How to interpret Ibn al-Qayyim’s statement: “When we were afflicted with worry, distress, and sadness, we would go to Shaykh al-Islam and find relief”?
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The questioner : Shaykh, may Allah bless you. The research conducted by Shaykh al-Islam, and likewise, is that the believer and the worshipper is made happy by Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in this world, and his soul is glad. Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah says: “When the world became narrow for us and our hearts and chests became constricted, we would go to Shaykh al-Islam and find relief”. This is one of the events that used to happen to them. So how do we interpret this in light of Shaykh al-Islam’s words?
The Shaykh : There is no god but Allah. The Messenger did not grieve or become distressed. He did not sit down when the news of Ja’far ibn Abi Talib came to him; he sat alone in the mosque, desolate, while people passed by him. He was not in the usual state known to us. Sometimes it does not mean that a person is always in bliss. These calamities are a blessing for the believer because he knows that he will be rewarded for them. Therefore, “I think Rabi’ah al-Adawiyyah was struck in her finger, I do not know if it was cut or wounded, but she did not care about it. She was asked: What is that? She said: The sweetness of its reward made me forget the bitterness of its patience”. These are truly the ones whom Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has chosen; calamities are blessings for them because they take pleasure in them. They see that the pain of the body must end, no matter what. The distress of the heart must end. A person is happy at the beginning of the day, then distressed in the middle, then happy at the end, is that not so? They see that this distress that has befallen them is a blessing because, if they are granted patience with it, it becomes a reward and elevated ranks.
The questioner : O Shaykh, I have a problem because he says that when we went to Shaykh al-Islam.
The Shaykh : Yes, yes. This is necessary. There must be worry and distress.
The questioner : He says he went, meaning he linked it to the fact that he had knowledge.
The Shaykh : In any case, Shaykh al-Islam, without doubt, in his gatherings, if he saw them distressed or worried, he would cite from the texts what would remove that from them. The time has ended.
The Shaykh : There is no god but Allah. The Messenger did not grieve or become distressed. He did not sit down when the news of Ja’far ibn Abi Talib came to him; he sat alone in the mosque, desolate, while people passed by him. He was not in the usual state known to us. Sometimes it does not mean that a person is always in bliss. These calamities are a blessing for the believer because he knows that he will be rewarded for them. Therefore, “I think Rabi’ah al-Adawiyyah was struck in her finger, I do not know if it was cut or wounded, but she did not care about it. She was asked: What is that? She said: The sweetness of its reward made me forget the bitterness of its patience”. These are truly the ones whom Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has chosen; calamities are blessings for them because they take pleasure in them. They see that the pain of the body must end, no matter what. The distress of the heart must end. A person is happy at the beginning of the day, then distressed in the middle, then happy at the end, is that not so? They see that this distress that has befallen them is a blessing because, if they are granted patience with it, it becomes a reward and elevated ranks.
The questioner : O Shaykh, I have a problem because he says that when we went to Shaykh al-Islam.
The Shaykh : Yes, yes. This is necessary. There must be worry and distress.
The questioner : He says he went, meaning he linked it to the fact that he had knowledge.
The Shaykh : In any case, Shaykh al-Islam, without doubt, in his gatherings, if he saw them distressed or worried, he would cite from the texts what would remove that from them. The time has ended.