Thanksgiving Traditions

In the United States, Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. On this holiday, families and friends gather together to partake in a traditional Thanksgiving meal, which includes turkey, candied yams, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. It is a time when families come together to catch up with each other and engage in conversations while watching a game of football or the Thanksgiving parade on television.

Most of us are familiar with the tradition for which it was first celebrated. The holiday commemorates a harvest festival celebrated by the Pilgrims in the sixteenth century. After enduring countless hardships, they were able to enjoy their first harvest in the fall of 1621. Therefore, they dedicated the day for thanking God for the countless blessings He had bestowed on them.

Giving thanks for the Lord’s gifts had always been a norm of Wampanoag daily life and this should be the primary reason for this celebration as well. Unfortunately, the true representation of this tradition has slowly deteriorated, and is now almost disappeared under the fog of retail deals, sales, and marketing strategies. Thanksgiving means giving thanks to our God and this should not be confined to just one day in a year.

As an Ahmadi Muslim I believe that this act of gratitude should be done everywhere- several times a day. God the Almighty says in the Holy Qura’n “If you are grateful, I will, surely, bestow more favors on you” (14:8). This also means that He appreciates every step that we take to come closer to Him and increases His blessings upon us. On this Thanksgiving Day I am grateful to my Creator for His countless favors which He has bestowed upon me, my family, my community and my country. I hope that I become God’s grateful servant, recall His favors at all the times, and thank Him sincerely like the Pilgrim did on the first Thanksgiving.