Persevere
Chapter 20
Your ability to stand up and carry on is your responsibility.
Allah says “… be patient as did the Messengers of strong will…” (46:35)
The Arabic word Sabr implies many shades of meaning, which is impossible to comprehend in one English word. It is a comprehensive word which embodies the meanings of patience, forbearing, endurance, perseverance, steadfastness and tenacity. It’s required to accomplish anything of significance. It assumes different dimensions depending upon which aspect of life is the point of reference.
Steadfastness, Fortitude and Tenacity
The Messenger of Allah said “know that victory comes with sabr” (Tirmidhi). In the case of trying to acquire victory, it means being;
tenacious — not readily relinquishing a position, principle, or course of action; determined.
having fortitude — courage in pain or adversity. “Endure with fortitude whatever befalls you. These are matters that require strong resolve.” (31:17)
and remaining steadfast — resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering through trials. Incidentally, if anyone does find themselves having to fight an emotionally draining and time consuming fight that they never envisaged they would have to, the whole tiring experience of arguing and counter-arguing reminded me of the ayah in the Qur’an, “And don’t be weak in the pursuit of the enemy; if you are suffering (hardships) then surely, they (too) are suffering (hardships) as you are suffering, but you have a hope from Allah (for the reward, i.e. Paradise) that for which they hope not, and Allah is Ever All-Knowing, All-Wise.” (TMQ 4:104).
It requires the willingness to acknowledge and rise from defeat, and that isn’t easy. Defeat, especially concerning something that’s dear to us, can be crippling. When we understand that our real reward is in the hereafter we will be able to tolerate much more. Accept that perseverance comes at a cost.
The sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ shows us that he strived to do good, and as he persevered (i.e. he was not impatient in the sense that he expected the result to be immediate) Allah gave him victory.
Incidentally, if anyone does find themselves having to fight an emotionally draining and time consuming fight that they never envisaged, they would do well to remember the ayah in the Qur’an, “And don’t be weak in the pursuit of the enemy; if you are suffering (hardships) then surely, they (too) are suffering (hardships) as you are suffering, but you have a hope from Allah (for the reward, i.e. Paradise) that for which they hope not, and Allah is Ever All-Knowing, All-Wise.” (4:104).
Patiently persevering in doing good takes many forms: it can be anything that is praiseworthy in the religion — whether it is acts of worship, our relationships with people, etc.
That is why the formula for true success given to us in the Qur’an consists of two elements: Sabr (patience, perseverance) and Taqwa (fear of God alone):
“O you who have believed, persevere and endure and remain stationed and fear God (alone) that you may be successful.” (3:200).
Allāh made leadership in the religion contingent on patience and certainty, “We appointed leaders from among them, guiding by Our command when they were patient and when they had certainty about Our signs.” (32:24)
We ask Allaah to guide us to that which pleases Him, and to be patient in bearing any problems that may result from that.
Forbearance, Patience and Resilience
“And be steadfast, Allāh is with the steadfast.” (8:46)
It is because of this ‘withness’ that the patient are victorious both in this life and the next.
The Messenger of Allah said “The real sabr is that which is demonstrated at the initial shock.” (Bukhari)
In the case of a calamity, sabr means:
Forbearance — patient self-control; restraint and tolerance.
Patience — the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious, especially in places replete with temptations and blights, where Satan is hoisting his banner.
and Resilience — having the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties.
Since no human being — righteous or otherwise — is spared of such worldly hardships, people’s efforts in treating them vary enormously. Whilst some may resort to perpetual whining, isolation, binge drinking, intoxicants, promiscuous relations, or even suicide, others employ a different technique altogether. They have realised that the cure to every ailment and solution to every problem is not only available, but is also actively offered to those who desire it , and thus they— “seek help through patience and prayer” (2:45)
Persevere
To get what you love, you must be first patient with what you hate — Imam Ghazali
First thing is to make sure we are connected to Allah and Islam. Life is pointless without it. Plus it’ll be hard for anyone to go the length without spiritual endurance.
Anyone can make the decision to start. The winners are the ones bold enough to make the decision to continue. They embrace the worst that will inevitably come their way and have the resiliency to continue, believing that the best is yet to come. As Muhammad Ali once said “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.”
Completing a task or a big project therefore involves a lot more than ecstatic periods of flow. To get to the finish line, you have to learn to slog through the boring parts and push through the uncomfortably difficult ones.
Getting better is super simple and really difficult. You gain confidence through repetition and mastery. It is grounded in competence and having a track record of succeeding at something and knowing that Allah is the source of all ability.
As a student you need to repeat, repeat, repeat. This is the part where most of us struggle, and what many of us don’t want to hear is that mastering anything faster requires practice. Learning requires frequency of and persistence in performing the same skill over and over again, until you can do it subconsciously, without having to think about it.
Effective practice is intensely focused and targets content or weaknesses that lie at the edge of your current abilities. Notice how professional athletes spend most of their time practicing their drills which are designed to improve a specific skill instead of just mindlessly playing their sport for hours every single day.
The best performers in the world understand this “secret” to learning faster and become the best, yet rarely talk about its importance because of how boring it sounds.
But a caveat to the wise — it has to be deliberate practice — where you are actively trying to improve, and reflecting on how to improve. A good example is driving, most people will drive hundreds of hours a year but not get any better at driving. This is because they aren’t deliberately considering how to improve.
They are at a level called unconscious competence, essentially they are competent without even having to think about what they are doing and why. To get better you have to move back out of unconscious competence and be more deliberate about it. Which is why it takes a special kind of effort to transition into mastery when unconscious competence is so comfortable!
Intensity is important and sometimes necessary but consistency is king. A daily habit will ensure you get the most out of any learning experience.
Ultimately a Test
The very word ‘Fitnah — yuftan’ comes from applying heat to an ore to bring out a base metal, removing impurities and purifying the precious metal. Like when Allāh says,
“Alif Lam Mim. Do people think they will be left alone after saying ‘We believe’ without being put to the test (yuftanūn)? We tested those who went before them: God will certainly mark out which ones are truthful and which are lying.” (29:1–3)
It is this heat which particularly knocks off those Muslims sitting on the fence.
“And among mankind is he who worships Allah on an edge (i.e. in doubt); if good befalls him, he is content therewith; but if a trial befalls him, he turns back on his face….’’ (22:11)
A person who has no patience is like the one worshipping Allāh at the edge of a faltering precipice; if good comes his way he takes comfort, but if trial comes his way, the world turns upside down and he loses both it and the Hereafter.
Being pleased with Allah as your Lord, Islam as your religion and Muhammad as your Prophet seems reasonable enough when life is good, but what about when its not? Maintaining faith through fear, frustration and failure requires certainty in Allah’s promise.
Patience is grieving with perspective
When the son of the Prophet ﷺ died, he ﷺ said “The eyes are shedding tears and the heart is grieved, and we will not say except what pleases our Lord”
Just like we do not expect any student worth his salt to assume that he deserves to belong to a high-ranking university without earning it, we similarly must not expect that the gates of Paradise will beckon our names, just because we say, “we believe”, without going through some kind of effort to walk the walk. Rather we must strive and struggle, to manifest our sincerity and submission to Allah, and commitment to His lofty Cause.
Of course, Allah already knows what is in the hearts of His servants better than they do, but He loves to see them worship Him and obey Him, and struggle to distinguish themselves in servitude to Him.
Consider the powerful mind-set of Sheikh Ibn Taymiyyah:
“What can my enemies do to me? My paradise and my garden are in my heart. They are with me wherever I go and they never leave me. If I am imprisoned, then it is seclusion for worship. If I am killed, then it is martyrdom. If they expel me from the land, then it is tourism.” ( Al-Wabil As-Sayyib 110)
No amount of attempted persecution was able to threaten or harm him, because nothing on the outside affected his internal peace. He viewed his trials and tests as a source of goodness for him and a means to draw closer to Allāh.
When a test is received with humility, acceptance and trust, you will wholeheartedly testify to Allāh’s promise that “He does not burden a soul with more than it can bear” (2:286)
Hold back and Take Control
One of the types of people who is given shade on the Day of Judgment is the person who is tempted into fornication but resists and says “I fear Allah!” (Bukhari)
It is much easier to fall into sin. But one who constantly prevents himself from doing bad, can be of the people who is beneath the shade of Allah. This requires patience and conviction; despite the hardship, we are doing something that is beloved to Allah.
We may have to face setbacks now and then, but when we remember that our aim is for the akhira and not simply the dunya, patience is easier to inculcate.
Sabr in the case of anger would mean to hold back and take control “A moment of patience in a moment of anger prevents a thousand moments of regret.”
The Reward
Allah says “Those who practice Sabr will be rewarded their recompense without measure.” (39:10)
Such benevolence on His part warrants that a Muslim should strive to embed such quality in his life. Thank Allah for the difficulties which are actually a gift of generosity from Him that contain great blessings. We are living in very special times where the rewards may be huge given the very many challenges we face today. So see in these difficulties an opportunity for you to make your mark and gain your reward.
Finally, He gave the greatest encouragement possible concerning patience to those who desire Him saying, “Allāh loves the patient.” (3:146)
