Chapter 5: The Patience of noble people and the patience of ignoble people
Every person has to exercise patience in order to face difficulties, whether he does so
willingly or unwillingly. The noble person exercises patience willingly, because he
realizes the benefits of patience, and he knows that he will be rewarded for his patience
and will be criticized if he panics. He is aware that if he does not have patience,
panicking and impatience will not help him to regain missed opportunities, and will not
take away things he dislikes. Whatever is decreed and is qada’ wa qadr cannot be
prevented from happening, and whatever is decreed not to happen cannot be made to
happen. So an attitude of impatience and panic actually causes harm.
A wise man said: “A man with wisdom as soon as adversity appears does that which a
foolish man does after a month (i.e. he resorts to patience).”
The ignoble man exercises patience only when he realizes he has no choice. After
wasting a lot of time and energy and panicking and struggling, he realizes that his
impatience will not help him. Then he exercises patience in the same way that a person
who has been tied up to be whipped exercises patience.
The noble person practices patience in obeying Allâh, whilst the ignoble person exercises
patience in obeying the Shaytân. So ignoble people have the greatest patience in
following their own whims and desires, and have the least patience in spending in the
way of Shaytân and no patience when it comes to spending even a few pennies in the way
of Allâh. They will endure many difficulties in order to follow their own whims and
desires, but cannot bear even the least difficulties in order to please their Lord. They will
endure slander for the sake of committing wrong actions, but cannot exercise patience in
putting up with slander for the sake of Allâh. Such people will avoid enjoining the good
and forbidding the evil for fear of what people will say about them for doing so, but they
will expose their honour to slander and bear it most patiently for the sake of following
their own whims and desires. Similarly, they are not prepared to practise patience in
devoting themselves to Allâh, but when it comes to devoting themselves to Shaytân and
their own whims and desires, they will exercise remarkable patience. Such people will
never be noble in the sight of Allâh, and on the Day of Resurrection they will not be
raised with the people of nobility and decency.
Chapter 6: Ways of strengthening patience
As patience is fard (obligatory), Allâh has provided us with ways and means of obtaining
and strengthening the quality of patience, for He has never instructed us to do something
without providing us with help and support to do it, and ways and means of achieving it.
He has never created a disease without creating a cure for it, and He has guaranteed cure
when medicine is used. Even so, patience is difficult, but it is not impossible to attain.
Patience consists of two elements: knowledge and action, and from these two elements
are derived the remedies for all spiritual and physical troubles. Knowledge and action,
combined, are always essential.
Knowledge
The element of knowledge is necessary in order to realize the benefits of following the
commands of Allâh and the sense of happiness and fulfillment that one may attain by
following them; and to understand what it is in the forbidden things that causes harm,
imperfection and evil. When a person realizes that, and adds strong willpower, the desire
for spiritual achievement and the wish to live as a complete human being (as opposed to
as animal-like existence), then it will become easy for him to attain the quality of
patience. The bitterness of patience will become sweet and the pain of patience will
become joy.
Action
As we has already seen, patience is a constant battle between the motives of reason and
religion on the one had, and the motive of whims and desires on the other. If a person
wants reason and religion to overcome whims and desires, then he has to strengthen the
former and weaken the latter, just like promoting good health and reducing the risk of
illness.
For example, a person who has a strong desire to commit adultery can take steps to
combat it. He may have such a strong sexual urge that he cannot stop committing
adultery; or he may not commit the act itself, but us unable to stop looking at women; or
he may be able to stop looking at women but he cannot stop thinking of sex, to the extent
that all his thoughts are devoted to this subject, and he never gives any thought to things
which could benefit him in this life and in the hereafter. If he is really serious about
finding a cure for this disease, then he has to follow these steps:
1. He can find out what types of food increase sexual desire, then he can reduce his intake
of them, or avoid them altogether. If this does not work, then he can fast, as fasting
reduces sexual desire, especially if the food eaten when he breaks his fast is moderate.
2. He should lower his gaze and avoid looking at women, as looking at women may
provoke sexual desire. The Prophet (SAAS) warned us, “Looking (at women) is one of
the arrows of the Shaytân.” Shaytân aims his arrows from reaching its target unless one
lowers one’s gaze. But if a person keeps looking, he is exposing his heart to these arrows,
any one of which may be fatal.
3. He should enjoy permissible sex (i.e. within marriage), because any desire that Allâh
created in us has a permissible outlet. This is the best cure, as the Prophet (SAAS) has
indicated.
4. He should think of the harm and damage that may befall him in this world as a
consequence of his fulfilling his sexual desire in a prohibited way. Even if there were no
Paradise or Hell, the harm that could be caused in this world by such an action should be
enough to stop him from doing it. The damage caused by such actions is so great that it
can barely be quantified, but sexual desire makes some people blind.
5. He should think of the ugliness of the person who is tempting him to commit adultery
with her, especially if she is known to have other partners. He should feel too proud to
drink from the same place as dogs and wolves!
Strengthening the motive of reason and religion
In the battle between reason/religion and whims/desires, we have the following
“weapons” at our disposal:
1. We should remember the glory and greatness of Allâh, and feel that He is too great to
be sinned against as He is all-seeing and all-hearing. Whoever thinks of the greatness of
Allâh will never be at ease in committing wrong actions.
2. If we claim to love Allâh, then we should not disobey Him, because of that love. A
person should be obedient to the One he claims to love. Those who refrain from
committing wrong action out of their love for Allâh are of the highest status in His sight,
as are those who worship Him out of love for Him. There is great difference between the
one who obeys Allâh and abstains from wrong action out of love, and the one who does
so out of fear of punishment.
3. We should think of the blessings and favours of Allâh, as a decent and noble person
would never act against the one who has been treating him kindly. Only base and ignoble
people do such a thing. If we think of the blessings and favours of Allâh, we will realize
that we should not respond by doing against His commands and committing wrong
action.
4. We should think of the wrath and punishment of Allâh, as He will be angry with the
person who persists in committing wrong action. Nothing can stand in the way of the
consequences of His anger, least of all this weak slave of His.
5. We should think of what the person who commits wrong action has to lose, in this
world and the next. It should be sufficient to think of the loss of îmân (faith), of which the
smallest amount is worth much more than everything in this world. How can anyone be
willing to lose his îmân in return for some brief moment of pleasure the consequences of
which might last forever? In a sahîh hadîth, the Prophet (SAAS) said: “No adulterer is a
believer at the time of when he is committing adultery.” Commenting on this hadîth, one
of the Sahâbah said: “His îmân will be dragged out of him until it goes over his head like
a cloud. If he repents, then his îmân will return to him.”
6. We should relish the idea of defeating the Shaytân and being victorious over him,
because of overcoming him, and our whims and desires, is a thing of joy and carries a
great reward. It is like taking medicine and being rewarded with restoration to good
health.
7. We should bear in mind the reward and compensation which Allâh has promised to
those who control their whims and desires, and abstain from that which is harâm.
8. We should think of the special companionship of Allâh, as He has told us: “Allâh is
with those who patiently persevere” (al-Baqarah 2:153) “For Allâh is with those who
restrain themselves and those who do good” (an-Nahl 16:128) “For verily Allâh is
with those who do right.” (al-‘Ankabût 29:69)
9. We should be ever mindful of death, which could come upon us at any time, suddenly
and without warning.
10. We should stop thinking of falsehood and bad ideas. Even if bad thoughts cross our
minds, we should not let them stay, otherwise they may become hopes and wishes which
we may act upon, and harm ourselves and others in the process.
11. We should gradually strengthen our religious motive in fighting whims and desires.
Once we have tasted the joy of defeating those whims and desires, then our determination
and willpower will grow stronger.
12. We should direct our thoughts towards contemplation of the signs of Allâh which He
has encouraged us to think about, whether they are in the Qur’ân or in the universe
around us. If such thoughts are constantly in our hearts and minds, this will help us to
shun the whisperings of the Shaytân. There is no greater loser than the one who, instead
of thinking of Allâh, His Book, His Prophet and his Sahâbah, dwells on Shaytân and the
ideas of Shaytân.
13. We should remember how short is our stay on this earth. No-one would want to feel
that all he has achieved in this life is the worst kind of deeds, except a person who has no
spiritual ambition, whose heart is dead and who is careless. Such a person will ultimately
regret his deeds when he realizes that, far from benefiting him, they will lead to
punishment. Even the person who has many good deeds to his credit will feel that sense
of regret when he realizes that he could have done even more.
14. We should know that Allâh has created us to live an eternal life with no death, a life
of pride and ease with no humiliation, a life of security with no fear, a life of richness
with no poverty, a life of joy with no pain, a life of perfection with no flaws. Allâh is
testing us in this world with a life that will end with death, a life of pride which is
accompanied by humiliation and degradation, a life that is tainted by fear, where joy and
ease are mixed with sorrow and pain. So many people are mistakenly seeking an easy life
of power and pleasure in this world, but most of them never manage to achieve it, and
those who do, enjoy it only for a brief time before it vanishes. The Prophets called people
to an eternal life of plenty, and whoever answers their call will have the best life in this
world, better than the life of kings and their followers, for zuhd in this life is true
richness. This is something which the Shaytân greatly envies the believers.
Merely knowing the facts that we have outlined above is not enough. We have to strive
and do our utmost to achieve our aim and attain perfection. The best way to do so is to
put a stop to the habits that are controlling our lives, as these are the main obstacles
which prevent us from succeeding. We should avoid places of fitnah and temptation, as
the Prophet (SAAS) told us, “Whoever hears of the Dajjâl should keep away from him.”
The best way to protect ourselves from wrong is to keep away from anything that could
lead to it. One of the favourite tricks of the Shaytân, which deceives everyone except
those who are clever enough to see it, is to show a person some goodness in a wrong
thing, and call him to go towards what is good; when the person gets close to it, he falls
into the trap.
To be continued In shaa Allah