Thanksgiving: Why Should We Thank God?
By Dr Shahid Athar
Carmel, Indiana

 

Thanksgiving is an American tradition. On the day of Thanksgiving, we come together to expres our gratitude to our families, coworkers and fellow humans. Sometime we forget to thank our Creator and the Sustainer. We take life for granted and behave as if we created ourselves and acquired everything we have, by our own efforts. The Islamic scripture mentions: “It is He who brought you forth from the wombs of your mother when you knew nothing, and He gave you hearing , sight, intelligence and affections, that you may give thanks to God”( Qur’an 16:78).We thank God for everything good that happens to us. (Qur’an 4:79) .We thank God for creating us as humans, the best of creation, with five senses to decide what is right and wrong. “Have we not given him (mankind) two eyes, a tongue and a pair of lips, and shown him the two highways of good and evil. (Qur’an 90:8-10)

Our Creator, who sustained us through nine months of helpless intrauterine life, continued to sustain us throughout our life. “Believers! Partake of good things which we have provided for you as sustenance, and render thanks to God, if it is truly Him that you worship.” (Qur’an 2:172). We thank God not only for creating and sustaining us, but also for guiding us, for accepting our prayers and for forgiving us when we wrong ourselves. It is not possible for us to deny the favors of our Lord. “For how long, you will deny the favors of your Lord”? A question asked in the Qur’an 32 times in one chapter ( Surah Ar-Rahman). We thank God for our own gains as well. “Whoever is thankful (to God) is in fact thankful for his own self. But if anyone is ungrateful, God is self-sufficient and free of all needs” (Qur’an 31:12) We thank God for giving us, to live and prosper in a land of freedom and opportunities where 'the weak and oppressed could migrate to. (Qur'an 4:97) .We should thank God by remembering Him, not on just one day in a year but every day in our daily life. “Remember Me, I will remember you, thank Me and reject Me not” (Qur'an 2:152).

The Bible also has many inspiring verses on expressing thanks to God. “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His loving kingdom is everlasting “(Chronicles 16:34).” Enter His gate with thanksgiving and His court with praise. Give thanks to Him and bless His name’ (Psalm 100:4).” I will praise the name of Lord with song, and shall glorify Him with thanksgiving: (Psalm 69:30)

Every breath of life we take should be a reason to thank God. As a physician, I thank all my patients who trusted me for their health care, my teachers who taught me and my colleagues and my co-workers for their compassion. I thank my family and my friends for their love. (The author is a physician who lives in Carmel, Indiana)