The Way of Shukr

Islam in the West has been a hodge-podge of various trends in the Muslim world. Amongst the spiritual trends, and various tariqa traditions, the one that has emerged the strongest is shukr. Rooted in Shadhili teaching and the Ghazali’s Ihya mention this value as one of the highest. The fact Muslims in the West are more fortunate than much of the ummah make this an ideal teaching to highlight, one that coalesces nicely with a prosperity gospel.

Shukr is opposite of kufr. And Dr. Aref Ali Nayed says, “ihsan is shukr.” There are ahadith that say that shukr after eating is equal to sabr with fasting. “If you thank Allah, He will increase you.” (Surah Ibrahim, v. 7). The Prophet (salallahu alayhi wasalam) sacrificed 63 animals at the Farewell Hajj out of shukr for each year of his life. The ahadith mention, “One who is not thankful to people is not thankful to Allah.” And part of our deen is to be grateful to Rasulullah (salallahu alayhi wasalam) hence the love of mawlid. Imam Shafi’i would request drink very cold water in very hot water, he said so that when I make shukr to Allah its from depths of my hearts. And Abu Hanifa would make shukr in times of difficulty as much as in times of ease.

At this blog post this point caught me directly:

If you look for the words “most people” in the Qur’an, you will find that most of mankind:

“do not know” [7:187],
“do not give thanks” [2:243]
“do not believe” [11:17].
“defiantly disobedient” [5:59],
“ignorant” [6:111],
“turning away” [21:24],
“do not reason” [29:23], and
“do not listen” [8:21].

So be of the “few”, whom Allah says about them:

“And few of My servants are grateful.” (34:13)
“But none had believed with him, except a few.” (11:40)

I want to highlight various Duas and Amal I have collected, many of them are rare, related to shukr and thankfulness for blessings:

1. Dua for shukr after going to the washroom: “Ghufranaka. Alhamdulillahilladhi la razaqani la dhatuhu, wa abqafi quwattahu, wa adh-hab anni adahu.” This is why Nuh was called shakireen, because he never relieved himself without saying this dua.
2. Adam said “O Lord, You have kept me occupied with earning by my hands, so teach me something that contains complete praise and exaltation.” So Allah revealed to him: “O Adam, say thrice when you get up in the morning and thrice in the evening… That will be complete praise and glorification. Alhamdulillah hamdan yuwafi ni’amahu wa yukafi’u mazidah – Praise be to Allah, such praise as fully befits His favours and suffices for increase from Him. (Abu Nasr at-Tammar from Muhammad ibn an-Nadr, Kitab al-Adkhar, chapter 71)
3. Dua for losing and replacing with better – Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’oon + Allahumma ajirni fi musibati wakhlufi khayrum minha/hum (Umm Salama dua for remarriage and ended up marrying Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wasalam).
4. Dua of Musa: Allahumma arzuqnu kama tarzuqu ata tu datul abiya sakhrata dhalma sakhrata sama fil laylatin dhalma – O Allah provide for us like you provide for a blind worm, in a hard rock in a dark night.
5. Shaykh Mukhtar’s dua: Alhamdulillah bi jami bi hamdihi kulli ha ma alimta minha wama lam alam. Huwa ala jami nima kulliha ma alimta minha wa ma lam alam. Adada khalqa kullihim ma alimtu mina wa ma lam alam.
6. Ibn Abbas reported that the Messenger of Allah (salallahu alayhi wasalam) said: “If one says thrice in the morning and evening, “O Allah, I have awoken having from You abundance, good health and protection, so complete that abundance, good health and protection in this world and the Hereafter,” it is obligatory for Allah to complete it for him.” Allahumma inni as’aluka ilman nafi’a wa rizqan tayyiba wa amalan mutaqqabala. (Ibn as-Sunni (54), Ahmad, (3/406), ad-Darimi (2/262))
7. Dua for the getting and wanting more of a blessing you just enjoyed, according to shaykh Faraz Khan is the verse Surah Tawba, v. 59.
8. Salat Duha is essentially a prayer for shukr. The virtues are many but key among them is Allah sufficing you for everything.
9. From Abdallah ibn Ghannam al-Bayadi, a Sahabi, who reported that the Messenger of Allah (salallahu alayhi wasalam) said: “If one says in the morning: “O Allah, all the favours that I have received in the morning are from You Alone; You have no partner. To You belong all praise and all thanks,” then he has fulfilled the thanks (that are due) for that day. If he says it in the evening, then he has fulfilled the thanks (that are due) that night.” Allahumma ma asbaha bi min ni’matin fa-minka wahdaka la sharika lak, fa-laka-l hamd, wa laka-sh-shukr. (Sunan Abu Dawud, good isnad)
10. 3x for Shukr for whole day: Allahumma inni asbahtu minka bi ni’matin wa afiyatin wa sitrin fa-atima nimatika alaya wa afiyatika wa sitrika fid-dunya wa’l akhira

Value of Alhamdulillah

1. Surely Allah has chosen four sentences from all speech – 1) Subhan Allah 2) Alhamdulillah 3) La ilaha il-lal-lah 4) Allahu Akbar. So whoever says ‘Subhan Allah’, twenty good deeds are written for him/her and twenty bad deeds are omitted from his/her account. And likewise for ‘Allahu Akbar’ and ‘La ilaha il-lal-lah’. And whoever sincerely says ‘Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen’ thirty good deeds are written for him/her and thirty bad deeds are omitted from his/her account. (Reported in Musnad Imam Ahmad)
2. The Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said, “There is no favour which Allah bestows upon His servant for which he says, “Alhamdulillah,” except that that which he gave was better than that which he took.” (Ibn Majah)
3. “Alhamdulillah ala nimatil Islam wa kafa biha nima bi Ahmad.” Thanks be to Allah for the blessing of Islam, and it suffices as a blessing.
4. La uhsi thana’an alayk, Anta kama athnayta ala nafsik. I am unable to exalt You sufficiently; You are as You have praised Yourself.

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la ilaha illa Ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, ameen.

Useful resources:

Will I be punished even if I believe in the Divine?