Chapter 17: The Sahâbah and Tabi‘în on gratitude
Salmân
al-Fârsî (RA) said: “There was a man who was given many of the luxuries of
this world, and then they were taken away from him. But he continued to praise
and thank Allâh until everything had been taken from him, even his bed. And
then he still praised and thanked Allâh. Another man, who had also been given
many of the luxuries of this world asked him, ‘What are you praising and
thanking Allâh for?’ The man said, ‘I am praising and thanking Him for
blessings which, if others asked me to give them to them in return for all that
they have, I would never give them up.’ ‘What can they be?’ asked the
second man. ‘Can’t you see?’ asked the first man. ‘I have my eyesight,
my tongue, my hands, my feet...’”
Mukhallad ibn al-Husayn
said: “The definition of gratitude is abstaining from wrong action.” Abű
Hâzim said: “Every blessing that does not bring you closer to Allâh is a
disaster.” Sulaymân said: “Remembering His blessings makes one love Allâh.”
Hammâd ibn Ziyâd narrated
that Layth ibn Abî Burdah said: “I went to Madînah, where I met ‘Abdullâh
ibn Salâm, who said to me: ‘Would you like to visit a place visited by the
Prophet (SAAS), and we will offer you sâwiq and dates?...’ Then he said:
‘When Allâh gathers people on the Day of Judgement, He will remind them of
His blessings. One of His slaves will say: “Remind me of something,” and
Allâh will say: “Remember when you faced such-and-such adversity, and you
prayed to Me, so I relieved you of it. Remember when you were travelling in
suchand-such a place, and you asked Me to give you a travelling companion, and
I did so... Remember when you asked for the hand of so-and-so the daughter of
so-and-so, and others also asked for her hand, so I gave her to you to marry;
and kept the others away.” His slave will be standing before his Lord, Who
will remind him of His many blessings.’” Then the narrator of this story (Layth)
wept and said, I hope that no one will stand before his Lord in this way,
because the one who does so will be punished.” (i.e. if Allâh has to point
out that which should be obvious, this is a sign of a person’s ingratitude,
and he will be punished.)
Bakr ibn Abdullâh al-Muzânî
said: “When a man faces affliction, he may pray to Allâh and Allâh may
deliver him from adversity. Then Shaytân comes to the man and whispers, ‘It
was not as bad as you thought,’ Thus the man’s gratitude will be weakened.”
Zazan said: “The right of Allâh over the man who is enjoying His blessings is
that such a man should not use His blessings in order to commit wrong actions.”
A man of knowledge said: “The blessing of Allâh to us in keeping the luxuries
of this world away from us is greater than the blessing of that which he has
given us, because Allah did not like His Prophet to have the luxuries of this
world. So I prefer to live in the manner which Allâh preferred for His Prophet
than to live a life which He disliked for him.”
Ibn Abi’d-Dunyâ said: “It
was narrated to me that some scholars said: ‘The scholar should praise Allâh
for having deprived him of the luxuries of this life, in the same way that he
should praise Him for what He has bestowed upon him. How can you compare the
blessings and luxuries for which he will be accountable to the deprivation of
luxuries which is a relief from being tested, and which keeps his mind free to
worship and remember Allâh? So he should give thanks to Allâh for all of that.’”
It has been said: “Gratitude
is giving up wrong action.” Ibn alMubârak said: “Sufyân said: ‘He does
not understand religion properly who does not count affliction as a blessing and
ease as a disaster.’”
A man said to Abű Hâzim:
“What is the gratitude of the eyes?” He said, “If you see good things, you
speak about them, and if you see bad things, you keep quiet about it.” He
asked, “What is the gratitude of the ears?” He said, “If you hear
something good, you accept it, and if you hear something bad, you reject it.”
Then he asked, “What is the gratitude of the hands?” He said, “Do not take
what which does not belong to you, and do not hold back from paying the dues of
Allâh (zakât).” Then he asked, “What is the gratitude of the head?”
He said: “To have knowledge in it.” Then he asked, “What is the gratitude
of one’s private parts?” He quoted: “‘Who
guard their private parts, except from those joined to them in the marriage
bond, or (the captives) whom their right hands possess – for (in their case) they are free from
blame, but those whose desires exceed those limits are transgressors’” (al-Mu’minűn
23:5-7).
As for those who only pay
lip-service to gratitude, and do not give thanks with the rest of their
faculties, are concerned, they are like a man who has a garment and all he does
with it is touch it, but he does not put it on: it will never protect him from
heat, cold, snow or rain.
When
the Messenger of Allâh (SAAS) used to receive good news, he would prostrate
himself (sujűd) and give thanks to
Allâh. Abdu’r-Rahmân ibn ‘Awf (RA) narrated: “The Prophet (SAAS) entered
upon us in the mosque, stood facing the qiblah,
then prostrated himself and remained in sujűd
for a long time. I said to him: ‘O Messenger of Allâh, you prostrated
yourself for such a long time that we thought Allâh had taken your soul.’ He
said: ‘Jibrîl came to me with good news. He told me: “Allâh says, ‘Whoever
sends blessings on you, I will send sixty blessings on him in return, and
whoever salutes you, I will salute him in return,’ so I prostrated myself
and gave thanks to Allâh.’” (Ahmad)
Sa‘îd
ibn Mansűr narrated that Abű Bakr (RA) prostrated himself when he heard the
news that Musaylimah had been killed, and Ka‘b ibn Mâlik (RA) prostrated
himself when the Prophet (SAAS) told him the good news that Allâh had forgiven
him.
A
worshipper worshipped Allâh for fifty years, so Allâh told him that He had
forgiven him. The man said, “O Allâh, what is there to forgive when I have
not committed a wrong action?” So Allâh caused a nerve in his neck to give
him pain, so he could not sleep or pray. When the pain eased and he was able to
sleep, an angel came to him, so he complained to the angel of the pain he had
suffered. The angel told him: “Your Lord says to you that your fifty years of
worship is to pay for the soothing of your pain.”
Ibn Abi’d-Dunyâ mentioned
that Dâwűd (AS) asked Allâh: “What is the least of Your blessings?”
Allâh revealed to him: “O Dâwűd, take a breath.” Dâwűd did so, and
Allâh told him: “This is the least of My blessings on you.”
From this we may understand
the meaning of the hadîth which was narrated by Ziyâd ibn Thâbit and
Ibn ‘Abbâs (RA): “If Allâh was to punish the people of heaven and earth,
He would have done that without being unjust towards them, and if He were to
have mercy on them, His Mercy would be far better for them than their deeds.”
(Abű Dâwűd)
In a sahîh hadîth the
Messenger of Allâh (SAAS) said: “No one will attain salvation by virtue of
his deeds.” The people asked, “Not even you, O Messenger of Allâh?” He
said, “Not even me, unless Allâh covers me with
His mercy and blessings.” The deeds of a man cannot pay for even one of
the many blessings of Allâh, because even the smallest of Allâh’s blessings
and favours far outweigh the deeds of man. So we must always bear in mind the
rights which Allâh has over us.
[Previous | Table of Contents | Next]