Being grateful is the ritual of Muslims do like the part of the element to say thanks to Allah. Grateful in Islam constructed as the praise from Muslims for remembering Allah.
Commonly, gratitude is appreciative of thanks to Allah. It is the importance of praise of Allah in Islam. This time, we will give you a simple review of the benefits of being grateful in Islam.
What is the Meaning of Being Grateful?
Gratefulness towards God considers as a core religious and spiritual attitude and expresses through various rituals and prayers in all major religions of the world, Islam is no exception (Smith, 1999).
The expression of gratitude shows that Muslims become happier and happier. With more blessing from Allah, they get, so that the happier they are.
There are so many journals that prove the benefit of being gratitude based on research. Increased feelings of gratitude can also improve well-being and in the long-run quality of life.
An experimental study in which people were asked to list the good things in their lives also showed that such an exercise improved mood (Emmons, & McCullough, 2003; Sheldon & Schkade, 2005; as cited in Emmons, 2007).
Gratitude has seen as a positive emotion that reported to be felt by most people often and intensely (McCullough, Emmons and Tsang, 2002; as cited in Linley, 2006). In a survey, it was found that 67% of people reported expressing gratitude to other people all of the time, and 60% of people said that this made them very happy Gallup, 1998; as cited in Tsang and McCullough, 2004).
In the Quran surah Ibrahim verse 7 mentions that if Muslims are always grateful they will get more and more blessings from Allah.
وَاِذْ تَاَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَىِٕنْ شَكَرْتُمْ لَاَزِيْدَنَّكُمْ
“And (remember) when your Lord proclaimed, “if you’re grateful, I will surely increase you (in favor), …”
Benefits of Being Grateful in Islam
Grateful is associated with hope, happiness, and self-respect not only from human to human but also to Allah and His creature. Muslims know that this benefit comes easier through their everyday life. Here we will show you five happiness benefits of being grateful in Islam. Let’s check them out!
1.Emotional Aspect
Emotionally, being grateful makes us have true happiness. We will get four feelings that surely describes what happiness is. This happiness will keep in mind as a memory. So, here they are:
- We have more good feeling
- We feel more relaxed
- We feel more resilient
- We got less anxious
Based on the Quran surah Ali Imran verse 144, it said that “…Allah will give reward to them that being grateful.”
وَسَيَجْزِى اللّٰهُ الشّٰكِرِيْنَ – …
The reward from Allah based on that verse comes to anything include physically and emotionally. That is why being grateful to Allah is the most need for every Muslim.
2. Affect the Personality
Islam regards personality as the human character that is shown in everyday life. The benefit of being grateful affects human personality. It claims can change human behavior through their personality. Such as how we behave to older people. Grateful can guide us to be one of the importance of behaving with older people.
Five benefits of being grateful that affect the personality the most are:
- Less materialistic
- Les self-centered
- More optimistic
- Increased self-esteem
- More spiritual
3. Social Aspect
In Islam, the benefit of being grateful is shown in the better relationship that people have. Not only the relationship between human to human but also Allah and another Allah’s creatures. It will make good friendships among people and improve good communication. These good things will make people kinder to other people. And if you married, it can be the importance to appreciate your spouse as the simple behave to do grateful things.
In the Quran surah, Al Qamar verse 35 said, “as a favor from Us. Thus We give back to those who are grateful.”
نِّعْمَةً مِّنْ عِنْدِنَاۗ كَذٰلِكَ نَجْزِيْ مَنْ شَكَرَ – ٣٥
4. Improve Career
As we always being grateful to Allah so that we can improve our career path significantly. Grateful people can manage their work easily so that they can achieve their goals. By the effects of being grateful in social life, it will easier to improve their social networking. That point will be great to improve productivity in the workplace. And may you will get tips to become success Muslim entrepreneur.
There is a lot of verse from the Quran that mentions being grateful to keep balance work. Such as in surah A Jasiyah, verse 12
اَللّٰهُ الَّذِيْ سَخَّرَ لَكُمُ الْبَحْرَ لِتَجْرِيَ الْفُلْكُ فِيْهِ بِاَمْرِهٖ وَلِتَبْتَغُوْا مِنْ فَضْلِهٖ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُوْنَۚ – ١٢
“It is Allah who has subjected the sea to you so that ships can sail on it by His command, and that you may seek some of His gifts and so that you will grateful.”
Another verse also is shown in surah Al Qasas verse 73,
وَمِنْ رَّحْمَتِهٖ جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ لِتَسْكُنُوْا فِيْهِ وَلِتَبْتَغُوْا مِنْ فَضْلِهٖ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُوْنَ – ٧٣
“And it’s because His mercy, He made it for you night and day, so that you can take a rest at night and seek some of His gifts (during the day) and so that you become grateful to Him.”
5. Keep the Body Health
One of the most benefits of being grateful in Islam is can keep the body more healthy. As we behave to more grateful to anything it will reduce the stress and we become happier. A happy person with less stress out gives the body health. It claims as to the most rewarding deeds in Islam.
Five things affect body health from being grateful.
- We will have longevity
- We will get less sick and can prevent the illness may come
- Improved sleep
- Increased more energy
- Give us more exercise because of the positive energy
In the Quran surah Al Baqarah verse 172, it mentions that we should eat something good. It means to halal food that makes us more healthy. Besides, the verse also mentions being grateful because of the halal food that we consumed.
يٰٓاَيُّهَا الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْا كُلُوْا مِنْ طَيِّبٰتِ مَا رَزَقْنٰكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوْا لِلّٰهِ اِنْ كُنْتُمْ اِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُوْنَ – ١٧٢
“O, believers! Eat from the good fortune that We have given you and give thanks to Allah if you only worship Him.”
So, there are five benefits of being grateful in Islam. There’s also Have you said thanks to Allah today? May Allah give you His blessing.
References
Emmons, A., & McCullough, E. 2004. Gratitude in Practice and the Practice of gratitude.
Emmons, R., McCullough, M., & Tsang, J. 2000. Gratitude: The gratitude questionnaire (GQ-6) Smith, H. 2004. Religions of Man. Suhail Academy. Lahore.