IN the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All duties and compulsory obligations are accompanied by some headaches and inconveniences, or in other words, they demand some amount of effort and involvement (positive or negative), which are at odds with the easy-going and comfort-loving nature of human beings.
Starting from the personal compulsory religious obligations such as prayers and fasting, to the financial obligations such as Khums And Zakat and collective social obligations such as Hajj, the separation from family and loved ones, sacrificing all the comforts and pleasures of life, and sometimes self-sacrifice, all become necessary. This holds true for all the laws of the world, whether heavenly or man-made, be they right or wrong.
What should be done regarding these difficulties, which exist in discharging religious obligations? Since offering daily compulsory prayers is difficult for some people, and more than that, the presence of heart during prayers and chaining the roaming and wandering thoughts are even harder; since fasting, Jihad, Hajj, giving charity, encouraging good and forbidding evil, and other social obligations usually cause pain and inconvenience, then should all these be declared void? Should we be allowed to live according to the desires of our heart, which is full of passions, and a soul that loves ease and the comforts of life?
Patience in obedience
It is here that Islam tells us, no! Instead, patience must be practiced. Patience in obedience must be practiced against those passions, which lure the heart away from the prayer mat, mosque, and altar, by making it preoccupied with worldly amusements, and in turn make prayers, which should be offered with the presence of heart and complete concentration so that they are accepted by Allah and are fruitful for us, spiritless and meaningless. Patience must be offered against all those desires and tendencies, which tempt us to enjoy eating and drinking instead of fasting, and tempt us from encouraging good and forbidding evil that may cause some problems. The Qur’an reminds us of Luqman’s advice to his son and says,
“O my son! Maintain the prayer and bid what is right and forbid what is wrong, and be patient through whatever may visit you. That is indeed the steadiest of courses.” (Qur’an 31:17)
Patience should be practiced against the whispers of Satan, who with thousands of colorful deceits will try to close charitable hands and prevent us from righteous deeds by reminding personal needs instead of helping others, and by inciting desires for material profits and other worldly ambitions. The devil threatens people with poverty and tries to trick them and make them stumble by words like: “the light in one’s own home is more important than the candle of the mosque” or “charity begins at home.”
“Satan frightens you of poverty and prompts you to (commit) indecent acts. But Allah promises you His forgiveness and grace, and Allah is all-bounteous, all-knowing.” (Qur’an 2:268)
Here, patience comes into the picture by offering the necessary resistance to the sensual desires, to enable one to discharge his financial and religious obligations. The patient believers know that those who spend their property in the way of Allah shall receive their reward from God and He will multiply it for them.
“Parable of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is that of a grain which grows seven ears, in every ear a hundred grains. Allah enhances several fold whomever He wishes, and Allah is all-bounteous, all-knowing. Those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah and then do not follow up what they have spent with reproaches and affronts, they shall have their reward near their Lord, and they will have no fear, nor will they grieve.” (Qur’an 2:261-262)
Accordingly, a believer should be patient in obedience and fulfillment of religious commands, and should resist satanic whispers and passions encouraging transgression. The Qur’an says,
“And obey Allah and His Apostle, and do not dispute, or you will lose heart and your power will be gone. And be patient; indeed Allah is with the patient.” (Qur’an 8:46)
“The Lord of the heavens and the earth and what is in-between them. So worship Him and be patient in His service.” (Qur’an 19:65)
Patience to prevent committing sins
Another kind of patience is restraining from committing sins. One of the companions of Imam Ali (peace be upon him) quoted him as follows: “There are two types of patience, one of them is patience during tragedies or catastrophes, which is very good and charming, but there is another type of patience, which is far better and more charming than the above, i.e., patience against acts forbidden by Almighty Allah.”
Islam provides us great spiritual tools in order to combat and remove evil forces that come in the path towards perfection. One of such great spiritual tools is patience against sin. By practicing patience, one can overcome destructive selfish passions. Patience can enable man to resist the temptations for committing sins and transgressing the Laws of God, to suppress his anger, and not to persist in his mistakes. These are the characteristics of the pious; so, to achieve piety (Taqwa) one must be patient. The Qur’an says,
“And hasten towards your Lord’s forgiveness and a paradise as vast as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the pious (muttaqin). Those who spend in ease and adversity, and suppress their anger, and excuse [the faults of] the people, and Allah loves the virtuous; and those who, when they commit an indecent act or wrong themselves, remember Allah, and plead [Allah’s] forgiveness for their sins—who forgives sins except Allah?—and who do not persist in what they have committed while they know.” (Qur’an 3:133-135)
In order to study in detail the examples of this branch of patience, we must recollect a series of different kinds of deviations and great sins, and then we will see the most crucial role of patience in each situation. They are as follows:
A powerful strong mounted fist has been raised and is about to fall over the head of an innocent person, and there is absolutely no obstacle in its path. This is a scene requiring this branch of patience. The strong instinctive forces consisting of anger, pride, selfishness, and sadism urge this raised fist to strike the innocent person’s head. In this situation, patience means offering resistance against these instinctive motives and controlling oneself against committing this transgression. Moreover, real believers even control themselves in response to the discourtesy of ignorant people. The Qur’an says,
“The servants of the All-beneficent are those who walk humbly on the earth, and when the ignorant address them, say, ‘Peace.’” (Qur’an 25:63)
Someone may have easy access to a lot of money and wealth, only if he could commit a sinful act. Here the natural lust for wealth, an extremely violent deviated instinctive force, takes control of the person to commit that crime. Here patience means offering resistance against these motives, and ignoring the potential gains at the cost of a crime or sin. It is what the Prophet (SAW) predicted and said, “The people will face a period in which power and authority will come only through bloodshed and brute oppression. Wealth will be amassed by usurping the rights of others and by stinginess. Love will be realized only by giving up faith and pursuing carnal desires. Whoever should find that period should have patience in poverty … patience against grudge … and patience against humility.”
The sexual urges are extremely powerful and intense, which may make every person stumble. It is exactly for this reason that the enemies of human progress and exaltedness throughout history have exploited this super magical characteristic as an easy and suitable means for humiliating and degrading towering great human souls. Patience in these situations means resisting the powerful sexual urges by not indulging in a lower shameful sexual act. The Qur’an says about the patience of Yusuf (AS) against illicit sexual acts,
“The woman in whose house he (Yusuf) was solicited him. She closed the doors and said, ‘Come!’ He said, ‘God forbid! Indeed, He is my Lord; He has given me a good abode. Indeed the wrongdoers are not felicitous.’” (Qur’an 12:23)
Fear is a common characteristic among ordinary people. However, in many situations, it plays a key role in bringing all kinds of humiliation, insults, imprisonment, crimes, and catastrophes. In many instances, weak individuals under the influence of fear or danger about their lives, wealth, position, honor, prestige, children, etc., submitted themselves to perform the most lowly shameful tasks as well as commit horrible crimes. In one instance, they fell down from the highest peaks of human exaltedness and lowered themselves to become simply a tool without any determination in the hands of enemies. Endurance against these forces of violence and corruption could be regarded as another scene for the display of this branch of patience. The Qur’an says about the faithful,
“Those, to whom the people said, ‘All the people have gathered against you; so fear them.’ That only increased them in faith, and they said, ‘Allah is sufficient for us, and He is an excellent trustee.’” (Qur’an 3:173)
In conclusion, we may say patience means being able to offer resistance in all circumstances. Patience never allows us to surrender with folded hands, to be insulted, to give up the initiative, or become prisoners of the events.
The best way to be patient is to remember the blessings and limitless power of Allah. When we realize that it is impossible to count all the blessings Almighty Allah has bestowed upon us, it will be easier for us to exercise patience. The air we breathe, the sunshine on our faces, the wind through our hair, the rain on the parched earth, and Allah’s words to man (the glorious Qur’an) are all among the innumerable blessings of Allah for us. Remembering Allah and contemplating His greatness is the key to patience, and patience is a key to everlasting Paradise, which is Allah’s greatest blessing for humankind. He says in the Qur’an,
“Verily! I have rewarded them this Day for their patience; they are indeed the ones that are successful.” (Qur’an 23:111)
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