Thanksgiving For A Muslim

History Of Thanksgiving

• In ancient times, people of many cultures (including the ancient Greeks, Romans, Hebrews, Egyptians and Chinese) gave thanks to their god or gods for a successful harvest, and some of the traditions associated with modern Thanksgiving celebrations have their roots in these ancient festivals.

• Thanksgiving involves gratitude for having enough food to eat, and encourage people to buy groceries for the food bank, or make a donation to a local kitchen.

• Thanksgiving became an official holiday in 1863, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that Thanksgiving should be a national observance. To some degree, this was a way to brighten the spirits of the American people, who were dealing with a great deal of difficulty and deprivation.

Muslim Viewpoint• While the religious significance of Thanksgiving has been lost for many

North Americans, Muslim will say that it's not lost for us.

• The original Thanksgiving celebration, preceded by fasting, is very familiar to Islamic practices. Muslims observe a month-long fast during the holy month of Ramadan, followed by the celebration of Eid al Fitr. Muslims also fast on the day of Arafah in preparation for the next three days of celebration of Eid al-Adha. Devout Muslims follow the example of the Blessed Prophet Muhammad by fasting on Mondays and Thursdays as well.

• We ritually express gratefulness to God in our five daily prayers with the Opening Prayer, Al Fatiha.

• After completing the ritual prayers, we recite dhikr. Traditionally, dhikr, is expressing praise and gratitude to God. We say, alhamdoulillah(all praise and thanks are due to God), Subhan'Allah, (Glory be to God) and Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest). We do our best to have our lips moist with thanks and praise for God all day long.

• The supplications given during prayer, and the ritual words of thanks and praise after each prayer are only the beginning of a Muslim's expression of gratitude to God. Listening to Muslims speaking to one another you'll hear phrases like, insha'Allah, (if God wills it so), when speaking of something in the future; when the discussion surrounds a beautiful thing such as an autumn tree in all it's flaming glory, a Muslim will say, "subhan'Allah" to remind himself that God created the miracle of the changing seasons. If I ask a Muslim, "how are you?" he will likely say, "alhamdoulillah". Saying these words, a Muslim is living in a state of God-consciousness with the ultimate belief that we have no control over the universe.

Muslim gives thanks to Almighty God everyday of their Life