The National Day of Thanksgiving in America is a beautiful holiday. It contains a good spirit and a noble message. It is not a holiday of any particular religion. It is not a Christian or Jewish holiday but it has many deeply religious and spiritual meanings. America at thanksgiving is America at its best. It is unfortunate that like many other moral and spiritual things this holiday is also turned nowadays into too much indulgence and commercialism. It is important that we remember and remind others about the spirit of thanksgiving.
The Qur'anic word for thanks is "shukr." It is mentioned in the Qur'an many times. It is the quality of human beings and it is also the quality of Allah. According to scholars, Shukr means: "It is the consideration of the favor and its acknowledgment. Shukr from human means the recognition of the favor. Shukr from Allah means the reward and appreciation."
Shukr is a very important principle in Islam. It is a quality of the believers and it is a source of all goodness. Shukr is used in the Qur'an sometimes as equivalent to faith. The faithful are thankful people and the unfaithful are ungrateful people. Allah has described His Prophets and Messengers among those who were thankful people. Prophet Noah was a grateful servant of Allah (Qur'an 17:3). Prophet Abraham used to thank Allah for His many blessings (Qur'an 16:121). Prophet David and his family were told to be grateful to Allah (Qur'an 34:13). Allah told His Prophet Muhammad: Nay, but worship Allah, and be of those who give thanks. (Qur'an 39:66)
- Gratefulness is a matter of the heart and truly grateful people are more spiritually aware and are more likely to appreciate the interconnectedness of personal life to human interdependence.
Being thankful/grateful is an essential part of our faith and way of life. There are over seventy verses in the Qur'an pertaining to thankfulness. Prophet Muhammad [pbuh] therefore said: "How wonderful is the case of a Believer; If something good happens, he expresses gratitude; that is good for him - If adversity befalls him, he is patient and that too is good for him."
Thankfulness to the Creator
There are basically four words in the Arabic language, which are used in varying degrees to signify thankfulness, adoration, and praise. These are shukr, thanaa', mad, and hamd.
Shukr expresses recognition of benefits, gratitude, and thankfulness for favors received. Thanaa' denotes repetitive public acknowledgments. Madh means adoration. Hamd is neither pure madh (praise) for madh can be false; nor simply shukr(gratitude) but rather more than a combination of both. Hamdh implies admiration, sincere adoration, and heartfelt gratitude, expressed with humility. Hamd can therefore not be directed towards any other than Allah. "The ultimate form of praiseworthy gratitude is due to Allah, Cherisher of all existence" Qur'an 1:2.
The Almighty says: "Remember Me, I remember you; Be thankful and not ungrateful." Qur'an 2:152.
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