 my brothers and sisters many times we are unhappy not because Allah has not given us but because we begin to compare ourselves with others around us yet if we were to look at the previous nations and the generations we would realize that they were happier yet they had less than us if you take a look at it what is important for us is to focus on what we have to focus on what Allah has bestowed upon us and to focus on those who have less than us in this way we will definitely be able to thank Allah for whatever he has given us let's take a look at the verses of the quran Allah making mention of so many favors that he has bestowed upon mankind and jinn kind in surat الرحمن he then says which is it of the favors of your lord do you deny oh mankind and jinn kind is there any favor of Allah that you deny and Allah mentions them one after the other he speaks about the sun and the moon the creation of entire creation and everything he has made for us and heaven and what lies within the heaven this is the favor of Allah upon us similarly Allah سبحانہ و تعالى says in surat ابراہم he says if you were to try and count the favors of Allah you will never be able to count them you will not be able to circumscribe them you won't be able to jot them down and the challenge is if you take a pen and a paper and start writing down the gifts of Allah upon you the list is endless every day you will have to be writing and you will not come to an end and it will not come to an end so this is something that Allah has indeed indicated and drawn our attention to in the quran and Allah سبحانہ و تعالى says indeed mankind is not only oppressive but he is ungrateful as well he shows a lot of ingratitude on social media mashallah every week every few days we receive messages and some of these messages are authentic some of them are not authentic a lot of us would actually benefit from some of these powerful messages sometimes we forward them without even thinking and sometimes mashallah they are extremely beneficial and they do help one such message doing its rounds and i'm going to share it with you today because i believe it has in it what the topic is and what we've chosen today to speak on and it is to focus really on what you have what you definitely do have if you take a look at the kings of a four time we don't want to look at the average men of a long time ago we want to look at the kings we want to look at those who had the lot qaroon and the likes we want to take a look at what they had and compare it to what you and i have today in order to be able to thank Allah سبحانہ و تعالى we have in terms of quality much more than all of them put together have you ever thought of it maybe quantity wise indeed Allah says in the quran they were more powerful than you they had more than you in terms of quantity but in terms of quality and in terms of ease and facilitation we definitely have much more than them let's take a look at it if you start off by looking at clear patra who was one of these queens of egypt and the amount of jewelry she had today if she were to walk into one of the jewelry stores here in our own city i'm sure she would be shocked at what she sees yes she had a lot she might have had more in terms of quantity in terms of weight of kilos as a person but to be honest take a look at the quality of what there is how dazzling it's become how precise it's become and yet we complain there's nothing happening there's nothing here nothing there سبحان اللہ how much do you want oh man how much is it that will fill your belly or your mouth oh man you need to realize اللہ has bestowed upon us a lot such that if the kings of a four time who are mentioned in the biblical texts or in the quran in this previous scriptures we will realize that indeed they would be baffled by what they see today take a look for example at kissra this kissra who was the leader known for his bedding and his sleep he was known for his bedding his sleep he had a beautiful bedding if he were to recline on one of the restonic mattresses we have today your bed in your own home with the duvet that you have and the pillow whether it is you know they are five six different types of pillows so much so you enter an ordinary hotel and they have a huge selection of pillows what do you want would you like the one that goes down and up as your head moves would you like the one that is they call it the the memory foam would you like the one which is feather would you like the one which actually has in it a little pieces of wool put together what would you like imagine your bedding i'm quite convinced that if kissra had to come in and witness or have a night's rest in your own bed in your own house i'm sure he would start wondering where on earth all his was may Allah سبحانہ وتعالہ bless us we've been bestowed we have cotton sheets we have blanket we have so many duvets we have so much in terms of goodness take a look at what Allah has given us my brothers and sisters it's important for us really to thank Allah for what he's given us yes and take a look at those who don't even have a bedding from amongst those who are around us the refugees those who are struggling from Syria and Iraq those who have been driven out of their homes by the oppressors those who are from lands where war is taking place who literally have nothing they had in the past take a look at the wars of north africa whether they're in libya or egypt or anywhere else what has this done it's come with a lot of destruction people have lost their homes they've lost their property all this is something un islamic we are not supposed to be destroying we are not supposed to be killing we are supposed to be mindful of human life and the ownership of their property but take a look at them and where are we sitting subhanallah may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bestow his favor upon us and upon them as well may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala never let us see difficult days but Allah promises in the quran that if you are going to be ungrateful then indeed what do you expect besides snatching away of those gifts of Allah Allah gives you something you're not grateful he says what do you want let's listen to the verse اللہ سبحانہ و تعالی says and this is a beautiful verse in the quran if you are going to be thankful grateful show gratitude indeed we will bestow you with increase in that favor but if you are not grateful no gratitude ingratitude this belief turn away from اللہ he says our punishment is severe may Allah subhanahu و تعالی not do that to us take a look at Caesar in his days he was well known for him being fan you know the fans from the heat there were so many of the slave girls used to stand around him with the fans and fan him down today we have a fan you press a button and it's on another thing we have air condition such that if you were to close the doors and if you were to decrease the temperature you would لطلی feel like you're in the north pole in the middle of summer you would need something warm to cover yourself in order to sleep we are spoiled don't you have far better than what Caesar had and yet he was one of those powerful wealthy leaders of the time we have more in terms of quality definitely a touch of a button next thing everything becomes cool take a look at the ancient arabians when they needed to drink cold water for example they used to put it into a little skin and put that under the ground in order for it to become cool today you have ice you have ice packs you have cold water you have so cold water in the middle of the heat in the desert wherever you are and yet we're not thankful to Allah we will still miss salatul fajr at will we will still not dress appropriately just because we don't realize that Allah has bestowed upon us so much we will still lie cheat deceive we will still continue in our sinful ways of adultery and gambling and whatever else it is and drugs and may Allah سبحانہ واتحالہ protect us may he save goddess really these are the gifts of Allah like we said just the air conditioning unit you enter the motor vehicle sometimes we are so spoiled with the air conditioning unit in the motor vehicle that an on ordinary day on an ordinary day we will not be able to survive without turning this thing on may Allah سبحانہ واتحالہ سبحانہ واتحالہ سبحانہ واتحالہ we have definitely become people who don't realize these beautiful gifts that Allah has bestowed upon us one might say it's man it's technology well Allah is the one who bestowed man with the mind with the brain and this is why qarun's mistake what was qarun's mistake his mistake was he said indeed whatever i have in terms of wealth i've been given it because of my own brain my own wealth sorry my own uh intellect and Allah says does he not see that Allah has destroyed those before him who had more wealth more might than him it was Allah who bestowed you with the brain in the first place so don't think you came first in your class because it was you who was bright it was Allah who gave you the brain and then you achieved because Allah سبحانہ واتحالہ bestowed you with that beautiful brain so take a look at qarun what was he known for he was known for the fact that he had so much of wealth that the keys to the treasures the keys to the locks of the treasures that he owned were so heavy that a group of men would find them difficult or would find it difficult to carry that's how much it was had he come today he would have noticed much more wealth than his much more wealth than his and you know how it's a resemble by a little plastic car imagine no need for men to get tired no need for anything else we're not speaking of the halal and haram aspect of islamic finance and non islamic finance we are just saying a large amount of money depicted by a little car have you noticed that subhanallah look how it's been facilitated no one needs to carry on you know carrying the keys of their treasures everywhere wherever they go as qarun used to do اللہ نے اس کیا سید ہے اس کیا سید ہے اور آپ کے لئے like i said we're not speaking of the permissible prohibited of it because that's a topic of its own but what we are saying is today a person can be so wealthy and you won't even know subhanallah because he just has to carry his car that's it may Allah سبحانہ واتحالہ grant ease to us may he protect us from the pangs of inflation i mean i called it that intentionally because wallahi it drowns people if they actually we have been in this part of the world through difficulty already where we've known what inflation is all about we ask اللہ سبحانہ واتحالہ to grant us all goodness in terms of sustenance and to bestow upon us the best in terms of his risk may Allah سبحانہ واتحالہ grant us all goodness i mean if you take a look at the people of mr topo the people of mr potomia if you take a look at the chariots they had they were known the place was known for beautiful chariots you know pulled by lovely horses and so on it was actually amazing magnificent they used to pride themselves the wheel was invented and they used to pull themselves and it was so lovely they could actually carry on and it was something picturesque really beautiful if they had to see one Toyota of today they would be gone that's it one little starlet you know starlet is one of the smallest of the vehicles you can actually buy here something that is minor one of the lightest micros that you have the nissans if they had to see one of those they'll forget about all their chariots don't you agree Allah has bestowed upon us much more in terms of ease in terms of facility in terms of quality than them they may have had a million of these chariots what happened where is the gratitude a lot of us seated here either ourselves or our fathers or forefathers perhaps they couldn't afford a motor vehicle perhaps they didn't have it for many years and perhaps they used to catch public transport and even beyond that they used to walk do you know that and yet today we sit and we deny the gifts so in the favors of Allah by missing our salah by wholesale turning against Allah سبحانہ واتعالہ wholesale may Allah سبحانہ واتعالہ grant us ease goodness every time another vehicle comes out you find it is much more comfortable it has in it much more facility now it has in it what you and i would call satellite navigation they call it the gps the tom tom the garment whatever you'd like to call it it's on your phone as well where would you ever in the wildest of your dreams even 20 years ago 50 years ago have dreamt that they will come a time when we will not be able to do without a phone telling us turn left after 500 meters and you have now arrived at your destination those of us who might go to countries we don't know we no longer need someone to tell us you know what these are the directions not at all you need them to send you a location on whatsapp and all you do is you open the location and you say you want to drive there the next best thing you know it shows you the traffic it shows you which route to use who on earth would have dreamt that some time back all the kings of a four time put together would be dizzy if they saw that subhanallah they would probably think we're living in a heaven we're living in a paradise if we had to talk about it they would be totally confused but we have it it's in your pockets my brothers and sisters it's really there how do we take this for granted when Allah has bestowed upon us this navigation should be taking you to your destination of the masjid five times a day it should be taking you to jannah really it should be showing you don't make this turn don't make that turn that is thanking Allah for his gift that is called gratitude when we understand where we're heading may Allah سبحانہ و تعالیٰ ڈرانٹس goodness and ease take a look at the people of baqdad and ڈرطبہ they were known for knowledge they were known for their books do you know they say the black rivers that flowed when the books were thrown into those rivers because of the ink the amount of ink that had actually flown subhanallah they had books libraries upon libraries wallahi my brothers and sisters do you know the little chip that happens to be in your phone in your little mobile phone 64 gigabytes 128 gigabytes holds more than 200 of those libraries if you wanted it to be in there do you know that this is a gift of Allah today their library is put together one hard drive of a few terabytes and it's over imagine what do we do the knowledge came to us this is what it is we still don't know we are more ignorant than them yet knowledge is at our fingertips subhanallah much more ignorant and even if we do know things we don't practice upon it so it's important we ask Allah's forgiveness and we ask Allah's guidance and we ask Allah سبحانہ و تعالیٰ to help us be thankful this is why one of the ڈواز oh my god grant me the ability to be thankful to you for the favors that you have bestowed upon me grant me the ability because one is to say oh Allah i thank you i thank you don't just pay لپسورس to it be really thankful by showing it in your action towards Allah سبحان اللہ الحمد اللہ i am here i pray i take my time when it comes to fulfilling the obligations onto Allah i think not only twice or thrice but that before sinning but i don't even sin because i thank Allah and whenever i have faulted as a human being i quickly repent to Allah because i want to thank him i want to be grateful to him i know i have faulted as a human being but i still want to thank Allah so i quickly repent to Allah سبحانہ و تعالیٰ take a look at the kings they used to send messengers and they used to pride themselves i can get the message from here to Makkah in four days the minimum was three days a message from مدینہ to Makkah three days that was like the fastest horseback you could ever have messengers got there today three seconds and the whole world has your message you have what's app you have blackberry you have you name it email and female اللہ سبحانہ و تعالیٰ grant us all understanding you name it it's there it's allah's gift really it is thank Allah for it it is you know a very fast way of letting the whole world know today we have social media how am i talking to you today i've i've drawn an example which was cited on the social networks and here we are shareing it and trying to make sense out of it and trying to look at which angle it is that we have more because one might argue that Allah says in the Quran they had more and they were more powerful yes indeed in terms of quantity they definitely did have more and in terms of their physical beings they were definitely more healthier and more fit than us but in terms of ease facility and so on we have much more than them my brothers and sisters they prided themselves at that time they were so so happy they used to show off how quickly they could get the message across and they used to get across a good message the prophet ﷺ he sent messengers across the globe to different parts of the globe how long did they take they went for months on end and they went with the message and that was the way today we haven't even used the quick messenger system that we have to spread one good message of islam one good message where is it مے اللہ سبحانہ واتحالہ گرانت اس گدنس another very important factor it is not good enough to send a good message on a friday alone let's change that let it be random any day every day you don't have to greet each other only on a friday we've made islam a religion of friday that's it جمعہ comes we greet جمعہ comes we send a good message for what let it be every day you might not see the next friday مے اللہ سبحانہ واتحالہ help us understand this نعمان who was a king in arabia he used to he used to boast about how he had cold water they used to keep for him and he had this cold water from a special skin that he used to drink from today you just go around the corner there there is a filter you press a button and the coldest of filtered water is out what happens نعمان if he came here he would think we are all the kings سبحانہ اللہ really he would want a filter from you and i مے اللہ سبحانہ واتحالہ help us yet we still do not understand the gift of اللہ سبحانہ واتحالہ المنصور he was one of those leaders and you know what he used to have hot and cold water mixed for him to have a bath people used to bring it hot and cold and they mixed it and it was a big deal because people used to bath with cold water to be honest this business of having hot water is something very recent so people used to bath with cold he had the luxury of people mixing it today mashallah you just need a mixer سبحانہ اللہ you open the tap before you know it is one you don't even realize the gift of allah upon you my brothers and sisters pause for a moment say allhamdulillah allhamdulillah all praise is due to allah thank allah that water that comes from that tap do you know the clean water the drinking water the water we bath within this part of the world really you can drink that water actually that's how clean it is people across the globe drink water that's not that looks murky the water we have is not even murky سبحان اللہ we are spoiled but still we don't thank allah سبحانہ واتحالہ people who dreamt about things they searched for these items their whole life i want this and they worked for it today سبحان اللہ tip finger tips you just go on to the internet what do you want ebay or amazon or bido buy whatever you'd like and next thing you have the item not only the item but the best deal and and the following day it's being shipped to you and a week later dhl has it delivered to your door step and you still don't thank allah سبحانہ واتحالہ this is reality my brothers and sisters we hope and pray that we've learned a lesson and i really hope we can focus on what we have focus on what you do have you have got a lot more than all the others who were considered powerful they were considered kings that was the height of luxury at the time we have it and we even have more take a look at the clothing the type of material you have سبحان اللہ it's amazing it has progressed over time something we should thank allah for and let's never take any of the gifts allah has bestowed upon us for granted may allah سبحانہ واتحالہ grant us goodness in this world and the next may he grant us جنہ وصال اللہ وسلم وبرکہ علا نبین محمد