Paean to patience

[1]

Sadia Dehlvi [1]

The word patience has been mentioned in the Quran more then 90 times and is a constant theme running throughout the holy book. One of the verses says, “Those who patiently persevere will truly receive a reward without measure!” (39: 10)
In the stories of the prophets in the Quran, we know that all of them practised patience. God rewarded them by elevating their spiritual ranks. God does not tell us about Prophet Job’s methods of preaching or how his people reacted or the fate of Job’s people. However, He tells us about Job’s patience, “Truly we found him patient. How excellent a slave.”
In the Quran, the word patience has been used in the context of maintaining composure, equanimity, self-control and endurance in the face of difficulties, hardships or inconveniences that we encounter in the course of our lives. Among the attributes essential to spiritual and worldly progress are sabr (patience) and shukr (gratitude).
Today, patience has become a rare virtue. This is largely because of the times we live in are about instant gratification.
Be it our career or aspiration, the greater the goal the more patience it requires. It is easy to exercise patience when all is going well, but the test is when we are troubled with suffering or injustice. Most of all, patience is required to control one’s anger and not allow it to
escalate.
Once when a man asked Prophet Mohammad for advice, he said, “Do not become angry.” The man asked the question again and he got the same reply. The man questioned him a third time and the Prophet repeated his advice. Anger can often be entirely irrational and consume a person. One of the main reasons that people get angry is that they are filled with themselves and their egos cause them to flare up easily.
Anger, though, is not entirely a negative emotion for it can be a motivator for change. But anger needs to be trained so that it does not become troublesome, causing an imbalance that can lead to unlawful and immoral conduct. The early Islamic scholars have said that anger is only acceptable at the right time, the right place, for the right reasons and with the right intensity.
One of the ways to control anger is to recognise that nothing takes place without God’s leave, and that there is no power other than God. Life is but a series of trials and those heedless of this reality tend to react severely when faced with tribulations.
Prophet Mohammad said that the strong man is not one who can wrestle people, but one who controls himself when angry. Be it for the success of this world or the hereafter, those who struggle through their lives with patience are the ones who achieve their goal.