Nahela Morales – What Does it Mean to Have an Attitude of Gratitude
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Subhan Allah he will be handy Why should you Allah Ilaha illa Allah
wa Asha do under Muhammad Rasul Allah.
As Salam alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh welcome back to
another episode here at about Islam.
Today we're going to talk about a very important topic in sha Allah
that I personally love to speak about this for many reasons and I
will give you many examples today and inshallah we will dive into it
because I do have a lot of information. But before that, let
me give it a couple minutes. So people jump on Bethany lab, but
today's topic is an attitude of gratitude. And so we understand we
are here in the US in the month of gratitude, but for us Muslims,
gratitude should come every single day so we'll give it a couple of
minutes so people can log on inshallah.
Hope everybody is doing well today. And let me just share this
as well in sha Allah
so we are live hamdulillah
one more
Okay, so once again welcome Salam aleikum, thank you for joining us
this this afternoon or wherever you're at. My name is Mahela
mirallas and I am a convert, Revert first generation Muslim.
And Hamdulillah I will be speaking to you about a topic that is very,
that resonates a lot with me for many reasons. Shala and we're
gonna get started in a minute.
Just
we want to make sure that people
join and benefit inshallah. Okay, so today, we're going to be
talking about the attitude of gratitude. And so the first thing
that I want to answer, there's a couple questions that were sent to
us.
What does it mean attitude of gratitude, right? And so attitude
of gratitude, very simple is making it a habit to express
thankfulness, being grateful, right, that gratitude that
thankfulness and appreciate all the parts in our life, on a
regular basis, either big or small. And again, this is on an
everyday basis. And how do we see this? And how does this even come
to a believers life? Well, every single morning, when we wake up,
we actually have a DUA, correct. And in this dua,
you know, that we say every morning Alhamdulillah Hilah de
Aiyana, but the mammoth anovulation issue, we praise Allah
Subhana Allah, who has given us life after taking it away, and to
Him, we shall return. So we are very aware that we are in this
life in this dunya it's temporarily. And this is not our
final destination, we understand that we're working towards the aka
Bismillah. And so
I start my day with this dua, and every believer should as well. But
even more, I actually take a few minutes every single morning to
thank Allah subhanho data for the day before. And I have actually
taught my son, who is now 15, since he was very young, that this
is a practice a habit, as I mentioned before, that we should
be honoring on on every every single day, every single day of
our lives. We need to make sure that we count our blessings. So
that in a nutshell, that is what an attitude of gratitude to be
able to wake up in the morning. And thank Allah subhanho wa Taala
for another day for waking us up for allowing us to be here. If we
fell short the day before, then he's given us an opportunity to
start all over again. Hamdulillah. And so the fact that we have sight
of the fact that we can taste the fact that we have live
hymns, and we can see and we can hear. And these are all for some
very minute or we just don't even think about it. But in actuality,
these are this is the starting point of our attitude of gratitude
when we wake up every morning, that we make sure that we are
grateful for absolutely everything.
And so
with that being said, you know, you find in in in Surah, Ibrahim
is number seven, where Allah subhanaw taala tells us, if you
are grateful, I will certainly give you more. And so we see that
in our lives, we see that with, with the way we carry ourselves
with the way things fall. And so the next question, which is a very
important question is, why are we tested? And so?
It's a very important question, because every single one of us is
tested every single day on every single level. And our tests come
in different in different ways, right? Some of us think of those
tests as perhaps a punishment, but in reality, some of these tests
that we go through are actually Mercy, the Rosmah from our Lord,
and I'll give you an example.
Subhanallah just a week ago, I was actually I got food poisoning,
right. And so
I, it's the first time I've ever had food poisoning. And my first
initial reaction was, he is the healer, Allah subhanaw. Taala is
the only one that can heal me. So I immediately started making dua
and I said, Yeah, Allah, you know, if this is going to purify me and
get me closer to you,
hamdulillah and please help me get better, because you are the one
that gives health you are the one that will take care of me, you are
the healer. And so I didn't think of it as a test, even though I was
having a conversation with a friend And subhanAllah. She said,
you know, oh, you know, you are being tested. And I said, No, I
like to think of it as I was being purified. So when we start finding
the positivity, within everything that Allah sends our way, life is
so much, much easier. And so I always look at tests, perhaps as a
learning opportunity, opportunities to learn so there's
always a lesson and any tests that we may be going through, and we
have to be very mindful and remember that Allah subhanaw
taala, will never ever, ever burden us with more than we can
handle. And, and so that is extremely important for us to to
keep in mind. And the other thing to keep in mind is that our
beloved prophet muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he
was tested left and right and had hardship from before he was born
as as if you have not studied the Sunnah of the Prophet salallahu
Alaihe Salam, I highly recommend you to learn about his life. And
so he became an orphan before he was born, and so his mother died
at a very young age. And so he was raised by his uncle's, his
grandfather, and,
and so on and so forth. And so when we when we think of other
prophets, like, the other one that comes to mind is Musa alayhis
salam, right, he was, he was running towards a sea. And his the
Wakil his trust in Allah did not allow him to think, Oh, this is a
test but yet it allow him to be active and literally trust his
creator, and raise his hands and ask Allah for help. And the as we
all know, the sea parted, and so hamdulillah him and his
and then his,
his people were saved. Alhamdulillah and so what this is
why it's so important of how we actually take or how we even
pursue when we think about being tested, or being punished. And I
personally think that if we learned and this is my personal
opinion, but if we if we
if
A test guides us closer to a lot, I think it's a test. And if, if,
if anything else takes us away from Allah, it's actually a
punishment. For me, that's the way I see it. So that's why it's so
important for me to always get closer to my Creator, even when
that test is happening. And Allah subhanaw taala tells us in the
Quran, you know, that he will test us, He will test us with our
wealth and hunger. And,
and so the Prophet salallahu Salam also told us right that for us,
for every tribe, every every people, every community, there is
a test and ours is obviously wealth. So when Allah is giving us
the opportunity to enjoy, and perhaps even indulge and luxury,
none of it is bad, as long as we don't forget our purpose in life.
And we don't forget that our obedience towards our Creator at
all times. And I'll give you an example. Just so you understand. I
always tell my son, you know, there's people out there that are
so so poor, that all they have is money. And that's very deep. So I
want you to reflect on that for a second. So there's people out
there that are so poor, there's so empty, there's so
shallow, that they don't have anything else but money. And so as
believers, you know, we are we are always in shape, and he's always
ready to attack us and is ready to come and whisper and try to
deviate us and try to make us disobey our Creator. So that's why
it's important to focus on your accompany, like, Who are you
hanging around with, if your friends are reminding you to pray,
and I'll give you an example for me when I embraced Islam, I lost a
lot of my old friends, but a lot of my old friends would have not
invited me to prayer would have not invited me to an Islamic
conference or to go to the mosque. And so Allah subhanho data,
removed all these individuals that were not going to do me good. And
even though it was hard, because obviously friends are important.
Sometimes family members for reverts kind of vanish or leave
for for a period of time until they understand that this new
identity or this new faith that we have embraced is only making us
better. And so, in the long run, I understood that Allah subhanaw
taala removed these individuals, because he loves me because he
loves me so much that he's going to put the people that are in sha
Allah helped me to attain Janno or towards that direction. And so
what may seem like it's really bad may may actually be really good
for you. And that's what the Quran tells us as well.
And so, the other thing I want to touch base based on that is for us
to always remember that when Allah subhanaw taala sends us these
lessons when Allah Subhana Allah senses
you know, and I don't like personally to call them tests,
even though they may be a test but there's always something to learn.
Absolutely, always something to learn. So when we start shifting
our mindset, things become easier in the sense of like I step back
and I start reflecting and analyzing where am I at in my
relationship with my Creator, and that can be in my brain on time.
Am I praying at all in my incorporating my Sunnah prayers?
Am I fasting on Tuesdays and Thursdays? Or am I trying to fast
Ramadan, my beloved brothers and sisters is only approximately five
months away Subhanallah you know, the Sahaba
used to prepare six months before Ramadan. So we're falling short if
you haven't started making those intentions and preparing for that.
Inshallah now is the time and the reminders for myself and I hope
for you all as well. So yeah, so I don't like to think that a lot is
testing me even though
When the Prophet says some tells us that he tests those who he
loves, and therefore, we actually, I don't want to say that we should
get happy, but we should be content, knowing that our Creator
is not forgetting us. And he's not forgetting us because he is
reminding us and reminding us with these lessons to come back to
remove certain individuals, sometimes individuals in our lives
are not the most appropriate or not the best individuals that
should be in our lives and therefore, Allah removes them.
Which reminds me of the DUA that I make in the morning, I always ask
Allah subhanaw taala to keep me humble, to keep me focused, to
love me to you know, to make sure that he removes individuals or
circumstances or anything that will not gain I will not gain His
pleasure or even more so general for those. And last but not least,
I ask a las Panatela every single morning to please not take me
until he is utterly pleased with me and in each and every way. So
Inshallah, that is the answer to that hopefully, the person that
sended is content with that answer. And
the last question, if I remember correctly, where was it?
But before that question, Inshallah, I want to, I want to
make sure that we also give some important tips and and Inshallah,
that we're able to,
to remember that an attitude of gratitude should be at all times,
and a couple a couple of ways that we need to remember is that
there's so many, so many ways to be grateful, right? So gratitude
can mean gratitude of the heart, gratitude of the tongue. What does
that mean that you're Salam aleikum? wa rahmatullah wa
barakatu. Sorry about these technical difficulties. But I just
wanted to make sure that I gave you the last question, which is,
how does one maintain the faith strong during trials and tests?
And like I said, I call them lessons. And this is a question I
get very often. And I think it's important for us to kind of dive
in. And I want to leave you with this simply because it's very,
very important. So number one, you know, when we are being tested,
and I know that's difficult for most of us, but Allah subhanaw
taala loves those who are patient. And therefore, you know, that's,
that's number one. And,
two, that we have two options to either be patient or not be
patient, and therefore, we want to opt to be patient because Allah
Subhana Allah loves those who are patient. And so I just want to
leave you with 10 ways to deal with test and make sure that you
stay on this attitude of gratitude, specially, as you know,
we continue to see cases rise during this pandemic. I know
personally, individuals who have lost some loved ones, their
parents, I have a friend who lost both her mother and father due to
COVID. So to maintain, how do we maintain this attitude of
gratitude, during times of trial is to always remember that Allah
subhanaw taala loves us and He will never ever give us more than
we can handle. And get into the habit of reading the Quran making
the Koran your best friend.
And you know, when we when we start making these habits of
attitude of gratitude, which means that I know I do this very often I
just open the Quran and sometimes the Quran literally speaks to me,
there's like an idea and that's the idea that I need to reflect on
I need to ponder And subhanAllah nine out of 10 Allah is telling me
exactly what I need to do, how I need to go about with the
situation that I'm going with. So make it a habit to read or listen
to the Quran. Also, you know, bring that into your home when it
comes to your children in sha Allah.
The other the other number two would be to actually make dua to
strengthen your belief during this test. We got to remember that you
know, in the time of medium, may Allah be pleased with her, she
rose her hands and ask ALLAH SubhanA
Adela to help her, especially as she was going to phase you know,
her, her people.
So during times of trials, we also want to, you know, maintain that
gratitude. And remember the minut things that may seem
insignificant, they're very significant. And like I mentioned
at the beginning, your eyesight, your hearing your taste, you know,
your smell, your sense of your feelings, your feelings, we should
be grateful that we're feeling.
Remember others, there's many studies that say that when we
actually give to others, when we actually
reach out to others and help others, it actually helps us more
than what we're helping others. So remember that rarely with every
hardship comes ease. And therefore when those hardships or those
lessons are coming our way, we always want to get in the habit of
giving sadaqa right, and make sure that Allah knows that you are
remembering him and that you are actually making the use of your
resources. And if you have wealth, then you want to make sure that
when you're going through tests and trials, that you actually give
sadaqa inshallah
we talked about that, know that Allah will never send us more than
we can handle. And so, have confidence in that make sure that,
you know, when you're going through that test and trial that
you you start exercising your walker, you that you have full
confidence that just like Allah has, you know, guide you towards
it, He will guide you in the best manner to something better,
whatever that may be. Make sure that you
were like a number eight Sorry, I'm counting them here. Make sure
that you
when you're facing anything that you acknowledge, right, you
acknowledge the situation, you don't under mine anything and make
sure that you acknowledge your feelings, and it's okay to
complain to Allah subhanaw taala Allah subhanaw taala loves when we
complain to him because ultimately he is the only one that can take
us out of it. So make sure that you
that you put your trust in Allah subhanaw taala, that you exercise
that the Wakil with Nila,
as Allah subhanaw taala is the best of planners. And last but not
least, make sure that you are looking to strengthen your salon
to make sure that you are perfecting your salon. Don't rush
through your salon. This is the time where we're connected to our
Creator. This is the time where we can actually weep. We can cry, we
can complain, we can ask for guidance, we can ask Allah for
help. And so make sure that you take full advantage when you're in
St. Jude, and you ask Allah subhanaw taala to help you and to
guide you. And, and so I want to leave you with a couple,
Inshallah, a couple of quotes that get me through my day. If we if we
exercise gratitude, it helps us fall in love with the life that we
are living now. So always think that Allah is giving you and
you're at a place where he knows you can handle. And if you don't
have that, that huge, enormous house if you don't have that job,
think of it as mercy as Rushmore, maybe Allah is protecting you from
something. And so when things don't happen
exactly when we want them think that Allah is the best of
planners, Allah doesn't always give us what we want, but he will
always give us what we need. And therefore make sure that you
remember that next time you're going through through something,
make sure that you also you know, start building a strong and solid
foundation within the circles that you are creating. And what I mean
by that is, you know, sometimes we have that one friend that will
remind us of hola and so make sure that you have that one friend on
speed dial and that you know that if you call this individual,
they're gonna take you back to the remembrance of Allah. And so my
beloved brothers and sisters, I'm really sorry for the disconnect.
I'm really sorry for the technical difficulties of today. I asked
Scalia subhanho wa Taala
to unite us all in general for those and to
bring us relief and whatever it is that we're going through, please
raise your hands today make dua make it a habit to weep and cry
and make sure that you reach out to Allah because he is there
waiting for us until next month. Jazak Allah ahead As Salam alaykum
Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh