When critical situations become more complex and confusing; and difficulties follow each other; where the darkness of the night seems endless … only patience (with the blessing of the Almighty) can illuminate life, help, protecting from uncertainty, confusion and despair. The ability to exercise reasonable and appropriate patience is an important advantage and quality of the believer, upon which he must build his deeds and hopes.
The Prophet Muhammad said: “Patience [patiently and calmly overcoming life’s difficulties, when you do everything possible, imaginable and inconceivable without complaining or not, but otherwise you trust in God’s mercy and Divine blessing] is a bright light [which opens up completely new and in a different way inconspicuous, but very high and profitable prospects of earthly and eternal splendor] “…
- The story of Musa and Khidr
Let’s go back to the story of Musa and Khidr. They crossed the river and met a child, whom Khidr immediately killed. Musa could not understand how Khidr’s hand rose to shed the blood of an innocent child. Khidr told about the righteous parents of the child. If he grew up, he would become a tyrant in relation to his parents, and would torture them until they renounced their faith. Therefore, the Lord ordered to kill the child.
Of course, his parents grieved for him. But the Lord gave them another righteous child, who began to honor his parents. But the pain of loss did not leave them until Judgment Day. When they appeared before God, He revealed to them why he took the soul of the first child. Then they will understand and praise the Lord of the Worlds.
This is human nature. Something bad and incomprehensible to us is constantly happening on earth, and we perceive this as another obstacle to peace of mind. Everything is from God, and there is good in everything, whether we see it or not. Just accept what happened. This is all we can.
- How Islam prompts us to be patient
Now let’s talk about the problems that are subject to us. The first step, as we said, is to identify the problem. The second is to find a solution. To solve a problem, you need to change something in yourself. The Lord said:
“Indeed, Allah does not change the position of people until they change themselves” (Quran 13:11)
This is an area that we can control. One solution may be to cultivate patience. Although it is considered to be an innate quality.
The man approached the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and asked: “What should I do to get to Paradise?” The Messenger of Allah advised him: “Do not be angry” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)
This man was one of those who quickly became enraged. And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) advised him to change his angry nature. As we can see, character change is quite an achievable thing.
Another hadith says:
“Whoever pretends to be patient (out of the desire to become such), Allah will give him patience” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)
This means that someone is born patient, and someone becomes so.
- How patience benefits us and changes our view of life
An interesting fact: Western psychiatrists and psychologists not so long ago advised not to keep anger in oneself, because accumulated negative emotions ruin a person. Now they have found that by pouring out anger, a person endangers the nervous system – at this moment, the smallest vessels of the brain burst. Therefore, now psychologists are sure that restraining anger is much more correct.
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) taught us patience. Even if fire is raging inside, outwardly we must remain patient. And this is not a desire to deceive others, but work on oneself, education of patience. Gradually, external calmness and patience will subdue internal emotions. Thus, a person becomes patient both outside and inside.
One method is to think about the impact of material wealth on the development of patience. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“Do not compare yourself with those who are richer than you. But compare with those who are poorer “
Whatever the situation, there will always be those who are even worse and harder. This should be our basic approach to worldly goods. Today, material well-being plays, perhaps, one of the main roles in human life. Some are simply obsessed with the idea of profit. Whatever the desire for comfort, this should not affect the inner peace. Accumulating property, wanting to catch up with those who are richer, we will never reach the goal.
“If you give the son of Adam a valley of gold, he will certainly want a second” (Sahih Muslim)
- Patience is one of the fundamental virtues for a better life
The more we have, the more we want. This is our essence. Contentment will come only when we look at the poor, the needy. Then, we will be able to appreciate the generosity and mercy of the Lord towards us, even if we are not as rich as we would like.
Another hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) helps us learn how to perceive material good. The approach that the Lord set for us 1400 years ago is as follows:
“Whoever makes this world his final goal, and he can take from life only what is prescribed for him” (Ibn Majah, Ibn Hibban)
If a person has made worldly life his goal, he will continue to rush from side to side in search of what he wants. By the will of God, poverty will always be before his eyes, and no matter how much such a person makes, the feeling of poverty will never leave him. Even the polite attitude of others will seem to him only a desire for his money. He will stop believing people. So wealth will turn into misfortune for him.
When the stock market crashes, newspapers write about investor suicides. The person may have had 8 million, but lost 5 (and that’s three left!) And it seemed to him the end. Life seemed meaningless to him, because the Lord placed poverty before his eyes.
