Learn to be Grateful | The Muslim Blog

This is a short activity, that should not take you very long - but it can have amazing rewards in your realization of the blessings of Allah ﷻ.

No need to explain much - let’s get into it:

1. Take a piece of paper, notes on an electronic device, and make a new document
2. Record your blessings (or at least try to think of a lot of them in your head).

How many blessings can you think of? Here’s a guide to consider some of the blessings Allah has given you (that you might not think about very often):

Your blessings

Your physical health:

-Begin by thinking about your physical body. Think about every single bone and every single square inch of skin that is not in pain. 

-Also think about all the types of pain you are not feeling right now. Think about whether or not you have stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, headache, toothache, asthma, and all the other types of pain that could be affecting you.

-Also think about sicknesses/diseases that you are not inflicted with, like cancer, AIDS, diabetes, and the like. Every way you are not in pain right now is a blessing, because Allah ﷻ has protected you from it.

-Every breath you are taking now without pain is a blessing from Allah ﷻ. He could have given you so many different types of pain. Just imagine yourself clutching at your stomach, unable to get up due to severe pain in your stomach (or elsewhere). Allah ﷻ has saved you from that, and in the light of that image, every breath you take now without pain is a blessing.

Your mental health:

-Think about every way you are not mentally at pain now. Do you have severe anxiety? What about depression? Are you afflicted with schizophrenia or other mental disorders? Every bad thing you are not affected with is a blessing, because Allah ﷻ has protected you from it.

-Are you happy right now? Think about every happy moment in your life and know that it was a gift from Allah ﷻ.

-Every tragedy that did not happen to you was also a blessing from Allah ﷻ, because He protected you from it.

Your opportunities:

-Is your family in severe poverty? Do you have food? Did you get an education? All of these things are things to consider.

-Do you have a good family?

-Think about every single opportunity you had in your life. Every opportunity, whether a moment’s decision or a major life choice, was a blessing from Allah ﷻ.

Your relationship with Allah ﷻ

-Can you imagine the magnitude of this blessing? How close are you to Allah ﷻ? Just the fact that you are a Muslim is a huge blessing, because Allah ﷻ has chosen you. He could have made you born into a non-Muslim family and He could have made you die that way. But He chose you for this blessing, when there were so many other people to choose.

Positive Changes to Implement in Your Life

Intend your actions for Allah ﷻ

You can get reward from Allah ﷻ for things you do by fixing your intentions.

This was covered in more detail in this post, but generally the idea is that you will think of actions you do in your life as actions that are for Allah, and intend them that way.

For example:

-Having fun so that you are replenished and ready to worship Allah later

-Eating so you have the energy to work and worship Allah

-Sleeping so you can wake up for Fajr

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As I mentioned in a previous post, there are steps to improving your life and improving your relationship with Allah ﷻ, which you can consider:

1.     Acknowledge fully that no matter what you did in your life, you can still get closer to Allah (ﷻ). Acknowledge that it’s not too late for you.

2.     Set your intention behind life in general for Allah (ﷻ). Truly acknowledge in your heart that this life is short and that you wish the next life. Acknowledge that you have intended every action you make, and every breath you take, for Allah (ﷻ).

3.     If you know you did any sins before, try to work on taking them out of your life. Aim to resolve not to do them again. If you fall into sin, that’s ok. You just have to ask Allah for forgiveness, regret it, and resolve not to do it again. It’s all in the mindset. Leaving sins can be a very difficult thing for some people, so maybe don’t go too hard on yourself if you can’t get everything under control. 

4.     Begin the habit of praying to Allah (ﷻ) more. Ask Allah to make you closer to Him. If you ask for something and you feel that it was not given to you, realize that it may have actually been harmful for you.

5.     Incorporate dhikr, or remembrance of God, into your daily life. You can search for morning and evening adthkar and say them in their appropriate times. Also, always remember God in your daily life by saying “alhamdulilah” (thank God), “inshaAllah” (God willing), and the like.

6.     At a pace that suits you, greaten your devotion to Allah (ﷻ) in your daily life. Maybe you can improve the quantity or quality of your prayers (or maybe you’re going to start them). Consider taking parts of your free time to listen to or read Qur’an. Also think about making charity donations, to charities you trust. Devoting your time to Allah (ﷻ) should make you feel much closer to Him.

*I am not a certified psychologist or religious authority, I am simply presenting data which I found from other sources and otherwise, and if something is incorrect in any manner I do not claim it to be correct.

*Disclaimer: The author does not claim to be perfect, and the advice listed on The Muslim Blog or on The Muslim Talk facebook/instagram pages is advice to the author as much as it is to anyone else :)

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