Topic of The Month

Patience is a Virtue

This kind of spiritual advice is something that today's Muslims so desperately need. Far from being a set of empty rituals and nit-picking legal technicalities, or a set of words to be repeated or chanted infinitely, Islam is a holistic way of life: if it is applied only partially, imbalance will result. A most important aspect of Islam, which must always accompany the formal "rituals" and the recitation of du'as and dhikr, is constant remembrance of Allah and constant contact with the Divine. Developing a truly Islamic attitude of patience will enable us to do this.

Patience, or patient insistence, is obligatory, according to the consensus of the scholars, and it is half of faith (iman), the other half of which is gratitude (shukr). Patience is mentioned in the Qur'an around ninety times. The relation of patience to iman is like the relation of the head to the body, and the one who has no patience has no iman. Allah has commanded patience for the Believers in the following ayah:

"O you who believe! Seek help with patient perseverance (sabr) and prayer..." (al-Baqarah 2:153)

One thing that is seriously lacking among the Muslims is patience. We are so harsh with each other at times that it is hard to believe we are supposed to be brothers and sisters. We often times give greater excuses to the non-Muslims than we do to ourselves. We are supposed to advise each other to do good and to be patient. In Surat Al Asr, Allah says,

"Verily, man is in loss, except those who believe and do good deeds and encourage one another towards truth and encourage one another towards patience." (104:2-3)

Ibin Qayim divides patience into the following five categories; I will outline them and provide examples of each:

Obligatory (wajib) patience – This would mean things you have to be patient with .

1. Patience in abstaining from forbidden (haram) things and actions,
2. Patience in carrying out obligatory deeds,
3. Patience in facing adversity, which is beyond one's control, such as illness, poverty, etc.

Encouraged (manub) patience – This means a positive kind of patience .

1. Patience in abstaining from disliked (makruh) things,
2. Patience in performing acts of worship, which are liked and encouraged (mustahabb)
3. Patience in refraining from taking revenge.

Forbidden (mahdhur) patience – This means that these types of patience are not allowed.

1. Patience in abstaining from food and drink until death.
2. Patience in abstaining from eating haram meat, carrion and blood, when the alternative is death and starvation. Tawus and Ahmad ibn Hanbal said, " Whoever has no choice but to eat carrion, haram meat and blood, but refuses to eat it and dies as a consequence, will enter Hell."
3. Patience in refraining from begging. There is a dispute as to whether begging from people is forbidden or permissible. Imam Ahmad said that this kind of patience and abstention is allowed. He was asked, "What if a person fears that if he does not do this, he will die?" Imam Ahmad answered, "No, he will not die. Allah will send him his due provision (rizq) ." Imam Ahmad did not allow begging: when Allah knows the need of a person and his sincerity in abstaining from begging, Allah will send him rizq. Other scholars, including some of Imam Ahmad's companions and Imam ash-Shafi`î said, "It is obligatory on such a person to beg, and if he did not beg, than he would be a wrongdoer, because by begging he protects himself from death ."
4. Patience in enduring things that may lead to death, such as predators, snakes, fire and water.
5. Patience at times of fitnah when the Muslims are fighting Muslims. Patience in abstaining from fighting at such a time, when Muslims are killing Muslims, is mubah (permissible), indeed it is mustahabb (liked and preferred). When the Prophet (SAAS) was asked about this, he said, "Be like the better of the two sons of Adam." In other, similar reports he said, "Be like the slave of Allah who was killed, and not like the one who has killed," and " let him (the killer) carry his own wrong action and your wrong action. " In another report, he said, "If the sword is too bright, put your hand on your face." Allah has told us the story of the better of the two sons of Adam, and how he surrendered himself and did not fight back, and how Allah commended him for that. This is different to the case when Muslims are fighting kaafiroon: in that situation the Muslim has to defend himself, because the meaning of Jihad is to defend himself and Islam.

Disliked (makruh) patience : This means disapproving kind of patience.

1. Patience in abstaining from physical appetites (food, drink, sex) to the extent of causing damage to one's health.
2. Patience in doing a makruh deed.

Permissible (mubah) patience - This means acceptable kind of patience.

1. Patience in abstaining from mubah deeds.

"Seek help in patience and prayer; and truly it is hard save for the humble-minded." (2:45)

"O you who believe! Seek assistance through patience and prayer; surely Allah is with the patient." (2:153)

"Be sure we shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives or the fruits (of your toil), but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere." (2:155)

Say: "O my servants who believe! be careful of (your duty to) your Lord; for those who do good in this world is good, and Allah's earth is spacious; only the patient will be paid back their reward in full without measure." (39:10)

In Sahih Bukhari we have from the following hadith:

Narrated Anas bin Malik:

The Prophet passed by a woman who was weeping beside a grave. He told her to fear Allah and be patient. She said to him, "Go away, for you have not been afflicted with a calamity like mine." And she did not recognize him. Then she was informed that he was the Prophet , so she went to the house of the Prophet and there she did not find any guard. Then she said to him, "I did not recognize you." He said, "Verily, the patience is at the first stroke of a calamity." Volume 2, Book 23, Number 372:

Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri:

Some Ansari persons asked for (something) from Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) and he gave to them. They again asked him for (something) and he again gave to them. And then they asked him and he gave to them again till all that was with him finished. And then he said, "If I had anything. I would not keep it away from you. (Remember) Whoever abstains from asking others, Allah will make him contented (happy), and whoever tries to make himself self-sufficient, Allah will make him self-sufficient. And whoever, remains patient, Allah will make him patient. Nobody can be given a blessing better and greater than patience." Volume 2, Book 24, Number 548:

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah's Apostle said, "The example of a believer is that of a fresh tender plant; from whatever direction the wind comes, it bends it, but when the wind becomes quiet, it becomes straight again. Similarly, a believer is afflicted with calamities (but he remains patient till Allah removes his difficulties.) And an impious wicked person is like a pine tree which keeps hard and straight till Allah cuts (breaks) it down when He wishes." (See Hadith No. 558, Vol. 9.) Volume 7, Book 70, Number 547:

We have these from Sahih Muslim:

In these verses and hadiths, we find that the reward for sabr is great. We can also clearly see that patience has been commanded upon the Muslim. It is a sign of the Muslim that in adversity he is patient. To me, I see patience and when a muslim has nothing, he says, "Alhamdulillah.", and when he is given something, he says, "Alhamdulillah.", and he shares whatever Allah has provided him. Also, the Muslim is the one who does not despair when he is without, or when a seemingly bad event happens to him because he knows that: "Verily, along with every hardship comes ease. Verily, along with every hardship comes ease" (94:5). And he knows that there is only one hardship and two eases. The Muslim recognizes the good in the hardship, so he is able to endure patiently, waiting for Allah's reward, and the promised relief.

Narrated 'Aisha:

(the wife of the Prophet) Allah's Apostle said, "No calamity befalls a Muslim but that Allah expiates some of his sins because of it, even though it were the prick he receives from a thorn." Sahih Bukhari: Volume 7, Book 70, Number 544.

This article was derived from works of

Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah and Shariffa Carlo