To have a mild chance at comprehending the magnanimity of gratitude, think about how the opening Surah of the Quran, Surah Al-Fatihah, starts with Alhamdulillah. All praise is for Allah.

It’s as if it’s telling us that what we have in our hands, the Holy Quran- the word of Allah, be grateful for it!
It’s as if it’s telling us that before we begin to do anything… before we are told to do anything by our Creator, we are told by Him to be grateful. Because if we get that wrong, we failed to learn the very first lesson of Islam.

It is necessary that we know how to be grateful. I mean, who would have thought that gratitude would be something we could possibly get wrong. I know, right?! But we do! So, it’s quite important that we get it right! Because gratitude can seriously transform our life.

Thanklessness comes EASY to us…
It is NOT an easy thing to be a truly grateful Muslim. Most of us, despite reading and listening to everything on gratitude, will remain ungrateful people. And that’s not a mystery nor is it a bold opinion of mine. Allah says that repeatedly in the Quran:

وَإِن تَعُدُّوا۟ نِعْمَتَ ٱللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَآ ۗ إِنَّ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ لَظَلُومٌ كَفَّارٌ
“And if you should count the favour of Allah, you could not enumerate them. Indeed, mankind is [generally] most unjust and ungrateful.” [Qu’ran: Chapter 14, Verse 34]

So let’s face it- INGRATITUDE COMES EASY TO US. Gratitude, on the other hand, doesn’t.

We can move past it and actively work to be grateful Muslims. Yes, gratitude requires ACTIVE EFFORT. It’s not passive process for the believing Muslims in this era. No. Especially not in the beginning of your spiritual journey.

That’s probably the reason why we feel so agitated when spiritually more elevated Muslims say to us “Be grateful to Allah. You have been given so much, just be grateful.”

To start working on that process in easy steps. Don’t expect yourself to suddenly be the most grateful Muslim alive. Also, don’t feel horrible about yourself when negative thoughts about your life make way into your head. Give yourself room to breathe and start practicing gratitude. You WILL get there, Insha’Allah.

Plus the entire process is going to be rewarding too!

Do we get PAID in reward for being grateful??! Yes. But why??!

Because it is an active process. Allah, being the Most Merciful, motivates us repeatedly in the Quran by saying that He will give REWARD to all those who are grateful.

وَسَنَجْزِى ٱلشَّـٰكِرِينَ
“And Allah will certainly reward the grateful.” [Qur’an: Surah 3, Ayah 145]

Wow. Getting rewarded for being grateful.

Imagine somebody who does favours upon favours for you. Do you EVER expect to get a reward from that person if you just appreciated them for doing favours for you?

I mean, who rewards anybody for saying thank you?!

All people do is consider you a decent human being for being thankful. Period.

So imagine the Mercy of Allah, who is promising us reward in return for gratitude. SubhanAllah.
And it’s not just any reward. It’s limitless reward.