Islam in Diversity

fatima wrote: Bismillah irrahman irrahim Assalamu alaikum I got a pm saying i dint show enough patience  with the first topic and started the second topic already when some people want to contribute to first. Well if some1 wants to discuss the first topic, you are more than welcome to discuss it and inshaAllah i will wait for replies. Actually i was quite, well how should i put it, The topic of taqwa is very huge subhanAllah and this discussion never quenched my thirst you could say. So I will be looking forward to more detailed replies. wassalam

Assalaamu alaikum:

In my simple view, Taqwa and patience could also be discussed in a similar light.

Taqwa, the importance of making the correct intention. Didn't I read in  a thread somewhere in this forum in the past about the brother that made wudu at home, and while attempting to go to the masjid for prayer, fell and soiled his clothing? He then went home, changed to clean clothing, repeated his wudu and was again dirtied by a passing car on the way to the masjid again.Being the ever patient brother, he again started over up to three times. He was cited for his extreme patience and his faithfullness to the teachings of the prophet. What patience this brother must have had! His intentions to follow procedure correctly is an example! It reminds me of certain ayats that were discussed in some of our kutjahs in the past few months:

 3:15 Say: Shall I give you glad tidings of things Far better than those? For the righteous are Gardens in nearness to their Lord, with rivers flowing beneath; therein is their eternal home; with companions pure (and holy); and the good pleasure of Allah. For in Allah's sight are (all) His servants,

 3:16 (Namely), those who say: "Our Lord! we have indeed believed: forgive us, then, our sins, and save us from the agony of the Fire;"-

 3:17 Those who show patience, Firmness and self-control; who are true (in word and deed); who worship devoutly; who spend (in the way of Allah.; and who pray for forgiveness in the early hours of the morning.

Oh, how beautiful are many of the words of the Qu'ran. That all may come to knowledge of the true path in life!

Wa salaama.

Bismillahirrahmanirraheem

Assalaamualiakum

A Man once prayed "God give me patience.....but hurry!"  Ok..jokes apart...

Prophet Yaqoob [alayhissalaam] said "Fa Sabrun Jameelun" meaning "patience is good/most fitting." (  Yusuf, Chapter #12, Verse #18)

Yaqoob ,Ayyoob [alaykumassalaam ] and Muhammad [sallallahu alayhi wasallam] are such good examples of patience. Anyone wants to share their stories?

Patience ie. "sabr" comes from a root meaning to detain, refrain and stop. patience means to stop ourselves from despairing and panicking, to stop our tongues from complaining, and to stop our hands from striking our faces and tearing our clothes at times of grief and stress.

Allah says:

And seek help in patience and As-Salat (the prayer) and truly it is extremely heavy and hard except for Al-Khashioon (i.e. the true believers in Allah - those who obey Allah with full submission, fear much from His Punishment, and believe in His Promise (Paradise, etc.) and in His Warnings (Hell, etc.)).  
(  Al-Baqara, Chapter #2, Verse #45)

Except those who show patience and do righteous good deeds, those: theirs will be forgiveness and a great reward (Paradise).  
(   Hud, Chapter #11, Verse #11)

Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said:

"(Remember) Whoever abstains from asking others, Allah will make him contented, 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."  (Book #24, Hadith #548)

Narrated Anas: The Prophet said, "The real patience is at the first stroke of a calamity."  (Book #23, Hadith #389)

Some scholars have explained patience very well:"Patience means to adhere to the rules of the Qur'an and Sunnah".

"Patience means to keep close to Allah and to accept calmly the trials He sends, without complaining or feeling sad."

We need patience to do ibaadah and follow Allah's commands. We need patience to stay away from haram actions.

Making shikwah (complaint) to Allah does not go against patience. Many Prophets made dua to Allah asking for His help to overcome difficulties. Ayyub (Job), when he cried to his Lord, "Truly distress has seized me..."" (Al-Anbiya 21:83)     "I only complain of my distraction and anguish to Allah." (Yusuf 12:86)

Complaining to people, either directly, through our words, or indirectly, through the way we look and behave. This is contradictory to patience.

Indeed patience is a great virtue, may Allah bless us with a lot of patience.

Wassalaam.

Jazakillahu khairan sis. Amah, I benefited a lot from your explanation of Sabr.  Here goes the story of Ayyub alayhi salam:

The Prophet Ayyub (peace be upon him) was one of the descendants of the Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and a nephew of Prophet Ya'qub (peace be upon him).  He was sent to reform the people who lived in the desert situated in the north eastern corner of Palestine.

When Ayyub (Job) was chosen to be the Prophet, he started to teach the people about God and His religion.  He advised the people to do good and shun evil.  As usual with all the Prophets very few people believed in him in the beginning but gradually the number of his followers began to increase.
 
 

The Prophet Ayyub was Well Off:
The Prophet Ayyub (peace be upon him) was a prosperous man with firm faith in Allah.   He possessed vast farms, enormous wealth, many cattle and valuable property but these things did not make him arrogant.  His wealth provided him with a medium by means of which he sought Allah's grace.
 
 

The Prophet Ayyub Displays Patience:
The Prophet Ayyub (peace be upon him) was a pattern of humility and faith in Allah.   He was very patient.  He suffered from a number of calamities but did not utter a single word of complaint.  One day his big farm was attacked by the thieves.   They killed many of his servants and carried away forcibly all his cattle.   The Prophet Ayyub (peace be upon him) did not feel sorry at this loss and thanked Allah.  After some time the roof of the house fell down and many members of his family were crushed.  The Prophet Ayyub (peace be upon him) was much shocked but he held fast to his faith in Allah.  He neither shed a tear nor heaved a sigh.  He prostrated before the Almighty.  He remarked that possessions and children were the gifts from Allah.  If He had taken His things, it was useless to lament over their loss.

After a few years Prophet Ayyub (peace be upon him) suffered from skin disease.   His parts of body were covered with loathsome sores.  He had many ugly looking ulcers on his face and hands.  The sores were full of worms.  It is narrated that he picked up those worms which fell from his abscess and praised Allah for creating them.  Above all, his false friends attributed his calamities to his sins.  They ridiculed and looked down upon him.  All the persons deserted him with the exception of his faithful wife, Rahima.  She also grew tired of him in the long run and prayed for his death.  She cursed her husband for retaining integrity in Allah.  When Prophet Ayyub (peace be upon him) was in an extremely pathetic condition he prayed:

"Truly adversity has afflicted me and You are Most Merciful of all who show mercy." (21: 83)

Allah accepted his prayer.  The Holy Qur'an affirms:

"Then We heard his prayer and removed that adversity from which he suffered, and We gave him his household and the like thereof along with them, a mercy from Our store and remembrance for the worshippers."  (21: 84)
 
 

The Prophet Ayyub Recovers and Prospers:
Allah turned to him with mercy.  He was commanded to strike the earth with his foot.   He complied with the order and water from the spring gushed forth.  He took a bath with the water and got cured from his evil disease.  After this he was restored to prosperity.  The Prophet Ayyub (peace be upon him) knelt and prayed expressing a deep sense of gratitude to Allah.  He never forgot His favors, mercy and love.

The Prophet Ayyub (peace be upon him) was one of the celebrated Prophets.  His example illustrates: that those who remain patient under the stress � of all circumstances, art never deprived of high rewards.  The Holy Qur'an affirms:

"And surely we try you with something of fear and hunger, and loss of wealth and crops, but give glad-tidings to the steadfast, who when a misfortune befalls them, say lo! we are Allah's (possession of Allah) and to Him shall we surely return.  � Such are they on whom are blessings from their Lord, and mercy.   Such are the rightly-guided." (2: 155-157)

Masha-allah good discussion and agar ijazath ho tho , i will add up here few notes regarding patience 

SABR

-an essential element in fulfilling our ubudiyyah to Allah (swt)

- Rasulullah (saws) said: Sabr is a source of light

- In the Quran it says: [And practice sabr, for you are under Our gaze] One of the early ulamah used to carry a parchment with this ayah on it in his pocket, and he looked at it constantly.

- Sabr is human; animals know nothing more than their basic needs and instincts, all they can do is react; humans have been endowed with reason which balances instinct. We go from wanting food as baby, play as a child, zinnah in adolescence, until we reach puberty and are endowed with some reason.. but reason is not enough, it is not alone sufficient as guidance, the 'aql (intellect) needs 'naql (revealation) "Descartes said I think therefore I am, Ghazali before him said I will therefore I am, I say: I perform sabr, therefore I am human" This deen is the completeness of our maturity and our humanity.

So what is sabr?

The steadfastness of the religious call over the call to passion- if the deen overcomes the nafs, this is sabr

Sabr is an UPHILL BATTLE- when we're going downhill we're losing energy, when we're going uphill we're gaining potential energy. In sabr, we are gaining "spiritual potential energy".

There are 2 kinds of sabr (or two ways we can perform sabr):

1) when something we desire happens to us, something we like, we exhibit sabr in controlling our selves, not going into excess, not transgressing the bounds set down for us by Allah(swt)

Abdur Rahmad ibn Auf said: We were tried by hard times and we showed sabr, but when we were tried in ease and excess, we failed.

Hadeeth: I do not fear for you poverty; I fear for you plentifulness of dunyaa, and it will destroy you as it had destroyed nations before you.

Quran: O you who believe, do not let your families and your wealth draw you away from the dhikr of Allah; and whosoever does that is indeed the loser.

2) Sabr in what we dislike. In 3 areas of life:

a.) sabru ala ta'aat: in obeying Allah (swt). sabr against our nafs who dislikes it, whether in spirituality or mundane, sabr before, during and after the act of obedience.

b.) sabru anil ma'asee: to show sabr against disobedience to Allah (swt). We are attracted to do injustice to others thinking we are doing justice to ourselves. We live in an environment that is dangerously attractive, we need to have patience, constancy, steadfastness = sabr.

c.) sabr andil ma'asid: to show sabr in times of calamity, adveristy, pain, whether physical or emotional. Everything that is in the capacity of an individual to change, he should- but have sabr in what you cannot. Not reciprocating harm is sabr.

Hadeeth: whenever a museebah (hardship) befalls you (and you show sabr) Allah (swt) atones for you some of your sins

Hadeeth: Allah (swt) atones some of our sins not only by physical endurance but by emotional ones as well

Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqas (ra) asked the Prophet (saws) "Ya Rasulullah, who amongst people are the most tried (subject to hardships)?" Rasulullah (saws) said: The Anbiyyah (messengers of Allah) and after them the Salihoon (righteous) and then in accordance to your eman, taqwaah etc, there will be more hardships, not less. Every mu'min will be tried by difficulties in accordance (proportion) to their deen. If in this person's deen is solidity (their deen is deeply rooted) the balaa' will increase, to purify, cleanse, strenghten, elevate the person. And if in the deen in this person there is riqaa (weakness, thinness), then that persons balaa will be weakened, until the person walks on the earth cleansed of sins until they meet Allah.