Piety and Patience

Allah the Exalted said:

وَاتَّقُوا يَوْمًا تُرْجَعُونَ فِيهِ إِلَى اللهِ ثُمَّ تُوَفَّى كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَا كَسَبَتْ وَهُمْ لا يُظْلَمُونَ

This Ayah means: “And fear a day in which you will be resurrected and judged by Allah. Then, based on one’s deeds in this life, one will be either rewarded or punished and they will never be wronged.”

Fear Allah and never waste your time in acts of disobedience to Allah. For indeed the successful one is the one who does not engage in worldly pleasures throughout his life, rather, he enlightens his grave with righteous deeds before he will be admitted into it.

The Prophet peace be upon him in one of his hadiths taught us a matter which is very beneficial if we act in accordance with it. The Prophet peace be upon him praised the one who has self-restraint by saying that the strong man is not strong due to his ability to knock-down others, rather his strength lies in his ability to exercise self-restraint when he is angry.

Ayah 153 of Suratul-Baqarah means: {Strengthen yourselves through patience and prayer, and know that Allah supports the patient ones.}

Patience is among the obligations of the heart. It is of three kinds:

Patience in performing the obligations: it is forcing oneself to perform the obligations like praying on time, fasting the month of Ramadan, attending the circles of knowledge to learn the Islamic obligatory knowledge, and other obligations, even if one feels lazy to do them.

Patience in avoiding what Allah made unlawful: it is restraining oneself from committing the sins. It takes a lot of effort to stop oneself from committing the unlawful, like leaving out the prayer, drinking alcohol, stealing, and other unlawful matters. It is in one’s nature to lean towards laziness and easy coming pleasures, even if they are unlawful.

Patience with hardships and calamities: it is being patient—seeking the reward from God—with what bothers one, such as pain, hardship, poverty, sadness, or other afflictions that befall the person in this life. This world is a place of calamities, tests, and a workplace, while the Hereafter is the place for judgement. For this type of patience to take place, one must not act or talk in a way that reflects one’s impatience or objection to Allah’s Will.