Types of Patience.

The Shaykh : And His saying, Mighty and Majestic: The letter "ba" here indicates causality. That is: because of their patience. And is a source particle, because what follows it is interpreted as a source. The measure of the speech after interpreting the source is "it will be." What is it? The measure of the speech. The verb is "it will be," and the source is after the source particle. What will it be? That is: by their patience. They will be rewarded with the upper rooms by their patience. Patience: restraining, patience: restraining. From this comes the saying of the Arabs: "So-and-so was killed in a state of restraint" meaning: restrained and bound. So what is meant by patience here? What is meant by it is patience regarding three matters: First: patience in obedience to Allah. Second: patience from disobedience to Allah. Third: patience with the decrees of Allah. Three types. Patience in obedience to Allah, patience from disobedience to Allah, patience with the decrees of Allah. So what is patience in obedience to Allah? Patience in obedience to Allah: that a person restrains himself to obedience so that he completes it, perfects it, and excels in it. Does this require hardship? The answer: Yes. It requires, by Allah, hardship, especially with the difficulty of obedience. For a person finds hardship. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said regarding the rabitah (stationing for defense), among the descriptions of those who perform rabitah, that they are: And in a narration: meaning: the days of cold, because in the days of cold it is difficult for a person to perform wudu' due to the coldness of the water. Likewise, prayer requires the hardship of patience. And patience in prayer is not merely regarding the physical movements; the physical movements may be easy, like what? Standing, bowing, prostrating. This may be easy. But there is a difficult, tiring patience. It is the patience of the heart against not having intrusive thoughts, against not having intrusive thoughts, meaning: against not letting the mind wander to the right and to the left. Most of us—and we ask Allah to treat us with His forgiveness—most of us pray, but their hearts are not praying. Their hearts wander to the right and to the left. So do we say: Is this person patient? No. He did not have patience. Restrain the heart. Make it contemplate what you say and reflect on what you do. When you recite al-Fatihah, be patient with yourself that you are addressing the Lord of the Worlds, Exalted and Majestic is He. When you say: Allah says to you: My servant praised Me. When you say: Allah says to you: My servant praised Me. When you say: Allah says: My servant glorified Me. And when you say: He said: This is between Me and My servant, divided in two, and for My servant is what he asked. Be patient with your heart that you are present with this great meaning. Then remember the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic: . He knows the whisperer and the one who whispers. And at that time, this will be an aid to the presence of the heart. Satan will attack you. If you turn the heart away from the distractions in this matter, what will happen? He will open for you another door. Then he will open for you a door that has no value and does not benefit you, neither in your religion nor your worldly life. If you block it, he opens another. One that never occurred to your mind, and so on. Be patient with your heart, restrain it from distractions. Make it present in your prayer, make it present with you. This is patience in obedience. Now, patience in obedience. A person in Hajj finds great hardship in the crowding, in the tawaf, in the sa'y, in the stoning of the pillars, on the road. He finds it. Be patient with yourself. Do not say: I wish I had not performed Hajj this year. Be patient with yourself, restrain it to this hardship. This is patience in obedience to Allah. In fasting, in the days of summer, the day is long, and the weather is hot, and the body needs moisture. So the organs dry out and the person feels pain. But be patient. Be patient with yourself. Do not regret a voluntary fast. And do not be weary of an obligatory fast. Be patient with yourself. Obedience to parents: a parent may order you to do something you do not want, but there is no harm for you in it and there is benefit for him, so be patient with it even if you do not want it. And the examples of this are many. Patience in obedience.
Patience from disobedience. This is the second section: patience from disobedience, meaning: if your soul calls you to disobedience, then what? Then prevent it, prevent it. Remind it of Allah. Fear it of the punishment. If your soul calls you to drink intoxicants, refuge with Allah. Restrain it, prevent it. Make clear to it the harm in it. If your soul calls you to zina with the eye or the ear or the private part, be patient with yourself. Lower the gaze. Turn away from listening. Guard your private part. And perhaps you will find difficulty in that, especially with the strength of the caller and the weakness of the preventer. The caller to zina in the present time, is it strong or weak? Answer, everyone. Strong. If you look at the media and the obscene things, whether they are visual, auditory, or written, it is very strong. Likewise, the caller to this is the strength of youth, idleness, security, and blessing. All of these are among the causes that facilitate zina, refuge with Allah. If you look at the preventer, you find it is weak. Faith is weak, the governmental deterrent is weak. Look at the countries to your right and left, and you will find that the deterrent is fragile. They do not establish the hudud. And we heard—and the responsibility is on the transmitter—that in some of their laws, if zina is between two parties, a man and a woman, by their choice, and the woman has no husband, then there is no punishment. We seek refuge in Allah. The hudud are suspended regarding what? If she has a husband and he is pleased with it, there is no punishment. And if he complains, he has the right. What do you say about this law? Invalid or valid? Invalid. Turning away from the ruling of Allah and following this may lead to pure disbelief, refuge with Allah. So if a person restrains himself despite the strength of the caller and the weakness of the preventer, this is among the praiseworthy patience. Which is more burdensome for a person: patience in obedience or patience from disobedience? The principle is that patience in obedience is more difficult, because it involves forcing the soul to action. And action is easier than leaving. But for some people, patience from disobedience may be more difficult for them. And for each are degrees of what they did.
The third: patience with the decrees of Allah. Patience with the decrees of Allah. The decrees of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, are what He decrees upon the servants. And they revolve between two matters: between excellence and justice. -Pay attention, O man-. Everything that Allah decrees upon a servant of calamities revolves between two matters: either excellence or justice, either excellence or justice. Excellence: that Allah decrees a calamity upon a servant and he does not know a cause for it. This is excellence. And as for the one for which he knows a cause, what is this? Justice. . And none of us is exempt from being struck, O brothers. And the calamity is the calamity of religion. For this reason, we say in the du'a' of qunut: O Allah, do not make our calamity in what? In our religion. However the worldly life may be, O my brothers, its calamity is light. The utmost in it is death. And death is a transition from lower to higher for the righteous. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said: For whom? . The calamity of the worldly life is easy compared to the calamity of religion. The calamity of religion, by Allah, is greater and more severe for the sensible person. As for the worldly life, as I told you at the beginning: the state does not last. As it was said: The permanence of the state is impossible. And second: that it ends at the utmost by leading to death, which is inevitable. Patience with the decrees of Allah: that a person does not complain with his heart, nor with his tongue, nor with his limbs. How many? Three. Not with his heart, nor with his tongue, nor with his limbs. That he does not complain with his heart by being angry with Allah, Mighty and Majestic. And saying: Why did He test me and not test so-and-so? My brother. Who are you? Are you not a servant of Allah? If you are so, then the Master does with His servant what He wills. Then know that you are not struck by a calamity, however small, except that sins are expiated for you thereby or your ranks are raised thereby. Until it came in the hadith: A man seeks the key from his pocket—the key to the house—and his hand does not find it the first time. And what does he do? He panics and says: I hope it is not lost. Where did you go? This panic is written for him as a reward, this panic is written for him as a reward. To this extent, until the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: . You are rewarded. So how do you complain of the decree and destiny of Allah, and the good is for you? It is said that Rabi'ah al-'Adawiyyah—and she is among the group of worshippers—was struck by a calamity and her finger was cut off, so she was not affected. So it was said to her about that. She said: "The sweetness of its reward made me forget the bitterness of its patience". What Allah willed!
As for complaining with the tongue: such as complaining to the creation about Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Complaining to the creation about Allah, or saying: Woe to me! Woe to me! And the like of that.
As for the limbs: tearing one's clothes, slapping one's cheeks, pulling out one's hair, and the like. There are people who do this. The greatest, ugliest, and most severe of these is suicide, may Allah protect us from it. There are people who, when struck by calamities they cannot bear, go and kill themselves. Our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) related to us the story of a man who was wounded but did not have patience. He did what is not permissible to do, and Allah made the Fire obligatory for him. Does the one who commits suicide to escape this calamity actually escape? Answer me, everyone. No, he does not escape. He thinks that if he dies, he will find rest, but that is not the case. Rather, when he dies, he will be tormented in the Fire of Hell with what he used to kill himself, remaining in it forever, eternally. For this reason, we mourn our brothers who go to the occupied lands of Palestine and blow themselves up among the Jews, thinking thereby that they are drawing near to Allah. But this only increases their distance, because they are killing themselves, may Allah protect us from it. Killing oneself is among the major sins. He will be tormented in the Fire with what he used to kill himself. But we do not say to these people that they are of this type, because they are exercising independent legal reasoning. They think that this is better. And for the one who interprets the matter, we hope for Allah's forgiveness for him. But this act is forbidden by the Shari'ah and is not jihad in the path of Allah. It is also contrary to reason, everyone, contrary to reason. If we assume that he kills himself, how many Jews does he kill? At most, let him kill fifty, a hundred. What will the Jews take in retaliation? They will kill hundreds. And they will become more fanatical when they see the desecration of the land. But most people do not look at the consequences or look at the deep matters. The important thing, my brothers, is that patience with the divine decree of Allah has its place. Is it five? Three. They are: the heart, the tongue, and the limbs. These are the types of patience. So the saying of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) here: means: by their patience. And patience, as you heard, is of three types. Know that what consoles you in calamities or during calamities is to look at those around you. Have those around you been struck or not? Look. You will not see anyone but one who is stricken like you, or worse than you, or better than you. But no one is free from calamity except one whose life was cut short and he perished before calamities reached him. If such a person exists. Console your soul with your peers and companions. Al-Khansa used to mourn her brother Sakhr and say:
"And were it not for the multitude of mourners around me *** for their brothers, I would have killed myself.
They do not mourn one like my brother, but *** I console my soul for him by taking comfort in others".
Look at the people.