WAYS TO BE PATIENT DURING A CALAMITY

 

10 WAYS TO BE PATIENT DURING A CALAMITY

IMAM IBN-ALDAYYIM

(RAHIMAHUALLAH)

The first:

Recognize the reward and compensation for patience.

As Allah (ﷻ) says: 

وَٱسْتَعِينُوا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِ ۚ وَإِنَّهَالَكَبِيرَةٌ إِلَّا عَلَى ٱلْخَـٰشِعِينَ

And seek help through patience and prayer, and indeed,

it is difficult except for the humbly submissive [to Allah]

(Quran 2:45)

The second:

Know that calamities are atonement for sins and they

wipe them away.

The third:

Know that this calamity is from the preordained decree.

It has been written in the Mother of the Book before the

calamity was created, so it is inevitable that it would occur.

Thus, despondency will only increase the calamity.

The fourth:

Understand the right Allah has over you during this

calamity. It is obligatory to be patient, and there is no

difference of opinion in this. Some scholars say it is

obligatory to be patient and pleased.

Thus, the person is commanded to perform the rights of

Allah and worship Him during this calamity. This is a

necessity, and if you do not do so, the calamity is

multiplied.

The fifth:

Understand that this calamity is a result of your sins.

As Allah (ﷻ) says:

 وَمَآ أَصَـٰبَكُم مِّن مُّصِيبَةٍۢ فَبِمَاكَسَبَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَيَعْفُوا۟ عَن كَثِيرٍۢ

And whatever strikes you of disaster - it is for what your

hands have earned; but He pardons much. (Quran 42:30)

This is general for all calamities, subtle and apparent.

Thus, you should busy yourself with seeking

forgiveness, as this is the greatest way to repel this

calamity. 'All bin Abl Talib said:

No calamity is ever sent down except due to sin, and it is

only lifted by way of repentance.

The sixth:

Know that Allah is pleased with this calamity and has

selected it for you, and servitude to Allah necessitates that

the slave is pleased with whatever his Master is pleased

with for him. If the person is unable to attain the level of

being pleased with this calamity, it is due to his weakness;

thus, he moves to the lower level, which is to be patient

with the calamity. If he is unable to be patient with the

calamity, he moves to the level of oppression and

transgression.

The seventh:

Know that this calamity is a beneficial medicine given

to the person from at-Tabib, who has full knowledge

of what will benefit the person and is Most Merciful

towards him. Therefore, be patient and swallow your

dose of medicine, and don't vomit the medicine with

anger and complaints, thus losing the benefit.

The eight:

Know that at the end of this medicine there is healing,

curing, well-being, and removal of the pain which could

only be removed by this medicine. Thus, when you find

yourself hating this illness and its bitterness, look at the

good results and after-effects.

As Allah (ﷻ) says:

But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and

perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah

Knows, while you know not. (Quran 2:216)

And Allah (ﷻ) says:

…..perhaps you dislike a thing and Allah makes therein

much good. (Quran 4:19)

The ninth:

Know that this calamity did not come to destroy you or kill you. It

only came to test your patience. At this point, it will be made clear

if the person can become a friend of Allah and from His party or

not. If he is firm, he will be selected and bestowed with nobility and

dressed in the garment of virtue. He will become one of Allah's

friends and helpers. But if he turns on his face and falls back on his

heels, then he is driven away and neglected, and his calamity is

multiplied, and he doesn't realize at the moment that his calamity

has been multiplied and increased. But after this calamity is over,

he will realize his adversity became many calamities.

Similarly, the patient person will come to know that his adversity

became many blessings. The only difference between the levels

of the impatient person and the patient person is showing patience

for an hour, and the heart's valor during that hour. It is inevitable

that the calamity will leave both of them, but it will leave the

patient person with nobility, while it will leave the impatient one

with bereavement.

This is the decree of the All-Mighty, the All-Wise, and Allah's virtue

that He gives to whomever He wills. And Allah is the Possessor of

great virtue.

The tenth:

Know that Allah will cultivate His slave upon ease and hardship, favors

and trials. Thus, He will bring servitude from him in every situation.

Allah's slave, in the true sense of the word, is the person who has

servitude to Allah throughout his varying circum stances. As for the

person who is only a slave to Allah during the good times:

And of the people is he who worships Allah on an edge. If he is touched

by good, he is reassured by it; but if he is struck by trial, he turns on

his face [to the other direction). He has lost [this] world and the

Hereafter. That is what is the manifest loss. (Quran 22:11)

This person is not from His slaves whom He has chosen for His servi

tude. Certainly, the faith that is firm during adversity and ease is the

beneficial faith. As for faith that is only present during times of ease,

this faith will not elevate the person to the status of the believers.

Only faith during hardship and ease will elevate the person to this level.

Adversity are the bellows for the slave and the touchstone8 for his faith.

He either comes out like raw, red metal, or he comes out pure, or he

comes out mixed with gold and copper. His calamity will continue until

he removes the copper from the gold and only pure gold remains, If the slave knows that Allah's favor upon him during the

adversity is not less than Allah's favor upon him during

[his time of] well-being, he will busy his heart and tongue

with gratitude towards Allah.

O Allah, help me to remember You, give thanks to You,

and worship You properly. (Sunan Abu Dawud 1362)

And how could he not thank the One who removed the

impurities from him and made him pure?!

These means will assist the person upon patience during

calamities. If this (his patience during calamities)

becomes strong, it will result in being pleased with the

trial and thanking Allah for it. We ask Allah from His

favors to cover us with well-being, and we ask Him not

to expose us through adversity.