Inspire Me to Be Grateful

Sulaymān (peace be upon him) understands the language of the ants, and he heard what the ant said. So he smiled. When he heard this announcement from the ant, he smiled — so he, Sulaymān, smiled, amused at her speech.

This is a skill that Allah (swt) gave Sulaymān: the ability to understand the language of the birds and the ants. And he attributed the credit and the thanks to Allah (swt).

He said: rabbi awziʿnī an ashkura niʿmataka allatī anʿamta ʿalayya — O Allah, give me the ability to thank You and be grateful for what You have given me. He said: my Lord, inspire me and bestow upon me the power and ability that I may be grateful for Your favours which You have bestowed on me and on my parents, and that I may do righteous good deeds that would please You, and admit me by Your mercy among Your righteous slaves. A beautiful duʿāʾ that we could remember.

We, the ummah of Muhammad (peace be upon him), are the followers of the anbiyāʾ, and we inherited all of the valid teachings of the prophets of Allah in the form of the stories of the Qur'an and the stories of hadith. And all of the falsifications that were attributed to the prophets, and that they are free from — al-ḥamdu lillāh, in the religion of Islam, with the protection of Allah (swt) for the book of Islam, none of these crept into the religion. So the valid teachings of the anbiyāʾ — whether we are talking about ʿĪsā, or Mūsā, or Dāwūd, or Sulaymān, or Nūḥ, or Hūd, or Ṣāliḥ — their teachings are given to us through the Qur'an. And we follow the sunan of the anbiyāʾ.

We just talked about, for example, in Hajj: the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was standing in Hajj, and he said: iʿmalū ʿalā mashāʿirikum, fa-innakum ʿalā irthin min irthi abīkum Ibrāhīm — stand on your mashāʿir; the mashāʿir are the places of worship, because you are following, you are on the inheritance of your father Ibrāhīm. These are things we inherited from Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him).

Over here we find an important sunnah. Whenever Allah (swt) blesses you with a skill, or blesses you with any niʿmah — whether it is wealth, or intelligence, or any ability — whenever Allah (swt) gives you this niʿmah, always thank Allah (swt) for it. And whenever something good happens to you due to that skill, then immediately follow it with ḥamd.

For example: when you pass an exam, the first reaction should not be jumping up and down in happiness; the first reaction should be al-ḥamdu lillāh. If your business goes well, the first reaction should not be to say: mashāʾ Allāh, I am a very intelligent and wise businessman; the first reaction should be al-ḥamdu lillāh. If Allah (swt) has given you knowledge, and you were able to benefit someone with this knowledge, and you notice the fruits of that knowledge in somebody else — say al-ḥamdu lillāh. If Allah (swt) has given you money, and you have given away that money in the form of ṣadaqah — immediately after you give the ṣadaqah, say al-ḥamdu lillāh. Follow up every niʿmah that Allah (swt) has given you with shukr. That is the least that we could do to be grateful to Allah (swt) for what He has given us.