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29-04-2024
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Ramadan Lectures- Flashes on faith1425- Lesson(15-64): Patience
   
 
 
In the Name of Allah, The Most Gracious, Most Merciful  
 

Being an outstanding man entails preparation:

 Dear brother, one of the requisite for having faith is being patient. Let me give you a brief introduction before starting with the topic of patience.

 If the head of the university distributes the exam papers which have been already answered correctly and marked with As to the university students and asks them to write down their names, and they all succeed, is this success considered worthwhile in university or society? Absolutely not. The students succeed with no need to work hard or pay any effort, so their success is meaningless.

 Getting high degrees require a lot of efforts. It could be easy for a wealthy father to give his son a palace, a private plane, or a Yacht if his son asks him to do so, but the father will not be able to make his son a professor at one of the universities. The father will ask his son to study hard and get his PH.D if he wants to be a professor. Thus, if you want to be granted a high scientific degree, you should work hard.

 Everyone should work hard to occupy a good position in the future. How can those who only live to eat, drink and sleep have good positions in society? They may occupy lower positions or become beggars. If you want to have high income, you should be qualified enough, and if you want to be superior and outstanding, you should be well prepared; this is one of Allah’s Law in his creations.

 When Allah created the ownselves, He offered them to bear the trust, made them human beings in this worldly life, installed lusts in them, granted them reasoning and a Method to follow, and granted them freedom of choice in order to know Him, to worship Him, and to draw closer to Him by paying a lot of efforts. Whoever, fulfills all these things, will deserve Allah’s Paradise forever; the price of entering Paradise is very high, so only those who pay it deserve to enter Paradise.

Patience is one of the requisites for faith:

 Allah has installed lusts in a human being, but He has guides man to fulfill his lusts according to what is permissible for him; there are desires and there are permitted and limited ways through which man can fulfill them. When man satisfies his desires according to what is lawful for him, he deserves Paradise, but if he satisfies his desires through forbidden ways, he loses this life and the Hereafter. Thus, man should be patient while fulfilling his desires and avoiding what is forbidden. This explains why patience is one of the basics of religion.
Hence, patience makes one of the religion’s foundations.

 Allah installed longing for women in men, and He allowed him to fulfill this desire through marriage only. Therefore, when a man fulfills this desire by having hundred of illicit affairs, he will lose the Hereafter. Our religion is based on patience; lowering your gaze, watching your language, control your hearing, control your action and control your earning require of you to be patient. If a business deal brings you a huge amount of money, and you accept to be a partner in it although it contains Haram (unlawful) commodities, you will lose the Hereafter. You favor the ill-gotten gain over obeying Allah.

 Allah has installed desires in you and allowed you to fulfill them through limited ways, those ways are what we call Halal, and whatever is not contained in them is Haram. Whoever keeps his actions restricted to these Halal ways is successful in Allah’s Sight. If you do not act according to the lawful restrictions and limits, you will be affected by the bad consequences of your actions. For instance, when you eat whatever you want without limit yourself to what is allowed to you, you will be afflicted with a certain disease and will be forced to go on a diet. Consequently, you will be deprived of eating delicious food. You will not need to go on a diet if you eat reasonably. As you know smoking is harmful to your health, and it may cause a smoker lung cancer. A smoker may be forced to go under an operation to remove half of his lung. If he controls his desires and keeps away from smoking, he will save himself the hazardous effects of smoking.

 Therefore, patience is crucial and it is most needed to control your actions and keep them within the allowed ways through which you fulfill your desires.

 Fulfilling your desires through forbidden ways entails Divine treatment, which is sometimes bitter just like medicine and you should be patient while being treated.. Man is in need for patience twice, the first time by adhering to Allah’s Orders, and the second one by accepting Allah’s treatment if he disobeys Him and violates His Laws. I repeat what I have said previously; patience is a requisite for faith. The Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, said:

((Faith is composed of two halves: one half is patience and the other half is gratitude.))

[Baihaki in Shuaab Al Iman, by Anas]

Patience is mentioned in Quran:

 Patience is mentioned in Quran ninety times, but it is categorized under sixteen kinds, first, the Divine Orders that are ordained upon you entail your patience, Allah says:

((O you who believe! Seek help in patience and As-Salat (the prayer))

[Al-Baqarah, 153]

  Whoever says desks at school are comfortable, are mistaken. Actually they are not; they are made of wood and have sharp corners, let alone that classes are not always warm in cold weather and there are no entertainment tools whatsoever. Let us imagine that the desk looks like the one in a plane, and that the student is allowed to have food, drinks, nuts, entertainments and movies to watch in class, will this student be able to have classes and study in such a class? Of course not. Desks should not be that comfortable and classes should not have all these kinds of refreshments, otherwise students will be distracted. Similarly, Allah's servants should not be distracted by the comforts of the worldly life and forget all about the Hereafter. You should always remember that the worldly life is not your final destination, but rather it is a preparation period for the Hereafter.

 The worldly life is an abode of striving, of afflictions, and of patience. Allah orders us to be patient, He says:

(( And seek help in patience and As-Salat (the prayer))

[Al-Baqarah, 45]

((O you who believe! Endure and be more patient (than your enemy), and guard your territory by stationing army units permanently at the places from where the enemy can attack you, and fear Allah, so that you may be successful.))

[Aal-‘Imran, 200]

((And endure you patiently (O Muhammad ), your patience is not but from Allah.))

[An-Nahl, 127]

 If you think that man can enter Paradise despite living life limitlessly, you are mistaken. Imam Al Shaf’ee was asked once: “Should we invoke Allah for affliction or for empowerment?” He answered: “You will not be empowered unless you are afflicted.”

Allah has ordained patience and forbade the otherwise:

 Allah forbids being impatient, He says:

(( Therefore be patient (O Muhammad) as did the Messengers of strong will))

[Al-Ahqaf, 35]

  Had you hasted, you would have been considered impatient. Listen to those divine orders: render not vain your deeds and do not become weak (against your enemy), nor be sad. This means if you do not obey these orders, you are impatient. Allah praises the patients and He orders us to be patient and forbid us from being impatient. Almighty Allah says:

((And who are As-Sabirin (the patient ones, etc.) in extreme poverty and ailment (disease) and at the time of fighting (during the battles). Such are the people of the truth and they are Al-Muttaqun (pious) ))

[Al-Baqarah, 177]

  Allah praises patient people.

Allah supports the forbearing:

 Allah tells us how our Master Ayoob, may Allah have peace upon him, was patient:

((Truly! We found him patient. How excellent (a) slave! Verily, he was ever oft-returning in repentance (to Us)!))

[Saad, 44]

((And Allah loves As-Sabirin (the patient ones, etc.))

[Aal-‘Imran, 146]

 Don’t you wish that Allah loves you? Allah grants His love for those who are patient. Furthermore, He is with you as long as you are patient; He supports you, protects you and grants triumph for you. This is how Allah can be with the patient ones, Almighty Allah says:

((And be patient. Surely, Allah is with those who are As-Sabirin (the patient ones, etc.).))

[Al-Anfal, 46]

  Allah advises you to be patient, for it is better for you, He says:

((But if you endure patiently, verily, it is better for As-Sabirin (the patient ones, etc.).))

[An-Nahl, 126]

The divine reward of good deeds is specific, but the one of patience is open:

((But it is better for you that you practise self-restraint))

[An-Nisa’, 25]

 Being patient will make you rewarded in proportion to the best of what you used to do. If you do many good deeds, but one of them is the best, Allah’s reward for all these good deeds will be measured according to the best of them. Allah says:

(( And those who are patient, We will certainly pay them a reward in proportion to the best of what they used to do.))

[An-Nahl, 96]

 Whoever does good deeds will be rewarded by Allah, but the patient will be rewarded in full without reckoning, Allah says:

((Only those who are patient shall receive their rewards in full, without reckoning.))

[Az-Zumar, 10]

  Moreover, Allah gives glad tidings to As-Sabirin (The patient ones), He says:

(( And certainly, We shall test you with something of fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives and fruits, but give glad tidings to As-Sabirin (the patient ones, etc.).)

[Al-Baqarah, 155]

Triumph accompanies patience:

 Allah makes it clear how triumph goes hand-in-hand with patience, He says:

(("Yes, if you hold on to patience and piety, and the enemy comes rushing at you; your Lord will help you with five thousand angels having marks (of distinction)."))

[Aal-‘Imran, 125]

  The patient people are those who have strong will and are outstanding, Allah says:

((And verily, whosoever shows patience and forgives that would truly be from the things recommended by Allah.))

[Ash-Shura, 43]

  The highest ranks of Paradise and the best of rewards shall not be attained but by those who are patient, Allah says:

((But those who had been given (religious) knowledge said: "Woe to you! The Reward of Allah (in the Hereafter) is better for those who believe and do righteous good deeds, and this none shall attain except those who are patient (in following the truth)."))

[Al-Qasas, 80]

((But none is granted it (the above quality) except those who are patient, and none is granted it except the owner of the great portion (of the happiness in the Hereafter i.e. Paradise and in this world of a high moral character).)

[Fussilat, 35]

The patient man benefits from moral lessons:

 The patient man makes use of the Ayat and moral lessons, Allah says:

((And indeed We sent Musa (Moses) with Our Ayat (signs, proofs, and evidences) (saying): "Bring out your people from darkness into light, and make them remember the annals of Allah. Truly, therein are evidences, proofs and signs for every patient, thankful (person)."))

[Ibrahim, 5]

 Being patient enables you to achieve goals and stay away from evil things, Almighty Allah says:

((And angels shall enter unto them from every gate (saying):))

[Ar-Ra’d, 23]

 The entire worldly life is described by one word, Allah says:

(("Salamun 'Alaikum (peace be upon you) for that you persevered in patience! Excellent indeed is the final home!"))

[Ar-Ra’d, 24]

The religion is all about patience:

 Patience is the axes around which your life should revolve; you should be patient in avoiding sins, in performing acts of worship and in accepting Allah’s decree. Listen what Allah says about Imamah (leadership), which is the highest rank a believer can reach:

((And We made from among them (Children of Israel), leaders, giving guidance under Our Command, when they were patient and used to believe with certainty in Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.). ))

[As-Sajdah, 24]

 Dear brother, narrated by Suhaib, he said: the Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, said:

((How strange is the matter of a believer, there is good in all his affairs, and this is only for the believer. If something good happens to him and he is grateful, then this is good for him, and if a calamity befalls him and he is patient, then this is also good for him.))

[Muslim]

 Patience is a very wide subject which needs a lot of time to tackle, but I would like to sum it up in few sentences. One should believe that the entire religion is all about patience. Lowering gaze entails patience, watching your language entails patience and controlling your hearing entails patience. Remember, sins are seductive and they are likable to mankind, but Allah orders you to avoid them. Almighty Allah does not deprive you of satisfying your desires; He permits you to do that through Halal ways. Thus if all your actions are restricted in these lawful ways, you are considered patient, and this makes you deserve the Paradise of Allah for which we were created.

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