Praise be to Allaah, we praise Him and seek His help and forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allaah from the evil of our own souls and from our evil deeds. Whomever Allaah guides, none can lead astray, and whomever Allaah leaves astray, none can guide. I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship except Allaah alone, with no partner or associate, and I bear witness that Muhammad, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
Linguistically:
Thankfulness (shukr) is to admit good conduct and promote it. When formed as ‘Shakoor,’ it means, someone who is very thankful. In Arabic, Shukr (thankfulness) refers to the effect food has on the body of the animal, and when an animal is called Shakoor, it means the animal that fattens with little feed. When used in certain phrases, it could mean intensity of rain, and when used to describe an udder, it means that it is filled with milk. Therefore, the meanings of thankfulness all revolve around increase and growth. (Lisaan Al-`Arab (4/424)

Terminologically (Technically):
Thankfulness is to put effort into doing acts of obedience, abstaining from prohibitions, in public and in private. Some have said that thankfulness is to admit negligence and deficiency in thanking the one who bestows. (Tafseer Al-Qurtubi (1/438)
Al-Farraa’, may Allaah have mercy on him, said: “Thankfulness is to admit good conduct and speak about it.” (Tafseer Al-Qurtubi (2/166)
Based on that, we say that thankfulness is to show the effects of Divine Bounties on the slave in their heart through faith, on their tongue through praising and thanking Him, and on their limbs by doing acts of worship and obedience.

The difference between praising (Hamd) and thankfulness (Shukr):
Hamd (praise) means to praise someone through statement, due to their inherent and transmittable characteristics. As for thankfulness, it is expressed through the tongue, heart, and limbs, but it only occurs for transmittable characteristics.
Therefore, Hamd is only through speech, and Shukr is through speech, action, and in the heart. Hamd can be used for attributes that are inherent (such as beauty), and transmittable (such as good conduct).

As for Shukr, it only refers to attributes that are transmittable (such as good conduct). At times, both are interchangeable. It is also said that Hamd can be used in place of Shukr, but Shukr cannot be used in place of Hamd. (Adab Al-Kitaab (pg. 31)
Factors associated with thankfulness
When we realize that thankfulness is the heart’s devotion to loving the one who is bestowing something, the limb’s devotion to obeying, and the tongue’s consistent mention and praise of them, we realized that thankfulness deals with and is associated with three things: the heart, the tongue, and the limbs.

Thankfulness with the heart:
Thankfulness with the heart is for the person to know that Allaah the Exalted is the One Who bestowed all the bounties that they are basking in. Some people ascribe blessings and bounties to those who gives it to them, such as an individual who is rich or has a high status, but forget Allaah the Exalted who gave the rich person in order for them to give [the poor person]. The rich person, in this instance, is just a means (sabab), but Allaah the Exalted is the One that gave. People, unfortunately, thank the means (sabab), but not the source (Allaah)!
That is why it is important to teach children where blessings come from, and that Allaah the Exalted is the Source of sustenance, so that the child is brought up thankful to their Lord. Allaah the Exalted Says (what means): {O mankind, remember the favor of Allaah upon you. “Is there any creator other than Allaah who provides for you from the heaven and earth? There is no deity except Him, so how are you deluded?} [QUR’AAN 35:3]

After knowing this, the thankful person must love the one giving and bestowing them with apparent and hidden bounties.

Thankfulness with the tongue:

A person’s tongue expresses what their heart conceals. If a person’s heart is filled with thankfulness to Allaah, the tongue would utter praise and thank to Him. Ponder the supplications of the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, and how they consist of praise and thanks to the Lord of all that exists.
1. When the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, would wake up, he would say: “All praise is for Allaah, who has given us life after He has caused us to die, and to Him is the gathering.” Al-Bukhaari (6312)

2. He also ordered us to say this supplication:

“All praise is for Allaah, who has made me healthy in my body, given me back my soul, and allowed me to remember Him. At-Tirmithi (3401)


Thankfulness with the limbs

Thankfulness with the limbs occurs by doing good actions. The Qur’aan advises those who have reached the age of forty, saying (what means):

{[He grows] until, when he reaches maturity and reaches [the age of] forty years, he says, ‘My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and to work righteousness of which You will approve.’} [QUR’AAN 46:15]

So, he asked Allaah the Exalted for good actions after asking Him for Divine help in being able to thank Him for His blessings and bounties. Among the ways of thanking Allaah through the limbs is to give charity on behalf of every joint. Abu Tharr, may Allaah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, said:

“Everyone wakes up with charity due on their joints – however, there are three-hundred and sixty joints, so how can they give their thanks for those joints? – so, every Tasbeeh (saying Subhaan Allaah) is a charity, every Tahmeed [saying Al-Hamdu Lillaah] is a charity, every Tahleel [saying La Ilaaha Illa Allaah] is a charity, every Takbeer [saying Allaahu Akbar] is a charity, every [act of] enjoining good is a charity, and every [act of] forbidding evil is a charity.” Muslim (720)

Ibn `Abbaas, may Allaah be pleased with him, reported:

“Every good word is charity, every time a man helps his brother, it is charity, every time someone gives water to another person to drink, it is charity, and removing harm from the pathway is charity.” Al-Adab Al-Mufrad (422)

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Prayer (salat) combines all three types of thankfulness:

Prayer combines all these three factors associated with thankfulness. It is thankfulness of the heart because of the concentration and sincerity it consists of. It is thankfulness with the[b] tongue[/b] because of the recitation of the Qur’aan and remembrance of Allaah the Exalted. It is thankfulness with the limbs because of the prostration, bowing, bending, etc. therefore, holding fast to prayer is a way to give thanks to Allaah the Exalted.

The way to show thankfulness

Thankfulness on part of the slave for the blessings of Allaah is only completed through five things:

1. Submission to Him, and submission of the thankful to the one being thanked. Al- Baidhaawi, may Allaah have mercy on him, said: “The pillar of thanking for blessings is to use it in whatever it was created for, and showing submission to the One who gave it.
” Tafseer Al-Baidhaawi (pg. 164)

2. Loving Him, the Exalted; meaning the thankful should love the One they are thanking.

3. Acknowledging and affirming His bounty.

4. Praising Him because of it.

5. To not use the bounty in what He dislikes, rather, using it in what He likes. Muhammad ibn Ka`b, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said:

“Thankfulness is to have fear of Allaah and act in obedience of Him” Tafseer At-Tabari (10/354)

Ibn Al-Qayyim, may Allaah have mercy on him, said:
“The root of thankfulness is to acknowledge the blessing of the One who bestowed in a way that shows submission, humility, and love. Whoever does not know the blessing, rather, is ignorant of it, cannot be thankful for it. Whoever knows it but does not inform of it, is also not thankful. Whoever knows of the blessing and the one giving the blessing, but denies it by denying that the Bestower even bestowed anything, then they, too have not been thankful. Further, whoever acknowledges what is being bestowed, as well as the One bestowing it, and does not deny it, but does not submit to, love, be pleased with and through, then they, too, have not been thankful. Also, whoever acknowledges it and the One giving it, admits it, and submits to the One giving through it, as well as loves the One giving and is happy with and through them, and uses it in what [the One giving] loves and in obedience to them, then that person is the true thankful person.” Fat-h Al-Majeed (pg. 427)

Direct orders that one be thankful:

Allaah the Exalted Says (what means): {So remember Me; I will remember you. And be grateful to Me and do not deny Me.} [QUR’AAN 2:152]
This verse contains an explicit and direct order that one should be thankful, and an order necessitates that it is obligatory.

The Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, was asked:

“What type of wealth should we acquire?” He said:
“One of you should have a thankful heart, a tongue that often remembers Allaah, and a wife that helps him in terms of his Hereafter”. (Ibn Maajah (1856)

The prophets were ordered to be thankful:

Thankfulness is an act of worship that was not only obliged on this nation, rather, nations that have come before us have been ordered to be thankful. Allaah the Exalted mentioned that He ordered the prophets to be thankful, Saying (what means):

[Allaah] said: ‘O Moses, I have chosen you over the people with My messages and My words [to you]. So take what I have given you and be among the grateful.’ [QUR’AAN 7:144]

Worship has been linked to thankfulness:

Allaah the Exalted clarified that worship is linked to thankfulness; whoever is thankful is a worshipper of Allaah, and whoever is not as such is not a worshipper. Allaah the Exalted Says (what means): {Be grateful to Allaah if it is [indeed] Him that you worship.} [QUR’AAN 2:172]

Clarification that the purpose behind creation and being granted command is thankfulness:

Allaah the Exalted informed that Shukr is the purpose of creation and being granted command. As for it being the purpose of creation, it is when Allaah the Exalted Says (what means):

{And Allaah has extracted you from the wombs of your mothers not knowing a thing, and He made for you hearing and vision and intellect that perhaps you would be grateful.} [QUR’AAN 16:78]

Allaah the Exalted clarified that He removed them from the wombs of their mothers, gave them hearing, vision and hearts in order that they be thankful.
The one who is thankful is one who accepts islam, obeys and follows it principles and values by affirming it in his heart, by speaking about it and by acting on it with his limbs while the one who is unthankful who do otherwise.

We ask Allaah To strenghten our hearts with faith, so that we continue to show Gratefulness in our everyday lives . Ameen

To be continued.....

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