 As-salamu alaikum dear brothers and sisters in Islam, peace and blessings be upon you. Welcome to Morals and Minutes, this is Muhammad Ali and now we are to talk about thankfulness. Known as the quality of being thankful and readiness to show appreciation for and to return, can't miss gratitude is a trait that one develops, that promises optimism and assists in developing positive outlooks. It means that one acknowledges what one receives, whether that may be from Allah SWT or others, and learning to live life as if everything were a special miracle. By doing this to an individual, gratitude not only shifts one's life outlook but acts as a key that opens a door to a level of living one did not even know was possible. There have been countless amounts of modern research that has proved that being grateful leads to happiness, its strengthings, relationships, it improves health and reduce stress which are all things the Quran promised 1400 years ago in the Holy Quran to Allah SWT and remember when your Lord proclaimed, if you are grateful I will surely increase you in favor but if you deny indeed my punishment is severe. This verse is relating to the proven fact that the more grateful an individual becomes the more Allah SWT will bless them and the more ungrateful they become they will not only attract negative things but will also be punished. This is proven by modern research as it has been found out that those who are grateful and cannot for what they have and are low maintenance with their expectations are usually happy individuals that emit positive energy. This positive energy has been discovered to attract positive things that lead to even more happiness and reduce stress. Those however who are ungrateful and express their ungratefulness through their actions do not only attract more negative energy they also have an immense impact on their surroundings. It is also seen that those who continue with their ungratefulness will eventually go through difficult situations that forces them to open their eyes to the life they were living previously and force them to be grateful for what they had. This is exactly what the Holy Quran was pointing out in the verse that was mentioned. This relates to what is discovered by modern psychologists and philosophers today as they label the specific concept as natural laws which are basically those that reveal what the Holy Quran revealed 1400 years ago. Now knowing what gratitude leads to one cannot help but ask who should I be grateful towards? The answer to that question although maybe obvious but the true meaning is often overlooked and possibly misunderstood. One must be thankful to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala of course but as well as anyone who does an act of goodness or favor to another individual the prophet peace be upon him and his progeny has said he who does not thank people does not thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala the most important aspect of expressing gratitude is towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala who created humans in the most perfect way possible. In the Holy Quran it mentioned the perfect way Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala created human beings and through the natural way life flows gratitude should exist for that particular reason. Now one might ask how do I express my gratitude towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and that is through realizing and appreciating all blessings by and within the heart to say thanks physically and to express gratitude by doing righteous deeds. This reveals that gratitude cannot be expressed through physically saying thank you although that can be true at times however there are other more important ways of expressing gratitude. Accepting and appreciating blessing and doing righteous deed reveals that one is content with that one has and that that individual possess the right amount of patience to preserve through life's trail no matter how difficult the obstacle may be while at the same time saying thanks be to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. By doing this one reveals the amount of moral courage and patience one has to point out where no matter what one goes through in terms of difficulty they will always be thankful about what they have. When faced with difficulty one must preserve and be thankful even for what they are going through as they should always remember and realize that there are others that are going through much worse. One of the easiest way one can always remember to be grateful by remembering the saying by Imam Ali bin al-Husayn alaihi salam after his entire family was brutally martyred before his eyes. I thank you because you have honored us by means of prophethood, taught us Quran, made us comprehend the religion and its commandments, grant us eyes, ears and hearts, kept us free from the pollution of polytheism and then enabled us to thank you for your blessings. This shows that no matter how tough an obstacle may be one must always remember that blessings Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has blessed humanity with and should preserve just like the Ahlul Bayt alayhim salam did. Respected viewers we reached the end of our show for now. Thank you very much indeed for watching and don't forget the dua to hasten the reappearance of the master of our time his majesty Imam al-Mahdi may Allah hasten his reappearance.