PATIENCE IN ISLAM

The last time we met subhanallah caused some shock amongst you! So I was doing the livestream everyday Alhamdullilah and we were doing the Quran Tafsir. I got to Juz 29 and I said inshallah I’ll see you the next day but Allah SWT had a different plan.

So what happened then is what I’m going to talk about today. On the Wednesday we finished Juz 29 alhamdullilah. On the Thursday we were supposed to meet to do Juz 30. We were doing these classes online.

I told you on Wednesday that I was expecting and I wasn’t feeling very well and to make some Duaa for me, but I didn’t realise how soon things would happen. On the Thursday I was admitted to hospital. The only thing I was thinking was, “how was I supposed to finish my Tafsir?”

I know lots of you were looking forward to the very last one; however, the hospital staff were amazing and they let me borrow a room. So I did the livestream from the hospital room, Alhamdullillah. So that’s why it was rushed. Lots of people inquired about the pace of the final Tafsir because I was doing each Juz nice and slowly and suddenly the last one was rushed. Honestly I didn’t want to let my listeners down.

I didn’t want to leave it unfinished. For me this was like a personal journey going through the Tafsir of every single Juz of the Quran and obviously lots of you were joining me. So my plan was I was going to finish the last Juz and start preparing the house and getting ready for the new baby. But then subhanallah on Eid day the baby arrived. So that was Allah SWT’s plan. So what did I learn on those two days whilst I was waiting in hospital? I learned as a Muslim, sometimes you have to exercise patience when you’re least expecting it subhanllah! That’s the topic of today, it’s all about patience.

 It’s easier to be patient when you haven’t got much to be patient about for example if you haven’t got much going on or much to be stressed about. But I think when you’re really tested by Allah SWT that’s when you have to exercise a lot of patience. That’s when your Eeman come into it.  You need to display this very important characteristic that you should have as a Muslim. So myself personally, when I was sitting waiting for two days I was just making Duaa. First of all I thought whatever is going to happen n it’s going to be by the will of Allah SWT and I was confident that inshallah nothing bad would happen. Secondly, when you say you believe in Allah SWT, you have to really wholeheartedly believe that whatever is going to happen it’s going to be decreed from Allah, especially when you’re not sure about what may happen.

 So I wanted to pick out just one Ayah of the Quran, for us to concentrate on so this is from Chapter 39 which is Surah Az-Zumar, I love this Surah.

In it, Allah SWT says:

﴾قُلۡ يَٰعِبَادِ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱتَّقُواْ رَبَّكُمۡۚ لِلَّذِينَ أَحۡسَنُواْ فِي هَٰذِهِ ٱلدُّنۡيَا حَسَنَةٞۗ وَأَرۡضُ ٱللَّهِ وَٰسِعَةٌۗ إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى ٱلصَّٰبِرُونَ أَجۡرَهُم بِغَيۡرِ حِسَابٖ﴿

«Say, "O My servants who have believed, fear your Lord. For those who do good in this world is good, and the earth of Allah is spacious. Indeed, the patient will be given their reward without account."(10)»

First of all Allah commands us in this ayah to have Taqwa and this is really important. Allah tells us to remain steadfast in our obedience and have Taqwa in Him. This point is really important. Rather than just saying you’re Muslim and having belief in Allah SWT, you must also have full Taqwa in Him and really feeling this in your heart. So having the full belief in Allah SWT and remaining steadfast in this belief. Allah is telling us the people who do good will have a good reward here in the dunya and the hereafter as well.  Allah SWT tells us about the patient people, you know you’re going to get your without reckoning! It means your reward is not going to be measured, it’s not going to be weighted. It’s going to be from Allah SWT and its going to be immense when you get it.

This is a really important ayah you can remind yourself of when you got through problems, especially as Allah has told us everyone will be faced with some sort of trial whether it’s to do with your wealth, or your children, hunger, poverty etc. Everyone will experience something to test them. Furthermore, your trial is going to be different to anyone else’s. You’re not going to have the same difficulty or problems as someone else so don’t compare your problems with other people’s difficulties. Remember, lots goes on behind closed doors, which you don’t know about. Don’t think you necessarily know the trials that another person is going through. But when you do have these trials, this is the time when you have to exercise your patience. Apart from believing in Allah SWT and accepting that whatever Allah will do is for your good, another good thing to do is exercise patience.

Subhanallah as a Muslim, you’re lucky because when you’re going through hardship you exercise patience, you get reward from Allah SWT, then when everything is good you’re thankful, you still get reward from Allah SWT. So it’s a win-win situation, although of course it may not seem that way when things are getting tough and difficult and you think ‘what can I do?’ Turn to Allah SWT. Make Duaa to Allah SWT. Make lots of istighfar to Allah SWT. Don’t just make Duaa to Allah SWT, as I keep saying you have to really believe in your heart that Allah SWT is there for you and Allah SWT wants good for you. Sometimes when you’re going through difficulty and hardship, it’s not really clear what the purpose of it is you can’t tell why you’re going through the trial. You might think ‘what good is going to come out of this?’ or ‘how is this situation going to play out’? ‘What’s going to happen at the end of it?’ At this moment you have to believe in the path Allah SWT has decreed for you.

As a wider community we are going through our own test of patience right now because we are in lockdown. You’re not able to do the things you normally do, you’re not able to see people you normally see. People’s whole lives have turned upside down and changed. So obviously this is a time to be patient. As Muslims we have just come out of Ramadan where we had the chance to display patience. This was a time when Allah SWT allowed us to train ourselves to do many good deeds and increase many good characteristics. Including patience. You would of course have been patient when fasting; abstaining from food and drink. So let’s continue to nurture this characteristic which Muslims should have. Let’s practise in our daily lives inshallah. Hopefully we can then begin to notice really positive changes. O if you are already a patient person, continue to practise this especially through trials and tribulations, if you’re not let’s begin implementing this. Remind yourself of the ayah we mentioned that the reward is going to be in full and without reckoning, without being weighed or measured, imagine that! A reward that hasn’t got a limit on it, it’s up to Allah how much He chooses to reward you.