And although our praise and worship does not increase or decrease His Majesty in the least, we are still taught by the Prophet SAW to have ‘manners’ with Allah just as we would have with a human king.

When we come to Allah with humility and acknowledging His Greatness, we are actually expressing our gratitude to Him.

We praise Allah by mentioning His attributes.

For example,

Ya Wadud (The Most Loving One), please put love between me and my spouse.
Ya Ghaffar (The Ever-Forgiving), please forgive all my sins, my husband’s and my parents’ sins.

We send blessings to Prophet Muhammad SAW by saying:

“Alahumma salli ‘ala Muhammad wa ‘ala ali Muhammad (O Allah, send salah upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad).” [Sahih Bukhari]

There’s a longer version but this is sufficient insyaAllah. 🙂

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Conclusion

If you look around you right now, you’d realize that Allah has given you so much in life. Always remember that no matter where you are in life, there will always be people in far worse situations than yours.

So, continue to do your best to please Allah every day. That is how you show Him your gratitude.

If you tried to count Allah’s blessings, you would never be able to number them. Indeed humankind is truly unfair, ˹totally˺ ungrateful. [Surah Ibrahim, 13:34]

May we all be His most grateful slaves. Ameen. 🙂