There have been some recent events in my life that have caused me to reflect on the concept of patience or sabr and whether or not I am practicing the type of patience — a beautiful patience — as described in the Qur’an:
وَالْعَصْرِ إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ
By the time, verily mankind is in loss except for those who have faith and perform righteous deeds and enjoin one another to truth and enjoin one another to patience. [103:1-3]
أُولَٰئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَاتٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ ۖ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُهْتَدُونَ
الَّذِينَ إِذَا أَصَابَتْهُمْ مُصِيبَةٌ قَالُوا إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ
Those who, when a calamity afflicts them, say, “To God we belong, and to Him we will return.” Upon these are blessings and mercy from their Lord. These are the guided ones. [2:156-157]
فَاصْبِرْ صَبْرًا جَمِيلًا
So be patient with a beautiful patience [70:4]
But why is important to practice a beautiful patience and how do we practice it?
The importance of sabr is found in Sura al-Hajj:
وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَعْبُدُ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ حَرْفٍ ۖ فَإِنْ أَصَابَهُ خَيْرٌ اطْمَأَنَّ بِهِ ۖ وَإِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ فِتْنَةٌ انْقَلَبَ عَلَىٰ وَجْهِهِ خَسِرَ الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةَ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ هُوَ الْخُسْرَانُ الْمُبِينُ
And among the people is he who worships God on edge. When something good comes his way, he is content with it. But when an ordeal strikes him, he makes a turnaround. He loses this world and the next. That is the obvious loss. [22:11]
Without patience a person’s faith is not strong and steadfast. Inevitably, that person will face a trial and when faced with that trial that same person will turn away from Allah which not only denies them the hereafter but also the opportunity in the current life rise to the highest degrees by practicing sabr. Thus, since we will all face tests and trials, practicing sabr is the base of our iman.
Luckily, practicing sabr does not simply mean resigning yourself to misery. We need to remember the story of Yusuf and what he said to his brothers after their paths crossed years later:
إِنَّهُ مَنْ يَتَّقِ وَيَصْبِرْ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُضِيعُ أَجْرَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ
He who practices piety and patience – God never fails to reward the righteous. [12:90]
When a trial befalls us, it may take years before we see the reward from it, but a true believer never loses faith in Allah’s mercy.
In the Hadith below we learn that true patience is practiced at the first sign of a trial when one is most prone to feeling angry or anxious:
It was narrated that Anas ibn Maalik (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) passed by a woman who was weeping at a grave, and he said: “Fear Allah and be patient.” She said: Leave me alone, for you have not suffered my calamity! And she did not recognise him. It was said to her: He is the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). She came to the door of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and did not find any doorkeepers there. She said: (I am sorry), I did not recognise you. He said: “(True) patience is only when calamity first strikes.” Al-Bukhari (1283) and Muslim (926).
As the trial continues, sabr is practiced through prayer:
وَاسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلَاةِ ۚ وَإِنَّهَا لَكَبِيرَةٌ إِلَّا عَلَى الْخَاشِعِينَ
And seek help through patience and prayer. But it is difficult, except for the devout. [2:45]
In addition to prayer, we must strengthen our religious commitment through all of the good deeds that know bring us closer to Allah such as reading Qur’an, enjoining good, giving sadaqah, fasting, and reciting thikr.
Lastly, I will leave you with these two Hadiths as a consolation and encouragement if you are going through a trial. I hope you remember their promise and recite the dua within daily:
“There is no Muslim who is stricken with a calamity and reacts by saying as Allah has commanded: ‘Inna lillahi, wa inna ilayhi raji’un. Allahumma indakah-tasabtu musibati, fajurni iha, wa ‘awwidni minha (Truly, to Allah we belong and truly, to Him we shall return. O Allah, with You I seek reward for my calamity, so reward me for it and compensate me),’ but Allah will reward him for that and compensate him with something better than it.” Sunan Ibn Majah, Vol. 1, Book 6, Hadith 1598
“There is nothing (in the form of trouble) that comes to a believer even if it is the pricking of a thorn that there is decreed for him by Allah good or his sins are obliterated.” Sahih Muslim 2572
So Remember Me 