Class 1
FROM SABR TO SHUKR
SABR
إِنَّ اللّهَ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ
“Indeed Allah is with the patient” (2:153)
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلَاةِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ
O you who believe! Seek help in patience and As-Salāt (the prayer).
Truly! Allah is with As-Sābirīn (the patient ones, etc.).
[Surah al-Baqarah 2:153]
After Allah commanded that He be appreciated, He ordained patience and prayer. It is a fact that the servant is either enjoying a bounty that he should be thankful for, or suffering a calamity that he should meet with patience. A Hadith states:
“Amazing is the believer, for whatever Allah decrees for him, it is better for him! If he is tested with a bounty, he is grateful for it and this is better for him; and if he is afflicted with a hardship, he is patient with it and this is better for him”. (Sahih Muslim)
Also Allah says,
وَاسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلَاةِ ۚ وَإِنَّهَا لَكَبِيرَةٌ إِلَّا عَلَى الْخَاشِعِينَ
And seek help in patience and As-Salah (the prayer) and truly, it is extremely heavy and hard except for Al-Khashiin (i.e., the true believers in Allah) (2:45)
There are types of Sabr ـ patience:
Patience on the obedience to Allaah (worshipping and striving for His sake).
Patience on avoiding disobedience and keeping away from prohibitions & sins.
Patience on the pre-decrees of Allaah (meet it with Shukr & Tawbah).
Having patience on calamities is obligatory and people afflicted with calamities react in different ways:
i) Displeasure and complaint (and this is unlawful)
ii) Patience
iii) Contentment
iv) Gratitude (Ash-Shukr)
The difference between being patient and being content:
The patient person feels pain in his heart but does not express it in his sayings and actions and does not do what displeases Allaah.
The content person does not go in pain, meaning that the presence or absence of the calamity, knowing it is from Allaah, does not make him feel in his heart the pain and (or) sorrow.
Contentment is higher than Patience. And the best is As Shukr (reaction of gratitude for the calamity):
How is a person thankful for a calamity which touches him and affects him? First, these calamities could be hastened punishments for sins which he has done so he thanks Allaah that He hastened the punishment of these sins in this life.
Secondly, he thanks Allah for not making his calamities more severe. Thirdly, he thanks Allaah by anticipating the reward because the more severe the calamity, the more is he rewarded. Therefore, he thanks Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala for the reward which will be much more than what he can expect.
SHUKR: A core element of faith
In its pure essence, shukr is to recognize the goodness one receives.
This can manifest as a feeling, behavior, or social transaction. Above all, it is a form of worship. Shukr not only helps instill appreciation and cooperation between people, as well as love for the Creator, but it also brings about a profound change in us as individuals. For these reasons, I wanted to offer a holistic framework for gratitude in Islam to inspire Muslims to reevaluate and reinvigorate their practice of shukr.
With the right mindset and a few moments of praising Allah, one unlocks greater well-being, physical health, and ultimately success in this life and the next.
Allah says,
وَٱشۡكُرُواْ لِلَّهِ إِن ڪُنتُمۡ إِيَّاهُ تَعۡبُدُونَ
… and be grateful to Allah, if it is Him you worship.” (Surah al-Baqarah 2:172)
Allah has mentioned gratitude alongside iman. He keeps reminding us to be grateful (50 times). Why? Because human beings tend to be ungrateful! This is something we need to put extra care on, since Allah keeps warning us about it so many times in the Quran. In fact the Quran begins with Alhamdulillah. The very first chapter of the Quran starts with “Praise be to Allah.”
The purpose of fasting in Ramadan is to make us grateful. “The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur’an … Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and [wants] for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful”. [2:182-188]
Allah is ash-Shakir. “What would Allah do with your punishment if you are grateful and believe? And ever is Allah Appreciative and Knowing”. [4:147]
Allah is testing us if we will be grateful
And it is He who subjected the sea for you to eat from it tender meat and to extract from it ornaments which you wear. And you see the ships plowing through it, and [He subjected it] that you may seek of His bounty; and perhaps you will be grateful. [16:14]
And Allah has extracted you from the wombs of your mothers not knowing a thing, and He made for you hearing and vision and intellect that perhaps you would be grateful. [16:78]
This uncertainty of our gratefulness at the end of these verses is to make us more concerned about being grateful to Allah. He has given us so much and yet we find it difficult to even express our gratitude. In fact, we can’t even thank Him enough for all of His favours on us.
It was reported that the Prophet ﷺ stayed up all night, standing until his feet became swollen. When he was asked, “Why are you doing this when Allah has forgiven all your past and future wrong actions?”He ﷺ replied: ”Should I not be a grateful slave?” [Bukhari and Muslim]
The Prophet ﷺ told Muath, RadhiAllahu Anhu: “By Allah, I love you, so do not forget to say at the end of every salah,(the below dua)” [Ahmad and Tirmidhi]
اللهم أعني على ذكرك وشكرك، وحسن عبادتك
Allahumma a'inni 'ala dhikrika wa shukrika, wa husni 'ibadatika
‘O Allah help me to remember You and to give thanks to You and to worship You well.’
Gratitude towards Allah
Thanks or gratitude means reciprocating kindness and giving praise to the one who has done good and kind things.
The one who is most deserving of thanks and praise from people is Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, because of the great favours and blessings that He has bestowed upon His slaves in both spiritual and worldly terms. Allah has commanded us to give thanks to Him for those blessings, and not to deny them. He says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Therefore remember Me (by praying, glorifying). I will remember you, and be grateful to Me (for My countless favours on you) and never be ungrateful to Me” (2:152)
WHY BE GRATEFUL?
There are countless blessing and we cannot list them all here but we will try to enlist some here as to why is it a must for all of us to be grateful of Allah (make Shukr)?
1. We can never count Allah's Blessings: Be ever grateful to Allah for everything that you possess including your wealth, health, status, intellectual abilities and life. Allah says: "Is, then, He Who creates comparable to any that cannot create? Will you not, then, take heed? For should you try to count Allah's blessings, you could never compute them" (An-Nahl 16:17-19).
2. Shaytan challenged Allah that we wouldn’t be grateful. “Then I will come to them from before them and from behind them and on their right and on their left, and You will not find most of them grateful [to You].” [7:17] Are we going to let Shaytan have what he wants, or are we going to give him a fight?
3. The opposite of Shukr (gratitude) is Kufr (disbelief):
“If you reject (Allah), truly Allah has no need of you; but He likes not ingratitude from His slaves; if you are grateful, He is pleased with you.” (Surah az-Zumar 39:7)
"Then remember Me; I will remember you. Be grateful to Me, and do not reject Me" (Al-Baqarah 2:152).
“We showed him (i.e. man) the way: whether he be grateful or ungrateful (rests on his will)” (Surah al-Insan 76:3)
4. True worship means sincere thankfulness to Allah. "... and be grateful to Allah, if it is Him you worship" (Al-Baqarah 2:172).
5. Shukr leads to Allah's pleasure:
Allah says, "If you are grateful, He is pleased with you..." (Az-Zumar 39:7).
The Prophet ﷺ said: "Allah is pleased with His servant if, when he eats something, he thanks Allah for it, and when he drinks something, he thanks Allah for it" (Muslim).
6. The last call of the people of Paradise is Alhamdulillah. “Their call therein will be, ‘Exalted are You, O Allah ,’ and their greeting therein will be, ‘Peace.’ And the last of their call will be, ‘Praise to Allah , Lord of the worlds!’” [10:10]
7. Gratitude is a purpose of our creation: "It is He Who brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers when you knew nothing; and He gave you hearing and sight and intelligence and affection: that you may give thanks (to Allah)"(An-Nahl, 16:78).
8. Shukr is a quality of success in this life and in the Hereafter. The Prophet ﷺ said: “'Let one of you acquire a thankful heart, a tongue that remembers Allah and a believing wife who will help him with regard to the Hereafter.' ” (Ibn MAjah & Tirmidhi)
9. Being grateful and patient in times of difficulty: The Prophet ﷺ said: "How wonderful is the case of a Believer! There is good for him in whatever happens to him -and none, apart from him, enjoys this blessing. If he receives some bounty, he is grateful to Allah and this bounty brings good to him. And if some adversity befalls him, he is patient, and this affliction, too, brings good to him" (Muslim).
10. Shukr leads to abundance in Allah's favors: "If you are grateful, I will surely give you more and more" (Ibrahim 14:7).
Beautiful Examples of Sabr to Shukr
THE PROPHET ﷺ ON HIS SON (IBRAHEEM) PASSING AWAY
Anas bin Malik reported that: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered the room and we accompanied him... And Ibrahim breathed his last. The eyes of Allah's Messenger ﷺ were filled with tears. Abdur Rehman Ibne Auf said: 'you are weeping, O Messenger of Allah ﷺ '. He ﷺ replied: "Ibne Auf, This is mercy". Then he ﷺ said:
"Our eyes shed tears and our hearts are filled with grief, but we do not say anything except that by which Allah is pleased. O, Ibrahim we are sorrowful due to your separation." (Agreed upon).
THE AMAZING SABR & SHUKR OF PROPHET AYOUB A.S.
Allah's Praises of Ayoob A.S. Allah the Almighty praised His worshipper Ayoob in His Glorious Quran: "Truly! We found him patient. How excellent a slave! Verily, he was ever oft returning in repentance to Us!" (Ch 38:44)
The Prophet Ayub (peace be upon him) was a prosperous man with firm faith in Allah. He possessed vast farms, enormous wealth, many cattle and valuable property but these things did not make him arrogant. His wealth provided him with a medium by means of which he sought Allah's grace.
Allah (Glory be to Him) tested him with poverty and diseases until he reached a bad state of sickness, poverty and isolation. Prophet Ayyub (peace be upon him) provided great example of unbelievable situations in infinite patience and immense satisfaction of Allah’s destination.
When the test went for long his wife said to him: "How long are you going to bear this torture from our Lord? Are we to remain without wealth, children or friends forever? Why don't you call upon Allah to remove this suffering?"
Ayoob A.S. sighed, and in a soft voice replied "Iblis must have whispered to you and made you dissatisfied. Tell me how long did I enjoy good health and riches?" She replied: "eighty years."
Then Ayoob replied: "How long am I suffering like this?" She said: "seven years."Ayoob then told her: "In that case I am ashamed to call on my Lord to remove the hardship, for I have not suffered longer than the years of good health and plenty. It seems your faith has weakened and you are dissatisfied with the fate of Allah.
Ayoob A.S. was repentant, remembering Allah with thankfulness, patience, and steadfastness. This was the cause of his rescue and the secret of Allah's praising him.
URWAH BIN ZUBAIR’s SABR & SHUKR ON LOSING HIS LEG AND A SON
Urwah Ibn Zubair, a well known from the Taabaeen had a problem with his foot. So the doctors decided that they had to cut it off, cut the foot off. When the doctors cut it off he didn’t say anything except these words: ‘O Allaah, for you are Full praise. For if you have taken some, you have left some. And if you have tested, and put through difficulty you have also put in good condition. If you have tested and tried and put through difficulty you have also put good health, good circumstances and good conditions.
’The next day his son was riding a horse or mule and fell off of it and died. So they came to Urwah with the information of the death of his son, he didn’t say anything except : ‘O Allaah, for you is full praise. For if you have taken some, you have left some. And if you have tested and tried you have also placed us in good situations and good condition.’ So when he was asked about this he said: ‘I had 4 limbs (meaning 2 arms and 2 legs) and Allaah took some and left some. ‘I had 4 limbs 2 arms and 2 legs Allaah took one and left me three. I had 7 sons, Allaah (tabrak wa tala) took one and left six. And he gave me good condition, or good situation my whole life up until this time. Then he tested me. Should I not praise Allaah for that? Should I not praise Allaah for that?’
TIPS FOR THE TEST
Do not have to memorise the ayahs or hadeeths word for word and their references, but remember their meanings and the msg being given.
Remember the reasons of Shukr
ASSIGNMENT
There will be an Assignment Question asked in the Test. Marks will be given based on the following: -
I. Invite atleast 15 people to the course (can invite via WhatsApp, Facebook, Email, telegram or word of mouth) 3 Marks. (check the note below for exceptions)
Note:
Those who have already invited whether on Whatsapp, Email or FB, do not need to invite again.
It does not matter, whether people join or not, our job is to invite.
II. Talk to 5 people (friends or family) about any three topics from the course - (5 Marks)
III. Pray for the Ummah, pray for the ease of all the poor & oppressed Muslims and Maghfirah of the Muslims who passed away. Pray that Allah make us all strong in imaan and give us the hidayah to work for the aakhirah and to help each other. - 1 Mark
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