Importance of gratitude in Islam

“And if you should count the favors of the Almighty”, so says the Almighty, “you would not be to enumerate them; indeed, He is oft forgiving and Merciful” (Quran 16: 18).

In Arab-Islamic tradition, at least two words are usually made use of as synonyms for gratitude. The first is al-Ḥamd while the second is al-Shukr. Muslim jurists, linguists, rhetoricians and exegetes have produced prodigious works on the semiotics of the two concepts and their implications in Muslims’ intellectual tradition.

For example, Ibn Manzūr, the popular Arab rhetorician has posited that the word al-Ḥamd (praise) is teleologically not exactly the same thing as al-Shukr (gratitude). Whereas the antithesis of the concept al-hamd is al-Dhamm (blame), the antithesis of al-Shukr (gratitude) is al-Kufr (ingratitude). Now a closer analysis of these two concepts becomes urgent.

The word al-Hamd (the praise) or hamd (praise, without article ‘the’) appears in at least four different formats in the Quran. The first, which is unarguably the most engaging is that in which the concept is used in reference to the Almighty as the Creator of the world.

In such instance, the verses of the Quran which bear the imprints of praise and which appear independently or as part of a longer verse, therefore, read‘ al-Hamd lillaah – (Praise is due to Allah). This construction occurs in nothing less than twenty- three aayaat of the Quran.

In all of these instances, the concept Hamd is employed generically. In other words, it is sometimes used or invoked by the Almighty in form of self-praise for appropriating and undertaking the equally self-generating task and obligation of sustaining and preserving the world. Thus, praise becomes His sole privilege and an attribute that finds expression accordingly in the aayat -al-hamd lillah rabbil alamin. This is referenced in six different portions of the Quran. They are Quran 1: 1, 3: 45, 12: 10, 37: 182, 37: 175, and 40: 65.

The second Quranic discourse of praise which bears the imprints of gratitude concerns itself with the provision of details of those subtle locales and stations in existence and the cosmos where recipients of the favours and blessings from the Almighty become aware of those favours and become consequently obliged to praise Him and show gratitude for same. Here praise for favours made possible and brought into existence out of non-existence by the Almighty Allah are detailed. This occurs at both the dyadic and triadic levels. Whereas the dyadic level refers to the spectrum of gratitude, which features the Benefactor and the benefit-as-beneficiary, the triadic level is polyphonic in nature. It features the Benefactor, the benefit and the beneficiary. This probably explains the injunctive nature of the invocation of al-hamd lillaah not al-shukr lillaah (gratefulness to Allah) in Muslim’s daily rituals as are evident, among others in Quran 17: 111, 27: 59, 27: 93.

Afis Ayinde Oladosu Ph.D
Professor of Middle Eastern, North African and Cultural Studies
Dean, Faculty of Arts,
University of Ibadan,
Ibadan, Nigeria