Gratitude to God in the Face of Adversity and Illness in Christianity and Islam

The conventional understanding of gratitude assumes that feeling grateful is reserved for joyous times. However, gratefulness during severe adversity is also documented. This paper focuses on this second phenomenon, examining experiences of gratitude toward God among Christian and Muslim parents of critically ill or disabled children. The ethnographic literature on this topic remains scarce. The goal of this paper is to read the few details this ethnographic literature offers in conjunction with Christian and Muslim theology on gratitude and adversity. Such an interpretive exercise sets out the theological resources these believers may draw upon. Our analysis reveals that reasons for their gratitude fall into two main categories: feeling grateful toward God despite adversity, or because of adversity. The essay compares these experiences in Christianity and Islam to highlight those key conceptual differences that emerge from the material. It also holds that the experience of gratitude towards God under conditions of suffering might partly destabilize the conventional philosophical model of gratitude. Overall, the material surveyed maps the range of meanings illness holds for some Christian and Muslim parents, offering valuable insights not only to theologians and philosophers of religion, but also to clinicians and chaplains.