Effort & Gratitude

A worrying mindset nowadays is how people are satisfied with the bare minimum in their religion. Just praying 5 times a day and such. I've already covered in my previous article why we should never feel safe with our current deeds, so here I will talk about two more positive aspects: effort and gratitude. 

Firstly, no one's scale of deeds is enough to enter Jannah without Allah's Mercy. Rather, it is effort that really counts. Allah says many times that the shortcomings of the believers will be forgiven and their efforts appreciated. 

On the one hand, this shows that a believer who tries his best will be granted Allah's Mercy, even if his or her actual deeds may not seem much. On the other hand, this is a warning to not slack off. One with many opportunities to do good may be questioned and perhaps punished if he doesn't take them. 

Only Allah can properly judge efforts between people. However, we know what our capacity is. So strive to please Allah with the best deeds you can offer. After all, does your Lord deserve any less than your best effort?

This actually connects to the next aspect: gratitude. We tend to forget to be grateful to our Lord, while lavishing thanks to other humans. Remember: Allah has absolutely no need for us. Yet, being the Most Merciful, He has given us all that we need and more. Is it not appropriate then to love and thank our Lord?

Imagine you give a child a nice toy. You'd expect him to like you and listen to you a bit more. But instead, he ignores you, shows zero gratitude and even shouts at you when you try to get his attention. How would you feel? Well, think of how we ignore and disobey Allah.

Here's a simple way to increase your gratitude a bit: think of some wonderful blessings you have, then look at people who don't. Could you imagine having an abusive mother? A life of poverty? Or not believing in Islam?

Indeed, many people do not have these blessings. That is not a reason to take ours for granted! Rather, like Sulayman (عليه السلام), we should profusely thank Allah to the point of tears for all He granted us. Or like our Prophet (صلى الله ), who prayed full nights not because he needed his sins to be forgiven, but to show gratitude to his Lord who honored him. Thus, we should also be grateful for what we've been blessed and honored with.

Thank your Lord for your loving parents. Thank the Provider for the food you eat daily. Thank the Most Gracious for the beauty of the world you get to experience. And if you've been blessed with Islam, put your heart into prostrating in gratitude.

I was thinking of splitting this article, but realized effort and gratitude are very interdependent. If you are grateful, then you should strive your best to use your blessings as your Lord wants you to.