Gratitude Changes Everything 15 Ramadan, 1447AH  — Asking Ar-Rahman Series By Ibraheem Habeebah Adedoyinsola

All praise is for Allāh, Ar-Raḥmān, the Most Merciful, Ash-Shakūr, the Most Appreciative. May peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ. 

Some of us are still asking. 

Asking for relief. 
Asking for change. 
Asking for something we feel is missing. 

But today, pause. 

Really pause. 

Look at what is already here. 

Because one of the most dangerous spiritual diseases is not hardship. 

It is forgetting. 

Forgetting what once made you cry in sujūd. 
Forgetting what once felt impossible. 
Forgetting how desperately you once asked for what you now call normal. 

The Blessings You Didn’t Even Ask For 

You asked for one thing. 

Allāh gave you ten others. 

You asked for provision. He gave you life. 
You asked for happiness. He gave you īmān. 
You asked for ease. He gave you another Ramadan. 

How many duʿā’ were answered that you never made? 

How many dangers were removed without you knowing? 

How many heartbreaks were prevented before they reached you? 

How many sins were concealed? 

How many times did Ar-Raḥmān protect your dignity when you were unaware? 

The Prophet ﷺ said: 

“Whoever wakes up secure in his home, healthy in his body, and has his provision for the day, it is as if the world has been gathered for him.” 
(Jāmiʿ at-Tirmidhī 2346 — ḥasan) 

Yet how often do we wake up and rush past that blessing without a second thought? 

Allāh says: 

وَإِن تَعُدُّوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَا 
“If you were to count the blessings of Allāh, you could never enumerate them.” 
(Ibrāhīm: 34) 

Not because they are few. 

But because they are endless. 

When the Duʿā’ Is Answered and We Forget 

Sometimes the test is not in the waiting. 

It is in the receiving. 

You begged Allāh for that opportunity. 
You cried for that relief. 
You pleaded in sujūd for that breakthrough. 

And when it came? 

You moved on. 

No tears of gratitude. 
No sujūd of thanks. 
No trembling Alḥamdulillāh. 

As if it was your intelligence. 
Your effort alone. 

As if Ar-Raḥmān did not open the door. 

Allāh says: 

فَلَمَّا آتَاهُم مِّن فَضْلِهِ بَخِلُوا بِهِ وَتَوَلَّوا وَّهُم مُّعْرِضُونَ 
“But when He gave them from His bounty, they became stingy with it and turned away while they were refusing.” 
(At-Tawbah: 76) 

The Prophet ﷺ also said: 

“Whoever does not thank people has not thanked Allāh.” 
(Sunan Abī Dāwūd 4811 — ṣaḥīḥ) 

Gratitude is not optional. 

It is evidence of faith. 

We enjoy His mercy yet forget the Giver. 

This is how ingratitude quietly enters. 

Sujūd Ash-Shukr 

The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ would perform sujūd ash-shukr when news pleased him. 
(Reported by Abū Dāwūd 2774 — ṣaḥīḥ) 

The same way you fell in sujūd asking, fall in sujūd thanking. 

When Allāh grants you something you once cried for, pause. 

Lower your forehead. 

Let your gratitude be physical. 

Remember Allāh with the same intensity you remembered Him when you were desperate. 

If you could wake up for Tahajjud asking, 
you can pause in the day thanking. 

The Gratitude of Witnessing Ramadan 

You are alive in this month. 

You are fasting. 

You are reading this. 

The Prophet ﷺ said: 

“There are two blessings which many people waste: health and free time.” 
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6412) 

Ramadan exposes both. 

Health to fast. 

Time to worship. 

The Prophet ﷺ would stand in prayer until his feet swelled. When asked why, he said: 

“Should I not be a grateful servant?” 
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4837; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2819) 

Gratitude is worship. 

Gratitude Increases and Protects 

Allāh says: 

لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ 
“If you are grateful, I will surely increase you.” 
(Ibrāhīm: 7) 

The Prophet ﷺ said: 

“How amazing is the affair of the believer. All of his affairs are good. If something good happens, he is grateful and it is good for him. If something harmful happens, he is patient and it is good for him.” 
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2999) 

Gratitude turns blessings into barakah. 

Ingratitude turns blessings into burdens. 

Gratitude grounds us. 

It steadies the heart. 

A Duʿā’ of Gratitude 

Yā Ar-Raḥmān, do not let me enjoy Your mercy while forgetting You. 
Yā Ash-Shakūr, make me among the truly grateful. 
Yā Al-Munʿim, protect me from arrogance when You give. 
Yā Al-Hādī, let me remember You in ease as I remembered You in hardship. 
Yā Allāh, grant me the humility to fall in sujūd in thanks as I once fell in need. 

Alḥamdulillāh for what was given. 
Alḥamdulillāh for what was withheld. 
Alḥamdulillāh for what is yet to come. 

Because gratitude does not change Allāh’s generosity. 

It changes you. 

#AskingArRahman