SHUKR - GRATITUDE

Jazakallah and not thank you

When a person helps us or does us a favour, we tell him thank you. Saying thank you to a person is a way of thanking him.

To thank a person for a service that he has offered is very important and it indicates the good manners of that person. Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam) said: "A person, who does not know how to thank a person (like him/who is of the same species as him), will not be able to thank Allah Ta’ala." This is because we see with our eyes when a person offers us a service. There is no difference between big and small or between an intellectual and an uneducated. Everyone sees it indistinctly. Hence, if we do not show our gratitude for a favour that can be seen with our eyes, then all the more, we will not be able to show gratitude for favours for which we have to ponder, reflect and meditate in order to see it.

To offer a person a service is something very good. It is so commendable that we cannot compensate for it. This is because it is due to his sincerity that he is helping the next person. Let’s say we can compensate him for what he has given us but can we evaluate the dimension of his sincerity and affection? It is something very valuable. It is an inestimable thing which cannot be evaluated. Therefore, only Allah Ta’ala knows its true dimension and it is He alone who can reward him. So, when we say “thank you” to a person for a service that he offered, this is not sufficient to satisfy the amount of gratitude that we should express. That is why the Shariah taught us to leave this in the hand of Allah Ta’ala by saying: Jazakallah - which signifies “May Allah rewards you”. This is the only appropriate way to thank a person.

How to thank Allah Ta’ala

We must thank Allah Ta’ala for everything that He has bestowed upon us. There is nothing which we have received from anyone besides Allah Ta’ala. The favours of Allah Ta’ala are so much that it is impossible to count them. Therefore, it is more incumbent on us to make Shukr to Allah Ta’ala and to thank him.

We should thank Him in three ways:-

1. With the mouth. That is, we acknowledge verbally and express that it is Allah alone who has granted us everything that we have.  

2. With the heart. That is, it is not sufficient to say something or read a certain formula or a Dua to thank Allah Ta’ala. We must feel this gratitude in our hearts also.

3. With the entire body. That is, we engage our entire body in activities which Allah Ta’ala loves. We do not use any part of it in a way that displeases Allah Ta’ala.

We do not look at anything, listen to anything, say anything that Allah Ta’ala does not like. And similarly, we keep all the part of our body away from the things that Allah Ta’ala has prohibited.

In general, what is essential is that we should have Shukr for Allah Ta’ala in our heart. When we will have this in our hearts, our entire body will remain in the obedience of Allah Ta’ala. So, if a person is constantly engaged in the things that Allah Ta’ala does not like, it implies that he does not have Shukr in his heart. 

Allah Ta’ala said:

"If you show gratitude, then I will definitely grant you more, and if you are ungrateful, then indeed My punishment is severe." (S 14: V7)

When we will have Shukr for Allah Ta’ala in our heart, we will express it with our mouth and it will be manifested automatically in our behaviours, our way of acting and our activities. And this will guarantee our salvation in this world and in Aakhirah.

O Allah, help us to make your Zikr, your Shukr and to do your Ibaadat in the best way.

 [English version of "Shoukr –remerciement" – Al Jamiat – Vol.1 No.12]