Milestones

Assalamualaikum,
I shall talk about sabar (patience), inshallah. I was following Syeikh Riyadh Ansari’s lecture, and I think the onus is on me to share the knowledge I have received from him.
In Surah Ali Imran, verse 200, Allah mentioned
O ye who believe! Persevere in patience and constancy, vie in such perseverance;strengthen each other; and fear God ; that ye may prosper.
Thus we should try to outdo others in patience. Through patience, redha, and taqwa, success in attainable. By sabar (patience), it will cause Allah to choose the person to lead the deen,inshallah. Allah is with those who are patient. Sabar is a condition for victory. Rasulullah saw once narrated “Know that victory comes with patience.” Sabar and taqwa is a shield against enemies. If you have taqwa, the enemies cannot harm you at all. Can’t we all see, the solution is simple, but we are not taking the medicine!
Now, here’s a good question. “Is it possible to develop patience?”
The answer is yes, well how? When patience is needed, we should exercise sabar, and it will be in our character. One must always remember that patience is only real patience when exercised during the first blow for we know that sooner or later, we’ll get over it. But it’s the first moment when we are put to trial with patience, that’s when it really counts. Like if somebody we love, maybe a brother, or parents, passed away, it is the first few moments when we receive the news where we should exercise sabar the most. Sooner or later, we will be able to accept the fact.
Remember Nabi Yusuf a.s., when he was invited to adultery. He was young and single, and the person inviting him was very beautiful and desirable. Imagine a young and single man being invited to adultery. These are the moments when his hormones must be raging wild. But mashallah, he was patient. Even when the women threatened to put him to jail, and all sorts of threats, he still exercised sabar and was steadfast in Allah’s religion. The most difficult sabar is restraining oneself from haraam. I wonder how would the guys today fair if being put in his position now.
There are many kinds of sabar, and its true that the toughest one is sabar in following the rules Allah has placed for us in Islam. We encounter a lot of events which involve sabar, which we might even have taken for granted. Like if we restrain from meeting or talking to a non mahram for the sake of Allah, no matter how much we may adore that person. Subhanallah. Or when one is able to become rich, but accepts poverty and exercises sabar for the sake of Allah. Or when one is perpetually tempted by syaitan, who always reminds us of the state of poverty, and we exercise sabar for the sake of Allah. Subhanallah. May Allah give us all the strength to exercise sabar.

And surely, We shall try you till We test those who strive hard (for the Cause of Allâh) and the patient ones, and We shall test your facts (i.e. the one who is a liar, and the one who is truthful). (Muhammad:31)

posted by RR @ 2:28 AM