١٠٦. عَنْ صُهَيْبٍ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:
«عَجَبًا لِأَمْرِ الْمُؤْمِنِ إِنَّ أَمْرَهُ كُلَّهُ خَيْرٌ وَلَيْسَ ذَاكَ لِأَحَدٍ إِلَّا لِلْمُؤْمِنِ إِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ سَرَّاءُ شَكَرَ فَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ وَإِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ ضَرَّاءُ صَبَرَ فَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ».
106. According to a narration from Suhaib b. Sinan the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“Strange are the ways of a believer for there is good in every affair of his and this is not the case with anyone else except in the case of a believer for if he has an occasion to feel delight, he thanks (God), thus there is a good for him in it, and if he gets into trouble and shows resignation (and endures it patiently), there is also a good for him in it.” (Muslim, Zuhd, 64)
Explanations:
Hamd (praise) is the way of expressing gratefulness for someone’s beneficence, kindness, and goodness.
Shukr (thanking) is to acknowledge a favor which is done to a person and respond to it by praising the beneficiary and letting others know about it. Therefore, hamd (praise) is a more general than the concept of shukr.
There is no other word than hamd that expresses the respect, love, and gratefulness which we feel towards Allah, because a believer who says “Alhamdulillah” means that all praises are due to Allah and Allah is the only One who is worthy of hamd.
There is no superior spiritual rank than “The Rank of Hamd” for the good servants of Allah, because:
• The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) is the one who praised Allah most among all people in this world and the Hereafter. For this reason he was named as “Ahmad.”
• “Hamd” is the name of the flag that the Messenger of Allah will carry in Paradise. All prophets from Adam to the Day of Judgment will gather under this “The Flag of Hamd” or “Liwa al-Hamd.”
• “Maqam-i Mahmud” is the name of the highest rank of intercession, which Allah will give only one of His servants, i.e. His Messenger Muhammad (pbuh).
• When the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) performs prostration at the most terrifying moment of the Day of Judgment to intercede for the entire humanity, Allah will inspire him the best “hamd” that He did not inspire anyone before. So the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) will intercede after saying this special hamd. Those who are saved because of his intercession will praise this exalted Ahmad. And this way, his other names Mahmud and Muhammad will gain their meanings.
• One of the characteristics of the followers of Muhammad, who are praised in previous Scriptures as well, is that they are called “Hammadun” which means “the ones who praise Allah a lot.” As a matter of fact, Allah especially blessed the followers of Muhammad (pbuh) with “chapter of Hamd” (al-Fatiha) in the Qur’an and they recite this chapter in every unit of their prayers.[1]
• The only duty of the angels, the special creatures who are closest to Allah, is to praise Allah. This is expressed in the noble verses of the Qur’an as follows:
“And you will see the angels surrounding the Throne (Divine) on all sides, singing Glory and Praise to their Lord.” (Al-Zumar; 39:75)
“Those who sustain the Throne (of Allah) and those around it sing Glory and Praise to their Lord.” (Al-Mu’min; 40:7)
• All of the creatures glorify and praise Allah, however humans cannot understand their way of exalting. (Al-Isra; 17:44)
Even thunders loudly join this praising. Allah informs us about this as:
“Nay, thunder repeats His praises, and so do the angels, with awe.” (Al-Ra’d; 13:13)
• Allah is the most Gracious, Merciful, and Benevolent. He bestows His blessings to His creation day and night. Therefore everything is grateful to Allah for everything they have. For this reason, living a life glorifying Allah for His blessings shows our loyalty. Since Abraham (pbuh) was a loyal servant of Allah, he gained the praise of our Almighty Lord. He earned this attribute by praising Allah a lot.
One day the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) asked:
“Dou you want me to tell you why Allah said “Very loyal Abraham”[2] for His beloved servant Abraham?” and continued:
That is because, every morning and every evening he used to say:
فَسُبْحَانَ الله ح۪ينَ تُمْسُونَ وَح۪ينَ تُصْبِحُونَ.
وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ فِي السَّمٰوَاتِ وَالْاَرْضِ وَعَشِيًّا وَح۪ينَ تُظْهِرُونَ
“So (give) glory to Allah, when you reach eventide and when you rise in the morning; Yea, to Him be praise, in the heavens and on earth; and in the late afternoon and when the day begins to decline.” (Al-Rum; 30:17-18) (Ahmad, III, 439)
• Allah begins the Noble Qur’an with “All praise be to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds” in order to emphasize the importance of praising Him (hamd) and repeated this fact several times.
Allah the Almighty says the following addressing to each one of His servants:
“Say: Praise be to Allah…” (Al-Isra; 17:111)
Therefore praising Allah is a very important act of worship and a big honor for us. A smart believer who wants to get closer to Allah should praise Allah by referring to what Hamd really means by saying “O my Lord! I praise You as what hamd really means on Your sight” without restricting the meaning of hamd to his limited comprehension. One should enrich his life with hamd and it should be expressed at the beginning of every act. One must begin his every word and act with hamd. As mentioned in our first hadith, it is impossible to hope from an act which does not start with hamd to be blessed and fruitful.
As we are told in the second hadith, Allah becomes pleased when His servants praise and thank Him after they eat or drink something. The Prophet (pbuh) gave the good news that the sins of those who praise and thank Allah after they eat will be forgiven:
“If anyone eats food and then says: “Praise be to Allah Who has fed me with this food and provided me with it through no might and power on my part,” he will be forgiven his former and later sins.” (Abu Dawud, Libas, 1/4023; Tirmidhi, Daawat, 55/3458. Also see Ibn Majah, At’ima, 16)
Eating and drinking is one of the most important blessings since they are necessary for survival. It is harder for those who do not appreciate these blessings to realize and thank for lesser blessings.
Shaqiq b. Abraham said:
There are three conditions to thank Allah for His blessings properly and in the best manner. These are:
- To know from whom it comes when Allah the Almighty bestows upon you something,
- To be satisfied with the blessings of Allah no matter how much they are,
- Not to disobey Allah as long as you have the energy in your body which you obtained from the blessings of Allah. (Qurtubi, I, 134)
It is necessary to praise and thank Allah not only after eating or drinking something but under any circumstances. The following story is so exemplary in expressing how Aisha used to express her gratefulness:
Qasir b. Ubayd narrated:
“When someone in her family had a newborn baby, Aisha would not ask:
“Is it a boy or a girl?” rather she would ask:
“Is the baby all right?”
When she is told:
“Yes, the baby is all right” she would then say:
“Alhamdu lillahi Rabbi’l-alemin” (Bukhari, al-Adab al-mufrad, no: 1256)
In order to appreciate the significance of the given blessings and thank them accordingly, we need to be fair and look at those who are less fortunate than us. If we do not act this way and look at those who are richer than us, it becomes harder to feel grateful to Allah.
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) warned his followers on this issue by saying:
“Whoever looks up to those who are better in spiritual life and follow him, and looks at those who are less fortunate in worldly blessings and thanks Allah for the blessings that he has, Allah records him as a thankful and patient servant. Whoever looks at those who are worse than himself in their spiritual life and looks up to those who are better off in terms of worldly goods, and gets sad for those worldly goods that he does not have, Allah does not record him as thankful and patient servant.” (Tirmidhi, Qiyamah, 58/2512)
In our third hadith, we are told that how superior and praiseworthy those who do not react against Allah in the face of an unfortunate happening, like losing one’s child, but rather act patiently and praise Allah are in the sight of Allah.
Since being patient when facing the death of a loved one is a rank or state that is very hard to reach, the reward of acting patiently will be a castle in Paradise. As a matter of fact, when faced with such unfortunate incidents, reacting in such a way other than praising Allah does not change anything. Those who passed away do not come back. Therefore, a believer should act patiently, praise Allah and try to earn eternal happiness through worldly losses.
Even though Allah is All-knowing, in order to show the importance of being patient in the face of a misfortune, He asks His angels how His servant reacted in such a case. When the angels tell that His servant acted patiently, Allah orders a house to be built in Paradise called “The House of Hamd” as a reward of acting this way which not everyone can do. Thus, this hadith also gives the good news that such a patient servant will surely go to Paradise.
In another hadith on this subject, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“When someone is ill, Allah sends two angels to him and says:
“Look at what he says to his visitors.”
If he praises Allah and lauds Him when the visitors come, angles take that up to Allah, the Mighty, the Majestic, and All Knowing, and He says:
“If I make my slave die, I will make him enter the Garden. If I heal him, I will replace his flesh with better flesh and his blood with better blood and I will efface his evil actions.” (Muwatta, Ayn, 5)
In the fourth hadith, we are told that the best prayer is to say “All praises are due to Allah.” Allah advances His blessings to those who praise Him and who are grateful to His blessings before they even wish for anything. So, first we must acknowledge the value of the blessings that we have and be loyal to Allah by praising and thanking Him appropriately before asking for new blessings. Only when we can achieve this, we would have prayed Allah in the best manner and His blessings would increase before we ask.
Allah informs us of this:
“If you are grateful, I will add more (favors) unto you.” (Ibrahim; 14:7)
Since hamd includes the term shukr or being grateful as mentioned in the verse above, it is the best type of prayer that ensures what is asked for. For this reason, we start our prayer by praising Allah. As a matter of fact, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) gave the good news that Allah responds to supplications that begin with exaltation and praising Him and then invoking blessings on His Messenger (pbuh). He also advised to those who are in a hurry to begin their supplications with praising Allah and invoke blessings to the Prophet (pbuh). (Tirmidhi, Daawat, 64/3476; Abu Dawud, Witr, 23/1481)
On the other hand, there are levels in praising Allah. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) informed us about one of the best ways of praising Allah:
“One of the servants of Allah said:
يَا رَبِّ! لَكَ الْحَمْدُ كَمَا يَنْبَغِي لِجَلاَلِ وَجْهِكَ وَلِعَظِيمِ سُلْطَانِكَ
“O my Lord! All praises which are proper to Your Majesty and Greatness of Your Power be to You!”
This praising incapacitated the two angels that were appointed to record the deeds of the servant since they did not know how many rewards they should write in return for this hamd. They ascended to the Heavens and said:
“O our Lord! Your servant said such a word for which we do not know how many rewards to record.” Even though All-knowing Allah already knew well what the servant had said, He asked:
“What did my servant say?”
The angels responded:
“O our Lord! That servant praised You as: “O my Lord! All praises which are proper to Your Majesty and Greatness of Your Power be to You”
Upon this, Allah orders to those two angels:
“Record these words as my servant had said it until he reaches Me and I give him the rewards of these words!” (Ibn Majah, Adab, 55)
Praising Allah is one of the good deeds that saves one from the Hell and ensures him to enter the Paradise. The following story reported by Abu Huraira (r.a.) is one of the proofs of this fact:
One day the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“Get your shields!”
We asked:
“Is there an enemy approaching so you ordered us to get our shields?”
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“No, get your shields that will save you from the Hell:
سُبْحَانَ اللّٰهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ وَلَا اِلٰهَ اِلَّا اللّٰهُ وَاللّٰهُ أَكْبَرُ
Say “Subhanallahi Walhamdulillahi wa La ilaha illallahu wallahu Akbar: Glory be to Allah and All praise be to Allah and there is no god but Him and He is the greatest!” These words come to save and greet you on the Day of Judgment. These words are one of the good deeds which will stay till eternity.” (Hakim, I, 725/1985)
Our fifth hadith explains how significant praising Allah and thanking Him was in our beloved Prophet’s life.
As the servant who knows Allah best, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) exemplified with his actions that no matter what we do, it can not be enough to thank Allah.
As understood from this hadith, being grateful to Allah is also necessary for the forgiveness of our sins.
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) also expresses in this hadith that worships and thanking Allah should not be performed in return for worldly rewards and benefits but rather they are expressions of servitude out of love for Allah.
As can be inferred from the answer that the Messenger of Allah gave to Aisha, he would have endless pleasure from thanking Allah. So, he loved to feel thankful to Allah and reflect his gratitude in his actions. In spite of his heavy responsibilities such as conducting the affairs of Muslims, preaching the religion, protecting his followers, fighting in the name of Allah, protecting the borders of the country, there was no one else who worshipped and obeyed Allah more to express his gratitude than he did.
On top of that, our Master the Pride of Universe (pbuh) used to ask Allah to help him to thank Him more:
“O my Lord! I pray to You to keep me on the right religion and help me to stay on the straight path, and to be able to thank Your blessings appropriately and be a good servant of You. I ask from You a tranquil heart and a truthful tongue. I ask for Your forgiveness of my sins that You know of (but I don’t). I wish for every goodness that You know of (but I don’t), and I seek refuge in You from all such evil.” (Ahmad, IV, 125)
Our sixth hadith praises and informs about those who live a calm and peaceful life since they feel grateful to Allah and act patiently due to their strong faith.
Life is full of happy and sad moments. Those moments visit our hearts by turns. It is not possible for anyone to avoid them. For this reason, Allah informs us that we should not go to extremes when we are sad for the things that we lost and also when are happy for the things that we gain. (Al-i Imran; 3:153) (Al-Hadid; 57:23)
Then, we must know how to benefit from our happy moments by showing our gratitude and from the sad moments of our lives by being patient. One must not forget that being grateful to blessings increases them and being patient to unfortunate events transforms them into goodness. That is how a believer follows an exemplary and peaceful life by continuously taking advantage of these two good traits.
As a matter of fact, believers should be grateful to Allah under any circumstances. Otherwise, they would be ungrateful and punishment of ingratitude is very harsh. As a matter of fact, it is expressed in several verses of the Qur’an:
“Then remember Me; I will remember you. Be grateful to Me, and reject not Faith.” (Al-Baqarah; 2:152)
“… if you show ingratitude, truly My punishment is terrible indeed.” (Ibrahim; 14:7)
In order for a person to express properly his gratefulness to Allah, he should also thank people from whom he received goodness. As a matter of fact, Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) said:
“He who does not thank people does not thank Allah!” (Abu Dawud, Adab, 11/4811; Tirmidhi, Birr, 31/1955)
The believers who express their gratitude in this life also will continue to be busy with hamd in Paradise:
“Their prayers end with:
“Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds!” (Yunus; 10:10)