I was listening to this lecture by Sheikh Muhammad Alshareef in which he relates his experience of being on a flight that almost crashed. He describes the fear and confusion when the airplane just fell out of the sky and how people started calling out to Allah, really just getting ready to die.
Naturally, this was an emotionally intense experience for him and after the plane landed safely by the grace of Allah, the Sheikh opened up his journal to write and make sense of his thoughts. He says he learned a valuable lesson when he noticed that the last time he had opened his journal and written down his thoughts was when something painful had happened to him. It made him realize that he was only turning to Allah (swt) when something painful happens.
Isn’t that what we often do? When we are going through a test or a painful experience – a financial hardship, the loss of a loved one, an illness or a scary diagnosis – we find ourselves closer to Allah in those times. And in times of relative ease or blessings we find ourselves drifting away from Allah. Our duas and prayers may not have the same intensity, our salah may not have the same khushoo and concentration, our tongues may not be as active in zikr and remembrance of Allah, and our hearts may not be as humbled before their Creator in times of ease as they are in times of hardship.
Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) describes this attitude in the Quran:
“And when we bestow favor upon man, he turns away and distances himself, but when evil touches him, then he is full of extensive supplication.” (Quran 41:51)
It is true that this is the natural state of the human heart. Our Imaan or faith ebbs and flows, we experience highs and lows. One of the purposes of tests and hardships is to draw us closer to our Lord and remind us of the reality of this life. But noticing this trend in our own lives is a powerful eye-opener that can serve to be a life-changing experience, if we only allow it to be.
How we approach hardships and tests in our lives can make or break our akhirah (Hereafter), but at the same time, how we approach the ease and blessings Allah grants us can also chart the course for our dunya and our akhirah.
In the lecture, Sheikh Muhammad Alshareef goes on to mention the Quranic verse where Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says:
“And (remember) when your Lord proclaimed, ‘If you are grateful, I will surely increase you (in favor)” (Quran 14:07)
He says this experience on the airplane made him realize that he was only turning back to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) during pain and that he needed to be more thankful.
“See there’s two schools,” says the Sheikh. “There’s the school of pain and that brings people back to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), but there’s also the school of thankfulness, meaning when the good times come if you are thankful to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), you can actually have more good things coming to your life, because that is the promise of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) for those who are thankful.”
The Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) would often stand for long prayers during the nights that his feet would become swollen. One time Aisha (رضى الله عنها) asked him: “O Messenger of Allah, why do you undergo so much hardship despite the fact that Allah has pardoned for you your earlier and later sins?”
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) responded “Should I not be a thankful servant?” (Bukhari)
May Allah make us thankful servants who turn towards Him during times of ease as well as hardships and may He grant us the opportunity to draw closer to Him through the school of thankfulness so much so that we do not need to shaken by difficulties to remember Him. May we find the sweetness of Imaan and gratitude in the blessings and ease that Allah puts in our lives. May those blessings make us turn to Allah in the same, or in fact, better worship, dua and remembrance like trials often make us turn to Him.
Here are a few actionable steps to incorporate more gratitude into our lives:
- Make it a habit to list out or think of at least three things you are grateful for each day.
- Try to talk to family and kids about what was the best thing that happened each day. This can inculcate a habit of focusing on the blessings in each day
- Try to make an extra two rakahs of salah just to show thanks to Allah for those blessings. If you can wake up for the tahajjud prayer for this at least once in while that would be even better!
- Don’t forget to keep saying Alhamdulillah every time you are reminded of the blessings in your life at numerous points throughout the day. Sometimes it is just the little things that count!
- Ask Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) to increase you in the ease and the blessings. Sometimes we feel hesitant to make dua for more when we are already happy with what we have. But dua is ibadah and although we are grateful to Allah for the blessings He has given us, asking Allah to increase those blessings or continue those blessings and ease for us is also a part of ibadah.
What are some ways you incorporate gratitude into your day? Please share in the comments below!
Here’s a link to the lecture referred to above:
