MUSJIDUL HAQ

Allah Almighty states in the Holy Quran:

یٰۤاَیُّہَا الَّذِیۡنَ اٰمَنُوا اصْبِرُوۡا وَصَابِرُوۡا ٪

  ‘O believers! be patient, and excel in patience with the enemies.

(Aale ‘Imran 3, Verse 200)

Hadeeth:

وَعَنْ أبِيْ إبْرَاهِيْمَ عَبْدِ اللهِ بْنِ أبِيْ أوْفٰى  – رضي الله عنهما: أنَّ رَسُوْل اللهِ – صلى الله عليه وسلم – فِيْ بْعْضِ أيَّامِهِ الَّتِيْ لَقِيَ فِيْهَا الْعَدُوَّ، انْتَظَرَ حَتَّى إِذَا مالَتِ الشَّمْسُ قَامَ فِيْهِمْ، فَقَالَ: «يَا أيُّهَا النَّاسُ، لَا تَتَمَنَّوْا لِقَاءَ الْعَدُوِّ، وَاسْأَلُوْا اللهَ الْعَافِيَةَ، فَإِذَا لَقِيْتُمُوْهُمْ فَاصْبِرُوْا ، وَاعْلَمُوْا أنَّ الْجَنَّةَ تَحْتَ ظِلَالِ السُّيُوْفِ».

ثُمَّ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ – صلى الله عليه وسلم: «اَللَّهُمَّ مُنْزِلَ الْكِتَابِ، وَمُجْرِيَ السَّحَابِ، وَهَازِمَ الْأحْزَابِ، اِهْزِمْهُمْ وَانْصُرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ».

 مُتَّفَقٌ عَلَيهِ.

Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah bin Abu Aufa – may Allah be pleased with him – reported: The Messenger of Allah – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – at one time when he confronted the enemy, and was waiting for the sun to set, stood up and said, “O people! Do not long for encountering the enemy and supplicate to Allah to grant you security. But when you face the enemy, show patience and steadfastness; and keep it in mind that Jannah lies under the shade of the swords.” Then he invoked Allah, saying, “O Allah, Revealer of the Book, Disperser of the clouds, Defeater of the Confederates, put our enemy to rout and help us in over-powering them”.

(Bukhari, Muslim)

Commentary:

We are instructed to be steadfast with Sabr during a battle, for it is a key part of Jihad to be patient and steadfast.

(Sharh Muslim Vol. 6, p. 46(

The Virtue of Making Sabr

After the Battle of ‘Uhud, the blessed aunt of the Holy Prophet – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, Sayyidah Safiyah – may Allah be pleased with her – came on to the battlefield so that she could see her blessed brother, Hadrat Sayyiduna Hamza – may Allah be pleased with him. When he realised the state of his blessed uncle, he advised his cousin, Hadrat Sayyiduna Zubair – may Allah be pleased with him, not to allow his blessed aunt to see the body. However, Hadrat Sayyidah Safiyah – may Allah be pleased with her – replied, “I have come to know about the actual state of my brother, but I do not consider that I have yet made the ultimate sacrifice to Allah.”

After the Holy Prophet – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him – had given her permission, she then approached the body of her beloved brother. When she saw that his ears, his nose and his eyes were gorged out and that his liver had also being chewed, she silently read “Inna lillaahi” and made Du’a for her brothers forgiveness. After this, she returned home. (Zarqani, 3/287)

Those who in times of difficulty and stress read these words have been especially praised in the Holy Qur’an.

In Surah Baqarah (2), verses 155 to 157, the Holy Qur’an declares:

وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّکُمْ بِشَیۡءٍ مِّنَ الْخَوۡفِ وَالْجُوۡعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِّنَ الۡاَمۡوٰلِ وَالۡاَنۡفُسِ وَالثَّمَرٰتِ ؕ وَبَشِّرِ الصّٰبِرِیۡنَ﴿۱۵۵﴾ۙ الَّذِیۡنَ اِذَاۤ اَصٰبَتْہُمۡ مُّصِیۡبَۃٌ ۙ قَالُوۡۤا اِنَّا لِلہِ وَ اِنَّاۤ اِلَیۡہِ رٰجِعُوۡنَ﴿۱۵۶﴾ؕ اُولٰٓئِکَ عَلَیۡہِمۡ صَلَوٰتٌ مِّنۡ رَّبِّہِمْ وَرَحْمَۃٌ ۟ وَاُولٰٓئِکَ ہُمُ الْمُہۡتَدُوۡنَ﴿۱۵۷﴾

“And We will surely test you with some fear and hunger, and with paucity of wealth and lives and crops; and give glad tidings to those who patiently endure. – Those who say when calamity befalls them, “Indeed we belong to Allah and indeed it is to Him we are to return.” These are the people upon whom are the blessings from their Lord, and mercy; and it is they who are on guidance.”

A true Muslim is that Muslim who never turns away from obeying Allah Almighty in any state whatsoever whether in times of happiness or in times of difficulty. To be able to see the body of one’s brothers in this state where he was completely mutilated and to remain firm in spite of this, is certainly making sure that one is obeying the Divine Command of Allah Almighty.

It may look extremely difficult for some people, however, those who have in front of them Allah Almighty and His beloved Prophet – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him – and wish to achieve the Pleasure of Allah Almighty and the pleasure of the Holy Prophet – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him – they are those blessed souls who are able to endure these trials and calamities with an open chest and by doing so they become entitled for even more Divine Grace and Mercy.

We should also learn that in these times as well, we should not abandon patience and forbearance and we do not become victims of complaints and utter words of impatience and anger. We must bear in mind that if we behave in an un-Islamic manner, this difficulty will not move away, in fact, we will only be robbing ourselves of immense Divine Grace. It must be remembered that one of the greatest sources of reward is to display forbearance and patience at the very beginning of this difficulty and test. The reason is that after this, people find it easy to make Sabr or have patience.

It is mentioned that one day, the Holy Prophet – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him –was passing by a lady who was weeping at a certain grave. He mentioned to her, “Fear Allah and have patience.” Since she was in deep grief, she did not know or recognize who had said these words from behind and in this state, she replied, “Move away from me, my difficulty has not reached you.”

The Holy Prophet – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him – then continued towards his residence. However, when this lady was informed that the person who had given her advice was actually the Holy Prophet – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him – she became extremely embarrassed and after meeting him, she explained that she did not know that it was him who had uttered these words. The Holy Prophet – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him – again reminded her, “Patience is displayed at the very beginning of sadness.”

(Mishkaat Shareef)

Sabr of Sayyiduna ‘Isa – peace be upon him

Ibn Abid Dunya from a long chain of narrators records from Muhammad bin Saba Numairi who narrates:

Nabi ‘Isa – peace be upon him – was travelling in a certain city of Syria when suddenly heavy rain appeared and it was also thundering. The great Prophet then began looking for a place to shelter. He noticed a lone tent in the area and went towards this tent. When Nabi ‘Isa – peace be upon him – came near the tent, he noticed that there was a single female in this tent. Hence, Nabi ‘Isa – peace be upon him – walked away from that place.

As he walked along, Nabi ‘Isa – peace be upon him – noticed an opening of a cave on the side of the mountain. When he reached there, he noticed a lion was already inside the cave. The lion also had its paws across the entrance of the cave. The great Prophet then said, “O Allah! You have created a shelter for everyone except for me.”

Allah Almighty replied, “O ‘Isa! Your shelter is my Divine Mercy. Display Sabr for a few days. On the Day of Judgement, you will marry special maidens in Jannah and for four thousand years, people will continue to partake of the food of your Waleemah. One day is equal to the period of existence of the entire world. I will then command a caller to call out, ‘All those who were the Zaahids in the world, all of them should come for the marriage of Nabi ‘Isa – peace be upon him.” (In other words, those who refrained from the material things in this world will be allowed to partake in this marriage). (Al Ihya; Taarik Dimishq ibn Manzur)

Ibn Abid Dunya records from Hadrat Abu Jafer Misri who mentions that, “The food of the Waleemah for Nabi ‘Isa – peace be upon him – and Nabi Yahya – peace be upon him – will be fed to the people of Jannah for three hundred years and only those people will be invited for these marriages who used to wear old and tattered clothing in the world and lived in dire poverty and destitution.”

Ibn Abid Dunya records from Mu’tamar bin Sulayman who narrates that Nabi ‘Isa – peace be upon him – has stated that, “Before I came to the world, the world existed and after I leave, the world will still exist. I have therefore come for a few days. If I am not able to prepare for the (Hereafter) in these few days, when will I be able to get this opportunity?” (Taarik Ibn Manzur)

Ibn Abid Dunya records from Abu Sulayman who narrates that once Nabi ‘Isa – peace be upon him – sat next to the tent of an old lady to be able to protect himself from the heat of the sun. However, when the old lady saw him, she told him to move from that place. Nabi ‘Isa – peace be upon him – then moved from that place and sat in an open place. He said to the old person, “You have not moved me from that spot but that Divine Being has moved me from that spot so that he can protect me (from the comforts of this) world.”

(Taarik ibn Manzur)

Lesson:

• Although great stress has been laid on full preparation and readiness for Jihad, it is prohibited to wish for war with enemy.
• Patience is a great weapon of a Muslim. In the context of Jihad, it means steadfastness, fortitude and fearlessness of death in the battlefield.
• Muslims are ordained not to rely entirely on weapons, material resources and their military prowess. They are advised to pray to Allah for victory over their enemy.