🧱 Gratitude as Resistance – Fighting Darkness with Alhamdulillah
Bismillāh.
This is a reminder first to myself, written in need, not from a place of knowing, but hoping.
If it benefits you too, then All Praise is due to Allah سبحانه وتعالى alone.
Sometimes, when life is heavy or slow or frustrating, I forget to say Alḥamdulillāh. Because I’m distracted on what I’m missing. What hurts. What’s late. What’s unclear.
But the truth is: gratitude is a weapon. A shield. A fortress against the whispers of shaytan.
“If you are grateful, I will surely increase you…”
(Sūrah Ibrāhīm 14:7)
Every Alḥamdulillāh in ease strengthens me.
Every Alḥamdulillāh in hardship protects me.
And every Alḥamdulillāh in between reminds me who provides for me in all seasons.
📌 A Letter to Myself
Dear self,
shaytan’s first tactic isn’t to pull you into major sin.
he and his supporters from jinn and mankind don’t cease to attempt to divert you and misguide you from Allah’s religion, not leaving you, even whilst you are on your death bed.
To make you forget what you have.
To make what’s beautiful feel ordinary.
To turn eyes of contentment into eyes of comparison.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
“Allah is pleased with His slave who says: 'Al-hamdu lillah (praise be to Allah)' when he takes a morsel of food and drinks a draught of water.”
(Riyad as-Salihin 1396)
Think about that - just saying Al-hamdu lillah for a sip of water pleases the Lord of the Worlds. So how much more for the roof over your head, the limbs you use, the Imaan in your heart?
⚙️ Practical Ways to Practice Gratitude
🕰 Start the day with Alhamdulillah - before checking anything, before moving
“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Whoever among you wakes up physically healthy, feeling safe and secure within himself, with food for the day, it is as if he acquired the whole world.’”
(Sunan Ibn Majah 4141)
🧺 Attach gratitude to routine: while washing dishes, folding laundry, commuting - say Alhamdulillah out loud or quietly.
📝 List one thing per day in a notebook or notes app. Something small. The softness of a pillow. A sibling’s kindness. A prayer with Khushu’.
🎯 Counter every negative thought with one remembered blessing.
🧭 Ask Allah in duʿa to help you see the blessings you overlook:
“Ya Allah, make me from the Shakireen, those who thank You in ease and in trial.”
📌 Qur’anic Anchors for the Grateful
“So eat of what Allah has provided for you, lawful and good, and be grateful for the favour of Allah, if it is [indeed] Him that you worship.”
(Sūrah al-Naḥl 16:114)
“Few of My servants are truly grateful.”
(Sūrah Saba’ 34:13)
May Allah سبحانه وتعالى make us among those few.
🪶 Gratitude During Ease: The Time to Build
It’s easy to feel grateful when a difficulty lifts. But it’s more important to build gratitude when life is stable. When my heart feels light, when my needs are met, when I feel “okay.”
That’s when the fortress is laid. So that when the winds come, I have something solid to stand on.
“So remember Me; I will remember you. And be grateful to Me and do not deny Me.”
(Sūrah al-Baqarah 2:152)
Sincerely,
still learning, still trying —
your sister in need of Allah.
