Thanksgiving Day is an annual national holiday in the United States celebrating the harvest and other blessings of the past year. The holiday is often the busiest day of the year, as family members gather and enjoy the holiday feast.
Thanksgiving Day was celebrated on Thursday, November 26, 2020. This year, due to the ongoing COVID19 pandemic, however, travel and other activities were relatively limited compared to other years. On the evening of Wednesday November 25,2020, a night before the thanksgiving, Imam Shamshad Nasir regional missionary Midwest of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community delivered a Dars (dissertation) on the topic of how to be truly thankful in light of the Holy Quran's teachings and the Ahadith ( traditions) of the Holy Prophet in this regard. Imam Shamshad Nasir started by providing a quick reminder of the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday that many families will be together with their loved ones, preparing and eating the traditional feast. While this is one way to celebrate the holiday, we must look to the Quran as well as the life of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) as to what they taught us to be thankful to Almighty Allah who provided us everything.
Imam Shamshad quoted various verses of the Holy Quran in this regard. “Holy Quran teaches us many prayers and we always must memorize and recite these and remember the teachings given in these verses”
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Holy Quran teaches us the prayer: “My Lord, grant me the will and power to be grateful for Thy favour which Thou hast bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and to do such good works as would please Thee, and admit me, by Thy mercy, among Thy righteous servants.” 27:20
This prayer was also taught by the Almighty God to prophet Suleman.
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All prophets of Allah were grateful to the Almighty Allah for the bounties He Bestowed on them. Regarding the Holy Prophet (pbuh), Allah says in the Holy Quran,
“Yee worship Allah and be among the thankful”
Allah Almighty testified regarding prophet Abraham (as) in the Holy Quran that he was grateful to Almighty Allah.
“Grateful for His favors; He chose him and guided him to a straight path.” 16:122
Also, in the Holy Quran, Allah says regarding the Prophet Noah: “O ye the progeny of those whom We carried in the Ark with Noah.’ He was indeed a grateful servant.” 17:4
Truly God is gracious to the people, yet the majority is not grateful to the Almighty Allah. If one wants blessings of Allah, he must be grateful to Allah for His favors that He has Bestowed on him, The one who is not grateful to the people, is not grateful to Allah. Many of our friends, family members give gifts to each other, we must be grateful to them. At least we should pray for someone who gave a gift to us. At the same time, we must be thankful to our mothers, wives, sisters, daughters and ladies at home who work so hard and prepare food for us.
At the end Imam gave an example of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) who used to always praise and be thankful to his wife Hazrat Khadija (ra). He used to remember her and always used to state that she was the first one who accepted him and gave comfort to him during the most difficult times. When people deprived him of money, she gave him the money.
Imam urge all to be thankful to Allah and worship Him alone, that is another and important way to be thankful to God and exactly this is the way of the Holy Prophet peace be on him.
He also urged that many needy people look to be fed on this day, and if you can look around in your neighborhood and help any needy person please do so. This practice of feeding the poor and needy is not only for one but need to be continued throughout the year especially during these hard times where many people have lost their livelihood due the COVID-19 pandemic.
May Allah give us the proper guidance and help us so that we can be truly grateful to Him for all the Blessings and Bounties He has bestowed upon us. Ameen
Reach out for further information at the contact:
Imam Shamshad Nasir |909-636-8332 | Shamshad.Nasir@Ahmadiyya.us
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Michigan
1730 W Auburn Road, Rochester Hills, MI 48309 |www.TrueIslam.com
Twitter: @AMCDetroit Facebook: facebook.com/AMCDetroit
About Ahmadiyya Muslim Community:
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is a dynamic, reformist and fast-growing international movement within Islam. Founded in 1889, the Community spans over 200 countries with membership exceeding tens of millions. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, established in 1920, is among the oldest American-Muslim organizations.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the only Islamic organization to believe that the long- awaited messiah has come in the person of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) of Qadian, India. Ahmad claimed to be the metaphorical second coming of Jesus of Nazareth and the divine guide, whose advent was foretold by the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad.
The Community believes that God sent Ahmad, like Jesus, to end religious wars, condemn bloodshed and re-institute morality, justice, and peace. Ahmad’s advent has brought about an unprecedented era of Islamic revival and moderation. He divested Muslims of fanatical beliefs and practices by vigorously championing Islam’s true and essential teachings.