I like to ask the question “what’s bothering you?” to myself and others, when I see a gloomy cloud hovering above.
And for almost every answer to that question, you can see the solution vividly- “Be grateful”.

And it`s true – gratitude can help us see all of our problems in a completely different light. It can help us focus on finding solutions rather than complaining. It helps us stay positive and happy, even in tough situations. It helps us work even harder in life so we never take anything for granted.

Gratitude is the only mind-set that lies at the heart of patience, happiness and hard work.
But we all know how important gratitude is. Yet, we still fail to practice it. Why is that?
Is it maybe because we don’t really know what being grateful really means in Islam?
Or possibly because we don’t know how to be grateful? How to practice it for maximum impact?

Let’s start off by understanding one thing- gratitude, at the core of it, is for your own soul/ self.

وَمَن يَشْكُرْ فَإِنَّمَا يَشْكُرُ لِنَفْسِهِۦ ۖ وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَنِىٌّ حَمِيدٌ
“Be grateful to Allah for whoso is grateful is grateful for the good of his own soul.” [Surah 31, Ayah 12]

“Good of his own soul”… Let’s take a moment to dig deeper into that part of the Ayah.
Gratitude is a way of thinking (an attitude towards life) that deactivates so many of the negative emotions of our Nafs. Low self-esteem, jealousy, greed, hate, stress of getting more, laziness, arrogance, etc… SO many of the negative emotions are associated with ingratitude.

Gratitude peels off the rotting layers of these negative emotions and cleans up our soul. No other attitude is as powerful as gratitude… possibly the ONLY one powerful enough to rid us of all these other hateful emotions.

You’re doing nobody a favour by being thankful to them. Yes, sure… it feels nice when people hear others say thank you for the things they did for them. But “being NICE” by saying “thank you” is just the tip of the iceberg. The iceberg being gratitude.
Gratitude is a mind-set. An attitude. A choice of lifestyle you make every single day.

And gratitude means something totally different to the unbelievers than it does to Muslims.
To Muslims – gratitude is not just saying “Oh, I’m so thankful this amazing thing happened to me. I’m so thankful I have great food, clothes and family.”

But that’s not all gratitude means.
We short-sightedly think that being grateful is just to voice out “Alhamdulillah”.
Alhamdulillah brother, you got the job!
Alhamdulillah for the food.
Alhamdulillah for waking up.
It’s like the word Alhamdulillah is on automation.

And the truth is – that’s not enough for you to join the gratitude club. You can’t just roll out the word Alhamdulillah from your tongue and consider yourself to be a grateful Muslim. Oh no!

What it truly means is to acknowledge the fact that “ALL PRAISE IS FOR ALLAH”. Alhamdulillah. To acknowledge it. To sincerely believe it. To repeat it in sickness or health. In happiness or sorrow. In fear or safety. In any scenario, Allah puts you through. And not at the end of it but right at the beginning. When the pain is unbearable. That’s gratitude.