 Greetings, Foothill High School Seniors. Congratulations on your upcoming baccalaureate and graduation. We're very proud of you. My name is Hennachan Mukhtar, and I am speaking on behalf of the Muslim Community Center in Pleasanton. It's a huge honor to be part of your celebration. I was asked to speak to you about the concept of gratitude and what the Islamic perspective is on it. So I wanted to share a few very deep quotes from our tradition. The first one is from the Holy Qur'an, which is our scripture, our holy scripture, which is believed to be the direct word of God as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. And in it, God says, If you are grateful, I will increase my favor upon you. If you are grateful, I will increase my favor upon you. Which we understand to mean that, as long as we're showing gratitude for all of our blessings, God will continue to increase us in those blessings. And a saying of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is he who has not thanked people has not thanked God. He who has not thanked people has not thanked God. Meaning that in order to really have gratitude, it's going to be very important to acknowledge the people and the circumstances who've brought those blessings and those benefits into our lives in the first place. And then a quote by the best-selling poet in America today, Malana Jalaluddin Rumi. Many people know him to be a poet, and they see his lines on Valentine's Day cards where people express their love for one another, and they use his lines to express that love. What they don't realize is Rumi was actually a scholar, a Muslim scholar and a poet who spent a lot of time expressing his love for God and to God. And he said, Should you not gain your wants, my soul, then be not grieved. Only by contentment is the heart relieved. Should you not gain your wants, my soul, then be not grieved. Only by contentment is the heart relieved. And showing contentment is just another form of showing gratitude in action. And the other concept that Muslims have is that the way to respond to all the different blessings in our lives is to show gratitude for them. But showing gratitude for our blessings doesn't mean to just say, Thanks, this is great, keep it coming. I love it. Showing gratitude actually means to then use those blessings in accordance with what God expects of us and to use our blessings in a way that would be pleasing to God. So if we're grateful for the gift, the blessing of eyesight, then we make it a point to only look at that which is pleasing to God. If we're grateful for the ability to speak and to have a tongue that can articulate our innermost thoughts, then we use our voice and our tongues to only express that which we know would be pleasing to God. So I wanted to remind you of that. You seniors are going out into the world now that we are praying for you all to continue to be increased in blessings. And we pray that you're able to use those blessings in a way that would be pleasing to your Creator. And the Muslim community is standing right there with you, behind you, cheering you on. Super happy for you for your graduation as you enter the rest of your lives. And just know that we are sending you our best. We're very, very happy for you. Congratulations.