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Eid – Feeling Gratitude for Allah’s Favours

Eid - Feeling Gratitude for Allah's Favours

Why We Are Thankful at Eid, and the Benefits of Feeling Thankful 

 

Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and [wants] for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful. hardship (2:185)

In Surah Baqarah Allah Almighty says He wants ease for you and He does not want hardship. He wants you to complete the numbers, in other words: the whole month of siyaam (fasting) and to celebrate Allah’s name, glorifying it for He has guided you so that you may be amongst those who are thankful.

Thanking Allah at the end of Ramadan for we achieved

We thank Allah Almighty that He enabled us to fast Ramadan. We thank Allah Almighty that He enabled us to witness Eid and to recite the Quran throughout the month. In this very ayah, Allah Almighty says that after you complete the days of siyaam (fasting), you celebrate Allah’s name tabarakallah, which is why we have the sunnah takbir in each Eid, whether it’s Eid ul Fitr or Eid ul Adha.

Praising Allah because He is the Greatest

We have the takbirs of Eid, Allahu Akbar. So we are celebrating His name in our mind and in our hearts; nothing is greater than Allah Almighty. No matter how many challenges we have faced, no matter how many obstacles we have in our way, always Allah Almighty is greater than any challenge, greater than any obstacle, greater than any calamity.

Being grateful for Guidance

In fact He is the One who gives relief; He is the One who gives cure (shifa) and the One to heal us subhana wa ta’ala, so you celebrate Allah’s name after you complete your ibadah and show your gratitude to Allah subhana wa ta’ala for what He has guided you to; for the guidance which we have received; having the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) as our Messenger alayhi salatu wa sallam, for having the Qur’an as our book so we are introduced to Allah Himself, the Almighty.

How many people do not know Allah Almighty and how many people are far from Allah Almighty? So don’t take this guidance (hidayah) for granted. Do not underestimate the importance of what you have been given: the hidayah which Allah has bestowed upon us. Show gratitude to Allah Almighty.

Translating Gratitude into Action

How can we show gratitude? Scholars commented on this by saying: Tashkuroon (being grateful) is when you utilise what Allah Almighty has given us – every na’ima (blessing) you have been given whether it’s na’ima (favour) of well being, whether it’s the favour of wealth, whether it’s the favour of knowledge, or status etc. You use every na’ima that Allah has given to you in what pleases Allah Almighty. This is how we show our gratitude to Allah Almighty. As He gave us our body, we use our body in what pleases Allah. He gave us our tongues, so we use them in what pleases Allah, our sight in what pleases Allah, our hearing in what pleases Allah and so on and so forth. We put our money towards the right causes. We earn it from the right source. This is how we show our gratitude to Allah. So the completion of the na’ima requires shukhr.  We show thankfulness to Allah Almighty otherwise we will lose the favours which Allah has given to us.

Increasing in Gratitude

And conversely, if you are grateful Allah Almighty increases you in favours. A severe punishment is prepared for those who deny gratitude to Allah Almighty. So the days of Eid are days of celebration and happiness – happiness about the completion of obedience, the completion of the month alhamdulillah wa ta’ala, and that we have been able to fast no matter how great the challenge was: the long 18 hours! Yet Allah Almighty supported us, even our youngsters, Alhamdulillah. To have managed to finish the month is a great favour and we need to be grateful always and say: Allah, you have bestowed your favours amongst us, help us to be more grateful to you by being closer to you.

What to do when Eid falls on a Friday? Do you pray Eid and Jummuah?

Probably some of you are asking a common question: What would happen if two Eids or two celebrations happen on the same day like today? We have in the morning salat ul Eid and now Jummah. This happened during the lifetime of the Prophet (peace be on him). The connections of the narrations, Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi and Bayhaqi and Imam ul Hakim  and all almost the sources of the sunnah reported that the Prophet (peace be on him)  prayed Eid and said: ‘So we will perform Jummuah, and whomsoever wants to perform Jummah with us let him do so but to those who attended Eid with him, and to those who came from outside Medina which was a long distance to travel he said: I am praying Jummah and it is the sunnah to pray Jummuah but those who are far they have the permission not to do Jummah because of that very excuse. Therefore assume that to pray Eid and Jummah is the majority opinion because the Prophet (peace be on him) himself did not skip Jummah. He gave permission for those who were outside to pray Zuhr instead. There is a circulation of wrong opinion that when you have Eid prayer you don’t even pray Zuhr. This is completely wrong. We have another opinion which says if you perform Eid in congregation you have permission not to pray Jummuah but you pray Zuhr. But nevertheless, the sunnah, the reward and the authentic act is to pray Jummah as we are praying today, Alhamdulillah. This is part of being thankful and grateful to Allah Almighty for what we have been given and also  to enable us always to be grateful.

Continuing Salah after Ramadan

For those who started praying in Ramadan they should continue. You can’t be a part time Muslim. A Muslim in Ramadan who after Ramadan stops being a practising Muslim. No! Allah Almighty is the Lord of Ramadan and the Lord of the rest of the months of the year. He is worthy to be worshipped not only during Ramadan but after Ramadan as well. So now you have started salah, keep your salah and this is a great favour you need to be grateful for.

Keeping up ibadah

For those who have worshipped Allah in Ramadan by increasing their ibadah (worship) and their recitation of the Qur’an, keep the pace after Ramadan as well and this will make us closer and make us insha’Allah more accepted by Allah Almighty.

 

Khutbah Delivered by Shaykh Haytham Tamim on Eid, Friday 15th June 2018

Transcribed by Sulemaan Mohi

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Shaykh Haytham Tamim is the founder and main teacher of the Utrujj Foundation. He has provided a leading vision for Islamic learning in the UK, which has influenced the way Islamic knowledge is disseminated. He has orchestrated the design and delivery of over 200 unique courses since Utrujj started in 2001. His extensive expertise spans over 30 years across the main Islamic jurisprudence schools of thought. He has studied with some of the foremost scholars in their expertise; he holds some of the highest Ijazahs (certificates) in Quran, Hadith (the Prophetic traditions) and Fiqh (Islamic rulings). His own gift for teaching was evident when he gave his first sermon to a large audience at the age of 17 and went on to serve as a senior lecturer of Islamic transactions and comparative jurisprudence at the Islamic University of Beirut (Shariah College). He has continued to teach; travelling around the UK, Europe and wider afield, and won the 2015 BISCA award (British Imams & Scholars Contributions & Achievements Awards) for Outstanding Contribution to Education and Teaching.