Why Arent You Grateful?

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(Ya rabbi laka al- amdu att tard wa laka al-amdu idh m rat wa laka alamdu bad al-rii wa laka al-amdu abadan abad
Fal-amdulilh alladh hadn lihdha wa m kunn linahtadiya lau l an
hadn allh
Wal amdulilh alladhi lam yattakhidh waladan wa lam yakun lahu sharkun fil
mulk wa lam yakun lahu wal min al-ulli wa kabbirhu takbir
Wal-amdulilh, alladh namaduhu wa nastanuhu wa nastaghfiruhu wa
numinu bihi wa natawakkalu alayh wa nadhu billhi min shurri anfusin wa min
sayyiti amlin, man yahdihillhu fa l muilla lah, wa man yulil fal hdiya lah, wa
nashhadu an l ilha illa allhu, wadahu la sharika lah, wa nashhadu anna
muammadan abdullhi wa rasluh, arsalallhu tala bil- hud wa dn il-aq, li
yuhirahu ala al-dni kullih, wa kaf billhi shahda, fa allhu alayhi wasallam
taslman kathran kathran kathr, thumma amma bad, fa inna adaq al adithi kitab
allh, wa khayr al-hdyi hadyu Muammad alla allhu alayhi wa sallam, wa inna
sharr al-umri mudathtuha, wa inna kulla mudathatin bidah, wa kulla bidatin
allah, wa kulla dallatin fi al-nr. Yaqlu subhnahu wa tala fil kitb al-karm bad
an aqla adhu billhi min al-shayn al-rajm.
Wa laqad arsaln mus bi ytin an akhrij qaumaka min al-ulumti il alnr, wa dhakkir hum bi ayymillh, inna f dhlika la yt likulli sabbrin shakr,
allhumma ajaln min al-sabbrn wa min al-shkirn. Barakallhu l wa lakum fiqurn il-akm, wa nafan wa iyykum bil-yti wa dhikr il-akm, wallhu thabbitn
ind al-mauti bi l ilha illa allhu. meen ya rab al-lamn.
In sha Allh in todays khutba Id like to share with you a few reflections from the
14th surah of the Qurn. This is Surah Ibrhim. And in this surah among many other
surahs of the Qurn we learn something very interesting: the nation that the Qurn
offers up the most by way of examples for Muslims to learn lessons from is the nation of
Mus AS. Seventy plus times passages are dedicated to Mus AS and the legacy of his
people. And this is not just the case when the prophet SAW migrated to the city of
Madinah and had interactions with the Jewish community; this is a Makkan surah. So
even earlier on he was being served as an example for the Muslims. And his interactions

with his people were being served as an example for the Muslims and even for the
Prophet SAW.
This surah begins kitbun anzalnahu ilayka litukhrij al-ns min al-ulumt il
al-nr. This is a remarkable book, its a remarkable book that we have sent down to you
so you, meaning the Prophet SAW, can bring people out of the darknesses into light.
Theyre stuck in many shades of darkness, your job is to bring them out to light but by
means of this book. Thats what your job is. A few ayat later what I recited to you, now
listen to this carefully, Allh azz wa jall says: wa laqad arsaln Mus biytin (we
sent Mus with our miraculous signs) an akhrij qaumka min al-ulumti il al-nr (that
you should bring your nation out of the shades of darkness into light.) The Prophet SAW
was told this in the beginning of this surah and now its a case study hes being told
youre not the first one, I gave these same instructions to Mus AS so why dont you
listen to what he had to say to his people. Why dont you pay attention to that and it will
teach you something for your own people. This is how Allh azz wa jall teaches us and
even teaches His messenger SAW. So now, of the things because you know the story, the
history, of the Israelites in the Qurn is very diverse. We learn so many things about the
conversations between Mus AS and the Pharoah, firaun, his people before they
escaped, his people after they escaped, when they were wandering in the desert. There are
so many epic tales, epic adventures, historical accounts that are all over the Qurn. So
which one is Allh swt going to highlight when he talks about bringing them out of
darkness into light. What particular focus does He have now? And why I highlight that
for ourselves is because I feel all Muslims should constantly be worried in terms of
coming out of darkness themselves into light. Allh didnt just call it one darkness. He
called it shades of darkness. Just like a shade, a shadow can be very dark, it can be light,
right? So Muslims arent self righteous. We dont think were guided, were in the light.
We may have some shades of darkness. We have a problem with and we need to
constantly pull ourselves out. And one of the most common and dangerous forms of that
darkness is going to be highlighted in this passage. So lets see what Mus AS has to say
to his people.
Wa idh qla Mus li qaumihi udhkur nimatillhi alaykum, As I translate this
for you, you and I should be thinking each of these things that Mus (AS) is offering is
his way of getting his people from darkness into light. First thing he says: Make mention
of the gifts Allh have given to you, the favours of Allh upon you. Make mention of
Allhs favours upon you. And you know at the time that these words are given, Ill talk
to you about the historical context a little bit, but the Israelites werent exactly a people
that were having a good time. They werent exactly the people that enjoyed a lot of
success especially not during the career of Mus AS. Either they are stuck in a situation
where a tyrant ruler is about to annihilate them and slaughtering babies, not one but by
the thousands, or they are in the desert about to dehydrate and die. So they are not exactly
in a luxurious situation. And yet the first thing thats told to them isnt be patient. The
first thing told to them is: make mention of Allhs favours on you. Instead of focusing
all your energies on what is going wrong, why dont you think about what is going right?
What is it that you do enjoy? Along these lines I want to share with you when they cross
the water. When Allh rescued them from Firaun and they crossed the water and Allh
basically provided for them in a situation which otherwise they only deserved death.
Nobody can survive in the desert, huge population, men women, children, theres no

shelter, nothing, so Allh provides shelter by means of clouds. He provides rain. He

provides Manna and Salwa, as you learned in Sunday school, many of you. He provides
Manna and Salwa. He provides food. He provides drink by means of twelve springs.
Fanfajarat minhuthnat ashrata ayna. Ithnat ashrata ayna. Twelves springs are
coming out. So their food, their water, their shelter in an impossible situation has been
taken care of. But something very interesting is quoted in the Qurn elsewhere. I want to
highlight that and come back to this.
After a while they started getting tired of that food. So they ask for food, you
know, sitting around whats for lunch? Manna and Salwa. Whats for dinner? Salwa and
Manna, I dunno. Theres not a lot of variety in their food. So you can imagine a couple of
a guys sitting around saying man dont you miss that restaurant back in the day? That
Egyptian place was pretty good. So theyre sitting around and theyre making mention of
some vegetables. Right? And they obviously the Qurn mentions when they went up to
Mus AS and said udu lan rabbak yukhrij lan mimm tunbit al-ar min baqlih wa
qithiha wa fmih adasih wa baalih: they went to Moses they went to Mus AS
and they said some of them said why dont you make a prayer to your God, to your
Master, so He can bring out some lentils and garlic and onions and can we have some
fries with that and you know, its like a whole menu. Its a whole menu and now the
question arises when did they learn the name of these items? Its not like they learnt the
names of those vegetables when they were in the desert. They learnt those back in Egypt
when they were still under the clutches of Firaun. So ask yourself this question: When
somebody comes out of prison and says man I miss the food I used to get served in you
know when I was doing time. When you miss the food from prison, what does that mean?
Its like you miss prison itself! Youre not appreciating the taste of freedom. You
understand? So you can focus on what food we dont have or you could focus on what we
do have now, we have the taste of freedom. So Mus AS is deeply upset and he says to
them: atastabdin alladh huwa adn billadh huwa khayr. You seek to replace the
inferior with that which is better and hes not talking about food. Or not just about food,
hes talking about freedom. So you have to focus on the blessings you enjoy in the midst
of all of your troubles.
What is the easiest, most common conversation Muslims find themselves today
among each other? What are our problems? Man the youth got problems. Man politics.
Man Syria, Palestine, Kashmir, man we got problems at the masjid, man this guys got a
problem, that board that really has a problem, this organization has a problem, man our
MSA is just full of problems. All we talk about our problems. Haha. Its all we do, its
entertaining.
Some of you have been raised in households where your dad will have his friends
come over chai or baklava and youd discuss the worlds problems. Thats all youd do.
Thats your culture. This is wrong with that one, thats wrong with this one, this is wrong
with that one, this ones corrupt, that ones corrupt and thats it. See you next week, well
discuss the same problems again. Right? Allh azz wa jall tells the Israelites the first
thing you need to focus on is the favour of Allh. Udhkur nimat allhi alaykum and
then He goes further and He says if you cant think of anyone let me remind you. Idh
anjkum min li firaun. When he rescued you once and for all from the clutches of the
pharaoh. Yasmnakum s al-adhb: he was humiliating you with the worst form of
punishment. Yudhabina abnakum (he was slaughtering your children, your sons)

wa yastayna nisakum (and he was allowing your women to live for the purpose of
further degradation and humiliation) wa f dhlikum balum min rabbikum adhm (and
in all of that there was a huge trial for you). You were in great difficulty as a result. Now
this conversation is happening when theyve already been freed from all of this. And now
theyre in another difficult life. But Allhs messenger is telling them your first darkness
is that youre not grateful enough. Thats your first real problem. You always think about
your problems, you dont think about whats going on good in your life. What are the
good things in your life. And I want to, before I go on, turn some attention to the family
situation in the Muslim households. How many mother-in-laws are always complaining?
How many wives are always complaining, how many husbands are always complaining,
how many daughters and sons are always complaining? You know, get me this, get me
that, I never get to do this, I never get to do that. Why couldnt you move there, why did
you move here, why did you take that job, why did you move out there, why did you .
Constant complaints! About each other. Thats our life thats become our life. People go
home and the husband complains against the wife and wife complains against the
husband. The in-laws complain against each other. Thats all it is. Thats all your life has
turned into at home. Thats why you spend more time in the masjid, some of you. You
cant deal with the home situation. This lesson is not just for us in the religious setting.
We have to learn to focus on positive things. And when you dont, you know what
happens. And this is not just even religious advice. When you focus on things that are
going wrong in your life, you lead a miserable life. You lead a depressed life. Nothing
makes you happy because youre too overwhelmed by things that have already occurred.
That you know, and by the way, when you look back just literally remarkable thing to
think about. What the Israelites have gone through is nothing easy. I mean when you hear
news of a child being killed even by mistake in a car accident its disturbing. This man is
killing children by the thousands! On purpose! That is a trauma for a nation not to easily
overcome. So even if theyve escaped, the trauma shouldnt just go away but Allh says
EVEN THEN focus on the favours of Alah on you! Focus on the fact that thats been
done with. Its over. And now youve been rescued from that. You know He changes
their mindset. Theyre not supposed to be a people of complaint any more. And He goes
on and this is the amazing thing: wa idh taadhdhana rabbukum, very famous ayah,
often its quoted without the context, wa idh taadhdhana rabbukum, Ill roughly
translate it for you first, when your Master your Lord declared lain shakartum
laazdannakum (if youre just grateful, Ill increase you multiple folds) Im doing a very
casual translation so far. Your master declared if youre grateful, Ill increase for you
multiple folds. Wa lain kafartum inna adhbi lashadd (and if youre ungrateful, if
you deny, then my punishment is intense). But lets go back a second, this idh
taadhdhana rabbukum, many of our scholars say in tafsir that this declaration is
wadhkur idh taadhdhana rabbukum (remind yourselves O Israelites, O followers of
Moses, followers of Mus AS, when Allh addressed you directly. You know theres an
occasion in the history of the sons of Israel when Mus AS took them, took the leaders of
Bani Israel to go make taubah, to repent to Allh. And he took them and Allh addressed
all of them directly and when He addressed all of them directly He said many things to
them. In Qurn we read: khudh m taynkum biquwwah (hold on to what weve
given you with all of your might. They were given very stern advice. Hold on to the
book. In this passage Allh highlights something else they were told. Something else they

were told and all of it has to do with just being grateful. The Israelites are now being
called and the only thing Allh wants them to focus on is being grateful. But before that
even, the word uses idh taadhdhana, you know in the Arabic language there are lots of
words for declaring something, proclaiming something, alana can be used, you know,
akhbara could be used, there are so many words that can be used. Taadhdhana comes
from the word udhn which means ear and its a kind of announcement thats made that
rings in your ear. It doesnt let go. Like you think about it all the time. This strong
announcement. You know how sometimes your parents they yell at you all the time and
theres one time they yell at you and it rings in your head and youre sitting there quietly
and you close your eyes and it comes back. A flash back a thousand times thats
taadhdhun, it doesnt let you go. Allh says, He basically Hes saying through the
language He said in the most stern possible words. He said in the most penetrating form.
To use these words lain shakartum (if you were just grateful a little bit, shakartum is in
the past tense in the Arabic language and that suggests something rhetorically. Ill put in
simple words for you. If you were even grateful one time, if you were just grateful even
once, if you could for once show gratitude, if you could do that, for that one act of
gratitude laazdannakum, I swear to it, Ill increase and increase and increase and
increase for you. Allh swears to it three times over in the ayah linguistically speaking.
He swears that Hell increase for you if you just show gratitude, you just have to be
grateful, thats it. Thats all I ask for you, Im not asking for you to be grateful all the
time, thats what Ill do if you show gratitude once, you show gratitude once and theres a
switch that happens so the present tense immediately, I am and Ill continue to increase
you which implies this is going to happen continually.
The other thing thats really interesting here is that the ayah began in the third
person. This idh taadhdhana rabbukum not taadhdhantu, Allh didnt say when I
decide, when I declared to you, when I proclaimed to you, He said when your Master
proclaimed, thats the third person, but immediately He comes close to you. And He says
if you are grateful, Ill increase. He doesnt say He will increase. The rest of the ayah
should remain He. But He says if youre grateful, Ill come close to you. Youll earn my
closeness just by being grateful. This is the greatness of the ayah, subhanallah!
In the ayah itself, Allh offers you and me that Hell be close to us. All He wants
from us is for us to learn to be grateful. In shakartum la azdannakum. And whats even
more interesting in this ayah from a rhetorical point of view, is when you say shakara
you always add who youre thankful to. If I say I thank, commonly when we talk to each
other we say to thank you. We add that You. We thank Allh. He doesnt even say in
shakartum l, (if youre grateful to Me, Ill increase you). He said just have the attitude of
being grateful. Its not even limited to Allh azz wa jall. Because the prophet (SAW)
teaches us, the Qurn in addition teaches us, were not just supposed to be grateful to
Allh, were supposed to be grateful to our teachers, to our parents, to whoever does any
good to us. Because being grateful, when you recognize a favour being done to you, its
an extension of what Allh has given to you. Its a part of your rizq. So if you fail to be
grateful to your husband, you fail to be grateful to your wife, you fail to be grateful for
the blessing of your children, you fail to be grateful for the job you do have, as opposed
to the job you want, you fail to be grateful for the car you do have as opposed to the car
you want, when you fail to be grateful for those things its an extension for not being
grateful to Allh. Lain shakartum in all of its forms. If youre grateful all around to

anybody, its not limited to one thing. And if you can learn to do that Allh will give you
and give you and give you and when He swears by it, who can compare? When he gives
that guarantee, la azdannakum, this is the word of Allh azz wa jall, Allh doesnt need
to swear for anything. You know in normal language when a person swears, I swear I
didnt do this, I swear Im going to do this for you, you know when thats done? When
somebody doesnt believe you. When you come late to work you tell your boss, I swear
there was a lot of traffic. Because youre afraid hes not going to believe what youre
saying so youre ready to testify and go to court for it, right? Swearing is done when the
person youre talking to is skeptical. Allh azz wa jall is talking to a believing
community. Hes talking to the Israelites directly. Theres no doubt here. But Hes still
instills it in them as though they might be waswasah from shaytan, whispers of the devil
later on that youll forget to be grateful. So I am reminding you in as strong as possible
words, I will give you more. I will take care of you, I will hook you up, just trust me. Be
grateful. Ill take care of you.
Now the last thing, something I skipped before I move forward. I want to go back
towards a little bit again. Allh azz wa jall said: Mus AS said to them right before this:
inna fi dhlika, when Mus AS was given instructions, this is how you bring your people
out of darkness into light. Allh said to them: wa dhakkirhum bi ayymillh. Remind
them of Allhs days. One of the instructions given to Mus AS, this is how you make
your people grateful. Remind them of Allhs days. Now what in the world does that
mean? Allhs days? Theres a surah dedicated in the Quran just to Allhs days. And
thats Surah al-Arf.
In Surah al-Arf we find lots of Allhs days, the day Allh created us, the day
we were brought to this earth, the day Allh took an oath form us, the day we are going to
go back to Allh, the day on which you warned nations, the day on which you destroyed
nations. But each one of us also has Allhs days. Specific days you can recall when
Allh did a favour to you that you could not have expected from anywhere else and He
did it for you. And that nation particularly, their day of Allh was when Allh rescued
them from Firaun. So Allh told Mus AS in the previous ayah: remind them by using
Allhs days. And in the next ayah Mus AS applies the ayah and says remember the day
He saved you from Firaun. Remember that day? He applies what Allh taught him. What
are we learning? We should apply what Allh taught us. Remember the day you came out
of the hospital? Remember the day the baby came out and everything was normal?
Remember that day? Those are the days of Allh. Nobody gets credits for those days
except Allh azz wa jall. You know, we have to mark those milestone days in our life.
When people celeberate they should be celebrating with gratitude. They are supposed to
be opportunities for us to become more and more grateful. You know. How many friends
I have they had their first child after a lot of attempts and when they had a child born
three months premature and the child is in the ICU for three four months. And this is may
be 10 years ago. Now the child is living a normal healthy life. But every year they look at
this child grow and they increase in gratitude because it looked impossible. Doctors were
shaking their head that no you should just get mentally prepared yourself. We have this
counselor on staff ready to you know console you for the loss of your child. Everything
was ready and said except Allh decided, NO. This child will live. And will be a source
of happiness for his parents. Subhanallah! We have to learn to become a grateful people.

If Bani Israel in the midst of all of their complaints are taught this, we are no one
to complain. And the first teaching is that to Mus AS and thats another important
lesson. If theres one messenger before Rasulullah SAW who has a right to complain,
hes got a right to complain, not just because he gets hate from the enemy, from the
disbeliever, he gets trouble from his followers. So much so that the words are that come
out of his mouth. Lima tudhnan, Why do you continually cause me pain? You believe
me. Wa qad talamuna ann raslullahi ilaykum, you already know I am Gods
messenger to you, why do you cause me pain? If theres one messenger that has a right to
complain, that messenger is Mus AS. What does Allh say at the end of this ayah when
He gave His this messenger instructions to pull his people out of darknesses into light. He
says inna f dhlika la ytil likulli sabbrin shakur. Two attributes. He said this
reminder is going to be good for anybody, any person, who can have two qualities. The
people that will benefit from this the most, these kind of reminders the most are the
people who have two things in them. They are sabbr and they are shakr. Let me
translate those two for you. One is extremely patient, continually patient. Over and over
again exercising their patience. And the second is extremely grateful. These are both
hyperbolized nouns. Extremely patient. Extremely grateful. If you can do those two
things, youll benefit from guidance like nobody else.
But why these two things together? Ill give you a simple example. Ive given this
many times before but shamelessly I dont care. You open up the fridge. You see four
five different kinds of drinks. But you see the one drink you wanted, you wanted the
orange juice, you see grape juice, you see orange, mango, you see soda, you see water,
you just dont see your orange juice. Wheres the orange juice?! God! Everytime! Instead
of being patient, before even patient, your patience is tested because you failed to be
grateful for everything you do have. So you lose your patience when you dont have
gratitude. The first thing Allh could call for here is sabr because they were in a difficult
situation. But what will make your patience easy? Some people ask sometimes, how do I
become patient? Brother I have a temper problem. I get very angry. I get very impatient.
You know. What should I do? I cant help myself. Yes you can! Why dont you learn to
be grateful! Thats the teaching of the Quran. If you want to fight your impatience, learn
to become grateful. Because when you focus on the gifts Allh has given you, your mind
will not have the energy left to focus on the things you dont get your way. What you
want is your desire. What you have is what Allh wants for you. Compare the two things.
Ill say that again. What you want is from your heart. I want that car. I want that house. I
want my son to do this. I want my daughter to do that. I want you to do this. I want him
to do that. But what you do have right now is because Allh decided it. So youre
comparing what you want with what Allh has already given.
We have to learn to be grateful for what we have. Im not saying we dont strive
for better and better. We absolutely do. But we do that with patience and with gratitude.
And if you do want things to improve, the ayah has the solution. Brother, I dont see my
family situation improving. I dont see my salary increasing. I dont see my debt going
away. I dont see my problem disappearing. Allh has the formula here: lain shakartum
laazdannakum. If youre just grateful, Ill increase you. Ill give it to you. Where do
you think the money comes from? Where do you think the solution to your problem
comes from? It comes from Allh azz wa jall. And He says I kept it locked until you
show some gratitude. You show gratitude, Ill unlock it for you. What are you waiting

for? Learn to be grateful. And then He adds one more thing and Ill end with that. Wa
lain kafartum, and if you choose not to be grateful, if you want to just be in denial, that
these are gifts from Allh to you, you want to focus on all your problems, and complain
all the time to yourself and others. If thats the life you want to live, inna adhbi
lashadd, my punishment is really intense.
Whats remarkable about this ayah here is He doesnt even say, if, if youre
ungrateful, I will punish you. He doesnt say that. He doesnt even mention you. He just
says my punishment is intense. Remember when someone shows gratitude, He mentions
them: la azdannakum, Ill increase you. He honoured you and me by mentioning us. But
the one who is ungrateful doesnt even deserve to get mentioned by Allh azz wa jall
after that point. He just says my punishment is intense. Youre not even worthy of
mention at that point. You dont mention me, why should I mention you? Thats what
Allh azz wa jall does in the ayah. Inna adhbi lashadd. Subhanallah!
And you know the Israelites, specifically the Israelites, they carried an attitude
that we today see in Muslims sometimes. Allh wouldnt do that to us. Were special. He
brought us all the way out of the water, now Hes going to punish us? Common! After all
He brought us all the way this way and He saved us because were special. Hes not
going to punish us. Were the ummah of Mus AS. Sounds familiar? Were the special
ones. He wouldnt do aht to us. What does the next ayah say and Ill conclude with it.
Just so we have a reality check. Allh azz wa jall says: wa qla Mus (Mus AS says to
his nation) in takfur antum wa man fi al-ardi jami (if you all become ungrateful and
everyone on the earth for that matter becomes ungrateful) fa inna allha laghan ulamd (then Allh is completely free of need. He doesnt need you). Dont you for a
second think youre special. Youre not special. Allh is Ghan. He doesnt need you to
praise Him. Hes already self-praised; amd. He doesnt even say Mamd. Li anna alkalimata tatj la nib il-fil, the Arabic principle, Mamd being someone who is
praised. Would suggest somebody is praising but theyre not being mentioned. amd
doesnt even allude to somebody else. Hes praised in and of Himself even if nobody
praises else is around. Youre thinking He needs you to pray to Him? He doesnt! Thats
only for your benefit. So you can increase for yourselves.
This is a lesson Allh azz wa jall [gives]. Mus AS was taught to give [this
lesson] his people so they could come out of darkness to light. And then this message is
important enough Allh put it as a teaching for the messenger himself. This is teaching
methodology for Rasulullah SAW. He was first told you bring your people out of
darkness into light. Then he was told heres how Mus did it. Mus reminded his nation
this way. So you remind your nation this way. May Allh azz wa jall bring us out of the
very shades of darkness we have into light. May Allh make us a grateful people. May
Allh make us focus the good things we enjoy in this life and truly, sincerely become
grateful to Him. And as a result of our gratitude may Allh azz wa jall increase us in the
good things and in the guidance and in the blessings that we enjoy in this world.
Barakallhu l wa lakum fil-Qurn il-akm, wa nafan wa iyykum bil-yti wa dhikr ilakm.