We say thank you without thinking. We receive each breath, each meal and each morning as if it were owed to us. Gratitude is among the first duties of a believer, yet it is the one we neglect most.

Allah draws our attention to it through the example of a wise man. Luqman 31:13

Wa laqad ātaynā Luqmānal ḥikmata ani ushkur lillāh. Wa man yashkur fa innamā yashkuru li nafsih. Wa man kafara fa innallāha Ghaniyyun Ḥamīd: And We bestowed wisdom on Luqman, saying, ‘Be grateful to Allah:’ and whoso is grateful, is grateful only for the good of his own soul. And whoso is ungrateful, then surely Allah is Self-Sufficient, Praiseworthy.

Wisdom begins with thankfulness. Allah does not need our thanks. The benefit returns to us.

Gratitude also begins at home. Luqman 31:15

Wa waṣṣaynal insāna bi wālidayh. Ḥamalathu ummuhū wahnan ʿalā wahnin wa fiṣāluhū fī ʿāmayn. Anishkur lī wa li wālidayk. Ilayyal maṣīr: And We have enjoined on man concerning his parents, his mother bears him in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning takes two years, ‘Give thanks to Me and to thy parents. Unto Me is the final return.’

Thanks to Allah is placed beside thanks to parents. The two belong together. A person who forgets those who raised him will struggle to thank the One who created him.

The Prophet^(sa) said :

“The affair of the believer is truly remarkable, for all of it is good for him, and this is true for no one except the believer. If he is granted some joy, he is grateful, and that is good for him. If he is afflicted with hardship, he is patient, and that too is good for him.” (hadiqatus-saliheen #849 page 665) 

The Promised Messiah^(as) says :

It is extremely important that one should always remain grateful for all His favours which are countless and beyond comprehension. Gratitude means honest and genuine recognition that, indeed, the favours of Allah the Exalted are countless and beyond comprehension ( Malfuzat Vol 10 page 496 )

True gratitude is not only a word on the tongue. It lives in thought, in the heart and in action. It shows purity, because the grateful heart is free of entitlement. It shows humility, because it admits that we received what we did not earn. It shows submission, because it accepts that every blessing has a Giver. This is why the Quran and the Hadith stress it so often.

We must stop and reflect. We must pause to count what we have been given. We must say thanks aloud and then show it by how we live.

The greatest gratitude is the remembrance of Allah. Every other thanks flows from it.

So ask yourself a simple question.

When did you last stop and truly give thanks? If the answer does not come quickly, perhaps today is the day to begin.