Sabr or Shukr – The Worry Stops Here!

Sabr or Shukr – The Worry Stops Here!

By Sheikh Muhammad al-Shareef

Aasiyah, the wife of Fir’own (Pharoah). Her Iman in Allah thrived under the shadow of someone that said, “I am your Lord, Most High!” When news reached Fir’own of his wife’s Iman he beat her and commanded his guards to beat her. They took her out in the scalding noon heat, tied her hands and feet and beat her perpetually. Who did she turn to? She turned to Allah! She prayed, “My lord, build for me a home with you in Paradise and save me from Fir’own and his deeds and save me from the transgressing people.”

It was narrated that when she said this, the sky opened for her and she saw her home in Paradise. She smiled. The guards watched astonished, she’s being tortured and she smiles? Frustrated, Fir’own commanded a boulder to be brought and dropped on Aasiyah, to crush her to death. But Allah took her soul before the boulder was brought and she became an example for all the believing men and women till the end of time:

“And Allah sets forth, as an example to those who believe the wife of Pharaoh: Behold she said: “O my Lord! Build for me, in nearness to Thee, a mansion in the Garden, and save me from Pharaoh and his doings, and save me from those that do wrong”;” [Surah Al Tahrim 66:11]

In the Hadith of Jibreel [the Angel Gabriel], when he came to the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam (May Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him), and asked him about Islam, Iman, and Ihsaan, the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said about Iman,“Iman is to believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His Messengers, the Final Day, and the divine decree, the good and the bad thereof.”

As you and I travel through life we find ourselves in one of two situations. Either something good is happening in our lives and in which case – as Muslims – our role is have Shukr (to thank Allah for the blessing). Or something bad is happening to us, something we dislike and our role here is to have Sabr (patience). This is the formula for a happy life, a life cruising towards the pleasure of Allah. Sabr or Shukr, the worry stops here.

The Messenger of Allah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Strange is the affair of the Mu’mmin (the believer), verily all his affairs are good for him. If something pleasing befalls him he thanks (Allah) and it becomes better for him. And if something harmful befalls him he is patient (Saabir) and it becomes better for him. And this is only for the Mu’mmin.”

Ibn Al-Jowzee said, “If this Dunya was not a station of tests it would not be filled with sicknesses and filth. If life was not about hardship, then the Prophets and the pious would have lived the most comfortable of lives. Nay, Aadam (Adam) suffered test after test until he left the Dunya. Nuh (Noah) cried for 300 years. Ibrahim (Abraham) was thrown into a pit of fire and later told to slaughter his son. Ya’qub (Jacob) cried until he became blind. Musa (Moses) challenged Fir’own and was tested by his people. Isa (Jesus) had no provision except the morsels his disciples provided him with. And Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam met poverty with patience, his uncle – one of the most beloved relatives to him – was slain and mutilated and his people disbelieved in him… And the list of Prophets and the pious goes on and on.”

What happens to us happens by the will of Allah. It is an article of our Iman in Qada’ and Qadr that we are pleased with Allah’s choice, Good or seemingly bad it is all the test of this Dunya. How could we imagine that we shall not be tested when those who were better than us suffered what they suffered? They however came away with the pleasure of Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala (How far from imperfection is He and He is the Most High).

Al Hasan ibn Arafah narrated, “I visited Imaam Ahmad ibn Hanbal after he was whipped and tortured. I said to him, “O Abu Abdillaah, you have reached the station of the Prophets!” He said, “Keep quiet. Verily, I saw nothing more than people selling their Deen. And I saw scholars that were with me sell their Faith. So I said to myself, ‘Who am I? What am I? What am I going to say to Allah tomorrow when I stand in front of Him and He asks me, “Did you sell your Deen like the others did?” So I looked at the whip and the sword and chose them. And I said, “If I die I shall return to Allah and say: ‘I was told to say that one of Your Characteristics was something created but I did not.’ After that, it will be upto Him – either to punish me of be Merciful on me.”

Al-Hasan ibn Arafah then asked, “Did you feel pain when they whipped you?” He said “Yes, I felt the pain up to 20 lashes then I lost all feeling (They whipped him over eighty times). After it was over I felt no pain and that day I prayed Dhurhr standing.”

Al-Hasan ibn Arafah started weeping when he heard what had happened. Imaam Ahmad questioned him, “Why are you crying? I did not lose my Iman. After that why should I care if I lose my life.”

They were better than us but this was how they were tested.

Let us discuss some facts about these tests of life, the good and the bad that befalls us:

* Much of what befalls us – the hard times – is the direct result of our own sins.

Allah, ta’ala (The Most High), says:

“Whatever misfortune happens to you, is because of the things your hands have wrought, and for many (of them) He grants forgiveness.” [Surah Al Shura 42:30]

Muhammad ibn Seereen used to say when his debts piled up and he felt sad, “I know that the cause of this sadness is a sin I committed over 40 years ago.”

* People understand that when something bad happens it is a test from Allah. But dear Brothers and Sisters, the good things that happen to us are also a test.

Allah, ta’ala, says:

“We broke them up into sections on this earth. There are among them some that are the righteous, and some that are the opposite. We have tried them with both prosperity and adversity: In order that they might turn (to us).” [Surah Al A’raf 7:168]

Abd al-Malik ibn Ishaq said, “There is no one that is not tested with health and prosperity to measure how thankful he is (Shukr).”

And the Companion – Abdur Rahman ibn ‘Awf, radhiAllaahu ‘anhu (May Allah be pleased with him), said, “We were tested with hardship and were patient. And then we were tested with prosperity and we were not patient. Because of this Allah states:

“O ye who believe! Let not your riches or your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. If any act thus, the loss is their own.” [Surah Al Munafiqun 63:9]

* Patience must happen from the beginning, not three days later or one day later, at the first news of the calamity, when it first happens. The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Verily patience (is only Sabr when practiced) at the first hit (of news).”

* There are things that contradict Sabr. Tearing ones shirt, for example, slapping ones face, slapping hands, shaving ones head, and cursing and wailing.

Umm Salamah narrates: I heard the Messenger of Allah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam say, “Any Muslim that says when a calamity befalls him that which Allah commanded him: To Allah we belong and to him we return. O Allah reward me in this calamity and give me better then it – (any Muslim that says this) Allah will grant him better than (that which he lost).” [Muslim]

* These tests and hardships wash our sins. ‘Aisha radhiAllaahu ‘anha said, “Verily fever sheds sins like a tree sheds leaves.”

* The hardships that befall us distinguish the believers from the insincere. Shumayt ibn Ajlaan said, “The pious and the ungrateful are hidden by health. Yet when calamities befall the two men are separated (by how they react).”

Allah says in the Qur’an:

“Alif, Lam, Mim. Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, “We believe”, and that they will not be tested? We did test those before them, and Allah will certainly know those who are true from those who are false.” [Surah Al ‘Ankabut 29:1-3]

Ali radhiAllaahu ‘anhu said, “Verily Sabr is to Iman what the head is to the body. When the head is cut off, the body falls. (He then raised his voice) Verily there is no Iman for he who has no Sabr (patience).”

There are three types of Sabr that the Muslim must have:

a. Sabr in the obedience of Allah. For example, One must be patient and perform their Fajr at it’s time.

b. Sabr in not disobeying Allah. Like someone might say, “I have to listen to music in the car.” No you are command by He who gave you those ears to not listen to those lullabies of the Devil. And you must have Sabr in not disobeying Allah.

c. Sabr in what Allah Decrees on us. For example, if our child was to pass away we should be patient and seek the reward of Allah in our patience and say only that which is pleasing to Allah.

There are two keys. If we understand them we shall open the door to Sabr in our lives:

The First Key: Know that our souls, families and wealth do not belong to us, they belong to Allah. He gave it to us as a loan to see what we would do with it. And when he takes it back He is taking back what belongs to Him. We had nothing before the blessing and we’ll have nothing after it. We did not create the blessing from nothing, so how can we claim that it belongs to us.

The Second Key: We are on a journey and the destination is the hereafter – Paradise or Hell. We’ll be leaving the Dunya behind us and we’ll come back to Allah by ourselves. This is what needs our focus. And if Allah is pleased with us then no worry. If He is not pleased with us then all worry.

Let me draw your attention to a verse. Listen carefully. Allah revealed:

“Guard strictly your (habit of) prayers, especially the Middle Prayer; and stand before Allah in a devout (frame of mind).” [Surah Al Baqarah 2:238]

The verses before this deal with divorce. The verses after it deal with divorce. Why was this verse placed in the middle? The Ulama’ (Islamic scholars) have suggested, Wa Allaahu a’lam (and Allah knows best), that in the hard times that a person goes through they should not forget the remembrance of Allah, the Salaah. And it is that Salaah coupled with Sabr that will pull them through.

“O ye who believe! Seek help with patient perseverance and prayer; for Allah is with those who patiently persevere.” [Surah Al Baqarah 2:153]

There is good news for those who intend to act on their Sabr. Allah promised them three things: His prayer for them, His Mercy, and their guidance.

“Who say, when afflicted with calamity: “To Allah we belong, and to Him is our return”:- They are those on whom (descend) blessings from their Lord, and Mercy, and they are the ones that receive guidance.” [Surah Al Baqarah 2:156-157]

Allah says:

“And We appointed, from among them, leaders, giving guidance under Our command, so long as they persevered with patience and continued to have faith in Our Signs.” [Surah Al Sajdah 32:24]

Sufyan ibn Uyaynah commented, “i.e. When they took hold of the leading issue, we made them leaders!”