Manifestations of Patience - Shaykh Aqeel Mahmood

Khutbah al-Ula — Opening Sermon

Praise be to Allah. We praise Him, ask for His help and ask for His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds.

Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him, and whomsoever He misguides, none can guide him. And I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims.

O you who have believed, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate, and spread among them many men and women. And fear Allah, with whom you ask for help, and the most Merciful. Verily, Allah is ever watching over you.

O you who have believed, fear Allah and say the right words. He will amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 2042 — from the Khutbah al-Hajah of the Prophet)

The Meaning of Patience (الصَّبْر)

From the many things which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala commands us to practice in our lives is the characteristic of having patience. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the Qur'an commands us to be patient during times of difficulty. And although this is something which we are aware of, it's something we have knowledge of, it's something that maybe we practice to a certain extent, sometimes our understanding of the word patience may be more narrow than we think.

The idea of patience to many of us may be just waiting — waiting patiently. When an individual waits, for example, in a queue and he doesn't complain, he doesn't huff and puff and sigh as a result of his impatience, we think that patience is related to waiting patiently, not complaining. But in fact, if we look deeper into the meaning of the word sabr in Islam and in the Arabic language, it's a lot more than just waiting in the correct manner and not complaining about how long something may be taking.

The Two Commands of Patience

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the Qur'an, when He talks about patience, He tells us:

O you who have believed, be patient — اصْبِرُوا — and endure in patience — وَصَابِرُوا. Here Allah azza wa jal is showing us the different manifestations of patience. Allah azza wa jal here uses the same word twice but in different forms. And the scholars when they talked about this ayah, they talked about the difference between the verb or the command اصْبِرُوا and صَابِرُوا — the difference between the two different forms of patience which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is commanding us to practice in our lives.

They said that اصْبِرُوا — be patient — Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is referring to acts of worship: the consistency, not giving up, not stopping in worshipping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So Allah azza wa jal here is referring to an individual who practices the salah, practices giving charity, practices obedience to one's parents, practices other good deeds, as a form of patience.

وَصَابِرُوا — and endure with patience. And the scholars said this is different because it's referring to an individual who endures regarding anything which prevents him from carrying out the obedience of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Such as an individual who is an enemy to Islam and he's stopping him from carrying out his duties as a Muslim, or other things which may get in the way — desires and other things which may stop an individual from carrying out the worship of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So there's a slight difference, there's a nuance between these two words that we have to understand.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions in another ayah the importance of patience and He tells us:

Have patience, and your patience is something that is from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Meaning an individual can only show patience if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives him the strength and the ability to show and to practice that patience. Patience is something which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives an individual.

The Scholarly Definition of Patience

When we observe and we reflect on the meaning of the word patience from the scholars, they say it is to refrain, to show restraint, to stop yourself from doing something, to have some element of self-control, to detain yourself. All of these come under the meaning of patience from an Islamic perspective.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) told us about patience. And he said: true patience, real patience is the one that's used and shown and exercised at the first stroke of grief. As soon as a calamity befalls an individual, he shows patience right from the beginning, from the onset, straight away. And this is a true sign of an individual's patience.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1283; Sahih Muslim, Book 11, Hadith 2179)

The Manifestations of Patience

If we were to reflect on the different manifestations of patience, the scholars talked about how it can manifest in different forms. Meaning one can show patience in different ways. It's not just simply a case of waiting and waiting patiently.

1. Honor — Refraining from Desires

From the ways an individual shows patience is by stopping and refraining himself from giving in to his desires, his carnal desires. And when a person does this, he's showing patience and this could be called honor. It's called honor because you're honorable. As a Muslim, you're refraining from giving in to your lusts and your desires. So this is also a manifestation of patience.

2. Restraint — Controlling Anger

The scholars said an individual who refrains from anger and stops himself from becoming angry is exercising patience. This is also a type of patience because you're refraining, you're controlling yourself from becoming angry. And as a result, it shows restraint. Restraint is only something which can come about as a result of somebody showing patience, because he stops himself from becoming angry.

3. Discretion — Controlling the Tongue

An individual may be prone to gossiping, being very talkative, backbiting, talking about others, saying things which are irrelevant, cursing. When he refrains from these things, he's showing an element of patience. He's stopping himself from saying things which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has made haram. And when he does this, this type of patience is called discretion. You're being more discretionary with regards to what you say. You're controlling your tongue. This is also an element and an example of patience.

4. Gracefulness — Not Being Hasty

An individual, when he's not hasty, shows a level of restraint with regards to being hasty — not saying things out of haste, not doing things out of haste, not rushing to do things. And in this case, patience could be manifested as gracefulness. You're showing grace in the way you carry yourself.

5. Courage — Not Running Away

The scholars said, when an individual refrains from running away from an enemy, from a trial, from a task, from responsibilities, this is also an example of someone showing patience and it's called courage.

6. Generosity — Refraining from Miserliness

The scholars said, when an individual refrains and stops himself from being stingy, from being miserly, and he gives from the wealth Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has blessed him with — gives in charity, gives to those who are in need — he's refraining from showing this bad characteristic of being stingy and miserly. And this is called generosity, showing generosity.

Patience in Times of Trial

So when we truly understand the meaning of patience, brothers and sisters, we realize it's a lot more than what we may have thought patience actually meant. And there are different manifestations of patience. Every single time we refrain from showing our anger. Every single time we refrain and stop ourselves from being stingy, and we're open-handed when we give charity. Every single time we don't run away from a problem that we're facing — all of these are manifestations of patience.

And when we reflect, brothers and sisters, on some of the trials and tribulations that we're facing, this new normal that we're living under under the pandemic — this is also an example and a sign of how patient we are or how impatient we are. When we don't show restraint, when we don't show gracefulness, when we don't show honor, when we don't show courage or gracefulness or generosity in these difficult times, it's a sign that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — after giving us this test — it's a sign that we're not passing this test, and that we're falling short with regards to our patience and with regards to passing this test that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us.

The Du'a of the Afflicted

The Messenger of Allah (عليه الصلاة والسلام) told us and informed us of ways that we could show patience, exude patience, during times of difficulty, during times of trial. The Messenger of Allah (عليه الصلاة والسلام) said: there is no Muslim who is afflicted by any calamity or trial, and then says:

To Allah we belong and to Him we return. O Allah, reward me for my affliction and replace it for me with something better than it — except that Allah will give him something better than what he's going through. He'll replace his calamity, his trial, his difficulty with something better. But of course, all of this goes back to an individual and how much patience he's showing in the first place.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 4, Hadith 2126)

Khutbah al-Thaniyah — Second Sermon

Patience in Our Interactions with One Another

Brothers and sisters, we were talking about the different ways an individual can show patience. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the Qur'an told us about how, when we interact with one another, that we show elements of patience towards one another. Allah azza wa jal tells us in the Qur'an in Surah al-'Asr, a surah we all know and are familiar with:

And advise one another with the truth and advise one another with patience. Show patience when you're interacting with each other. Show patience when you talk to one another, when you advise each other.

If you're interacting with someone and you don't like what they're saying — because of possibly the way they're saying it, or the way they're explaining something, or the words that they're using — we have to understand that individuals are different. Not everybody speaks the way that we speak. Not everyone explains things or says things in the way that we would like for them to be said. Every single individual is different with regards to how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has created them.

And sometimes when we respond, we may show impatience, we may show haste, we may react and say things which aren't proper, not correct, things which we feel may upset the other person. And then we would sometimes use the excuse of how this is how Allah has created me, this is how I'm going to speak. And if someone doesn't like the way I speak, then that's his problem.

But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us wisdom. He's given us understanding. And as a result of Allah azza wa jal creating each and every single one of us differently, we have to have the wisdom and understanding to be able to talk to others in a way that shows care and consideration. It shows that we're able to have this wisdom and intelligence to understand that every single individual has to be dealt with differently in the way that we interact with them, in the things that we say to them.

Closing — Ask Allah for Patience

Lastly, brothers and sisters, I'd like to remind each and every single one of us of the importance of understanding that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the one who gives patience. Allah is the one who instills patience in our hearts. And we should always be supplicating and asking Allah azza wa jal to increase us in our patience, especially in these times of difficulty. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to increase each and every single one of us and strengthen us in our patience, and that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala makes this a means for us to enter paradise.

Verily, Allah commands justice, the doing of good, and giving to kinsfolk, and He forbids all evil deeds, and all that is forbidden, and all kinds of oppression. He admonishes you, that you may take heed.

So remember Allah, the Most Great, the Most Majestic — He will remember you. And be grateful to Him for His blessings — He will increase you. And the remembrance of Allah is the greatest, and Allah knows what you do.