The Prophet ﷺ once said, “There will be three offices on the day of Qiyamah where each human will have to pass through. One of the them will be holding the collection of good deeds, the other would be holding the accounts of evil deeds and the third will be holding the accounts of the blessings that a person had got.”

Allah would handover the person’s good deeds, evil deeds and then a list of blessings. Then He would ask, “O My smallest blessing! Take your due from this person’s (good deeds) as compared to the amount of benefit he got out of you.” The smallest blessing will start picking up the good deeds of the person as  compensation till all his good deeds have been taken over but the blessing would still demand for more. Even the tiniest blessing was used so extensively and provided so much benefit to that person that all of his good deeds would be given over as compensation. Allah would then tell the person that all of his good deeds have been given as compensation to the smallest of His blessings. After narrating this, the Prophet ﷺ recited, “Indeed the mercy of Allah is closer to the Mohsineen (one who is excellent)”.

Considering the importance of blessings which are seriously underestimated -

Take a look at your successful career, business, house, family, food etc. You take them as your personal achievements, yet actually they are blessings of Allah. Do not be over confident about your skills, rather give the credit to Allah as all power belongs to Him. Excellence in Akhlaq (character) is not possible without pondering over the bounties and blessings of Allah. Just take a look at the number of dishes you had during breakfast. While we appreciate the chef for cooking delicious food, we overlook the contribution of Allah, the all Powerful. Not only has Allah provided us with delicious food, He has made another person deliver cooked food to you. These all are Allah’s Blessings.

Allah has commanded us to ponder over His Blessings,

“Then let mankind look at his food - How We poured down water in torrents. Then We broke open the earth, splitting [it with sprouts]. And caused to grow within it grain- And grapes and herbage- And olive and palm trees- And gardens of dense shrubbery”

(Surah Abasa verse 24 - 30)

Pondering over the Blessings makes us grateful -

Allah gives the above example to prove that a person can only put seeds in the soil and water them, but it is Allah who turns them into full fledged trees with different fruits of a variety of tastes.

Take a look at our swift modes of travel. They are also Blessings of Allah. Compare the modern travelling modes and facilities with the hardships faced by our previous generations while traveling, Only then can we realise the true value of the Blessings of Allah. Therefore pondering over the Blessings of Allah makes our hearts grateful.

Reciting Alhamdulillah is an act of being grateful to Allah

The Prophet ﷺ said, “The easiest thankful words are Alhamdulillah.” That is why we start most of our supplications with the words of Alhamdulillah.  It is essential to praise Allah for all the blessings, “fa’amma be naemata rabika fa’hadith”

We should not only harbour gratitude in our hearts by pondering over the Bounties and Blessings of Allah, we should also express our gratitude verbally, by making supplications and by  discussing our blessings and expressing our gratitude amongst people.

Expressing gratitude through actions

“Remember me and I will remember you, and be grateful to me and do not be Ungrateful”

(Surah al Baqarah verse 152, 153)

“O people of dawood, be grateful to Allah by performing good deeds.”

(Surah Saba verse 13)

The Prophet ﷺ used to stand for such a long time during Tahajjud prayers that his feet used to get swollen. Aisha once asked him, “All your sins have been forgiven. Why do you need to stand for such a long time in night prayers?”  He replied, “Should I not be grateful for that?”

Therefore, obedience to Allah is an act of expressing gratitude. We should express gratitude through our words, duas and acts of worship, because it is an essential part of good Akhlaq (character).