Being Thankful

Today was an Off thanks to Kuwait in lieu of the Night of Ascension this Monday. Woke up late around 11:45, I had invited a friend to stay with me since my family is back in India. As we woke up we thought should we make some breakfast or eat out. Then we thought lets have some Aloo Paratha in an Authentic Pakistani restaurant. We knew we were late for breakfast in the restaurant but then thought Yalla. lets give it a try. Yalla.

Unfortunately we got no breakfast there, as we entered my friend met one of his ex-colleagues. He has been in Q8 for 31 years and working only as a Helper in a prominent company. 31 years in a single company. Gets to see his family only for a month every 1.5-2 years for a month. Yaani, he has been with his family on an average for only 24 months means 2 years of his with his family while he spent the rest working for them... And we complain we dont get enough vacation, shame on us. Reminds me of the Hadith which means Look at those who are below you not who are Above you. I try to think of the vacations I take and he has taken in his life. How thankful We should be to Almighty Allaah. And as my friend narrates he is not educated so he has been the same post of Helper for all these years. Hard work for 31 years, his age is 52 now. Means he must have come here at the age of 21 years. Well he was not fortunate to get education, so he worked so hard and made soo many sacrifices to give his family a good life.

He was mentioning his son would go into final year of secondary school and he gets good percentages in school around 85% . Mashaa allaah, he was mentioning he would like him to study and become an Engineer as he is getting good grades in school. He said I will work here for next 8 years until I retire at 60, so that my son can become something. May Allaah help him. We discussed and I adviced him to do Diploma than Degree if he is sure he wants to do Engineering. Explained the benefits of it, over Doing Higher Secondary and than Engineering Degree directly. He asked which field of engineering was better I mentioned Computers, Electronice& Telecom and Chemical. So we just had a casual discussion over a breakfast and we had met for the first time. he liked it so much, he was soo thankful while leaving. But I felt soo sorry. Yaani, there are poor people around the world facing Hardships and trying to educate their children to give them and a good life.

Now looking at this picture. We keep complaining, I need this, I need that, I dont have this, I dont have that. Wallaahi, I dont think I have any right to complain, I think I have everything.

Being Thankful

Among friends we often discuss this: That we have soo many favours of Allaah upon us. We should be soo thankful to him for the innumerous favours he has made upon us. But we on the contrary keep ourselves busy complaining and cribbing even on the smallest thing that we dont like happens to us. I just want to put this post as a reminder to myself... I did some reading on Being Thankful to Allaah, will try to summarize from the different articles:

Characteristics of a True Believer:
The believer is thankful to Allaah in his heart, with his tongue, and with the actions of his limbs. He is thankful for Allaah's Blessings and the great amount of goodness that Allaah has given him, those that he enjoys at all hours of the day. The believer is thankful and utters phrases of Allaah's remembrance, and he does not see any blessing greater than what Allaah has given him, nor any token of generosity greater than what has come from Allaah.
The believer scoffs at the materialistic fancies of this worldly life, as he is focused on the delight of repenting to Allaah, and turning completely to Him alone. With this, he takes an ample share of worldly delights and enjoys them, but not as the disbelievers or heedless ones do. He indulges in them in a way that assists him in establishing the Rights of Allaah and the rights of His servants.
By contenting himself in this way and hoping for the reward from Allaah, the believer fulfills his desires, his heart rests peacefully, and he finds tranquility. He does not become saddened if some affairs reach him that he does not like. With this, Allaah has combined for him the happiness of this worldly life and the happiness of the Hereafter.

Soul Cleanser - we must be Thankful
We have to live in this life and be thankful for even the smallest blessings of Allah (SWT), in order that we live in this world with a higher aim that merely earning a few extra dollars, and our life should be to seek the hereafter.
The key to achieving tranquility and harmony of a balanced heart, mind and body is that we look at those who are below us materialistically and we forget about those who are above us.

Quranic Ayah: And (remember) when your Lord proclaimed: "If you give thanks (by accepting Faith and worshipping none but Allâh), I will give you more (of My Blessings), but if you are thankless (i.e. disbelievers), verily! My Punishment is indeed severe."

Extract from a Poem:
I also Pray, Inshallah that ........... If you have a bad day at work, be thankful to Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta'aala. Appreciate that you have a job. Some people don't. When you pay your bills, be thankful you can pay them. If you see a gray hair, be thankful. Think of the cancer patient in chemotherapy who wish they had hair on their head ...........
When you find yourself waiting in line or the recipient of poor service, be thankful.Many don't have services. Think about the people who have no food to eat and are hungry all the time .......... When you realise how much work it is to take care of a house, be thankful you have a home. Think about those who are homeless and wish they had a home to take care of ..........
When you feel like complaining because you have to walk a long distance from your car, be thankful . Think of what it would be like not to be able to walk! If you get irritated by other people's anger, apathy, ignorance, bitterness, or insecurities, be thankful. Things could be worse. You could be one of them! When you think everything in your world is terrible, and you want to give up, think of the people who have been told they only have a certain amount of time to live. They don't want to give up.