Class 3
SHUKR BY THE TONGUE
How to thank Allah by your tongue
As for gratitude of the tongue, it means acknowledging verbally - after believing in the heart- that the One Who grants blessing is indeed Allah, and keeping the tongue busy with praise of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted.
Allah says, explaining His blessings to His slave Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): “And He found you poor and made you rich (self-sufficient with self-contentment)?” [93:8]. Then He reminded him in return for that: “And proclaim the grace of your Lord (i.e. the Prophethood and all other graces)” [al-Duha 93:11]
Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “I.e., as you were poor and in need, then Allah made you rich and independent of means: then speak of the blessing of Allah bestowed upon you.” (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, 8/427)
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Allah is pleased with a person who eats some food and then praises Him for it, or who drinks some drink and then praises Him for it.” (Sahih Muslim)
Abu’l-‘Abbas al-Qurtubi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Praise here means gratitude, and we have seen above that praise may take the place of gratitude but gratitude may not take the place of praise. This indicates that gratitude for blessings -- even if they are few -- is a means of attaining the pleasure of Allah, may He be exalted, which is the noblest situation of the people of Paradise. When the people of Paradise say, “You have given to us what You have not given to anyone among Your creation,” Allah will say to them: “ Shall I not give you something better than that?” They will say, “What is it? Have You not brightened our faces, and admitted us to Paradise and saved us from Hell?” He will say, “I bestow My pleasure upon you, and I will never be angry with you after that.”
Gratitude is a means of attaining that great honour because it implies acknowledgement of the Bestower of blessings and acknowledging Him Alone as the Creator of that blessing and the One Who caused it to reach the recipient of the blessing, as an honour and favour from the Bestower, and that the recipient of the blessing is poor and is in need of that blessing, and cannot do without it. So this is an acknowledgement of the rights and bounty of Allah, and the duty and need of the slave. So Allah has caused the reward for that acknowledgement to be this great honour.” (Al-Mufhim lima ashkala min Talkhis Kitab Muslim, 7/60, 61)
Hence some of the salaf (righteous predecessors) said: Whoever conceals a blessing has denied it, but whoever manifests it and spreads it has given thanks for it.
Ibn al-Qayyim said, commenting on that: “This is based on the words: “When Allah bestows a blessing upon a person, He loves the effect of His blessing to be seen on His slave.” (Madarij al-Salikin, 2/246)
‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Remind one another of blessings, for mentioning them is gratitude.”
ADHKAAR WITH PRAISE OF ALLAH
The Most Beloved
The Prophet ﷺ said,
“The most beloved speech to Allaah consists of four, there is no harm with which one you begin, Subhana Allaahi, wal hamdu lillaahi, wa la illaah ila Allaah, wa Allaahu akbar.’” (Muslim)
“The uttering of the words: “Subhan-Allah (Allah is free from imperfection), Al-hamdu lillah (all praise is due to Allah), La ilaha illallah (there is no true god except Allah) and Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest)’ is dearer to me than anything over which the sun rises.” (Muslim).
“Indeed the best du’aa is alhamdulillaah and the best dhikr is laa ilaaha illAllaah.” (Tirmidhi 3383)
“…there is none better according to Allaah from a believer who lives his life in Islaam and says ‘Allaahu akbar, Subhana Allaahi, la illaah ila Allaah, and al-Hamdu lillaahi,’ a lot.” (Ahmed & Nisa’i)
The great ahadeeth show the great excellence of the one who has a long life and his actions are good, and his tongue continues to be moist with the Dhikr of Allaah – Azza wa Jal, and success is from Allaah Alone.
The virtues of these Adhkaar.
It is an act of Charity. Based on the hadeeth in Sahih Muslim.
Fill the scales with great rewards. The Prophet ﷺ said, "Performing ablution properly is half of faith, saying Al-Hamdu Lillah fills the Scale (of good deeds), saying Subhan-Allah and Allahu Akbar fills the heavens and the earth….”(Ibn Majah)
Sins are forgiven. The Prophet ﷺ passed by a tree with dry leaves, so he struck it with his staff, making the leaves fall. Then he ﷺ said: “Indeed, ‘all praise is due to Allah, (Al-Ḥamdulillāhh)’ ‘glory to Allah, (Subḥān Allāh)’ ‘none has the right to be worshipped by Allah, (Lā Ilāha Illallāh)’ and ‘Allah is the greatest (Allāhu Akbar)’ cause the sins to fall from the worshipper, just as the leaves of this tree fall.” (Tirmidhi)
Other Adhkaar with Hamd | Praise
سُبْحـانَ اللهِ وَبِحَمْـدِهِ عَدَدَ خَلْـقِه ، وَرِضـا نَفْسِـه ، وَزِنَـةَ عَـرْشِـه ، وَمِـدادَ كَلِمـاتِـه
Subhan-Allahi wa bihamdihi, `adada khalqihi, wa rida nafsihi, wa zinatah `arshihi, wa midada kalimatihi
[Allah is free from imperfection and I begin with His praise, as many times as the number of His creatures, in accordance with His Good Pleasure, equal to the weight of His Throne and equal to the ink that may be used in recording the words (for His Praise)]."
Virtue
Juwairiyah bint Al-Harith (May Allah be pleased with her), the Mother of the Believers, reported:
The Prophet ﷺ came out from my apartment in the morning as I was busy in performing the dawn prayer. He came back in the forenoon and found me sitting there. The Prophet ﷺ said, "Are you still in the same position as I left you." I replied in the affirmative. Thereupon the Prophet ﷺ said, "I recited four words three times after I had left you. If these are to be weighed against all you have recited since morning, these will be heavier”. These are (the above)." [Muslim].
Easy on the Tongue
The Prophet ﷺ said, "There are two expressions which are very easy for the tongue to say, but they are very heavy in the balance and are very dear to The Beneficent (Allah), and they are, 'Subhan Allah Al- `Azim and 'Subhan Allah wa bihamdihi.'" (Bukhari)
Allah listens to those who Praise Him
سَمِعَ اللَّهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَهُ
Sami 'Allaahu liman Hamidah
"Allah listens to him who praises Him”
We even reply to this statement by saying:
اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّنَا لَكَ الْحَمْدُ
Rabbana wa laka’l-hamd
O Allah, our Lord, to Thee be the praise
We also acknowledge by saying all praise be to Allah in every single Rakah.
ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ
Al Hamdu lillāhi Rabbi l-‘ālamīn
All the praises and thanks be to Allah, the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists).
We recite these in every prayer, obligatory or optional, we say it but how many of us actually know what it means? Ponder over it? And act upon it?
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “There is no one to whom praise is more dear than Allah, and because of that He praised Himself. And there is no one whose protective jealousy is greater than Allah’s, and because of that He forbade immoral actions.” (Bukhari & Muslim)
Allah, may He be exalted, has no need of the worlds and their praise and righteous deeds. No matter what bad or good deeds they do, they cannot cause any harm to reach Allah, and they cannot cause any benefit to reach Him. He, may He be glorified and exalted, has no need of them, but they are in need of Him, as He, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “O mankind! it is you who stand in need of Allah, but Allah is Rich (Free of all wants and needs), Worthy of all praise” [Faatir 35:15].
But Allah, may He be exalted, loves for His slaves to obey Him, think positively of Him and give thanks to Him, and not to be ungrateful towards Him, for many great and wise reasons, of which we will mention some here:
Allah loves praise, so He praised Himself and commanded His slaves to praise Him, because He is deserving of that. So He loves His slaves to describe Him as He deserves to be described, because if they do that, that will protect them from attributing to Him bad things that are not befitting to Him at all
Praising and extolling Him as He deserves is establishing the truth and acting upon it. Thus justice is established in the heavens and on earth; in contrast, if they show ingratitude towards Him and do not give thanks to Him, they will not be able to establish justice among themselves
Praising and extolling Him is in people’s best interests in this world and in the hereafter.
An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his commentary on the hadith quoted above: in fact this is in people’s best interests, because they praise Him, may He be glorified and exalted, and He rewards them, thus they will benefit, whereas Allah, may He be glorified, has no need of people and their praise does not benefit Him, and if they do not praise Him that does not harm Him.
Moreover praising Him is an acknowledgement of His true status. Were it not that He has instructed us to do that, and told us how to do it, we would not have learned what is befitting to His greatness and majesty of praise and glorification, and we would not have come to know our Lord by His beautiful names and sublime attributes. Knowledge of that is the foundation of praise and glorification of Him, and it is the basis on which the slave knows his Lord.
Praise of Allah, may He be glorified, frees the individual from the characteristics of arrogance, conceit and pride. The one who does not attribute blessings to Allah and praise Him for them will attribute it to himself, and thus he will transgress, and will look down on people, as Qaaroon did when they reminded him of Allah and His Blessings: “He said: ‘This has been given to me only because of knowledge I possess’” [al-Qasas 28:78]. That was because of his conceit towards people and his self-pride. So Allah caused the earth to swallow him up, along with his house. Then Allah, may He be exalted, said (interpretation of the meaning): “That home of the Hereafter (i.e. Paradise), We shall assign to those who rebel not against the truth with pride and oppression in the land nor do mischief by committing crimes. And the good end is for the Muttaqoon (pious)” [al-Qasas 28:83].
Praising Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, and knowing Him by learning of His perfect attributes opens the door to true servitude to Him, for we cannot do that and come to know Him except by learning the reasons why we should praise Him, which can be achieved by learning His names and attributes that require us to praise and extol Him.
Praising and extolling Him as He deserves, may He be glorified, opens the door to understanding one’s own condition of weakness, paucity, humility and need. Thus one will attain the status of true servitude to Allah (‘uboodiyyah).
May Allah make us amongst those who praise Him and thank Him for the immense blessings He has bestowed upon us, from health (sight, sound mind, ability to talk & listen, etc), wealth, family,
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Some Variants of Hamd
(there will be no questions in the Test from the below, this is for those who wish to read more)
Alhamdulillahi hamdan katheeran tayyiban mubarakan feeh
All praise is due to Allah, plentiful, pure, with blessings in it.
Alhamdulillahi rabb al-’alameen
All praise is for Allah, Lord of the worlds.
Alhamdulillahi hamdan katheeran tayyiban mubarakan feeh, ghayra makfiyyin wa la muwadda’in wa la mustaghnan ‘anhu rabbana
All praises are for Allah—abundant, pure and blessed praise, a praise that is never-ending, never abandoned, and indispensable, our Lord
Alhamdulillahi alladhee hadana lihadha wa ma kunna linahtadee lawla an hadana Allah
All praise is for Allah, Who guided us to this [rewardable faith and action]. We wouldn’t have been guided if not for Allah.
Alhamdulillahi wahdahu was-salatu was-salamu ‘ala man la nabiyya ba’dah
All praise is for Allah exclusively. Blessings and salutations be upon the one after whom there is no prophet.
Allahumma ma asbaha bee min ni’matin aw bi-ahadin min khalqika faminka wahdaka la shareeka lak, fa-laka al-hamdu wa laka ash-shukr
O Allah, every blessing that is received by me or any of Your creation this morning is from You exclusively, so all praise and thanks are for You exclusively.
Ya rabbi laka al-hamdu kama yanbaghee li-jalali wajhika wa li-’adheemi sultanik
O my Lord, to You belongs all praise, befitting the majesty of Your countenance and the greatness of Your sovereignty.
Alhamdulillahi alladhee ahyaana ba’da ma amaatana wa ilayhi an-nushoor
All praise is for Allah, Who gives us life after He has caused us to die, and to Him is the return.
Alhamdulillahi ‘adada ma khalaq, alhamdulillahi mil’a ma khalaq, alhamdulillahi ‘adada ma fee as-samawat wa ma fee al-ard, alhamdulillahi ‘adada ma ahsa kitabuh, alhamdulillahi ‘ala ma ahsa kitabuh, alhamdulillahi ‘adada kulli shay’, alhamdulillahi mil’a kulli shay’
All praise is for Allah, equivalent to the number of His creation. All praise is for Allah, equivalent to the fill of His creation. All praise is for Allah, equivalent to the number of what is in the heavens and the earth. All praise is for Allah, equivalent to the number of what is kept count of in His book. All praise is for Allah, equivalent to what is kept count of in His book. All praise is for Allah, equivalent to the number of everything. All praise is for Allah, equivalent to the fill of everything. ُ
Alhamdulillahi ‘ala kulli haal
All praise is for Allah in every state.
Alhamdulillahi alladhee bini’matihi tatimmu as-salihat
All praise is for Allah, by Whose blessings good things come to fruition.
Alhamdulillahi hamdan katheeran tayyiban mubarakan feeh, mubarakan ‘alayhi, kama yuhibbu Rabbuna wa yarda
All praise is due to Allah, plentiful, with blessings in it, with blessings over it, as our Lord loves and is pleased with.
Alhamdulillahi alladhee kafaana wa awraana, ghayra makfiyyin wa la makfur
All praise is due to Allah, Who satisfied us and has quenched our thirst, a blessing neither compensated nor denied.
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 virtues.
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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