Gratitude for Blessings and Ingratitude

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Question

What is the meaning of gratitude for blessings and ingratitude?

In the Qur'an and Islamic traditions, expressing gratitude for blessings holds significant importance and is classified into three types: Gratitude of the heart: Acknowledging that all blessings originate from Allah. Verbal gratitude: Praising Allah, such as saying Alhamdulillah (All praise belongs to Allah). Practical gratitude: Utilizing blessings to please Allah and serve others.

Qur'anic commentators believe that true gratitude leads to an increase in divine blessings and contributes to spiritual growth. Allah emphasizes gratitude as a means for nurturing and perfecting human beings.

In contrast, ingratitude involves neglecting or misusing Allah's blessings, resulting in negative consequences. The Qur'an, particularly in Surahs An-Nahl and Saba', discusses the repercussions of ingratitude, including the loss of blessings. Islamic traditions similarly caution that ingratitude can lead to diminished blessings and instability. The Imams (AS) have strongly condemned ingratitude and highlighted the role of gratitude in preserving divine favors.

Gratitude for Blessings in the Qur'an

The Qur'an frequently urges humans to express gratitude for Allah's blessings, emphasizing that the benefits of gratitude return to the individual.[1] Commentators outline three stages of gratitude[2]:

  1. Gratitude of the heart: Recognizing Allah as the ultimate source of all blessings.
  2. Verbal gratitude: Expressing thanks through phrases like Alhamdulillah.
  3. Practical gratitude: Demonstrating thankfulness by worshiping Allah, dedicating one’s time and resources to His cause, and serving others.

Proper utilization of blessings in alignment with their divine purpose demonstrates worthiness of receiving even greater blessings.[3]

Gratitude not only increases Allah’s blessings but also fosters personal growth.[4] Allah, who is self-sufficient, gains nothing from human gratitude; instead, He prescribes it as a profound method of spiritual training.[5]

Gratitude, whether verbal or practical, is considered a universal principle of reason and ethics. Traditions emphasize that one cannot be grateful to Allah without showing gratitude to people.[6]

Gratitude for Blessings in Traditions

Numerous narrations emphasize the importance of gratitude, such as:

  • Imam Ali (AS): "When you receive the initial blessings of Allah, ensure that you attract more through gratitude, rather than driving them away with neglect."[7]
  • Imam al-Sadiq (AS): "Gratitude for a blessing is avoiding sins."[8]
  • Imam al-Sadiq (AS): "True gratitude involves recognizing blessings as coming from Allah, being content with what He has given, and not using His blessings in sinful ways."[9]
  • Imam al-Sadiq (AS): "When Allah grants a blessing, and the servant acknowledges it in their heart and praises Allah, this acknowledgment brings further blessings."[10]
  • Imam al-Sadiq (AS): "Whoever acknowledges Allah's blessings in their heart becomes deserving of increased blessings from Him, even before expressing gratitude verbally."[11]

Ingratitude for Blessings

Ingratitude, the opposite of gratitude, refers to neglecting or misusing divine blessings. It is classified as a grave sin and involves concealing, undervaluing, or misusing blessings, whether they be physical, intellectual, financial, or social.[12] Examples of ingratitude include using physical strength for injustice, wealth for sinful acts like gambling, or intellectual capabilities for harm instead of good.[13]

Ingratitude in the Qur'an

The Qur'an denounces ingratitude and places it in opposition to gratitude.[14] Commentators note that misusing blessings for wrongful purposes constitutes ingratitude and can even lead to disbelief.[15]

The punishment for ingratitude may include the loss of blessings or their transformation into trials and hardships. For instance, in Surah An-Nahl (16:112), Allah attributes famine and fear to the ingratitude of a people. Similarly, Surah Saba' (34:15-17) describes how the ingratitude of the people of Saba' led to the destruction of their prosperous lands.[16]

Ingratitude for Blessings in Traditions

Islamic traditions strongly condemn ingratitude for divine blessings, identifying it as one form of disbelief mentioned in the Qur'an[17] and as an element of ignorance (described as al-shukr wa ḍiddahu al-kufrān – "gratitude and its opposite, ingratitude").[18] Imam al-Sajjad (AS) considered this sin a cause for the alteration of Allah’s blessings, while Imam al-Sadiq (AS) viewed it as a factor contributing to the instability and loss of blessings.[19][20]

Key Qur'anic Verse: Gratitude and Ingratitude

The most explicit Qur'anic reference to gratitude and ingratitude is found in Surah Ibrahim: ﴾لَئِنْ شَکَرْتُمْ لَأَزِیدَنَّکُمْ وَ لَئِنْ کَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذابِی لَشَدِید﴿

This verse highlights the divine promise that verbal, heartfelt, and practical gratitude leads to an increase in Allah's blessings.[21] Conversely, ingratitude invites severe punishment.[22]

Qur'anic commentators interpret this increase in blessings not merely as material prosperity but also as spiritual enrichment. Gratitude inherently involves a profound recognition of Allah’s benevolence and nurtures love and obedience toward Him. This inner transformation is itself a significant spiritual blessing. In theological discourse (ʿilm al-kalām), scholars have utilized the concept of gratitude as a foundational argument for the obligation of knowing Allah (maʿrifat Allāh), reasoning that recognizing and thanking the ultimate Benefactor is both a rational and moral necessity.[23]

Sources

  1. ↑ Muḥsinī, Shaykh Muḥammad Āṣif, Qawānīn-i Zindagānī-yi Insān dar Qurʾān, Kabul: Ḥawzah ʿIlmiyyah Khātam al-Nabiyyīn (PBUH), 1392 SH, pp. 94–95.
  2. ↑ Qarāʾatī, Tafsīr-i Nūr, 1388 SH, vol. 4, p. 389.
  3. ↑ Makāram Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i Namūnah, 1371 SH, vol. 10, p. 279.
  4. ↑ Qarāʾatī, Tafsīr-i Nūr, 1388 SH, vol. 4, p. 390.
  5. ↑ Makāram Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i Namūnah, 1371 SH, vol. 10, p. 278.
  6. ↑ Qarāʾatī, Tafsīr-i Nūr, 1388 SH, vol. 4, p. 389.
  7. ↑ Makāram Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i Namūnah, 1371 SH, vol. 10, p. 282.
  8. ↑ Qarāʾatī, Tafsīr-i Nūr, 1388 SH, vol. 4, p. 389.
  9. ↑ Qarāʾatī, Tafsīr-i Nūr, 1388 SH, vol. 4, p. 389.
  10. ↑ Qurashī Banābī, ʿAlī Akbar, Tafsīr-i Aḥsan al-Ḥadīth, Tehran: Bunyād-i Baʿthat, 1375 SH, vol. 5, p. 279.
  11. ↑ Qurashī Banābī, ʿAlī Akbar, Tafsīr-i Aḥsan al-Ḥadīth, Tehran: Bunyād-i Baʿthat, 1375 SH, vol. 5, p. 279.
  12. ↑ Rāghib Iṣfahānī, Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad, Mufradāt Alfāẓ al-Qurʾān (in Arabic), Syria: Dār al-ʿIlm – al-Dār al-Shāmiyyah, 1412 H, under the entry "Shukr."
  13. ↑ Muḥsinī, Shaykh Muḥammad Āṣif, Qawānīn-i Zindagānī-yi Insān dar Qurʾān, Kabul: Ḥawzah ʿIlmiyyah Khātam al-Nabiyyīn (PBUH), 1392 SH, p. 95.
  14. ↑ Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir, Biḥār al-Anwār, vol. 69, Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1403 H, p. 339.
  15. ↑ Qarāʾatī, Tafsīr-i Nūr, 1388 SH, vol. 4, p. 390.
  16. ↑ Makāram Shīrāzī, Nāṣir, Tafsīr-i Namūnah, vol. 18, Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyyah, 1371 SH, pp. 58–60.
  17. ↑ Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb, al-Kāfī, vol. 2, Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyyah, 1407 H, p. 389.
  18. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 1, Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyyah, 1407 H, p. 21.
  19. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 2, Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyyah, 1407 H, p. 94.
  20. ↑ Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī, Maʿānī al-Akhbār, vol. 1, Qom: Intishārāt Islāmī, 1403 H, p. 270.
  21. ↑ Qarāʾatī, Muḥsin, Tafsīr-i Nūr, Tehran: Markaz-i Farhangī Dars-hā-yi az Qurʾān, 1388 SH, vol. 4, p. 389.
  22. ↑ Muḥsinī, Qawānīn-i Zindagānī-yi Insān dar Qurʾān, Kabul: Ḥawzah ʿIlmiyyah Khātam al-Nabiyyīn (PBUH), 1392 SH, p. 95.
  23. ↑ Makāram Shīrāzī, Nāṣir, Tafsīr-i Namūnah, Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyyah, 1371 SH, vol. 10, p. 282.
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