Gratitude must be practiced!

Today I want to talk about gratitude.

It is extremely important to talk to children about gratitude and to teach them this quality of being thankful.

Those who pay attention to the education of their children should teach them from an early age to recognize the gifts of Allah and to thank Him for them.

Allah tells us: Remember Me, and I will remember you. Be grateful to Me, and do not be ungrateful to Me. [2:152]

And He also told us that only those who are grateful to Him truly worship Him: And be grateful to Allah if it is Him that you worship! (2:172)

Why should Allah punish you if you are grateful and believe? [4:147]

In other words, if you perform the duties for which you were created, namely gratitude and faith, why should Allah punish you? Allah has divided people into two groups: the people of gratitude (shukr) and the people of ingratitude (kufr).

Gratitude and acceptance and recognition of Allah's gifts are extremely important and are part of the perfect faith in Allah (Al Iman).

Gratitude also makes us happy and content people. It's scientifically proven that grateful people are much happier than those who constantly moan and complain.

We can show gratitude in three ways: through gratitude in our hearts, through words such as dhikr and dua, or through our actions themselves, by seeking the pleasure of Allah and living a life that pleases Allah.

To plant this gratitude in the child's heart, we should make it a ritual and, for example, sit down with the child every evening before they go to sleep and reflect on the gifts we have received that day. We can thank Allah for the beautiful moments we have experienced, for our health, for the good work the child has achieved, for our parents, for our warm, comfortable home, for our friends and family, for our eyesight, our legs and hands, our clean water and our food. We should also be grateful for the opportunity we have to make dua and dhikr, because when we are dead, we can no longer be grateful.

And of course, we should always thank Allah for our guidance and for being allowed to be Muslims!

We can also keep a small diary in which we write down our words of thanks to Allah every day, or we can take a walk and reflect on Allah's gifts.

The fact that we are Muslims is a special blessing from Allah.

And even for recognizing Allah's gifts and having the opportunity to give thanks for them, we should thank God.

If children acknowledge Allah's gifts and are grateful, they will be content throughout their lives. Being grateful for trials is also part of that.

We Muslims are grateful for everything and the more grateful we are, the more content and serene our lives will be.

Grieving, complaining, and being dissatisfied are signs of a lack of faith. Gratitude stems from complete faith, for gratitude also means submitting to fate, relying on Allah, and accepting what Allah has predetermined for us.

Being grateful promotes happiness and well-being and is a real life-saver. When we consciously remember what we have to be thankful for, a deep sense of satisfaction, contentment, and joy spreads within us. Gratitude definitely makes us content!

“It is not the happy who are grateful, but the grateful who are happy.”

When you are grateful, you reveal your wealth!

A wise scholar once said: "If you want your child to be unhappy, then give them everything they want. " Giving children too many things and spoiling them makes them ungrateful and disoriented. They will never appreciate Allah's gifts or understand their value if they always get everything straight away and have too much of everything. Someone who has never been ill cannot understand how wonderful it is to be healthy. A child who gets chocolate the moment they want it will not be as grateful or happy as a child who has waited for weeks until Eid. A child who immediately gets the games console they want will not be as happy or grateful as a child who has saved up and waited for it for months. We all too easily forget to appreciate what we have because we always want more. If we do not always realize how “rich” we are and how many gifts and blessings Allah has blessed us with, we forget our riches and have the impression of being poor.

May Allah make us among the thankful, amin!

The reward of gratitude is infinite: (Allāh says) “If you are grateful, I will surely increase your (favor).”[14:7]