 All praise is due to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, the Lord of the Worlds, the Creator of everything, the One who has absolute power and perfect knowledge, the One who does what He wills and answers to no one, the one who describes himself indiscriminately, compassionate, and intimately loving, and peace and blessings be upon His final Messenger, our Master Muhammad, Peace be upon you, Allah, the Seal of the Prophets, and the Mercy Centre of the All Mankind. I want to remind all of you to perform the Udhiyyah, also known as the forbani. If you haven't already done so, or had someone else do it for you, this is extremely important. to remind you of the additional Takbirat which you will do after every Fajr Salah and this will take place or do this continuously today and in the following three days of the Ayam Tashrik. So on Monday, after time, that's when you'll stop doing the Takbirat and this is also a wajr. There's also no fasting today obviously or in the following three days. So the first available day of fast is on Tuesday, insha'Allah. So in this book I want to talk about one of the greatest theological virtues in our tradition, the virtue of Shukr or gratitude and its place or its centrality in the Quran. Many of the Urnama nowadays speak a lot about Shukr, a lot about gratitude due to our current state as a Muslim community in America. I'll get back to the short video, insha'Allah. The tri-literal root shakr from where Shukr comes from occurs seventy times, seventy-five times in the Quran. Forty-six times of a verb and twenty-nine times as a noun. In Surat Ibrahim, Allah SWT says, لَاِنْ شَكَبْتُمْ لَاَزِدَنْكُمْ. He says, if you just show a little bit of gratitude, insha'Allah, just a little bit of gratitude, لَاَزِدَنْكُمْ. Very strong language, very heavily emphasized in the Arabic. And Allah SWT here, he uses the first person as opposed to a royal clerk, to further emphasize the point that if you show a little bit of gratitude, certainly I will increase you. And notice here, there's no specifying element. There's no ten years. Allah SWT doesn't say, doesn't specify, increase you with knowledge or in wealth or in Dean or Dunya. He leads it open. So conceivably, Allah SWT, if we show a little bit of gratitude, Allah SWT will increase us in all good things and we shall have a good opinion of Allah SWT. So to show gratitude, not only to Allah SWT, as the earlier one said, but to show gratitude, to show gratitude to human beings as well. The Prophet SAW said, لَاِنْ يَشْكُرِ الْنَاسِ, لَاَنْ يَشْكُرِ الْلَاَ. Whoever does not show gratitude to human beings has not showed gratitude to Allah SWT. So we thank Allah SWT for different blessings, for the blessing of the Prophet SAW. We thank Allah SWT for the blessing of our teachers, we thank Allah SWT for the blessing of our employers, we thank Allah SWT for the blessing of our civic leaders. We thank Allah SWT for the blessing of our friends and One of my teachers said that this ayah, this is quote a spiritual law, a spiritual equation that gratitude equals increase. We'll come back to this ayah inshallah ta'ala. Now let's define gratitude. Ahmed Ibn A'jeeb al-Rahim Muhammad ta'ala in his famous lexicon. He defines gratitude, shukr. He says gratitude is the joy of the heart and receiving some benefaction. Farruf al-Qalibi al-Hursul al-Niyamah. Along with using the limbs of the body to obey the benefactor. Al-Mun'in, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. And humbly acknowledging that the benefactor is Allah in one's heart and mind. So he goes on to say that gratitude has three expressions based on three degrees. The first degree is shukr al-Dil-Lisan. It is expressing gratitude by verbal expression. By acknowledging the gift, the ni'mah, the blessing of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala with humility and loneliness. Itirafu hu bi ni'mati bi na'at al-istikana, he says. And he says about this, for shukr al-Ammah al-Fanat al-Dil-Lisan. So he says the common people, the laity, they express gratitude to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala by verbal praise, only by verbal praise. This is how the amma, this is the laity, the commoners. Right? So they simply say alhamdulillah. And this is one of the quickest and easiest ways of showing gratitude to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. We say on the tongue, alhamdulillah. But then the second degree, the higher degree, he says shukr al-Badan, is to express gratitude with the body by its eagerness to serve. Itirafu hu bi-l-khidmah. And he says, for shukr al-Khaaf, saab. He says the gratitude of the elect. So he had the gratitude of the common people, which is just to say alhamdulillah with the tongue. But then he says there's a gratitude that is shown by the khafsa, by the elect al-khidmah to bin Al-Khan. And this is by service to the pillars of the religion. So the elect, the khafsa, are motivated by their gratitude to action. I'ma lul, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says. I'ma lul al-Adha lul. Aman, work all house of David. Shukran, out of gratitude to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Wa qalimun min ibad yashshabur. And just a few are my servants that show gratitude. And then the third degree, he says, is shukr al-bin qalb. Is a type of gratitude that is manifested into the heart. And witnessing the benefactor in the benefactor, in the benefactor. He says shukr al-mun'in in the khufsul al-ni'amah. A deep internal appreciation and love for the mun'in. The mun'in is Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. So he says it was shukr al-khafsa. He says that gratitude expressed by the elect of the elect. So you have gratitude of the common people just to say alhamdulillah on the tongue. You have the gratitude of the elect which is to say alhamdulillah on the tongue and then be motivated to good action, righteous action. And then he says the gratitude of the elect of the elect. An istighraq to shuhud al-mannaan. Is literally an immersion and absorption in the witnessing of the giver al-mannaan. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. So the tongue, the body and the heart. So for example you get a pay raise at work, you say alhamdulillah. Then they should motivate you. Give some extra salat. As a gesture of thanksgiving. You don't have to give Allah. Just as a gesture of thanksgiving to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. As giving you a ni'ma. And you want to show shukr, you want to show gratitude. And then in your heart you try to preserve that deep feeling of appreciation and love. For the mun'in al-mannaan. The urn about the story of the isolated Abdullah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. That there was a man who was in isolation for a hundred years doing nothing but ibadat. He never disobeyed Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. And he died on a yawm al-qiyamah. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala said to him, Enter my paradise. Be Rahmatih by my mercy. And he said no my Lord, be Ahmadiyya by my works. So then Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala took all of his good deeds. All of his righteous actions that he had done throughout his entire life. And put them on one side of a nizan. One side of a scale. And then he took one ni'ma. The blessing of eyesight. And Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala put that on the other side of a scale. And as soon as he placed that in no anthropomorphic way on the other side of a scale. This man's good deeds fell up into the air. And Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala said you wish to continue this type of reckoning. And the man said be Rahmatih. By your mercy. By your mercy. I shall enter your paradise. Who is the one who created you? And bestowed upon you hearing, insight and understanding. A little thanks to you show. And often times in the Quran. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala will list his ni'ma. His blessings, his gifts. And either say definitively. Rahmatim tashturun. That I did all of these things. I did all of these things to you. Our humanity. In order for you to be grateful. In other words to use them properly. This is another definition of shukr. To use the blessings of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. And ways that are pleasing to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Use your eyes in a way that is pleasing to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. This is a form of shukr. Use your hands, your words, your talents. And a way that is pleasing to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Or he says it as an interrogative. He'll list his ni'ma. He'll list his blessings and his gifts. And he'll say, Will they not show gratitude? Will they not show gratitude? In other words, will they not utilize these blessings correctly as Al-Jumayn said? Gratitude is that Allah is not disobeyed by means of his gifts. Allah yuasallahu bini'a mehi. Gratitude is that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is not disobeyed by means of his gifts. Now the reason I want to talk about shukr. Because as an American Muslim community in these days, we have to be very, very careful about our etiquette, our adab with Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. And usually on Eid, a lot of young people come out. So this is directed mostly towards the young people. In high school, in college, this is a time when there's a lot of zeal, a lot of energy, but very little wisdom, which is a deadly combination. That constant complaining, that constant criticizing is dangerous to our spirituality. We have to put things in perspective. If we look around the world, look into our past, what do we really have to complain about? Well, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says, remember this, he says that he showered you, literally he poured down upon you his blessings, his favors, apparent and hidden, that criticizing is for the learned, not for the highly motivated. It's for the highly learned. If you're going to criticize something, a people, or a group, or a race, or an institution, if you're going to throw words around, like bigot, and misogynist, and racist, and Nazi, if you're going to march around the streets and wave slogans at people, if you're going to do that, you better make sure that the evil is truly out there and not in here. You better make sure that the evil is truly out there and not in your own heart. You better, Whatever you want to remember the faults of others, first think about your own fault, to make definitive statements about complex issues based on anecdotal evidence and incomplete information is the height of hubris and is harmful to society. Is harmful to specific individuals. It's harmful to our spirituality. I can't even go an interfaith Interfaith dialogue anymore. Interfaith dialogue to become these platforms of spewing and gratitude. People just complaining about how terrible things are, how terrible the country is. This is what it is now. I remember a time when we used to talk about Allah and His messenger. We used to give Da'ala. And it's all based on anecdotal evidence. Anecdotal evidence. No real data. For example, he'll go up in his own walk-in and I'm all in one time and somebody says, Hey, Osama, go back to Islam land. You know the Prophet ﷺ? In Medina, heard worse from people. In Medina, his own city, the Prophet ﷺ, do we really expect this place to be better than Medina? We're going to talk about anecdotal evidence in the last 20 years or so. In my life, maybe three or four times, I can remember something, some incident happening to me that I would describe as racist or bigot. I mean, three or four times in 20 years, that's pretty good. We need to put things in perspective. One time, anecdotal evidence. I've lived, I've traveled from the Muslim majority world. I've been harassed. I've been threatened. I've been discriminated against because of where I was born, because of what my name is, because I have a beard. This is our state. This is happening all over the world. We have to put things in perspective. We don't know how good we have it, to be honest with you. Is this a perfect society? Of course not. It isn't. We have to take a look around the world. We'll take a look around the world. Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. Don't be ingrates. Put things in perspective. Now, the nasiha al-nabawiyah, the prophetic advice, practical steps on how to increase in our shukr. The Prophet ﷺ said, look up for akhira and look down for dunya. Look up for akhira. Don't look down for akhira. In other words, don't say to yourself, I pray five times a day, but this cousin of mine, he only prays juma. I'm better than him. It breeds complacency. It makes oneself congratulatory. Conceded and arrogant, delusional. Look up for akhira. I pray five times a day, but this other person over here, he's never rising to fa'am. He studies three hours a day. This is the right attitude. And look down for dunya. Don't look up for dunya. Look down. So you might say, well, I have an apartment, this person has a house. It doesn't mean you can't think about improving your conditions. But what we're talking about here is this constant, obsessive, discontentment with one's wealth and one's state, one's status. This ingenuity and gratitude into the heart. You live in an apartment with people that are homeless. Looking up for dunya causes animosity and self-victimization. Eventually start thinking to yourself, I'm not as good as this person. What's wrong? Someone's holding me down. It must be that you become a cynic and an inbrake, delusional, self-entitled. Remember what the Prophet SAW said to Mu'ad? He came to Mu'ad and he said, Oh Mu'ad, I love you and I exhort you to say it at the end of every prayer. Allahumma a'ini an adhikrika wa shukrika. We're listening about that too. We should learn this du'a if you don't know it. This is a du'a that was talked to Mu'ad by the Prophet SAW himself after he could find his love in Mu'ad. He took a sentence and said, I love you. Learn this du'a. How incredibly powerful is this du'a? Oh God, help me. Help me to remember you. Help me to be grateful to you and help me beautify your worship. You know, there was a certain king who had it all except Hana'a, contentment. And you would dress up sometimes as a commoner and walk around the wilderness around this castle. It just so happens he saw a pauper, a very poor man in the distance. And this pauper was singing the pre-dhikr of Allah SWT. He was saying, Subhanallah, Subhanallah, Subhanallah. So this king approached his man and he said, Why? What makes you so joyous? And the pauper said, Why shouldn't I be? I have clothes that cover my nakedness. I have a glass of water. I have scraps of bread. I have blue sky, birds are chirping. I have the dhikr of Allah, spitting on my tongue and in my heart. Why shouldn't I be? Why shouldn't I get gratitude? And the king said, You know, I'm the king of this kingdom. And I'm just depressed. So the pauper said to him, You know, if you drank half a glass of water and you were not able to excrete that water and it was going to cause infection and eventually kill you, how much would you give to be able to just get rid of that half a glass of water from your system, from your body? The king said half my kingdom. And then he said, If you were crawling through the burning desert about to die of thirst and somebody offered you half a glass of water which would save your life long enough for someone to rescue you, how much would you give? He said half of my kingdom. So he said, Let me get this straight. All of your kingdom is worth a glass of water. He said, Yes. And the pauper said, I have that. I also have bread. I have clothes that cover my nakedness. I have loose ties. Birds chirping. And the thinker of Allah is spinning on my club and in my heart. This is a hyperbolic example when it gets the point across. You need to put things in perspective. Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala said that a man in the court of Suleiman alaihi salam who is described as one who had knowledge of the revelation and that he had no emblem in his mouth. This person made du'a to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala and the throne of Bilqis, the queen of Sheba, was brought to Suleiman alaihi salam. Imam Tabari in court to be said this man actually uttered an ism al-A'ba, the sacred name of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. Ibn Masrut said this man is none other than the enigmatic Siddharth alaihi salam. Imam Al-Razi says it's actually described in Suleiman alaihi salam himself. So there's an opinion regardless. When the throne was brought in the presence of Suleiman alaihi salam what did he say? Have I been fully rugby? We have been running. A'ashkulu? I'm at full. He said, this is from the grace of my Lord in order to test me. Am I grateful or do I disbelieve? For man shakaraf inna ma ashkulu li nafsih. Man kafaraf inna rugby, ghaniun kareem. So in the Quran, in the rhetoric of the Quran in Semitic rhetoric in general there is a concept called binarity. Binarity means dualism. Very prevalent in Semitic literature. And a very common type of binarity is called parataxis. Judge the position. This is when the Quran presents two ideas or concepts. Intention or in agreement. So we see from the Quran that shukr, gratitude, and kufr, disbelief are juxtaposed. Parataxically, they are intentioned. They are antinence. They are opposites. In other words, ingratitude is a form of kufr. To put it differently, in the Quran, the word for ingrate is kafim. The word for ingrate is kafim. Wa itta aathana rabbukum na inshakabtum na azidana kum. Point back to this ayah that your Lord declared. If you show a little bit of gratitude I will increase you. Inna aadadi wa shadeem. So these two verbs, shakaratum and kufaratum are juxtaposed because they are opposites. In other words, to be ungrateful is to disbelieve. Now you see how grave the issue is here. How grave the concern is here. How concerned we should be about this idea of ingratitude. Constant complaining. Fa khuruni aadkurtum. Wa shkuruni wa la taqfurun. In another ayah, remember me for you. Be grateful to me and do not disbelieve. Literally. Be grateful to me and do not be ungrateful in meaning. We show the human being the way. Is he going to be grateful, shakir or kufur or ungrateful. Allah SWT says ما يثقر الله باعدادكم. What does Allah gain by your punishment? In shakaratum wa aalantum. If you should be grateful and believe, now we have synonymous juxtaposition. In other words, to be grateful is to believe. Allah SWT. He is one of the names of Allah SWT. For Allah is appreciated of your service. He is also called as shakur. The one who is most ready to appreciate service. When it comes to al-insan, the shakur is the one who is grateful even when he is deprived. Nuh A.S. is called shakura in the Qur'an. He lost everything in the deluge and he kept saying Alhamdulillah Alhamdulillah. The Prophet SAW said should I not be a grateful servant shakur even when I am deprived even when I am deprived we know the story of Ibrahim Ibn Adham and Shaqeeq Al-Balkhi. What happened with this? When Shaqeeq Al-Balkhi saw Ibrahim Ibn Adham on the great saints of the Salaf and he said to him, Shaq Ibrahim give me some words of wisdom and Ibrahim said why don't you give me some first well this is what we say about shukr and sabr we say if we find what we are looking for then we show gratitude if we don't find what we are looking for then we show patience so Ibrahim Ibn Adham said this is what dogs do this is what dogs do so what do you say Ibrahim Ibn Adham said if we find what we are looking for then we give it out freely we are selfless a very high station of Eid and if we don't find what we are looking for then we show gratitude if we don't find if we are deprived of something we show gratitude why? because we have good opinion of Allah SWT Allah knows exactly what is good for us maybe he is averting something from us we have a good opinion of Allah SWT we have good opinion of Allah SWT and we are pretty sure of that Qusayd Qusayt Qusayt Qusayt Qusayt Qusayt Qusayt Qusayt Qusayt Qusayt Qusayt Qusayt Qusayt in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.