Central Khutbah: “The Laws of Gratitude and Ingratitude Towards Allah”

The Exalted has established in this world immutable laws according to which the life of all His creatures unfolds. No one is exempt from these laws, and no one is permitted to act outside of them. These are Allah’s constant laws, which are not subject to change:

“In the laws of Allah, you will never find any change; in the laws of Allah, you will never find any deviation.” (Fâtir, 42)

One of these laws is that the refusal to acknowledge Allah’s blessings leads to various forms of punishment, whether through the withdrawal of granted blessings, the appearance of hunger and fear, the loss of wealth and crops, or the total destruction of communities that persist in ingratitude.

Allah’s blessings upon humankind are countless and varied. Their magnitude surpasses human capacity to fully comprehend:

“If you tried to count the blessings of Allah, you could not number them. Allah is truly Forgiving and Merciful.” (An-Nahl, 18)

These blessings encompass both worldly and spiritual dimensions of life. Worldly blessings include lawful provision, security, health, family, housing, and wealth, while among the greatest religious blessings are Islam, faith (iman), the ability to perform acts of worship, and guidance toward obedience. The fundamental duty of humankind is to express gratitude for these gifts:

“If you are grateful, I will surely increase you in favor; but if you are ungrateful, My punishment is indeed severe.” (Ibrahim, 7)

Gratitude manifests in the heart, tongue, and actions. In the heart, it consists of recognizing that every blessing comes solely from Allah. By the tongue, it is expressed through constant remembrance and praise of Allah. By actions, it is confirmed by using the blessings in ways that please Allah, not in sin.

Conversely, the denial of blessings is not limited to the absence of verbal thanks. It includes internal ignorance of the Giver, arrogance, and the use of blessings in disobedience. The Qur’anic discourse on ingratitude is associated with excessive indulgence and moral decline, making the warning strong and permanent:

“If you are ungrateful, My punishment is indeed severe.” (Ibrahim, 7)

One of Allah’s fundamental laws is that the state of nations changes according to their moral and religious condition:

“Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is within themselves.” (Ar-Ra’d, 11)
“This is because Allah will not deprive a people of the blessings He has given them until they reform themselves; and Allah hears and knows all things.” (Al-Anfal, 53)

Blessings are withdrawn when people move from gratitude to ingratitude, from obedience to sin. The return of blessings is linked to a return to obedience and gratitude. According to At-Tabari, Allah does not change a nation’s state regarding health and wealth until they themselves commit injustice and violence, after which punishment and a change of state occur. Ibn Kathir adds that Allah, in His perfect justice, deprives no nation of blessings except for the sins they commit.

The Qur’an gives the example of a city that enjoyed security and abundance, but due to ingratitude, experienced the opposite:

“Allah presents an example of a city that was secure and at ease, with provisions coming abundantly from all sides, yet it was ungrateful for Allah’s blessings; so Allah made it taste hunger and fear because of what they used to do.” (An-Nahl, 112)

This example shows that a blessing can turn into its opposite when gratitude and obedience are lost.

The Qur’an also reminds us of nations that, due to their indulgence and tyranny, were completely destroyed, leaving their abandoned houses as a permanent warning:

“How many villages and cities have We destroyed whose inhabitants were wrongdoers! Behold their homes; few people visit them after them; they have remained with Us.” (Al-Qasas, 58)
“Do you not see those who, instead of being grateful to Allah for His blessings, responded with ingratitude and led their people to the House of Destruction, in Hell, where they will burn, and what an awful place to dwell!” (Ibrahim, 28)

These examples confirm that the history of nations follows the laws established by Allah.

The Kingdom of Saba was blessed with fertile land and abundant water, but despite the command to eat from the provisions of their Lord and be grateful to Him, it showed ingratitude. The consequence was the destruction of their prosperity:

“So We let loose upon them a flood, by releasing the dams, and We replaced their gardens with gardens producing bitter fruits, tamarisk, and little wild lotus. We punished them because they were ungrateful. And whom else do We punish except the disbelievers and the ungrateful?” (Saba, 16–17)

This event remains a permanent lesson about the connection between gratitude, the moral state of a community, and the preservation of blessings.

(Central khutbah by the religious leader Hafiz Hilmija Redžić on January 16, 2026, at the “Association Islamique Ihsan” in Dudelange)