SHUKR
GRATIDUTE TO ALLAH
(Abu Hudhaifah Muhammed Karolia)
Rasulullah said in a Hadith, “The condition of the believer is astonishing (because) every condition of his is good for him – if he is blessed with ease he makes shukr (he is grateful) and if he is afflicted with difficulty he makes sabr (he exercises patience).”
Why is shukr good for the believer?
Firstly, shukr is the command of Allah.
• “Be grateful to Allah if Him alone you worship.”
• “Be grateful to me – don’t be ungrateful.”
• “Worship and thank Him – to him will you be returned”
• “And Allah removed you from the wombs of your mothers while you knew nothing and He gave you ears, eyes and hearts so that you will be grateful.”
Hence those who make shukr merely implement the command of Allah and implanting the command of Allah is always good.
Secondly, shukr is the habit of the Ambiyaa and we have been commanded to follow their habits.
• In the Qur’aan Allah describes Ibrahim and Nooh as شاكرا لأنعمه (grateful for Allah’s favours) and عبدا شكورا (a grateful servant) respectively.
• When Aa’isha asked Rasulullah why he performed such lengthy rak’ats of tahajjud salaah causing his feet to swell, he replied, “Should I not desire to be a grateful servant?”
Thirdly, shukr causes Allah’s bounties to multiply. “Recall the time when your Rabb announced that ‘If you are grateful, I will give you more and if you are ungrateful (I will punish you) – surely my punishment is severe.”
Special Friends of Allah
Even when a man has many friends, his closest and very special friends are few. Accordingly the meaning of the aayah و قليل من عبادي الشكور (“And few of my servants are grateful”) is that those who are sincerely grateful to Allah are His closest and very special servants.
What is Shukr?
The word shukr is derived from the verb شكر يشكر شكرا which is used when the effect of the food becomes visible on the animal’s body. The meaning of the statement of Nabi صلى الله عليه و سلم in the Hadith of Saheeh Muslim ان الدواب لتشكر من لحومهم is that “The animals get fat as a result of the meat they eat.” Thus the meaning of shukr is that the effect of Allah’s bounty must be evident on one’s limbs by physically fulfilling His commands, one’s tongue by and verbally acknowledging His bounty and praising Him and in one’s heart by loving Him and constantly remaining conscious of Him.
Nabi Da’ud once said to Allah, “O my Rabb, haw do I thank you whereas my thanking you is itself a bounty from you which demands more thanks?” Allah immediately responded to Nabi Da’ud saying, “O Da’ud, now you are thanking me.” Addressing Allah in a similar manner Nabi Moosa once said, “O Rabb, you created Aadam with your hands, you blew your rooh in him, you made the angels prostrate to him, you taught him the names of everything, you did…, you did…” (Thus he continued enumerating many of Allah’s bounties on him – Allah’s bounties on Aadam are bounties on Moosa and all of us because Aadam is our father.) “So how will I ever be able to thank you?” Hearing these words of Moosa Allah said: “He knows that all these bounties are from me – his acknowledging it is shukr.” It is in this light that a pious man by the name of Abu ‘Uthmaan defined shukr as “recognition of one’s inability to make shukr”.
Hamdoon Al-Qassaar, another pious man, defined shukr as regarding one’s self as a طفيلى in relationship to the bounties of Allah. The meaning of this, as explained by Junaid Al-Baghdaadi is that one should regard himself as unworthy of the bounties of Allah.
‘Aa’isha once wrote to Mu’aawiya that the least that the beneficiary of any ni’mah should do for the being who bestowed him with that bounty is that he should not use it to disobey him. When Sirri asked his disciple, Junaid Al-Baghdaadi (who was still a young boy at that time), to define shukr he replied: “It is that the bounties of Allah are not utilized to disobey Him.”
In view of the fact that every action of a Muslim aught to be an expression of his servitude to Allah, some people add the clause of humbleness – shukr is to humbly acknowledge the bounty of Allah. Thus Ibn-ul-Qayyim writes in his book Madaarij- us-Saalikeen that shukr comprises five things:
1. Humbleness before Allah
2. Love for Him
3. Acknowledgement that the bounty is from Him
4. Praising Him for His bounty
5. Not using His bounty in a manner that He dislikes
Besides the above, shukr also demands from us that:
• Bounty should not cause us to forget the giver of bounty.
• A little difficulty should not cause us to forget abundant bounty.
Two Levels of Shukr
There are two levels of shukr:
1. The level of those who only make shukr when they are in ease and comfort. Abu Isma’il Al-Harawi, the author of Manaazil-us-Saa’ireen, writes regarding this type of shukr that it is merely Allah’s mercy that He regards this type of attitude as shukr and rewards us for it.
2. The level of those who make shukr even when they are in difficulty. Because this type of shukr is more difficult, it is more rewarding. Ibn-ul-Qayyim writes that people who belong to this category are also of two types:
• Those who do not diffrentate between ease and difficulty and likes and dislikes – they are always content with whatever Allah ordains for them. This is what the scholars of tasawwuf term as radaa. Such people actually find pleasure in difficulty.
• Those who differentiate between ease and difficulty; while ease and comfort makes them happy, they find no pleasure in difficulty. However, they make shukr in difficulty also because:
1. There respect for Allah does not allow them to complain of Allah (to Allah or anybody else).
2. They have knowledge of the previous category and try to imitate them.
How to Attain the Highest Level of Shukr
Two things are imperative in order for us to attain the highest level of shukr:
1. Constant awareness of the fact that we are the slaves of Allah so that, considering the lowness of us slaves and the greatness of the Master, we will never under-estimate His bounties on us.
2. Constant love for Allah so that, considering that all our conditions – good and bad – are the decision of Allah and the decision of the beloved is always pleasing, we will find as much pleasure in difficulty as we find in ease.
Two Incidents
Before terminating this article I wish to quote two incidents.
The First Incident: Mufti Muhammed Shafee’ (Ra) mentioned in one of his majaalis that on one occasion his ustaadh, Maulana Sayyid Asghar Husain (Ra) ran a very high fever and fell unconscious. When he regained consciousness Mufti Shafee’ (who was standing at his side) asked him how he felt. He immediately replied, “Al-Hamdu-lillah, Al-Hamdu-lillah (All praise is to Allah), I am well. Thanks to Allah my heart and kidneys are fine. All my limbs are functioning well – I just have a fever.”
The Second Incident: Once when Mufti Shafee’ (Ra)’s daughter had a tooth removed she complained to him of the pain and said that these teeth are amazing; they cause pain when they ‘come’ and when they ‘go’. Mufti Shafee’ (Ra) reprimanded her saying that in view of the countless occasions that you used your tooth to bite and eat, is it not ungrateful to complain of a few days of pain?
Finally, let us not forget the Hadith of Rasulullah that: “One who is ungrateful to people will never be grateful to Allah and one who is ungrateful for a little bit of bounty will never be grateful for abundant bounty.”
أللهم أعنى على ذكرك و شكرك و حسن عبادتك”