What is obligatory for a person when he is struck by a calamity, and is he required to be content with the divine decree in every situation or not, and is he also required to be patient in every situation?
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The questioner : May Allah reward you. The questioner asks: What is obligatory for a person when he is struck by a calamity, and is he required to be content with the divine decree in every situation or not?
The Shaykh : Repeat, repeat.
The questioner : What is obligatory for a person when he is struck by a calamity, and is he required to be content with the divine decree in every situation or not, and is he also required to be patient in every situation? We ask for clarification.
The Shaykh : A person facing a calamity has four stations, four stations:
The first station is: dissatisfaction.
The second station is: patience.
The third station is: contentment.
The fourth station is: gratitude.
Every person who is struck by a calamity is not free from one of these four stations.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : As for dissatisfaction, it is forbidden for a person to be dissatisfied with the calamity that struck him, because his dissatisfaction with it means that he is not content with Allah as his Lord. The sign of dissatisfaction is calling for woe and misery, saying "Oh, my woe" or "Oh, my misery," or tearing one's clothes, or scratching the face, or pulling out hair, or breaking vessels, or the like. This is forbidden.
The second is: patience, which is obligatory due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Anfal 8:46] And because the opposite of patience is dissatisfaction, he must be patient with the calamity that struck him, even if he dislikes it in his heart. He may dislike it in his heart and wish it had not happened, but he is patient and seeking reward, saying no word that angers Allah and doing no deed that angers Allah.
The third is: contentment, which is recommended and not obligatory. Contentment means that a person is content with the divine decree as if it had not happened. The difference between it and patience is that the patient one dislikes what happened of the calamity, but he restrains himself from what angers Allah. As for the one who is content, he does not care; he says, "This is by the decree of Allah, and Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, has the judgment, and I am content," and no dislike for what happened occurs in his heart.
The fourth is: gratitude, that he thanks Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, for the calamity that happened to him. But someone might ask: How does a person thank his Lord for a calamity?
The answer to this is: We say that a person can thank Allah for a calamity if he compares it to something greater than it. He says, "I thank Allah that my calamity was not like the calamity of so-and-so." The greatest of calamities are calamities of religion; we ask Allah for safety. Therefore, among the supplications of the Muslims in the qunut is:Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3502Sahih (Darussalam) So, if a person is struck, for example, by the death of his son, this is a calamity for which he can thank Allah from any angle. From the angle that some people are struck by the death of more than one son. And he may thank Allah for it from another angle, which is that this calamity becomes a cause for the expiation of sins and the raising of ranks. It is known that the expiation of sins and the raising of ranks are among the greatest things a person hopes for. At that time, he thanks Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, for this calamity. So the stations are four: the first is dissatisfaction, which is forbidden, indeed it is among the major sins. The second is patience, which is obligatory. The third is contentment, which is recommended. The fourth is gratitude, which is also recommended, but it is a higher station than the station of contentment. Yes.
The Shaykh : Repeat, repeat.
The questioner : What is obligatory for a person when he is struck by a calamity, and is he required to be content with the divine decree in every situation or not, and is he also required to be patient in every situation? We ask for clarification.
The Shaykh : A person facing a calamity has four stations, four stations:
The first station is: dissatisfaction.
The second station is: patience.
The third station is: contentment.
The fourth station is: gratitude.
Every person who is struck by a calamity is not free from one of these four stations.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : As for dissatisfaction, it is forbidden for a person to be dissatisfied with the calamity that struck him, because his dissatisfaction with it means that he is not content with Allah as his Lord. The sign of dissatisfaction is calling for woe and misery, saying "Oh, my woe" or "Oh, my misery," or tearing one's clothes, or scratching the face, or pulling out hair, or breaking vessels, or the like. This is forbidden.
The second is: patience, which is obligatory due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:
and be patient. Indeed, Allah is with the patient.
واصبروا إن الله مع الصابرينThe third is: contentment, which is recommended and not obligatory. Contentment means that a person is content with the divine decree as if it had not happened. The difference between it and patience is that the patient one dislikes what happened of the calamity, but he restrains himself from what angers Allah. As for the one who is content, he does not care; he says, "This is by the decree of Allah, and Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, has the judgment, and I am content," and no dislike for what happened occurs in his heart.
The fourth is: gratitude, that he thanks Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, for the calamity that happened to him. But someone might ask: How does a person thank his Lord for a calamity?
The answer to this is: We say that a person can thank Allah for a calamity if he compares it to something greater than it. He says, "I thank Allah that my calamity was not like the calamity of so-and-so." The greatest of calamities are calamities of religion; we ask Allah for safety. Therefore, among the supplications of the Muslims in the qunut is: