We constantly hear about patience in Islam. There are many verses and hadeeth which tell us to be patient. Many of us have grown  up being told by our parents, elders, teachers and even friends that we need to be patient. For those that were patient they were told to be more patient. So whether or not we as a people were raised in Islam or not we were brought up on this word patient for the most part. The only thing missing was the fact that not to many of us had someone sit us down and explain to us what this patience its and how is it properly applied. Most of us are adults now, and we see that how patience is practiced changes depending on the situation.

The situation we want to talk about today is patience in Islam. We see that over and over Allah commands us with patience. Like where he commands {Seek aid though patience and prayer} (2:45). In the same Surah He commands the believers with {Oh you who believe, seek assistance though patience and and prayer…} (2:153). Now in order to carry out what we have been commanded with in terms of  seeking assistance through  patience we need to understand exactly how we do this.

Sheikh Zaid al Madkhali made this ever so clear in his explanation to the well known book The Three Fundamental Principles. This is what we wanted to share with you today. About this subject of patience the Sheikh said while explaining about those that call one another to patience that this patience must be in different things. Here is what the Sheikh explained;

This is patience in all of its types, which are;

• The first type is patience upon Allah’s obedience. This means that the individual does that which Allah has commanded of him desiring Allah’s reward, and fearing his punishment for falling short.

• The second type is patience upon the disobedience of Allah. So he stays away from Allah’s disobedience because of all of the danger that comes with it in this life, in the grave and in the here after. The previous nations (that Allah informed us of in His book) who came before were not destroyed except due to their disobedience. From them are those that Allah drowned. From them are those that were destroyed by natural disasters. As well, from there are those that the earth swallowed up. How ever they were destroyed, it was because of their disobedience to Allah. This is because Allah loves to be obeyed and not disobeyed. So we see that disobeying Him leads to His anger, displeasure and painful punishment. This makes clear that one of the types of patience is to be patient in terms of the disobedience of Allah. Again this means to stay away from disobeying Allah. If a person does fall into disobedience then they hurry and turn back to Allah in sincere repentance. They try their hardest to follow up a bad deeds with good deeds. Allah said in His book {Verily the good deeds wipe away the bad deeds} (11:114).

• The third type of patience is the patience in Allah’s decree and his rule over his slaves. Nothing moves in the universe, nothing happens or come about except that Allah is the one that is in control of it. So there has to be patience. Patience is a must when dealing with things that effect us in ourselves, our children, our money or other then these things which are from the Sunnah of Allah in the creation.You will find that the creation is tried with all types of afflictions. You see that this one is afflicted with poverty, that one with sickness, this one with worry etc. Nothing helps in these situations except patience, and looking forward to the reward that will come from Allah. This is done by looking forward to the reward of the patient ones to whom Allah has given glad tidings to when He said, {And give glad tidings to the patient} (2:155). Also Allah said {Verily the patient will be given their reward with no reckoning} (39:10). Because of the great position patience holds we find that Allah advised the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him) when He said to Him {and be patient, verily your patience is from none but Allah} (16:127). Allah taught Him that patience was from the characteristics of the Prophets {Be patient just like the Messengers of strong will} (46:35). As well, He praised the people of intellect in His statement {But it is only the men of understanding that pay heed. Those that fulfill their covenant with Allah and do not break it. Those who join those things that Allah has commanded that they be joined, the fear their Lord and a terrible reckoning} To the statement of Allah {And those that have patience seeking the face of their Lord.} (13:19-22).

So it is necessary to define patience by that type that is done for the purpose of seeing the face of Allah and the here after. The purpose of patience is not to be said about someone that he is  of the people of patience and the likes. But rather what is meant is the type of patience that nothing is wanted by it other then the face of Allah. This is because it is from the best of the types of worship that must be practiced by the people of Islam, and Emaan and Ihsaan.

In conclusion we see here that the Sheikh not only has cleared up for us what is meant by this patience that we have been commanded with, but also explained how we are supposed to carry this patience out in all aspects of our lives. May Allah make us of those that are patient and do all that we do solely for his sake. May He also make us of those that hear the truth and act accordingly. Allahuma ameen.

For those of you that find it hard to be patient during times of trials:

[CLICK HERE] to see something that will cause you to be patient even if it isn’t in your nature.