The Importance of Showing Gratitude
Thanksgiving is all about gratitude and Islam also promotes being thankful. We express thanks in our deen when we wake up, when we close our eyes, eat and pray. Our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was always beaming with gratitude. Even when he had the worst day he was always grateful as reflected in his smile, his character, his good deeds. All of this was because of the gratitude he felt in his heart. He said “Meeting your brother with a cheerful face is a beautiful sadaqa.” In surah Ibrahim (Abraham) 14:7, Allah says “And remember when your Lord proclaimed, ‘If you are grateful I will surely increase you;”
So be grateful for what Allah has given you. Even when things are not going your way. Even when you are complaining about something, you are soaking in blessings from Allah from the 100 billion neurons in your brain, 100 billion blessings in your own head. If you thank Allah, He increases you, but if you are ungrateful, He decreases your blessings. Psychologists have even found that when you complain you start losing gray matter from the hippocampus of the brain. Allah loves us more when we are appreciative, when we give thanks.