This is the eighth and final part in a detailed discussion on patience. The discussion is built on the seminal work (based on a series of lectures) by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khamenei. The book is published as ‘Discourses on Patience’.

Video of the Majlis (Sermon/Lecture)

This write up is a companion to the video majlis (sermon/lecture) found below:

Contents

• Majlis - Patience - Part 8 - Last Part of the Series on Patience

• Nohe - Daughters of Zahra

• Ziyarat - Ziyarah of Sayyedah Fatima Zahra

Recap

Over the past few weeks, we have been discussing and studying the subject of patience. We have more recently - since part 4, been looking at the fields of patience, and in the last week we looked at the advantages and effects of patience.

In this the the final part of this series, we want to look at notions such as the birth of the invincible spirit which is linked to the psychological traces of patience in the lives of various individuals, as well as the appearance of righteous virtues within ourselves, and the idea of having more attention and reliance on God.

Psychological Traces of Patience in the Lives of Individuals

Apart from the constructive social advantages of patience such as gaining victory and the fulfilment of aims and goals, this characteristic - true patience - is also responsible for the positive and very important influences upon the mentality and spirit of the patient person.

It is because of this miraculous awareness, that most of the historical human sacrifices, and especially the supreme sacrifice of the Martyrs of Kerbala - the companions and family of the Master of the Martyrs, Aba Abdillah, Imam Husayn, may the peace and blessings be upon him and them all, who we remember annually during the nights of the Ashura commemorations, become a lot easier to comprehend.

What we mean by the spiritual mentality, are the influences left by the patient person upon his soul and mind, that before accomplishing the external and definite results of his struggle, he instantaneously obtains the personal results, as we have explained in the previous session.

The Birth of the Invincible Spirit

The foremost positive and constructive effect of patience is to produce a strong and invincible personality. Like a good physical exercise program makes a person strong and healthy, enabling him to offer better physical resistance.

Secondly, it produces all the required elements for achieving success in the accomplishment of aims, the fulfilment of desires, be they material or ideological amongst the patient individuals.

The defeats and failures suffered during the social, religious and ideological struggle has had a devastative morale effect, a blow, inflicted by the vincible and weak mentalities upon the determination to carry on the struggle, the damage and devastation of which is many times as severe as the losses inflicted by trained professional armed forces and their weaponry.

The soldiers, who decided to run away from the battlefield, turning their backs to the enemy, has indeed suffered a morale defeat, before giving up his physical strength. Until this psychological defeat is not inflicted upon him, it is impossible that the soldier will be able to turn his back and run-a-way from the battlefield.

Indeed, in light of this, General George C Marshall, an American politician and soldier who died in 1959, has stated that:

“You can have all the material in the world, but without morale, it is largely ineffective”

He also said:

“It is not enough to fight, it is the spirit which we bring to the fight that decides the issue. It is the morale that wins the victory”

The historic behaviour of Tariq ibn Zayd - the commander of the Muslim Army - the brave commander and victor of a portion of Spain in the 94th year after the Hijrah (711CE), who after crossing the Mediterranean Sea and stepping upon enemy land, ordered the burning of all his ships, is an example of this invincible spirit.

The prime quality of patience is to produce such an invincible spirit in a patient person.

Those individuals, who while facing the routine events of their day to day life, such as financial losses, sickness, frustration, hatred and death, etc, do not offer resistance and endurance, and very soon become dejected, aggrieved, annoyed and helpless, when confronted with obstacles in their path, and thereby leave the scene of the struggle and are susceptible to instant defeat.

Contrary to these individuals with a weak mentality, are those, who in confronting every event in their lives, use patience as their ultimate weapon, who offer resistance in the best manner possible, achieving an invincible morale and strong will power to face such problems in their lives.

An impatient person, could be compared to a soldier in the battlefield who is fighting virtually naked, without any armour. Such an ill-equipped soldier is most likely to be killed and disappear from the scene during the very first encounter.

By the same token, a patient person could be compared to a soldier who is clad in a strong coat of armour or chain mail, from his head to his toes, and is fully equipped with all the required armaments. Obviously, to defeat such a well-equipped and prepared soldier by the enemy is a significantly more difficult task.

The one, who would never be defeated in the battlefield of life, is the one who has already made all the necessary arrangements, by putting on the armour of patience.

Such a person, never gets defeated easily, and when faced with problems and unpleasant events, which abound at every step on the road to perfection and prosperity, never flinches, his legs and heart remain firm and resolute, and don’t show even the slightest signs of trembling.

The following narration - from Imam as-Sadiq, the sixth Imam of the Muslims, peace and blessings be upon him - throws ample light on the depth of this divinely inspired Islamic characteristic:

“Anyone who has not prepared for himself the logistics of patience to meet every tragedy, will find himself in a state of despair and helplessness”

- Tuhaf al-Aqool (The Masterpieces of the Mind), Ibn Shu’ba al-Harrani, Section on the Maxims of Imam as-Sadiq

This means, that one who has not planned in advance, how to face the myriad of problems and unexpected tragedies of life, one who has not developed within himself the spirit of resistance, will swiftly find themselves in a state of despair and helplessness.

The opposite of this is the case, if someone, in anticipation of the confrontation of tragedies and problems has equipped himself with the logistics of patience, such a person will never face disappointment and defeat.

The secret of the steadfastness and permanence of the great builders of the history of humanity, and the foremost amongst them, the divine prophets and others from the pious leaders and elites, who despite being afflicted with the most severe pains and tortures at the very beginning of their struggle, remained active and stable, lies within this same point.

With an accurate foresight regarding the bitterness and pleasantness of this path, and with their being properly equipped with the logistics of patience, they were able to completely eliminate the possibility of their psychological defeat and the with the results converted themselves into the most robust and invincible of people.

Their opponents and enemies, that in many instances were equipped with all manner of supplies and resources, became tired and hopeless, exhausted and hopeless, but these great men, in spite of their being deprived of such resources, diligently continued their heroic and invincible resistance.

Indeed, we can see this in our current times, with the heroic resistance shown by the heroes of Gaza and Lebanon. Their Zionist and US adversaries are equipped with the most advanced of weaponry, the most powerful bombs and fighter planes, tanks and such, yet - even with all of this - the heroes in Gaza and Lebanon, are resolute; and continue their sacred resistance; dealing monumental blows to the Zionist and the US empire.

Indeed, superficially speaking; had this armour of patience not been in the equation; then without any doubt, on seeing the genocidal behaviour of their adversaries; the heroes in Gaza and Lebanon would have lost all their morale, would have been devastated.

However, due to them having this armour; having this weapon of patience; they are and will continue to be resistant, resolute, and firm, and you will never hear of their legs or hearts trembling at the sight of the enemies firepower and atrocities; but you will see they only find their belief is increased; this is evidenced by the Quran which clearly says:

الَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ النَّاسُ إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا لَكُمْ فَاخْشَوْهُمْ فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَقَالُوا حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ
فَانقَلَبُوا بِنِعْمَةٍ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَفَضْلٍ لَّمْ يَمْسَسْهُمْ سُوءٌ وَاتَّبَعُوا رِضْوَانَ اللَّهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ ذُو فَضْلٍ عَظِيمٍ

Those to whom the people have said, “The people have mobilised against you, so fear them.” But this only increased them in faith, and they said, “God is enough for us; He is the Excellent Protector.”
So they came back with grace from God, and bounty, and no harm having touched them. They pursued what pleases God. God possesses immense grace.

- Quran, Surah Aal-i-Imraan (the Chapter of the Family of Imraan) #3, Verses 173 to 174

In the New Testament, in the book of James, it is written:

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

- James 1: 2-4

Indeed, even in the Psalms, in the Old Testament, you find:

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.”

- Psalms 37: 7-9

Patience truly is the weapon and armour of the believer; and it is a link to God, for to be patient and steadfast, is to be following that path laid by God for the righteous; the Quran teaches - and we mentioned this verse in the previous part of this discussion:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلَاةِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ

O you who believe! Seek help through patience and prayers. God is with the steadfast.

- Quran, Surah al-Baqarah (the Chapter of the Cow) #2, Verse 153

In history, we can see that Mutawakkil al-Abbasi, one of the Abbasid caliphs who was particularly hostile to the family of the Prophet Muhammad (his rule was from 232AH (847CE) to 247AH (861CE)), had once said:

“Ibn ar-Ridha (the son of Imam ar-Ridha) has put me in a state of being perplexed.”

An important note here is that after Imam ar-Ridha, the eighth Imam of the Muslims, the three successive Imams after him, that is the 9th, 10th and 11th, during that period were called ‘Ibn ar-Ridha’ - the sons of Imam ar-Ridha. In the quote from Mutawakkil al-Abbasi above, the reference is to Imam Ali al-Hadi, the tenth Imam of the Muslims.

Now, how is it that, someone like Imam al-Hadi, who has spent most of his period of leadership under the intense pressure of the ruling Abbasid regime, and specifically that of the reign of the tyrannical Mutawakkil al-Abbasi, is in a position to put this powerful tyrant in a state of great annoyance and of being perplexed?

When one amongst two combatant adversaries is weak in terms of outward resources, but despite being faced with imprisonment, deprivations, being away from a comfortable and secure environment, does not allow such pressures and hardships to break his iron will; and despite all the obstacles on his path, continues his long term march diligently.

It is clear, that his adversary, who despite having better material resources, lacks the commitment and strong faith, strong belief, and therefore such an adversary can quickly become harassed and defeated.

Indeed, we see this happening - as we have mentioned - in Gaza and Lebanon, where despite being - in comparison to the US empire and the Zionist entity - woefully ill-equipped, the resistive heroes are resisting in a manner that their enemies can’t cope with.

There are countless reports of suicides within the Zionists; reports of soldiers wanting to run-a-way from the battlefield; and an overwhelming sense of defeat within the Zionist and US axis of terror.

All their schemes are coming to naught; and this is because the honourable heroes in Palestine and Lebanon, are operating with complete patience, who are resolute in their heroic and honourable resistance; and when faced with such an enemy; the Zionists; like Mutawakkil al-Abbasi, become perplexed; they can’t understand why their big and powerful weapons are not weakening the resolve of the resistance.

The verse of Quran quoted earlier:

الَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ النَّاسُ إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا لَكُمْ فَاخْشَوْهُمْ فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَقَالُوا حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ
فَانقَلَبُوا بِنِعْمَةٍ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَفَضْلٍ لَّمْ يَمْسَسْهُمْ سُوءٌ وَاتَّبَعُوا رِضْوَانَ اللَّهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ ذُو فَضْلٍ عَظِيمٍ

Those to whom the people have said, “The people have mobilised against you, so fear them.” But this only increased them in faith, and they said, “God is enough for us; He is the Excellent Protector.”
So they came back with grace from God, and bounty, and no harm having touched them. They pursued what pleases God. God possesses immense grace.

- Quran, Surah Aal-i-Imraan (the Chapter of the Family of Imraan) #3, Verses 173 to 174

This is exactly that; when a person has God, when they have patience and resolve, when they have that certainty and belief; then they are stronger than mountains; and nothing can break them.

An impatient wayfarer, cannot exhaust his adversary without first exhausting himself, and such a situation would undoubtedly result in him being defeated, but for the patient wayfarer - as we have said - will completely perplex and confuse his enemy; will be resolute and firm like a mountain, will never falter at difficulties.

This is the amazing characteristic of patience which makes a person invincible.

The Appearance of Righteous Virtues Within

The people before testing, cannot evaluate themselves; and very often are unaware about the hidden energy in their existence. Let us consider the example of a strong person, who is possessed with plenty of natural physical strength without doing any particular practice of physical exercise.

Let us imagine that he has never participated in a weight lifting or any other physical competition; such a person is certainly not aware of the amount of physical strength he has.

Likewise, we too can only discover the God-given energy in our existence, when we are challenged to participate in a certain competition which requires the utilisation of that particular energy.

The second important effect of patience is that a patient person after offering resistance in the various fields of life, against the many events and obstacles; discovers the amount of energy, its particulars and the noble and sublime virtues hidden within his very existence. Virtues that were never known or discovered by him earlier during the routine of life without facing any trials or difficulties.

Those who have suffered the pressures and harshness of life, and for the sake of their cherished noble aims and ideals, were subjected to severe difficulties, tragedies, hardships and/or calamities appreciate the above meanings.

Such individuals with an irreversible degree of determination, in their confrontation with great dangers and severe pressures; while a strange naive observer would have considered them defeated and destroyed completely; because of their patience and endurance; were able to achieve a sense of relief and victory, an unprecedented power and surprising grandeur; within their existence.; which was something completely new and indeed perhaps even unexpected for them, something that was previously completely unrealised by them.

More Attention and Reliance upon God

The third constructive quality of patience is that whatever stage or extent a patient person may be; it helps to bring them closer and indeed to increase their reliance upon God.

Now, some people may consider that reliance upon God does not get along with the reliance on the self, and therefore, according to their logic, a person who is dependent on God, cannot rely upon themselves.

When it is said “Rely upon God”, such people complain: Let people rely upon themselves, and let their eyes and hopes look towards themselves, as if the one who invites the people to rely on God, wants them to not rely on themselves.

While in reality, for a person committed to God, reliance upon the self is complimentary and inseparable from their reliance on God, indeed to such an extent are the two connected that reliance upon the self is consider a core component of patience, which in effect is a means for the true reliance on God.

Because impatience against the bitter tragedies of life, and fear against the optional calamities, which are reflections of a lack of self-reliance, they can also lead to and be a means for forgetting Allah, for being negligent regarding Allah.

When a person is inflicted with the severe tragedies of life, and the millstone of the tests of life are grinding him down with great pressure and severity; if such a person does not become impatient, aggrieved and/or annoyed the channels of his communication with God would become proportionally wider, more independent and his heart and soul would be enlightened with the Light of God.

And on the contrary; a person becoming weak and annoyed, makes him more ignorant, rash, and a stranger, disconnected from his own self as well as from God.

This verse from Quran, speaks about a reality, fully explicit, and with clear reasoning, and tested with the experience of those, who in their confrontation with the most adverse of conditions were able to utilise patience as their winning or ‘game-changing’ weapon, and they believe and acknowledge this matter with full certainty:

وَلَمَّا بَرَزُوا لِجَالُوتَ وَجُنُودِهِ قَالُوا رَبَّنَا أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا وَانصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ

So, when they went forth against Goliath and his forces, they said: Oh our Lord, grant us patience, and make firm (steady) our footsteps, and help us against the people who reject (who deny) the Truth

- Quran, Surah al-Baqarah (the Chapter of the Cow) #2, Verse 250

And given that we are now in the days commemorating the martyrdom of the one most beloved to the Prophet of God, Lady Fatimah az-Zahra, may God shower his blessings upon them both, and upon their pure family; it would not be out of place to mention a little from the life of Lady Zahra, where she exhibited huge patience.

Of the many times, that our beloved mother, the Lady of Light, Sayyedah Fatimah, showed patience, indeed where her patience was immortalised in the Holy Quran is as follows:

وَيُطْعِمُونَ الطَّعَامَ عَلَىٰ حُبِّهِ مِسْكِينًا وَيَتِيمًا وَأَسِيرًا
إِنَّمَا نُطْعِمُكُمْ لِوَجْهِ اللَّهِ لَا نُرِيدُ مِنكُمْ جَزَاءً وَلَا شُكُورًا
إِنَّا نَخَافُ مِن رَّبِّنَا يَوْمًا عَبُوسًا قَمْطَرِيرًا
فَوَقَاهُمُ اللَّهُ شَرَّ ذَٰلِكَ الْيَوْمِ وَلَقَّاهُمْ نَضْرَةً وَسُرُورًا
وَجَزَاهُم بِمَا صَبَرُوا جَنَّةً وَحَرِيرًا

And they feed, for the love of Him, the poor, and the orphan, and the captive.
“We only feed you for the sake of God. We want from you neither compensation, nor gratitude. We dread from our Lord a frowning grim Day.”
So God will protect them from the ills of that Day, and will grant them radiance and joy.
And will reward them for their patience with a Garden and silk.

- Quran, Surah al-Insaan (the Chapter of the Humanity) #76, Verses 8 to 12

We can see here; that for their love of God, and their reliance on Him, and indeed on themselves; Lady Zahra, Imam Ali and their children - Imam Hasan, Imam Husayn and Sayyedah Zaynab, all - and that too during the month of Ramadhan, when they were fasting, gave their meal - for three days continuously - to the poor, the orphan and the captive (who was without any means to support himself) - relying on breaking their fast with just water.

Further more, God describes their activities here, as being from patience; and filled with great benefits in the next day.

The meaning of this verse; while a historical event; is that as believers, as those who work to be on the path of Truth and who promote the Truth as best as they can; we should always be ready to help those less fortunate then ourselves; for in our fortune is a test - as God has clearly said:

وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُم بِشَيْءٍ مِّنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِّنَ الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَنفُسِ وَالثَّمَرَاتِ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ
الَّذِينَ إِذَا أَصَابَتْهُم مُّصِيبَةٌ قَالُوا إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ
أُولَٰئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَاتٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ ۖ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُهْتَدُونَ

We will certainly test you with some fear and hunger, and some loss of possessions and lives and crops. But give good news to the patient.
Those who, when a calamity afflicts them, say, “We are from God, and unto Him is our return.”
Upon them, are blessings and mercy from their Lord, and indeed, they are the guided ones.

- Quran, Surah al-Baqarah (the Chapter of the Cow) #2, Verses 155 to 157

So, as He says, He will test us with fear and hunger, elsewhere He says that He will test us with our wealth and children:

وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَأَوْلَادُكُمْ فِتْنَةٌ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ عِندَهُ أَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ

And know that your wealth and your children are a test, and that God possesses an immense reward.

- Quran, Surah al-Anfaal (the Chapter of the Spoils of War) #8, Verse 28

Indeed, He says - as mentioned in the verses from Surah al-Baqarah - that these tests; if a person is patient; then they are from the most successful; the ones who are guided.

So, from that simple act of Lady Zahra, Imam Ali and their family; an act so beloved by God that He chose to immortalise it in Quran, we can see that the fruits of patience are profound. That He will test us; and as we become close to Him we will be tested yet further.

But, if we remain steadfast; we remain true to the covenant with God, that we are all bound to, but that our negligence in this temporal realm has made us forget:

وَإِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِن بَنِي آدَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ ۖ قَالُوا بَلَىٰ ۛ شَهِدْنَا ۛ أَن تَقُولُوا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَٰذَا غَافِلِينَ
أَوْ تَقُولُوا إِنَّمَا أَشْرَكَ آبَاؤُنَا مِن قَبْلُ وَكُنَّا ذُرِّيَّةً مِّن بَعْدِهِمْ ۖ أَفَتُهْلِكُنَا بِمَا فَعَلَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ
وَكَذَٰلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ الْآيَاتِ وَلَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ

And when Your Lord summoned the descendants of Adam, and made them testify about themselves. “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yes, we testify.” Thus you cannot say on the Day of Resurrection, “We were unaware of this.”
Nor can you Say, “Our ancestors practiced idolatry before; and we are their descendants who came after them; will you destroy us for what the falsifiers did?”
We thus elaborate the revelations, so that they may return.

- Quran, Surah al-A’raaf (the Chapter of the Heights) #7, Verses 172 to 174

If we remain steadfast and true to the covenant we have with God, if we practice the true patience - not the invalid patience that is a tool in the hands of the tyrants as we have clarified in this series - then without a doubt; we will attain success both in this world, and the next.

When speaking of Lady Zahra, we cannot fail to mention the oppression that she was subjected to, when the inheritance was usurped. Now, it is important to understand that this issue of ‘inheritance’ was not about something as trivial as to be about a garden named Fadak.

Rather, it was the usurping of the right; the manipulation of the Truth, the impatience that tragically was shown by some following the death of the Prophet of Islam, Prophet Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of God be upon him and his pure family.

A test was placed before the Muslim community of being truthful to the covenant with God, and of never wavering, nor allowing the intention to become polluted by the machinations of Satanic forces - knowingly or unknowingly - and tragically; in this regard; the test was failed; the rights were usurped.

The Truth of the Prophet was confused; and the covenant with God was broken.

Nevertheless; both Imam Ali and Lady Zahra, in spite of being subjected to great difficulties and tragedies; indeed not just them, but their children and grandchildren; all the way to the final, awaited Saviour, the one who is to us, as Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) was to his beloved father Prophet Ya’qub (Jacob), the Master of the Age, the remnant of God upon the Earth, may our souls be his ransom, Lady Zahra, Imam Ali and all their descendants, from the first to the last, continued to move on the road of patience.

We saw the patience shown by Imam Ali, as the blade of the Heretic Ibn Muljim tore his head open on the prayer mat; we saw the patience of Imam Hasan as the poison burned through his body, poison given by Muawiyyah by way of the corrupting of his wife Ja’dah ibn Ash’as al-Kindi, we saw the monumental patience shown by the Master of the Martyrs, Imam Husayn during the Epic of Ashura, indeed even prior to that, when he spoke candidly in his Sermon in Mina, and encouraged people to be patient, to resist tyranny; to always speak the Truth, no matter the consequence.

And now, we see the final inheritor, the son of Zahra, Imam Mahdi, may our souls be his ransom, who sees all the trials and difficulties, who sees the children in Gaza, who sees the children in Lebanon, who sees the people across the entire world; be they Muslim or otherwise, and who is known as the Leader of the Oppressed.

He sees the oppressors; and his patience is to be a rock for us; for us to be ready for him, to pave the way for his return, that he can fill the Earth with justice and equality, as it is filled with injustice and tyranny.

And this task requires great patience - both from the awaited Imam as well as ourselves - we have to pave the way; we have to build ourselves; we have to develop that reliance on God and indeed that needs to be coupled with reliance on ourselves.

We have to be a people who bring the Truth out to the world; from all the noise of the lies that prevail; from all the misinformation and disinformation that prevails. We have to be faithful to our covenant, to our promise to God.

As God says in the Quran:

مِّنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ رِجَالٌ صَدَقُوا مَا عَاهَدُوا اللَّهَ عَلَيْهِ ۖ فَمِنْهُم مَّن قَضَىٰ نَحْبَهُ وَمِنْهُم مَّن يَنتَظِرُ ۖ وَمَا بَدَّلُوا تَبْدِيلًا

Of the believers are men who are true to what they pledged to God. Some of them have fulfilled their vows; and some are still waiting, and never wavering.

- Quran, Surah al-Ahzaab (the Chapter of the Parties) #33, Verse 23

And from Him alone is all ability and He has authority over all things.

To Hilal, to Husayn, to Bashir, to Abu Ibrahim, to Abu Hadi, to Qassem, to Hojaji, to Ibrahim, to Hashim, to Jamal, to all of the Truthful and the Martyrs, may God bless their souls, and raise their position, and grant us their patience; that we too maybe from the successful.

This is the seventh part in a detailed discussion on patience. The discussion is built on the seminal work (based on a series of lectures) by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khamenei. The book is published as ‘Discourses on Patience’.

Video of the Majlis (Sermon/Lecture)

This write up is a companion to the video majlis (sermon/lecture) found below:

Contents

• Majlis - Patience - Part 7

• Clip - Memories of al-Abbas

• Ziyarat - Ziyarah of Sayyedah Zaynab

Recap

Over the past three weeks we have discussed the various fields of patience, that is Patience in Obedience, Patience Against Sin, Patience in Tragedies, and Patience in Optional Tragedies. This week, which is the penultimate session on this subject, we will be looking at two key points:

Firstly, the ways that Patience in Optional Tragedies can be encouraged, as per the teachings of Quran and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad and his pure family, peace and blessings of God be upon them all, as there is much in both the Quran and the traditions (ahadeeth/narrations) that can help with being better equipped to cope with these very difficult tests.

Secondly, we will start looking at the advantages and effects of patience. This final section, which will be started this week, and will conclude next week - with His permission and grace - will look at the effects of patience; which while they have been covered to an extent in each of the earlier section; we will look at them in more detail.

Ways for Encouraging Patience in Optional Tragedies

In view of its importance and fundamental role, there are many verses of the Quran that focus on this particular branch of patience, so that Muslims can feel the beauty of this very special struggle in their hearts and souls.

One of the ways for being patient against optional tragedies is to ponder on the tragedies that are beyond our control.

Indeed, in order that the inevitable confrontation with death may not be difficult for the wayfarers, those on the path of Truth, the path of God, the Holy Quran reminds us that:

Death is destined for all human beings. Those who do not die on the battlefield will eventually die on their beds in their homes. Life and death all belong to God, and the deeds which are carried by us, those which are accounted for on this path, carry the best of compensations and indeed bonuses from God, the Mighty, the Wise.

وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ إِلَّا رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِن قَبْلِهِ الرُّسُلُ ۚ أَفَإِن مَّاتَ أَوْ قُتِلَ انقَلَبْتُمْ عَلَىٰ أَعْقَابِكُمْ ۚ وَمَن يَنقَلِبْ عَلَىٰ عَقِبَيْهِ فَلَن يَضُرَّ اللَّهَ شَيْئًا ۗ وَسَيَجْزِي اللَّهُ الشَّاكِرِينَ

Muhammad is no more than a messenger. Messengers have passed on before him. If he dies or gets killed, will you turn on your heels? He who turns on his heels will not harm God in any way. And God will reward the appreciative.

- Quran, Surah Aal-i-Imraan (the Chapter of the Family of Imraan) #3, Verse 144

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَقَالُوا لِإِخْوَانِهِمْ إِذَا ضَرَبُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ أَوْ كَانُوا غُزًّى لَّوْ كَانُوا عِندَنَا مَا مَاتُوا وَمَا قُتِلُوا لِيَجْعَلَ اللَّهُ ذَٰلِكَ حَسْرَةً فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ يُحْيِي وَيُمِيتُ ۗ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ

O you who believe! Do not be like those who disbelieved, and said of their brethren who marched in the land, or went on the offensive, “Had they stayed with us, they would not have died or been killed.” So that God may make it a cause of regret in their hearts. God gives life and causes death. God is Seeing of what you do.

- Quran, Surah Aal-i-Imraan (the Chapter of the Family of Imraan) #3, Verse 156

الَّذِينَ قَالُوا لِإِخْوَانِهِمْ وَقَعَدُوا لَوْ أَطَاعُونَا مَا قُتِلُوا ۗ قُلْ فَادْرَءُوا عَنْ أَنفُسِكُمُ الْمَوْتَ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ

Those who said of their brethren, as they stayed behind, “Had they obeyed us, they would not have been killed.” Say, “Then avert death from yourselves, if you are truthful.”

- Quran, Surah Aal-i-Imraan (the Chapter of the Family of Imraan) #3, Verse 168

The other method, consists of reminding of the progress accomplished by accepting these calamities on the desired path, and the severe blows dealt to the obstacles on the path by these means.

وَلَا تَهِنُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا وَأَنتُمُ الْأَعْلَوْنَ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ

And do not waver, nor feel remorse. You are the superior ones, if you are believers.

- Quran, Surah Aal-i-Imraan (the Chapter of the Family of Imraan) #3, Verse 139

إِن يَمْسَسْكُمْ قَرْحٌ فَقَدْ مَسَّ الْقَوْمَ قَرْحٌ مِّثْلُهُ ۚ وَتِلْكَ الْأَيَّامُ نُدَاوِلُهَا بَيْنَ النَّاسِ وَلِيَعْلَمَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَيَتَّخِذَ مِنكُمْ شُهَدَاءَ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الظَّالِمِينَ

If a wound afflicts you, a similar wound has afflicted the others. Such days We alternate between the people, that God may know those who believe, and take martyrs from among you. God does not love the evildoers.

- Quran, Surah Aal-i-Imraan (the Chapter of the Family of Imraan) #3, Verse 140

The Holy Quran, emphasises upon its followers to not worry, nor be weary, because victory ultimately belongs to the believers. If the believers receive blows, then certainly similar blows are also dealt to the enemy.

The third method, consists of narratives of the predecessors, of those who came before us, and their role and position against optional tragedies. The Holy Quran, puts the patience, steadfastness and fortitude of the prophets, their supporters and the pioneers of Islam in the following way:

وَكَأَيِّن مِّن نَّبِيٍّ قَاتَلَ مَعَهُ رِبِّيُّونَ كَثِيرٌ فَمَا وَهَنُوا لِمَا أَصَابَهُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَمَا ضَعُفُوا وَمَا اسْتَكَانُوا ۗ وَاللَّهُ يُحِبُّ الصَّابِرِينَ

How many a prophet fought alongside him numerous godly people? They did not waver for what afflicted them in the cause of God, nor did they weaken, nor did they give in. God loves those who endure.

- Quran, Surah Aal-i-Imraan (the Chapter of the Family of Imraan) #3, Verse 146

There are many such verses; these are just a selection, and that too from a single chapter - that of the Family of Imraan - there are many verses; that describe very similar situations, and encourage the believers to walk the path of the prophets.

Of course, patience against such optional tragedies, while being potentially extremely difficult, and being something that requires a strong determination and faith; is nevertheless, at the same time a task that plays a miraculous role in producing and enhancing the resolve, building firm resolve and righteous belief, righteous faith; and more importantly, this is a crucial component that is responsible for the creation of an ideal Islamic society, an ideal Islamic community.

It is for this reason, there are many verses, as well as many narrations (ahadeeth/traditions) of the Prophet and his pure family, peace and blessings be upon them all, that emphasise, in varying styles and manners the importance of this branch of patience. Such traditions, as well as the many verses of the Quran, provide and guide to the necessary guidelines and instructions on its practice.

Since we have generally spoken of narrations in this discussion, let us therefore, quote one more narration about patience against all kinds of tragedies which is as follows:

“Abu Basir - a well known and famous companion of Imam as-Sadiq - quotes from Imam Ja’far ibn Muhammad as-Sadiq, peace and blessings of God be upon them, as follows:

‘A free person is free in all situations, if a terrible tragedy befalls him, he is patient, and tragedies and such inflictions cannot break him. He might be arrested, chained, and subjected to great tyranny, but he converts those hardships into comfort as did Prophet Joseph the Righteous who’s freedom was least affected by oppression, tyranny and imprisonment’”

- al-Kafi, Volume 2, Page 89

The Advantages and Effects of Patience

Ultimately, before this series concludes, we must speak about, rather it is necessary that we discuss and mention, the advantages and constructive effects of patience.

While, through the course of our discourse, we have covered this subject to a certain degree, but it is worthwhile to provide more detailed information regarding the individual and social effects of patience. Indeed this warrants further discussion.

It should be mentioned here, that, we are not looking into the advantages of patience in the next world, that is the rewards which will be awarded in the hereafter to a person for being patient in their temporal life. But, at the same time, it should not be forgotten that such rewards, cannot be separated from some of the advantages of patience, as practices on this temporal realm.

At present, we will be looking into the rewards and advantages of patience, for a patient person, for a patient society or community, for groups of patient people.

It is difficult to start to select certain advantages out of the unlimited advantages of patience.

One could say in a nutshell, that everything, this world as well as the next world, the higher noble human ideals, as well as the lowest mischievous plots and schemes; in other words, each goal or aim, desired by anyone, are all directly tied to their being steadfast and patient.

If it is required to provide logical reasoning to support the above statement, an if the vast experiences gained by humanity throughout history are not sufficient enough to convince someone, then let us present this clear and explicit formula:

Everyone must have, at least a couple of times in their lifespan, examined the validity and correctness of this formula.

Permanence and Victory

Imam Ali, the Commander of the Faithful, peace and blessings be upon him, in the following words of great wisdom has said:

“A steadfast patient person would never be denied success, however, it may materialise after a long time”

- Nahjul Balagha

In another saying, attributed to Imam Ali, the same theme has been described as follows:

“Whoever mounts the horse of patience, would definitely find his path to the field of victory”

- Nahjul Balagha

During the battle of Siffien, in an inspiring sermon to boost the morale of his forces, of the believers, Imam Ali said:

“Make your supports upon righteousness and patience (stability, fortitude); because it is only after patience that victory shall be bestowed upon you”

- Tarikh Kamil of Ibn Athir

Is it really true, that patience and endurance will enable a person to achieve his goal? If this is an overall divine law that is always applicable, then why all along history do we encounter many groups, who despite their best efforts at endurance, steadfastness and patience could not accomplish their desired goals? Who could not witness that victory?

During the early period of Islam, there are incidents like the epic of Ashura, the uprising of the Tawwabun (the Repentant), of Imam Zayd ibn Ali and similar such incidents that took place in later periods.

Of course, everyone would like to know the answer to this quandary, to the above questions. If we ponder a little, the answer becomes abundantly clear.

Indeed, those who consider these historical events, such as the epic of Ashura, or the martyrdom of Imam Zayd ibn Ali, as being ‘unsuccessful’ and ‘inconclusive’ events, and indeed as a violation of the overall divine law - that after patience comes victory - have not recognised the aims and objectives that were incorporated in each of these events, and whose attainment, meant success and victory for these movements.

Now, let us ask this question:

What were the aims of these historical events?

If this question is to be answered correctly, it would become quite clear that under no circumstances were they defeated or disappointed in their endeavours and efforts towards achieving the cherished goals.

It should also be noted, that the aims and objectives, as regards to being long or short term, differ from each other.

Some of the aims could be accomplished in a short time, while others could only be realised after an extended period.

To plant a sapling, nurture it and make all other necessary arrangements, are preliminary requirements, in order to utilise the fruits of that tree.

If all the preliminary requirements are completed, without any negligence or delay, and if all appropriate precautions are taken to enable it to resist any negative factors that would lead to it being unproductive or that would cause it to decay, then without any doubt this plant would grow into a tree, and would bear fruits.

However, a uniform and fixed period for all places does not exist.

Sometimes, the fruits of such a tree will be obtained after one year. But occasionally, the type of tree, the fruits under consideration, and the natural circumstances are such that one cannot hope to have fruits for at least 10 years.

Certainly, the ultimate goal for taking care of this sapling, which will be achieved after 10 years, is to have the desired fruits of the tree.

During all these long years of waiting, the aim is such that each year’s efforts will move the sapling ever closer to the time when it will bear fruits. As each year passes, the gardener will become happier and satisfied that his efforts over the past years have produced results, that the sapling has grown through one stage getting a year, or a month, or a week, or even a day closer to its time for bearing fruit.

Now, if an observer, aware of the efforts and endeavours of this hard working and patient gardener, sees no fruits after the passing of a year, he may wring his hands in frustration, hopelessness and indeed may lose confidence in the famous notion - as we have discussed:

Indeed, if an observer, out of a lack of maturity and inexperience, was to criticise the gardener, then such an observer would obviously be deemed as a narrow minded and impatient person by everyone and would be reminded, that he should not expect that efforts and endeavours of one year will produce results, that are the equivalent of 10 years.

The movement of Ashura, and all other later movements that had the same direction and goals, without exception, succeeded in achieving their desired aims and goals.

Each of these movements were giant strides for the destruction of the power of tyrants that were ruling - illicitly - in the name of Islam, and for the establishment of the ideal Islamic society, the ideal Islamic community.

Without any doubt, following these pioneering giant steps, if the courage of later generations would have encouraged them to take the next steps, the ultimate result would have certainly been achieved.

Therefore, to expect that ultimate result, which could only be achieved through the organised, consistent, and continued efforts and involvement of a few generations, to be attained by a few people, or by a group of people from a single generation is certainly incorrect, and indeed results from ignorance and over expectation - both of which can lead to all manner of catastrophes.

In the example above, we can say to the impatient and inexperienced observers that; those who have accepted the hardship of gardening, and of discharging their duties, understand fully that the work done by them, every hour, every day has already produced the desired results, and indeed produced such results instantaneously, even before the passing of the hour or the day.

That they have achieved their result, through the practice of patience, with each passing instant.

Two years - for example - of the hard work of this gardener brings the fruit bearing date, closer by two years. If his efforts were not there, the fruit of the sapling would have been delayed by two years, or perhaps two years of fruit bearing time would have been wasted.

Is reality other than this?

Parallel to this reality, there exists another reality also. If, after an obstacle, which prevented the sincere gardener from continuing his job, another gardener does not pursue the duties of his predecessor, by undertaking the planned activities for the third and fourth years, then it is obvious that this tree will never bear fruit.

Let us consider the example of a certain load that needs to be carried to a place, say for example ten steps ahead of where it is. Now let us suppose, that it has moved by two steps. One could say that the load has gotten closer to its final destination by two steps.

If the first person, responsible for its delivery, is in a position to undertake the remaining steps, he would do so, if not, then his substitute would carry the load and complete the remaining steps to ensure that the load reaches its final destination.

But, if this responsibility - that of moving the load on its remaining eight steps - was not discharged by either the first person, or his substitute, then obviously the load will never be delivered to its final destination.

However, there is no doubt, that the result of patience in taking the first two pioneering steps have been achieved, because the load has moved by two steps.

To uproot a deep rooted tree, and to remove a huge rock without having the proper equipment, such as a drill, chainsaw, or powerful and strong hands is, of course, not possible.

But, even if someone has all of the require tools, but does not have patience; then they will not be able to accomplish their goal.

If the first person has strong hands and patience, after making some headway is forced to discontinue his efforts, then the others who were supposed to take his place are duty bound to carry on the job by one more step, and move another step closer to success.

Likewise, the uprising of Imam Zayd ibn Ali, because of an unexpected tragedy - an arrow struck him on the forehead and he fell instantly - could not accomplish the final victory, but the result of his pioneering step - that is to rise up against tyranny - was achieved immediately by him.

His uprising was a heavy blow to the huge rock of the usurper Umayyad regime.

A heavy rock, which requires repeated and continuous blows to it, in order to be destroyed completely, if the initial blows are accompanied by later blows, then this oppressive boulder of the tyrannical Umayyad rule - which hung like a yoke on the collective neck of the Islamic Ummah, the Islamic community and was a source of oppression - would have shattered into pieces.

Without a doubt, without the initial and severe blow being struck, the later blows would not have achieved those desired results, or maybe no one would have even dared to strike those later blows.

Indeed, there are narrations (ahadeeth/traditions) in the books such as Bihar al-Anwar and the like - that consider the martyrdom of the Master of the Martyrs, Imam Husayn as the key factor in the collapse of the Sufyanid rule, and the martyrdom of Imam Zayd ibn Ali as the key factor in the collapse of the Marwanid rule.

As a historical note; the Umayyads usurped the Islamic government in 41 AH, when Muawiyyah - the then governor of Damascus - forced Imam Hasan, the second Imam of the Muslims, to abdicate. The Umayyads were divided into two branches:

1. The Sufyanids, who’s rule terminated with the death of Muawiyyah ibn Yazid (aka Muawiyyah II) in 64 AH

2. The Marwanids whose rule started with Marwan ibn al-Hakam and ended with Marwan ibn Muhammad al-7emar in 132AH

The Umayyad regime was overthrown by the Abbasids, who were at least as corrupt and tyrannical if not arguably worse.

In looking at all these important lessons; we can see that what is happening today, what has happened since the start of creation where the humanity fell into a state of occupation; there have always been small movements that have worked to reform the entirety of humanity, the Islamic Ummah and return it to the straight path.

Patience has been a core component of all these efforts; that have been in motion since the very start of time. With each of the divinely inspired prophets - of which Islamic traditions tell us that there have been 124,000 - they have all been moving towards the Truth.

Each prophet and his community, picking up the baton, as the one before him moves on.

The ‘rally race’ is ongoing; but each part of this movement, brings humanity and the Islamic community, ever closer to the Truth, to Righteousness, to God.

When we saw in 1979, the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, this was a massive blow to the Satanic forces; to the hegemon; to those who seek to usurp the rights of humanity, but it would have been impossible, without the efforts that came before it.

Furthermore, its endurance, now for 45 years, would not have been possible without great patience, without great sacrifice; and indeed, through its existence; it has paved the way for - by way of inspiration if nothing else - the movement in Lebanon, in Palestine, in Iraq, in Syria, in Yemen, and all over the world.

People may - due to conditioning by the legacy media and politicians - attempt to deny this; but the very fact that Islam exists as a truly revolutionary force in this, the 21st Century of the common era, is because of the patient, diligent, and consistent work of the Prophets, the Imams, the thinkers, the martyrs, the truthful, the leaders of the Islamic Revolution, the leaders of the Islamic Resistance, and every truth seeking and truth promoting believer.

This chain was revived in Kerbala, by the Master of the Martyrs in the Epic of Ashura, and continues to move ever forwards; until the return of the Master of the Age, and indeed ever onwards till the day, when every soul is sorted.

This is why, when we reflect on the Epic of Ashura, there is great importance in that. When we recount the events; we give them life once more; we infuse the epic itself and the heroes of the epic into our own selves; and thereby, we recharge and strengthen our patience; while dispelling the Satanic forces of negligence and despondency.

This is why, it is so important, that the days of Muharram, the days of Arbaeen and other such events are utilised correctly by the various Islamic societies and community.

They should not become events where there is no movement towards the Truth, where clowns and entertainers, monkeys - as per the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad - are sat astride the pulpits and simply bemuse the people, and indeed, instead of moving them forwards towards Truth, take them backwards and towards falsehood.

The institution of the majlis (or gathering) that was established following the epic of Ashura by the likes of Lady Zaynab and Imam Ali ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-Abedeen, were not merely to mourn the martyrs of Ashura; but rather they were to renew the pledge, to ensure that their message continued, and that the movement of the Caravan be ever forwards.

When such gatherings are relegated to poor entertainment, or where the prostitution of the blessed efforts of the pioneers of Islam, such as the Prophet Muhammad and his pure family, peace and blessings be upon them all, is done to attain some temporal euphoria; this is not a means to move towards God, nor is it in sync with the practice of true patience.

Rather, this is the embodiment of impatience; where the impatient ones seek ‘instant gratification’ - be it by way of a brief dopamine rush, be it through ‘raising funds’ for all manner of confused and vanity projects; that do not help to move the community forward towards Truth, but further embroil said community in the trappings of this world.

Indeed, when there is a discussion at a majlis, at a gathering, that teaches from the teachings of the martyrs, expands on their goals and aims, and relates their struggles to those of the present day; this is the embodiment of patience; this is how the long term aims and goals of the martyrs are achieved, and this is something that is the practice of the Prophets and the Imams, of the Martyrs and the Truthful.

Such activities give us a renewed impetus, to move onwards; to stay firm to the path, regardless of the difficulties, and to know that the dawn is very near.

Indeed, as a clear example of this, we see the position and stance of Lady Zaynab, who saw everything, all the horror, the tyranny, the oppression, the terror meted out by the forces of Yazid against the pioneers of Truth on that fateful day of Ashura.

Yet she remained resolution. She remained strong.

She remained true to the covenant with God; so much so, that due to her great insight, and understanding, that the fruits of this great patience, this great resistance, would be so beautiful, she said, without any hesitation, when asked about how she saw the martyrdom of Imam Husayn, his family and companions by the forces of the Umayyad tyrannical despot Yazid ibn Muawiyyah; she said, clearly and firmly:

Her seeing beauty, was because she knew that due to the forbearance, the patience, the fortitude of Imam Husayn, his family and companions, due to the struggle and steadfastness of Imam as-Sajjad, due to the strength that she herself had been inspired with by the Lord of the Universes; she understood that this Caravan would never be stopped nor defeated; and this truly when we think of it even, is to see nothing but beauty.

When we look at how, in more recent times, the Islamic Resistance movements in both Palestine and Lebanon have suffered monumental blows, great hardships, genocide even. There have been horrific terror attacks, such as the now infamous pager and walkie-talkie sabotage operations that maimed hundreds if not thousands and murdered tens.

There have been the massive ‘bunker busting’ strikes where 85 tonnes of explosives were dropped in residential areas of Beirut’s southern suburbs, levelling them, razing them to the ground, that resulted in the martyrdom of our beloved Sayyed Abu Hadi and his companions, and countless innocents.

When we see all of these, the understanding should not be that of despondency; as we have discussed; rather that of beauty, as espoused by Sayyedah Zaynab in the follow up to to Ashura.

This is because; the enemy, the child killing Zionist genocidal criminals and their enablers in the collective West have achieved nothing. For decades they tried to destroy Afghanistan, what happened? They had to hand it back to the ones who they sought to depose.

In Iraq, they are more unstable as occupiers now, than they were before; and their hold on that country is weakening by the second.

In Syria, they exposed their true faces as the sponsors of the terrorist DAESH entity, and in Iraq when they murdered the greater warrior and opponent of DAESH, the Martyr of Quds, Hajj Qassem Soleimani, may God bless his eternal soul, they saw a fierce backlash; and they now know their time in the West Asia region is at an end.

In Yemen, they tried for years, using their weak-minded proxies of the regimes of the various oil fields and shopping malls with flags, to topple and remove the honourable movement of the Helpers of God - Ansarallah, led by Sayyed Abdul Malik Badreddine al-Houthi, may God protect him. They used all manner of munitions to murder the people of Yemen, yet what result did their yield? Have the heroes of Yemen bent the knee to the Empire or its vassals?

Far from it, indeed now, in order to prevent a genocide, the honourable heroes of Yemen, the people of Ansarallah, are enforcing a blockade that even the Zionist entities more stringent backer, the US empire is unable to break.

In Lebanon, they felt they had destroyed the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hizbullah, yet what happened? Hizbullah today, is far stronger and resolute than a year ago, even with all the pain and heartbreak it has been forced to endure. But this is the nature of the patient; this is nature of the believers, those who are true to their covenant with God; they are as described in the Quran:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلَاةِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ
وَلَا تَقُولُوا لِمَن يُقْتَلُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَمْوَاتٌ ۚ بَلْ أَحْيَاءٌ وَلَٰكِن لَّا تَشْعُرُونَ
وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُم بِشَيْءٍ مِّنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِّنَ الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَنفُسِ وَالثَّمَرَاتِ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ
الَّذِينَ إِذَا أَصَابَتْهُم مُّصِيبَةٌ قَالُوا إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ
أُولَٰئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَاتٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ ۖ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُهْتَدُونَ

O you who believe! Seek help through patience and prayers. God is with the steadfast.
And do not say of those who are killed in the cause of God, “Dead.” Rather, they are alive, but you do not perceive.
We will certainly test you with some fear and hunger, and some loss of possessions and lives and crops. But give good news to the steadfast.
Those who, when a calamity afflicts them, say, “To God we belong, and to Him we will return.”
Upon these are blessings and mercy from their Lord. These are the guided ones.

- Quran, Surah al-Baqarah (the Chapter of the Cow) #2, Verses 153 to 157

Without going into these verses too deeply at this time, we can see that there is a profound logic and wisdom to why within Islam, we do not consider those who have been killed in the way of God as being ‘dead’, rather; they are alive, and receive their sustenance from their Lord and it is us who remain, who do not perceive them.

But, their path continues, their works continue. We saw with the Resistance in Lebanon, that when the Zionists murdered Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, that Shaykh Naeem Qassem became the Secretary-General of the Party of God, the operations and resistance against the Zionists continues unabated; and the Zionists have only further ensured their end.

The path of the martyrs, the path of the Caravan of Love, the path of Ashura, continues, unhindered, unbroken, and ever stronger and ever more resilient.

Indeed, we are reminded of a great saying by Imam Khomeini, and this was re-iterated by Marty Sayyed Abu Yasir, Sayyed Abbas al-Musawi, who said - as a direct message to the Zionist terrorists and their masters:

Even in Western mythology, such as that of the Star Wars franchise; it can be seen, that when the forces of evil, are about to kill the leaders of good, when the proverbial Darth Vader is about to strike down the Jedi Master, Obi Wan Kenobi; Kenobi tells Darth Vader:

This is the eternal Truth, that Truth, righteousness will always prevail; and that falsehood and tyranny will always be destroyed; indeed the Quran speaks of this clearly:

وَقُلْ جَاءَ الْحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ الْبَاطِلُ ۚ إِنَّ الْبَاطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقًا

And say, “The truth has come, and falsehood has withered away; for falsehood is bound to wither away.”

- Quran, Surah al-Isra (the Chapter of the Night Journey also known as the Chapter of the Children of Israel) #17, Verse 81

And from Him alone is all ability and He has authority over all things,

To Sayyed Abu Hadi, after more than 40 days, the wound is still as fresh and painful, your voice resonates in every event, ever single thing, reminds us of your smile, our hearts are broken as they were broken for your grandfather, the Master of the Martyrs, but we promise, and so God is our witness, we will continue on this path, without ever faltering, until we meet together in the Garden.

This is the sixth part in a detailed discussion on patience. The discussion is built on the seminal work (based on a series of lectures) by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khamenei. The book is published as ‘Discourses on Patience’.

Video of the Majlis (Sermon/Lecture)

This write up is a companion to the video majlis (sermon/lecture) found below:

Contents

• Majlis - Patience - Part 6

• Nasheed - Tawaf

• Dua - Dua al-Ahad

Recap

This part continues from the previous two parts - part 4 and part 5 - discussing the various fields of patience. Part 4, discussed the concept of patience in obedience, and Part 5 discussed the role of patience against sin.

This part, will discuss the role of patience against unpleasant events (such as tragedies, calamities, catastrophes and the like).

Patience Against Unpleasant Events

The human condition is always accompanied by unpleasant events and calamities. There is no escape from such eventualities.

Humanity has been created such that, it has to deal with such situations, that is to say, that the human always experiences and has to deal with difficult, unpleasant and such events through the course of their lives on this temporal domain.

The following quote from the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali, peace and blessings be upon him, encapsulates this truth:

“The world is like a house, which has been encircled with temptations and calamities”

- Ghurur al-Hikam, Saying #1034 / (English Version, Section ‘The World’, Saying 67)

Sickness, physical handicaps, financial losses, death of loved ones and deprivations are just some of the inevitable happenings from which there is no escape.

Even the most prosperous, the most wealthy class of people are not immune from such occurrences.

When such calamities befall, naturally there are two types of reactions shown by the people:

1. Some people, on account of the calamity give up their resistance completely, and therefore become spiritually, religiously handicapped.

2. The other group of people, bear with patience, considering said calamity as a natural part of life on this world; therefore, they come out of such a calamity intact and with dignity.

According to the famous Persian poet, Roudaki - his full name was Ja’far ibn Muhammad known as Roudaki, and he is regarded as the ‘father of Persian poetry’. He flourished in the Samanid Court at Bukhara in the 9th and 10th Centuries CE - the merit, greatness and leadership of a man is tested during his encounter with calamity. Grief, crying and lamentation which are ways of the weak, timid-hearted and impatient individuals, in itself is a ‘strong natural passion’.

Such a passion imposes a violent emotional force upon the human structure, whereby all the body parts are employed to perform a particular function. The eyes, shed tears, the tongue complains, the throat groans, and hands and feed are all involved in performing special and specific actions and movements.

Patience against calamities, means to not surrender to these violent emotional outbursts. A patient human being, while facing such tragedies does not give up his morale and maintains his composure and control.

These tragedies do not make him depressed and discouraged, and do not stop him from making efforts and endeavours for accomplishing the main goals in the real life. Therefore, this type of patience - that is patiences against calamities - is also important, and has been termed as fair and charming in the narration quoted in the previous part (part 5):

“There are two types of patience, one of them is patience during tragedies and catastrophes, which is very good and charming, but there is another type of patience, which is far better, and more charming than the other, and this is patience against acts forbidden by God”

- al-Kafi, Volume 2, Book of Faith and Disbelief (Kitab al-Iman wa al-Kufr), Chapter on Patience (Bab al-Sabr), Hadith 15

Calamities During the Journey

Now, let us consider the case of a wayfarer, who starts his journey in a certain direction so that he can reach his final desired destination.

If, upon encountering each unpleasant accident, and after receiving a small injury, he gives up his morale and looses his composure, then it is clear that such a person will never complete the journey and will never reach his final destination.

The resistance offered against these ailments of depression, despondency and the like, while facing such tragedies is a key factor, which, not only secures and ensures a high state of morale, but furthermore, this endurance, this fortitude, is itself an exercise, which is invaluable in the building up of determination and an iron will (strong will) amongst human beings, which are prerequisites for the continuation of the difficult journey.

Therefore, patience against natural tragedies, and indeed man-made tragedies, which befall human beings, without any option or choice, have the two key advantages:

Firstly, they secure and help maintain a high morale, which is responsible for all constructive involvement, and further acts as an obstacle to prevent it from getting lost or being destroyed completely, in the face of additional tragedies, calamities and the like.

Secondly, it builds up the human determination, or will power, which is an important means for all positive actions, and further it provides the required endurance to face additional tragedies.

The special encouragement and passion shown by the teachers of Islamic thought about this type of patience clearly demonstrates its constructive and miraculous role.

In the following two narrations - or ahadeeth/traditions of the Prophet Muhammad and his pure family, may the peace and blessings of God be upon them all - we will examine the deeper philosophical depth of this branch of patience, and see it clearly demonstrated.

The First Narration

“Whoever has not equipped himself with the weapon of patience, during hardships and calamities of the time, will be subjected to a state of weakness and helplessness”

- al-Kafi, Volume 2, p 93 (Hadeeth 24)

The Second Narration

“For a believer, if a position and rank, has been taken into consideration by God, which could never be accomplished by deeds alone, he is inflicted with physical sickness, or loss of wealth, or tragedies to his loved ones, and in case he remains patient, he is awarded by God the assigned position and rank”

- Safinat al-Bihar, Volume 2, Page 5 / Variants of this can also be found in al-Kafi

In the above narration, the constructive and exalted role of patience has been clearly explained.

Othman ibn Maz’oon, who was an experienced Muslim and from the believers who participated in both the migrations to Ethiopia as well as to Madinah, during the early period of Islam, he lost his young son in Madinah.

This tragedy was so devastating, that he chose to spend all his remaining life inside his house, in constant prayer, and stopped all social involvement abruptly.

His state of depression, after the death of his young son was extremely intense, such that he wished to never face the pleasures of life again.

The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, upon hearing of his situation, paid him a visit, and advised him to reconsider his decision. The Prophet told him, that Islam does not allow for a monastic life (i.e. the renunciation of the world), sitting in an isolated corner, engrossed in prayers, oblivious of the world.

Rather, the renunciation of the world by the Islamic Ummah, the Islamic community, actually means participation in Jihad for the sake of God. Be that the greater jihad or the lesser jihad.

Therefore, patience against tragedies, where in there is no choice, means being able to tolerate the injury caused by the given calamity, without losing your morale, and to be able to continue the progress of life, and rising above the calamity.

Patience Against Optional Tragedies

This branch of patience surpasses in excellence all other situations, because in this case, a conscientious and aware human being, arises to accomplish a certain goal, and offers resistance against all hardships and unpleasantness, which are inflicted upon him during this course.

In spite of facing all these severe calamities, he does not get demoralised, depressed, and continues his movement towards the cherished and desired goal.

If we perform an in-depth analysis, for research purposes, of the state of affairs in human societies in history, looking for lofty human ideals, and especially the goals aspired to by the divine Prophets. Goals which were always ranked against and in a state of conflict with the classes of tyrants, profiteers and other such oppressors, and as a result of this, said goals were opposed by such tyrants and oppressors.

It then becomes crystal clear, that there had - and has - always been a state of war and confrontation between the proponents of these higher goals and the powerful classes of tyrants and oppressors.

There are a plethora of Quranic verses which throw great historical light at this confrontation between the Prophets of God, and the forces of falsehood (Taghout in Quranic terminology).

Since this confrontation, between Truth and falsehood is inevitable, therefore it is necessary for the followers of the path of Truth, the proclaimers of justice and righteousness, the promoters and seekers of Truth to follow the path of the divine Prophets, to know and predict in advance that the path of Truth is accompanied by all manner of hardships and calamities.

The Holy Quran, in order to make ready the believers for confronting such problems, announces in advance, clearly and without ambiguity, the potential dangers on the path of Truth, and brings historical realities into clear focus:

لَتُبْلَوُنَّ فِي أَمْوَالِكُمْ وَأَنفُسِكُمْ وَلَتَسْمَعُنَّ مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ وَمِنَ الَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا أَذًى كَثِيرًا ۚ وَإِن تَصْبِرُوا وَتَتَّقُوا فَإِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ عَزْمِ الْأُمُورِ

You will be tested through your possessions and your persons; and you will hear from those who received the Scripture before you, and from the idol worshipers, much abuse. But if you persevere and lead a righteous life—that indeed is a mark of great determination.

- Quran, Surah Aal-i-Imraan (the Chapter of the Family of Imraan) #3, Verse 186

In reality, those who want to live as a true believer, as a true servant of God, who want to be responsible regarding their divine obligations and duties that have been assigned to them, must realise that they will be opposed, they will be subjected to all manner of hardships and harsh conditions by their opponents, and indeed they will soon witness the Truth of this Quranic prediction with their own eyes and in their own era.

Of course, the one who enjoys an important position or rank, and whose faith and actions are more determined in the path of God will be more effective, therefore, they will be proportionately subjected to more severe hardships and tragedies by the opponents, the tolerance of which is undoubtedly difficult.

There is a well known narration (hadeeth/tradition), quoted from Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq, the sixth Imam of the Muslims, as follows:

“Among all the people, the prophets were inflicted with the harshest calamities, and after them, those who were closer to the prophets were subjected to similar kinds of hardships and calamities”

- Safinat al-Bihar and also found in Al-Kafi, Volume 2, Book 3, Chapter 1, Hadith 1

Of course, these calamities are not those unforeseen and somewhat natural tragedies as described in the previous section, regarding which the human being has no choice or control. Rather, in this case, everyone has the option to choose or refuse.

In case a person desires and prefers the comforts of this life, wishes to have ‘an easy life’ , and thereby remain immune from such types of calamities; then a person can choose to do so.

What makes these events inevitable, is when a person moves and consciously moves towards that cherished goal.

Every easy going person, who prefers the comfortable environment of his home, and never takes the trouble to venture outside the four walls of his house, would never face inconveniences and problems encountered in a journey. However, at the same time, he will never benefit from the experiences which are only possible by going out, by embarking on such an auspicious adventure.

Such a person, would remain safe throughout their life from events such as, slipping from the peak of a mountain, facing a wild beast in the jungle, being attacked and robbed by bandits, all of which are likely events when one embarks on an adventurous journey.

Like every naive and irresponsible human being who has not recognised the aims of life, and has not taken any steps towards that sublime goal, who prefers an uneventful life without headaches, would be better advised to follow the decree of the great Iranian poet, Sa’di as follows:

“Although inside the sea there are plenty of material gains. But if you prefer safety, you better stay on the shore!”

- Golestan of Sa’di of Shiraz, Chapter 8

Indeed, the same logic has been spoken of by the French poet Gautier who once during wartime said the following:

“I prefer lying down to sitting, I prefer sitting to standing, and I prefer remaining home to going out. I will know nothing of the war they say has engulfed the whole world, unless a bullet shatters the window of my house”

- Théophile Gautier

According to this logic, one could easily elect to take the option of remaining immune from all the troubles, headaches, and injuries, etc., all of which are pre-requisites for joining the path of the Prophets.

Therefore, the calamities on the path of the prophets are certainly optional tragedies, in the sense that they are inflicted upon those who are taking their commands from the following saying of Imam Ali, the Commander of the Faithful, may the peace and blessings of God be upon him:

“By taking giant steps on the divine path, they throw themselves into the whirlpool of tragedies”

- Nahjul Balagha, Sermon 3, On Patience in the absence of supporters / Variants of the same quote can also be found elsewhere in Nahjul Balagha as well as in Ghurur al-Hikam.

Therefore, they succeeded in announcing the positive and definite reply to the divine invitation to support the Truth. Hence, patience against optional tragedies is the most important type of patience, relative to the other categories.

This branch of patience, reflects the highest degree of human exaltedness in facing optional tragedies.

This type of patience means accepting tragedies in spite of the fact that all the instincts of a person are forcing him to turn his back to the path, to stop offering resistance, yet he continues offering that sacred resistance, and never regrets, or feels sorry or ashamed to be inflicted with severe blows on the path of Righteousness, on the path of Truth.

Khabbab ibn al-Arth, is ranked amongst the top Muslims, one who accepted the invitation of the Prophet Muhammad to Islam, and offered many sacrifices. Because of his movement to (conversion to) Islam, he lost a significant portion of his properties and possessions.

One day, he complained to the Prophet about his severe financial loss. He himself narrates as follows:

“The Prophet had spread his robe on the ground, and was reclining with his back against the Holy Ka’bah. When he listened to my complaint, he changed his relaxed sitting posture, and his composure changed. He then said:

‘Your predecessors (the Prophet here is referring to believers in the missions of earlier prophets, who in those distant times were subjected to all sorts of inhuman atrocities by the idolators. The main theme of the messages of all the divine prophets was Monotheism (Tawheed), a belief in The One and Only God, and Islam means submission to the will of God), sometimes were slaughtered by the iron saw, cutting their skin, veins and flesh all the way down to the bone.

But they remained committed to their faith, and never complained, even when in some cases, their bodies were cut off into two equal pieces.

God will carry this movement (Islam) till its perfection. The distance a rider travels between Sana’ (the Capital of Yemen) and Hadhramaut (a region in the southern part of Yemen), roads and highways will be so safe, under the Islamic government and system that nobody will be afraid of anything but God, and the flock of sheep will not be scared of anyone, but the wolf.”

- Al-Kafi and other sources

Therefore, the Prophet, by delivering these fiery speeches, instilled in his followers, the spirit of resistance and of an iron will. He encouraged them to be patient, while facing calamities that were inflicted upon them on account of their belief in Allah, and movement towards the Truth.

It is quite possible, that someone, by practising patience in discharging their Islamic obligations - Patience in Obedience, or by offering resistance against instinctual passions - Patience Against Sin, may be genuinely included in the list of believers and may start walking on the path that leads to God, to Truth.

But, once confronted with accidents, tragedies, and/or calamities; all of which are an essential and indeed inevitable part of this journey, he may not be able to withstand, and in the middle of the path, might face a complete morale break down, indeed even a moral break down. Might face, weakness and doubts in faith, hopelessness and other such reasons; all on account of impatience.

He may decide to return without completing the journey, disregard the discharging of any duties he may have been assigned.

Therefore, the completion of this journey, without being deviated, without breaking it mid-journey, certainly and without any doubt, is only made possible by practising this type of patience. That is patience against optional tragedies.

As is always the case, when looking at this subject, we can always yield back to the epic of Ashura to garner lessons that will drive us ever forwards, towards the Truth, and that will protect us, inoculate us, from falling prey to the machinations of Satan and his minions, all of whom work tirelessly to prevent the believer from reaching that ultimate destination.

But in this case, we can also look at events in more recent history, that are so intertwined with the epic of Ashura and this subject that it is important we at the very least mention them, that we may benefit and learn from them.

If we examine, the situation of Imam Husayn, prior to his epic martyrdom on Ashura; following the death of Muawiyyah, we can see that Muawiyyah had instructed his son, Yazid, to ensure he obtained the oath of allegiance from three key people.

• Abdullah ibn Zubayr, the eldest son of Zubayr ibn Awam

• Abdullah ibn Umar, the eldest son of the second Caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab, and

• Husayn ibn Ali, the third Imam of the Muslims, and grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.

Muawiyyah had also said, that if the two Abdullah’s do not give the allegiance but agree not to rebel, then leave them be, do not pursue them; but for Husayn, if he refuses to give the oath of allegiance; then he must be forced, and if that means killing him, then so be it.

These were Muawiyyah’s instructions to Yazid, who sent them to his governor in Madinah, Walid ibn Uqba.

Now the reason for mentioning this, is that, if Imam Husayn wanted ‘an easy life’, where he could perhaps ‘preach’ (a variant) of Islam (disconnected from that taught by Prophet), but that would ensure he is ‘safe’ and unharmed, then this is an option that was available - technically available - to Imam Husayn.

Perhaps he could have said to himself:

“Well if I give the allegiance to Yazid, maybe I can work to reform him from the inside.”

But Imam Husayn said something far more profound:

He said:

“Someone like me, cannot give the oath of allegiance, to someone like him”

- Maqtal al-Husayn by Abu Mikhnaf, Kitab al-Irshaad of Shaykh Mufid and many other sources.

This is a very profound statement. Imam Husayn could have said:

“I, Husayn ibn Ali, cannot give the oath of allegiance, to Yazid ibn Muawiyyah”

That would have been factually correct, since it was clear that Imam Husayn, was refusing to give the oath of allegiance to Yazid. But why say it as he did?

Why say:

“Someone like me, cannot give the oath of allegiance, to someone like him”

- Maqtal al-Husayn by Abu Mikhnaf, Kitab al-Irshaad of Shaykh Mufid and many other sources.

Because this was not just a statement that was to be locked in time; rather it was a statement that was built on the positions taken by all the Prophets through history; as well as all the Aimmah (Imams), and that is the position taken by the Truthful, the Honourable, the Righteous, the people standing for Truth, against the agents of Satan, against the Satanic forces, against the forces ranked against Truth, against the forces of falsehood.

In saying what Imam Husayn said, he clarified; that “someone like me” - a person on the path of Truth, who relies on God, who moves towards God, cannot give any sort of allegiance to someone who is diametrically opposed to the path that I am on.

A Truthful person, cannot give any sort of allegiance, or even recognition, to a person who relishes in and resides within falsehood.

This should be reflected upon, and this is an important lesson from the epic of Ashura.

Indeed, this is how the believer operates in contemporary times, or how the believer should operate rather, when it comes to the modern day Yazid’s and Muawiyyah’s. When dealing with the forces that seek to suppress humanity, that seek to corrupt humanity, that seek to cloud the Truth, that seek to operate not just in an anti religious manner, but in an anti-God manner.

Such forces that work to break the core unit of the family, that promote perversions, that promote psychological ailments that have catastrophic results upon humanity.

Forces that claim that ‘there are too many people on the earth’, forces that claim that one group of people has the right to oppress another group of people.

Forces that are at their core Pharaonic and Satanic.

In more contemporary times; we can see, and this is now documented and a matter of the public record.

In the Epic of the al-Aqsa Flood, that to this day rages on, and will continue until the liberation of Palestine from the forces of Zionism, we also know, that both the Helpers of God (Ansarallah) as well as the Party of God (Hizbullah) were offered huge ‘concessions’ if they were to stop their support front operations against the Zionist child killing regime and in support of the heroic resistance in Palestine.

But they refused to accept, and with their refusal I am reminded of the refusal given by Prophet Muhammad, when he was approached by the leaders of the polytheists in Makkah at the start of his mission to raise the banner of Monotheism.

The leaders of Makkah went to the Prophet, and tried to entice him with worldly things - the same way that attempts were made to entice both Ansarallah in Yemen and Hizbullah in Lebanon with ‘international recognition’, ‘removal of sanctions’ and such things - they said they would make Prophet Muhammad the richest man in Makkah, they would give him the keys to the city, even declare him the king, all he had to do was renounce his mission, that was so dangerous to the polytheists, all he had to do was renounce his move towards Allah, towards the Truth and towards raising the flag of Monotheism.

The reply Prophet Muhammad gave was profound, inspired, and resonates in the heart of all those who truly stand for Truth, and when the Satanic forces - in whatever form they take - come to break his resolve:

The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his pure family, said:

“If you place the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left, I will not renounce my mission, which is from God”

- al-Sira an-Nabawiyyah, Ibn Hisham / Tafsir al-Qummi of Shaykh al-Aqdam (Ali ibn Ibrahim al-Qummi), Kitab al-Irshaad of Shaykh Mufid and other sources

This shows the position of the Prophet Muhammad, that regardless of the monumental challenges he faced, the level of coercion against him, and the pressure on him to end his mission; he refused, saying clearly; that even if you give me the sun and the moon, I will not renounce this mission, this task, that has been given to me by God.

In Kerbala we see a similar approach taken by Imam Husayn, and indeed the approach of all the Imams, all the Prophets has been the same; to accept the difficulties that will be put upon them, but to understand that these are but tests, and standing firm to them is the path to true salvation.

In recent times, we see what the Zionist child killers have done to both Gaza, Yemen and Lebanon, the level of wanton destruction and death meted out by these Pharaonic and Satanic forces, of both the US Empire, the collective West and its vassal the Zionist terror regime.

Yet the honourable leaders and people stand tall, stand firm, and are unwavering, unbroken, unbending, screaming at the top of their voices to a world that has gone deaf, dumb and blind - ‘We will never accept humiliation’.

And indeed, such was the great martyr, Abu Ibrahim, Yahya Sinwar, may God bless his eternal soul. Who, without having eaten or drunk (evidenced by Zionist autopsy results) for at least 3 days, still stood firm.

A true disciple of Imam Husayn, who understood Kerbala in a way that very few do. Who joined as one of the purest souls on that Caravan of Love, led by the Master of the Martyrs.

His last act of defiance was to stand tall against the Zionists, with nothing more than a stick in his broken hand.

Just like our master, Aba Abdillah al-Husayn, the Master of the Martyrs, who never bent the knee, and till the end, and even after his martyrdom, from atop the spear, is known to have been reciting from the Quran.

Amongst the verses the blessed head of Imam Husayn is reported to have recited is:

الَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ النَّاسُ إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا لَكُمْ فَاخْشَوْهُمْ فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَقَالُوا حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ

Those to whom the people have said, “The people have mobilised against you, so fear them.” But this only increased them in faith, and they said, “God is enough for us; He is the Excellent Protector.”

- Quran, Surah Aal-i-Imraan (the Chapter of the Family of Imraan) #3, Verse 173

This is what we have to all strive to attain; the true patience that will help to keep our resolve firm, and to keep our hearts strong in the face of speaking the Truth to the tyrants - be the tyrant internal, or external.

And from Him alone is all ability and He has authority over all things.

To, all the children, and families, lives cut short by the demonic forces of Zionism and Empire, the blood and tears of the oppressed, of the innocent, truly innocent, will burn the palaces, houses and temples of the child killers, and those who support them, and those who turn a blind eye to their crimes.

The world should understand, that God is on the watchtower; and there will be a reckoning. Falsehood will always perish, and Truth will always be victorious.

Woe to the liars, who with their lies, enable mass murder, on the day when the souls are sorted. For such criminals and their enablers, an eternity - yes eternity - of torment remains; where as the beautiful martyrs, the innocent children, the innocent men and women, fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, are reclining on couches of silk, in a beautiful place, where in are gardens with pure rivers, their reward for their steadfastness, and therein shall they remain, eternally, never to be tired, nor upset, and the word they hear always is, ‘salaam’ (peace).

This is the fifth part in a detailed discussion on patience. The discussion is built on the seminal work (based on a series of lectures) by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khamenei. The book is published as ‘Discourses on Patience’.

Video of the Majlis (Sermon/Lecture)

This write up is a companion to the video majlis (sermon/lecture) found below:

Contents

• Majlis - Patience - Part 5

• Nohe - Sallat 3ala Jismil Husayn

• Ziyarat - Ziyarat Ashura

Recap

As discussed in the previous part (part 4), this part, and the next part will be discussing the various fields of patience. We have - in part 4 - discussed ‘Patience in Obedience’, and now with this part we will be discussing ‘Patience Against Sin’.

Patience Against Sin

Human beings, naturally, are possessed with desires and passions, which encourage and discourage them to do certain acts. In reality, these are instruments for performing all actions, efforts and endeavours by humans over their entire life span.

These are called instincts such as, love for the self, love for children, love for wealth, love for power, sexual desires and scores of other such attractions and desires.

What are the instructions of Islam regarding these natural human instincts? How is the human being supposed to behave while confronting their natural instincts? Do they surrender to these instincts without any limits or conditions? Should these passions be suppressed? Should they be completely disabled by means of super-imposing rigorous self-discipline?

According to the Islamic view, none of the above methods are the correct treatment.

On the contrary, under no circumstances, does Islam ignore human instincts. Rather, Islam considers these human instincts to be something useful; but also forces to be tempered and reckoned with.

Islam works to close off the negative aspects, the negative polarisation of these instincts that can lead to all manner of disasters, but at the same time, Islam nurtures and appreciates the positive aspects, since it knows that these instincts are an important means for the continuation of life.

The negative aspects of these human instincts, such as aggression, mutiny, transgression and going to extremes, these are dangerous because they can lead to great catastrophe and misfortune in the human life; that something which might appear ‘pleasant’ for a very short period - or as is said ‘in the heat of the moment’ - might ultimately be a means of absolute catastrophe.

Indeed, these basic human instincts are a means for humanity to continue life, but as mentioned, Islam provides a means to temper and prevent such instincts from being manipulated and corrupted, such that they can endanger the individual human, but also the community as a whole.

Without this tempering, this ‘management’ if you will, this ‘policing’ of the base human instincts, certain instinctive traits would become dominant, aggression, lust, transgression, etc; which would ultimately lead to catastrophes and great misfortune in the life of the human.

By the same token, if the instinct of ‘love for the self’ did not exist, the continuation of human life would become impossible. But at the same time, if there was excessive ‘love for the self’, this would cause great difficulty in a person’s life, and indeed in some cases make it impossible.

The case is similar with other instincts. Among the three types of patience we have mentioned previously, patience against sin, means offering resistance against the fire of rage, or diversion of instinctive passions, because basically sin or transgression against God’s law is nothing but the above acts of diversion, transgression and aggression of instincts.

Human beings are naturally inclined to endeavour for the arranging of life’s necessities and essential requirements. Since this could not be accomplished without having wealth or money, therefore the motive to earn money and wealth constitutes a natural instinct.

Also, Islam being truly holistic, being a complete way of life, a school for humanity, encourages the above instinct, and indeed certifies it by putting its own ‘signature’ on it.

Of course, it does so, for the right or correct administration of society and accordingly checks and balances, methods, procedures and limitations are established to provide more structure and guide on how this instinct should be managed, but Islam never stops or prohibits a person from earning a livelihood, indeed, it is well known that this is encouraged and lauded in Islamic teachings.

However, in spite of all of that, in some instances, perhaps in many instances, this instinct of love for money (which leads from love of the self, as mentioned), and the notion of ‘hoarding wealth’ can take root in the human soul like a chronic disease, and the result of this, is that money no longer remains a means for providing the requirement, rather it becomes in an of itself, an intense desire for committing inhuman activities, or for self-glorification, indeed it can turn into a form of polytheism, all of which are strongly condemned from the Islamic point of view.

It is here, that Islam decrees to its adherents, to its followers, to be patient, to offer resistance against the transgressions, the corruption of these natural instincts.

Another example of a human instinct could be, for example ‘love for power’. By nature, human beings crave power. Some might accept weakness, ‘an absence of power’ as a means to show humility, but this is a deviation from the natural condition of the human. Islam, in this regard also, utilises the same approach as it does for dealing with all other instinctive desires.

On one side, the efforts and endeavours in the path of achieving power have been commended as being something desirable and permissible, and in certain circumstances compulsory. Yes! Islam considers power necessary, when it is required for the establishing of the Truth, for the discharging of important social obligations, for the re-instatement of lost rights to their rightful owners, and for the execution of divine commands and decrees.

In such cases, Islam has made it mandatory (wajib), for all Muslims to gain power.

While on the other hand, in Islam, the path of this instinct towards aggression and ambitions has been closed. When the instinct of love for power results in tyranny, oppression, brute force and savage crimes, this has been condemned as an entirely undesirable and forbidden act.

It is possible, that association with a powerful tyrant, or with a destructive organisation may bring ample power for an ambitious person; but Islam never sanctions such an association, because the act of associating with a tyrant is a direct support for the strengthening of tyranny.

The balance of power which results from this kind of association is responsible for the committing of crimes.

Here, the decrees of Islam and the Holy Quran are in direct confrontation to the outburst and diversion of human instincts and closes the path for such.

The Muslims are ordered to struggle and offer resistance against the motives of this type of love for power, which results in mischief and corruption, and should never surrender to such ambitious tyrants, and this means patience against sin.

There are other examples of instincts such as sexual desires, love for fame, love for life, and more besides, which could likewise be examined, resulting in a better understanding of these important individual and social issues.

The Importance of Patience Against Sin

In light of this brief discussion, and in view of the traditions and Islamic learning which are generally full of social education, it may be concluded that patience against sins and transgressions has been assigned a special importance.

According to a few short traditions dealing with special circumstances, and giving constructive lessons for the diligent and committed Muslim, lessons from the time of the Aimmah (Imams) and the times of the Prophet Muhammad and prophets prior to him, it can be said that this branch of patience has been considered a crucial support and has been assigned a special position.

Perhaps it maybe because offering patience in obedience is something accompanied with the natural desire (or instinct) existing within all human beings, the same natural instincts that are responsible for action and efforts.

While, on the other hand, to be able to resist the desires for diversions, to not surrender to the appealing attractions of various obstacles which are full of sweet and desirable natural attractions, is the field of patience against sin.

In this case, not only is one not supported by natural attractions and instincts, rather one is acting in the opposite direction.

Therefore, patience in obedience, while it does include some aspect of struggling against natural instincts and attractions such as the human desire for comfort and ease; nevertheless, it is accompanied and supported by other natural instincts, however weak.

But patience against sin or transgression against the laws of God, is in total and direct confrontation with all the natural instinctive attractions and pleasures, and accordingly this kind of struggle is far more difficult and arduous, and for this result, it has been accorded a special position or privilege.

Also, patience against sins plays a determining role as far as the social affairs are concerned, and since its effect is relatively more conspicuous, this could be another reason for assigning such a special position and privilege to this kind of patience.

Historical Examples

Let us consider, for example, the two very prominent faces of Islamic history, and compare them with each other.

One of them is enlightened, honourable and exciting, while the other is hated and condemned.

These two faces being of two persons who have been offered exactly similar and equivalent opportunities. It maybe said that, both, travelled together and reached simultaneously an intersection, an in action, each one selected a different direction.

One of them, because of choosing the right path, becomes from the greatest and most honourable Islamic personality, and the other one, because of his choosing the wrong path, becomes from the most detested and deplorable face of Islamic history.

One of them is Omar ibn Sa’ad, who is the commander of the Umayyad army that is tasked with suppressing the rising of Imam Husayn, the other is Hur ibn Yazid ar-Riyahi, who is another commander - as we discussed briefly in the previous part - in the same army, who had been dispatched earlier to follow and strictly, vigilantly monitor the movements of Imam Husayn , and he had already committed an act of aggression against the revolution of Imam Husayn and his companions.

Each of them started their march on the road almost at the same time. The ruling Umayyad regime was being threatened by a revolutionary force. The revolutionary freedom-giving fire was behind the ashes all over the Hijaz and was about to ignite inside Iraq.

Imam Husayn, considering the Islamic obligations and realising the great responsibility on his shoulders had taken a giant revolutionary step, by rising against the corrupt and dictatorial Umayyad regime. He took great heroic steps to register forever in the history of Islam, the most practical and fundamental lesson for the coming generations.

This rising, therefore, was dangerous and a serious threat to the ruling regime. Naturally, it was compelled to mobilise all its resources and to suppress and crush this revolutionary uprising.

The aforementioned two people - Omar ibn Sa’ad and Hur ibn Yazid - were part of the vast resources of the tyrannical Umayyad regime, that was mobilised against the revolutionary movement and against its leader, Imam Husayn.

Therefore, in the very beginning, both these persons, manifest themselves as two important ‘pawns’ (chess characters) on the chess board, of a game that was being played by the usurper and tyrant, the so-called ‘caliph’ Yazid ibn Muawiyyah. They were the mercenaries of the ‘caliph’, their role to execute his commands in Kerbala.

But on top of that, they too, accepted their position, and this assignment, voluntarily for the same of their love for the self, love for material gains, and the desires and temptations aroused by their base animal instincts.

Omar ibn Sa’ad came to Kerbala, because of his obsession for achieving power and position. Since his birth, he was ignorant about real religion, about real faith. For him, the promise made by the ‘caliph’ that he would be made the governor of Rey (presently the southern suburbs of Tehran), were the most valuable and dearest thing, which resulted in his obedience of Yazid and his commands.

Hur ibn Yazid, too started his assignment for accomplishing similar goals. Both of them were aware, that whatever they were going to accomplish meant committing a sin, and indeed a major sin.

But human passions and transgressions of the instinct for power and ambition did not allow them to ponder the consequences of their would be assignment - which was a war with Imam Husayn, his family and companions - and so they ultimately put themselves on the road, that terminated in the most horrific, filthy and beastly happenings in human history.

Both of them were faced with the most critical and sensitive decision of their lives. One pathway would led them towards the sensual desires, which are the same as the natural instincts such as love for power and ambitions, and the other was leading them towards discharging their Islamic obligations and duties by joining forces with the righteous Imam, with Imam Husayn.

At this critical juncture, the thing which could have rescued both of them would be nothing else but patience. Yes! By practicing patience one may overcome these destructive, selfish passions. These strange destructive forces can only be controlled by the power of patience. Patience may enable you to resist against the temptations for committing sins and transgressions of the laws of God.

At this sensitive and pivotal moment, Omar ibn Sa’ad could not resist these deadly passions, and therefore failed. The knotted rope of love for power and position was firmly around his neck, and he was being pulled by it, towards hell.

Although he was a powerful and strong person, he was helpless to offer any resistance to his predicament, and his monumental fall from grace. Ultimately, he was overcome with impatience and was vanquished by the motives behind the lust for power and position. He was finally pulled by the rage of deadly instinctive passions all the way to the bottom of the bottomless pit of hell.

Hur ibn Yazid, also encountered the same situation. He was being confronted with a critical dilemma. If he would have allowed himself to have been led by desires and passions of his soul, he would have completed his assignment, given to him by Yazid, satisfactorily. He would have ignored the awakened inner voice of his conscience by believing himself to be only an executioner of orders issued by the ‘caliph’, and thus, could have achieved the highest position of power.

For him, if the governorship of Rey was not a consideration, certainly something equivalent to that was kept in mind. For, he too, after all was a human being, and therefore the knotted rope of greed, desire and the rage of instinctive passions would also have been tired to his neck and be dragging him off to hell.

He was pulled almost to the brink of the fire; to the dividing line between the two opposing camps on the plain of Kerbala.

The camp of Imam Husayn, was the manifestation of those ready for paradise, the fountainheads of true Islamic values, the splendour of the human spirit and the defenders and protectors of the true Islam of Muhammad.

It was a direct face-to-face confrontation with the Yazidi camp, a camp that was the manifestation of all that was hellish, the degradation of the human spirit, the humiliation of mankind, the embodiment of hypocrisy, deceit and lies, a bastion of ignorance, which by usurping the blessed name of Islam, had imposed itself upon society.

Indeed, the negative forces of degradation pulled him up to these limits, to the brink of the abyss, to the brink of hell, but he managed to channel a great heroic power, to awaken from within, and in a moment of righteousness he wrested control from the satanic charms that were dragging him to the bottom of the abyss, and soared to the highest of heights.

He would have been severely jolted, and had perhaps burns as the rope of degradation was violently removed from his neck, so as to prevent him from being doomed to the bottomless abyss.

By Hur, offering that resistance, resistance against the violent instinctive passions, but remaining patient in the face of this great sin, which was tantamount to being ranked against the entire forces of Truth, and being alongside the entire forces of Falsehood. Not only did Hur rescue himself, but he jumped into the kingdom of paradise, the kingdom of God, from the very edge of that fiery abyss.

In the above event is an important lesson for those who are interested in in-depth studies of Islamic history. It shows clearly, the importance of this branch of patience - Patience Against Sin - in organising the great struggle between Truth and falsehood, which ultimately determines the interpretation of history, and decides the destiny of a society.

Other Examples of Patience Against Sin

In order to study in detail, the examples of this branch of patience, we must recollect a series of different kinds of deviations and great sins. It will be proved that patience has played a most crucial role in each situation as follows:

Anger

A powerful, strong fist has been raised, and is about to fall on the head of an innocent person, and there is absolutely no obstacle in its path, is a scene requiring this branch of patience.

The strong instinctive forces consisting of anger, pride, selfishness and other desires, urge this raised fist to strike against the innocent person’s head. In this situation, patience means offering resistance against these instinctive motives and to control oneself against committing this transgression.

Wealth

Someone may have easy access to a lot of money and wealth, only if he could cross over a specific bridge. A bridge that is committing a murder, or indulging in a sinful act.

Here the natural lust for the love of wealth, an extremely violent, deviated and instinctive force, takes control of the person, moving them towards committing said crime.

Here patience means offering resistance against these motives, and to ignore the potential gains at the cost of a crime or sin.

This is another example of practising this branch of patience.

Sexual Urges

The sexual urges are extremely powerful and intense. They can be compared to a swamp, a swamp that can swallow an elephant together with its rider. It is exactly for this reason, that this profound and powerful, magical even characteristic has been exploited as an easy means of degrading the towering great human souls. The enemies of human progress, those opposed to the move toward perfection (though they may profess they want to move toward perfection) throughout history have used these urges as a means of control and destruction of lives.

Indeed, we can see this happening in the current (early 21st century) geo-political make up in the collective west.

Patience in these situations means resisting that powerful sexual urge, but not indulging in the lower shameful activities, that degrade all concerned, whether they understand it or not; and that have future ramifications and can become a means that tries hard to prevent a person from doing the right thing, for fear of their ‘past crime’ being exposed.

Patience in this regard is to stand firm; to not be manipulated into anything; to not allow oneself to be played, to understand the danger.

Further more, a person who has been impacted and has made the mistake once, and is - shall we say compromised - then patience in this regard, requires that the person, stand firm, and work to not be compelled into any activity that is against Islamic principles; and that if the consequences are that ‘he will be exposed’ and as a result ‘humiliated’, such a person must understand, that honour and dignity are not in the hands of anyone, other than God.

If a person makes a move towards God, be certain that even in the most dangerous of situations, God will find a solution for them.

وَمَن يَتَّقِ اللَّهَ يَجْعَل لَّهُ مَخْرَجًا. وَيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَحْتَسِبُ ۚ وَمَن يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بَالِغُ أَمْرِهِ ۚ قَدْ جَعَلَ اللَّهُ لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدْرًا

“And whoever fears God - He will make for him a way out. And will provide for him from where he does not expect. And whoever relies upon God - then He is sufficient for him. Indeed, God will accomplish His purpose. God has already set for everything a decreed extent.” 

- Quran, Surah at-Talaq (the Chapter of the Divorce) #65, Final part of Verse 2 to 3.

Fear and Danger

Fear and danger are common characteristics, they are common amongst the people. It could be a product of many instincts or may consist of only one instinct. But in any situation, it - fear or danger - plays a key role in bringing all kinds of humiliation, insults, imprisonments, crimes and catastrophes.

In many cases, the weak individuals under the influence of fear or danger, submit themselves to performing the most lowly and shameful acts, they compromise themselves - as explained above - they ultimately lose all their wealth, position, prestige, children and even their lives.

In one fleeting instance, perhaps a moment of illicit pleasure, perhaps a lie to cover another issue, and such, but in one fleeting instance, they fall from the highest peaks of human exaltedness, and become a tool, lowered to the lowest place.

Endurance, steadfastness, against these forces of violence, corruption can be regarded as another scenario for the display of this branch of patience, Patience Against Sin.

A Review of Some Narrations (Ahadeeth/Traditions)

Here it is important and worthwhile to reflect on some of the narrations, ahadeeth or traditions from the Prophet Muhammad and his pure family, may God’s peace and blessings be upon them all.

Narration #1

A companion of Imam Ali, Asbagh ibn Nabatah, quotes from him as follows:

“There are two types of patience, one of them is patience during tragedies and catastrophes, which is very good and charming, but there is another type of patience, which is far better, and more charming than the other, and this is patience against acts forbidden by God”

- al-Kafi, Volume 2, Book of Faith and Disbelief (Kitab al-Iman wa al-Kufr), Chapter on Patience (Bab al-Sabr), Hadith 15

Narration #2

In this narration, Imam Ja’far ibn Muhammad as-Sadiq, quotes from the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of God be upon them both, a prediction of the state of affairs of his Ummah (community, specifically Muslim community) as follows:

“The people will face a period in which power and authority will come only through bloodshed and brute oppression.

Wealth will be amassed by usurping the rights of others and by stinginess.

Love will be realised only by giving up faith and pursuing carnal desires.

Whoever should find that period should have patience in poverty because it will be better than faith, patience against grudge because it will be better than love, and patience against humility because it is better than honour.

God will grant the reward of fifty truthful persons who believed in the Prophet”

- Al-Kafi, Volume 2, Book of Faith and Disbelief (Kitab al-Iman wa al-Kufr), Chapter on Endurance (Bab al-Sabr), Hadith 2

This prediction was witnessed by the Muslims of that time, during the shameful life of Muawiyyah and his son Yazid and, indeed, their successor caliphs. Wealth and other financial comforts could only be achieved by means of usurpation of the rights of the deprived, transgressions of the weak classes, exploitation of the masses, stinginess and restrictions in financial dues, and indifference to the genuine demands of the deprived masses.

Or in other words, the Prophet Muhammad, predicted that the natural development of the Islamic Ummah would not be such that each individual will be possessing plenty of wealth and material comforts without inflicting the least injury to the rest of the community (meaning, that the rest of the community would still have the fair opportunities to earn wealth and other material comforts).

Rather, gaining wealth and other material comforts, by a certain special class could only be made possible by transgressing and exploiting the rights of the rest of the community. This prediction was also witnessed as the Islamic Ummah transformed into various social classes.

Indeed, we can see this prediction of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his pure family, in play today, within the Muslim communities but also across the wider community, where a small clique of criminals usurp and manipulate the rights of the masses.

Popularity or fame could only be accomplished by discarding the spirit of ones faith from one’s life and existence, and by completely submitting to the carnal desires of the self.

In other words, the love of the masses or corrupt leaders could only be achieved by practising flattery, lies, hypocrisy, cheating, surrendering to desires and passions, deceiving and making people feel proud, covering up blunders, distorting the realities and disregarding the famous notion of ‘Amr bil ma’rouf and nahi anil munkar’ - enjoining the good and forbidding the evil.

The above prediction by the Prophet is full of wisdom, foretelling the would be state of affairs of the Islamic community in the near future, in which, the level of thinking and insight of the people will be lowered, Islamic values will decline, the Islamic judicial system will be degraded and the general affairs of the Muslims will become chaotic.

It is of course obvious, that these happenings in the life of the Islamic community, which was founded on the pillars of the real Islamic values, or in other words, the train of that community, that started its journey on the rails of Islamic thought and ideology, was not possible, without the active involvement and subversive acts of some powerful, hidden and mischievous hands, operating to execute a calculated plan to destroy the Islamic community from within.

The above prophecy of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his pure family, clearly throws light on the usurpation of political power, which may be regarded as the most inhumane act in the history of Islam.

Yes! The Prophet warned about these occurrences, Alas!, they happened too soon. When people appeared before the commander of the faithful, Imam Ali, they witnessed in his sayings and deeds, nothing but seriousness and decisiveness, for correcting the deviated state of affairs of the Islamic community by pulling all the violators and sinners before the court of law. And to obtain God’s justice for their violations and transgressions, to restore the lost genuine rights of the rightful owners.

His own brother Aqeel, when he approach him seeking a financial favour, had to face a red hot iron bar on his hand, and was turned down with a sad reply.

Aqeel or any other person, when they approach Muawiyyah, were welcomed with a smiling face, and open arms, and rewarded with plenty of money.

It was therefore, natural that persons whose conscience was not influenced by the logic of Islamic thoughts would be more inclined towards Muawiyyah, than to Imam Ali.

Therefore, this consideration that Muawiyyah lacked fame and popularity during his reign is not correct.

Notwithstanding the fact that the people of Madinah and Kufa, who were under the direct influence of the towering personality of Imam Ali, and were familiar with the basics of Islamic ideology, the rest of the people of the Islamic lands, throughout Muawiyyah’s reign, due to the suffocation of free thinking and inquiry, the propaganda practices by the Umayyad agents and (the then equivalent of) media, special characteristics of the people, that encouraged them to become agents of the regime, where by people considered him - Muawiyyah - to be strong, competent, and indeed a charismatic personality.

Indeed, he was bestowed the title ‘Khaal al-Mu’mineen’ (which means maternal uncle of the believers).

Off course this fame and popularity was achieved by means of the special tactical conduct of Muawiyyah with influential tribal chiefs who had a considerable amount of influence over the masses, and some manipulated them to lower their heads before Muawiyyah.

For these services, they were showered with unlimited affection, they were blessed with plenty of wealth and power, and their hands were allow to commit all manner of horrible crimes and torture even against the poor and deprived masses who possessed no other shelter.

These tribal chiefs, in order to be benevolent towards their ‘Lord of Affluence’ (Vali Ne’mat), and in order to maintain the status quo ante, to exploit the situation so as to best advantage themselves, would open their mouths and sing his - Muawiyyah’s - praises, they would praise his faults and defects as praiseworthy qualities, and would present them and him to the masses as someone with hugely praiseworthy and exalted qualities.

They would essentially make true that which was false, and make false that which was true. A tyrant, in this case Muawiyyah, would be praised as a great and wonderful person; while the oppressed would not be spoken off, and would be crushed in the dungeons and prisons - be they physical, or of the society.

This was the picture of the would-be state of affairs of the Islamic community, as foreseen by the Prophet Muhammad. Now in confronting such a state of affairs, and facing an incompetent and sinister regime, what are the obligations of the people?

The answer to this was provided by the narration mentioned earlier.

That is, anyone who happens to face that period as predicted by the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his pure family, either in the near or distant future, must remain steadfast, while facing poverty and indigence, and should offer resistance against the instinctual motives for hoarding wealth and possessing other material benefits.

While he had the option to act like his contemporaries, who by utilising the usual means, were busy in the accumulation of wealth and other material gains, and passed through this difficulties naively, as though nothing unusual had happened.

He too, by accepting the filth, by indulging in crimes, submitting to insults and captivation, giving up his honour, dignity and exaltedness, turning his back against all the values and ideals, could have achieved the comfortable and luxurious life, and therefore would have fulfilled his carnal desires.

He should close his eyes over the wealth, power and riches in his reach, at the cost of bringing poverty and destitution for thousands of people, as well as over the hot and delicious food for him, at the cost of hunger for the unlimited destitute masses.

He should endure patiently for remaining lonely, unknown and blamed against the instinctive motives of desiring status, fame and popularity. While having the option of receiving the favour of the ignorant masses or leaders with vested interests, by opening his mouth for flattery, praise, lies, deceit and shutting up his lips for supporting the Truth, closing his eyes for the encouragement of good and forbidding of evil, and conscientiously electing to do otherwise.

Realising the divine obligations entrusted to him, and his personal duties, with full awareness he accepts demotion of his status, becomes hated in the eyes of tyrants, and lets his prestige and honour be usurped and trampled by the oppressors.

He should be patient and satisfied for possessing only a lower social status, and should tolerate deprivation from higher prestigious positions offering better material gains and power.

He should not opt for accepting titles and important positions of power at the cost of committing inhuman, shameful acts and crimes.

God, the Mighty, the Wise, reward for someone who practices the above advises in his deeds, would be equivalent to the reward earned by fifty righteous believers during the period of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.

Therefore, this heavenly saying, which emanates from a celestial heart, and who’s value is tantamount to a divine revelation, while offering the most important and in-depth training regarding social issues, also reflects the meanings and value of this branch of patience. That is patience against sin.

And in reflecting on this, we can always see the epic of Ashura in front of our eyes; we can see, the movement of the resistance that travels the route of Ashura.

A tyrant had told Imam Husayn, to bend the knee, and so you will be ‘spared’, and a tyrant had told the Party of God, that if they bent the knee, if they stopped their support front, if they turned a blind eye to a genocide, to a latter day holocaust, they would be rewarded, they would be spared, they would be saved.

Imam Husayn was given this same choice; as was the leadership of the Party.

To which they both responded, without any hesitation or doubt:

“This person of illegitimate birth, son of a person of illegitimate birth (Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad the governor of Yazeed in Kufa) has placed us between two paths, between salvation and humiliation. And we will never accept humiliation!”

- Sermon on the Day of Ashura, Imam Husayn

They were being asked to compromise the Truth, and overlook a falsehood, an injustice, a tyranny.

They would be rewarded if they went down that pathway. The self would be satiated, it would be rewarded, they would not be made to become thirsty or hungry, they would not be killed or bombed, they would - in this world - be ‘saved’; but such a fleeting and momentary ‘saving’, does not have any value; for the cost of the temporary is the eternal.

So, both Imam Husayn, and the inheritors of Imam Husayn, the Party of God, the Islamic Republic, the Helpers of God, the Resisters in Gaza and the Heroes of Iraq, all said in unison “Never, we will never accept humiliation”.

So the enemy brutes came with their tanks and their guns; they came with their ‘bunker busters’ and such; and they killed, murdered, maimed raped and plundered; but the believers never bent the knee; they never allowed themselves to be humiliated; for they were the followers of the Prophet; and they knew, that this short effort of patience, would lead to such eternal positive fruits; that only a fool would forfeit an eternity for a few nano-seconds.

This should be an important lesson in patience; where we stay firm on the path of truth, no matter the price; we should not falter; we should help each other, carry each other; no matter how hard; for we should also remember, that God doesn’t burden a soul more than its capacity.

And from Him alone is all ability and He is a witness, and has authority over all things.

To, Abu Ibrahim, Sayyed Abu Hadi, Sayyed Hisham, Shaykh Hussein, Bashir and countless others who have ascended, as the most honourable of people, and we remain; they fulfilled their covenant with God, and we remain, yet to complete our fulfilment. We pray to God, that we can be as small servants to these lights on the caravan of Love, that we can be worthy, of even the dirt under their shoes.

This is the fourth part in a detailed discussion on patience. The discussion is built on the seminal work (based on a series of lectures) by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khamenei. The book is published as ‘Discourses on Patience’.

Video of the Majlis (Sermon/Lecture)

This write up is a companion to the video majlis (sermon/lecture) found below:

Contents

• Majlis - Patience - Part 4

• Nohe/Nasheed - Husayni Mawlaaya, Ya Husayn

• Ziyarat/Dua - Dua Ahl ath-Thugur

The Fields of Patience

As we have discussed in the previous parts, patience may be defined as the resistance offered by man on the road towards perfection, against the forces of mischief, corruption and degradation.

We will now, work to recognise the fields of patience, where its practice is most crucial. Naturally, we would like to study the domain of patience in accordance with the Islamic teachings, narrations (ahadeeth, traditions) of the Prophet Muhammad and his pure family, peace and blessings be upon him and them all, as well as from the Holy Quran, wherein the practice of patience has been lauded greatly, and the one who practises patience has been promised a great reward in this world and the next.

There is no doubt, that an ignorant soldier or a mercenary fighting in the battlefield against the bearers of glad tidings of Truth and Justice, and even losing his life for the sake of orders issued by his master; or a tyrant, a hoarder of wealth, a holder of an important position, standing against the Truth for the sake of power, wealth, position or various sections or special interest groups who offer resistance for the sake of their vested interests, such an ignorant soldier or mercenary would not be, in fact, practicing patience for the sake of human ideals but are in reality would be actively opposing the Truth.

Superficially, we might see such cases as being framed as ‘an example of practising patience’. But, this is quite opposite to, and indeed antithetical to the patience practiced by pious individuals on the road towards perfection for the sake of attaining closeness and abiding by the teachings of God.

If we however, are to look at the lexical meaning of patience; then both cases can be deemed to share it equally.

In such cases, patience is not practiced for the accomplishment of human perfection and ideals, but rather for their suppression.

Here the resistance that was made, was not against the forces of mischief, corruption and degradation, but instead it was against the shining manifestations of human perfection.

Therefore, this domain of patience is not the domain as defined in the traditions or within the Holy Quran.

It could, therefore, be concluded that patience maybe defined as a means of achieving perfection, excellence and exaltedness, where a human endeavours and makes sincere efforts for the ultimate goal of creation, to become a true servant of God.

His personality, ultimately becomes a manifestation of all the hidden potential of human talents and characteristics. In other words, he achieves the status of becoming a ‘perfect human being’ (al-Insaan al-Kamil).

At this stage, all the internal and external obstacles (as discussed earlier), which complement each other, and in any case are manifestations of Satanic traits, stratagems and tactics, are resisted by the person on his journey, moving ever forwards.

On this road, there are all kinds of dangers, headaches, obstacles and more that await the traveller. The opposition provided by them varies in proportion to the travellers location, movement and duties.

Sometimes, for discharging a duty, one is confronted with a direct obstacle. other times, he maybe confronted by an indirect barrier on his path.

For the mountain climber, trying to scale the highest peaks, confrontation with rocks, thorns, thieves and wolves - for example - are all tantamount to a negative force interfering with his ascent.

But, sometimes a beautiful scene, a comfortable soft bed, a shaky (or weak) companion are also negative forces of another sort, that force the mountaineer to abandon his ascent.

More so, at other times, it could be his own sickness, or he has to care for a sick companion, or he might be confronted with another mishap, which ultimately forces him to terminate his expedition.

This last case, maybe regarded as an indirect obstacle in his path.

The analogy of the mountain climber is also true for the journey of man on the road to perfection.

He is confronted with three kinds of obstacles during his journey.

If the compulsory duties and obligations of religion maybe considered as the instruments and steps required for the forward march on the road to perfection, the forbidden acts within religion may be regarded as a diversion from the straight path.

And, if the unforeseen bitter happenings of life, at the time of restlessness and instability are considered responsible for slowing down and ultimately cutting short his journey, then the obstacles and opposing motives could also be divided into the following three categories:

1. Desires and passions, which are responsible for the negligence of compulsory religious obligations.

2. Desires and tendencies, which encourage man to indulge in sinful activities.

3. Unforeseen, unhappy happenings which result in breaking his resolve, courage and steadfastness.

Patience, means resistance against all three types of barriers, and providing moral courage and the necessary momentum for the traveller to continue his journey ever forwards on the road towards perfection.

It offers resistance against those desires and tendencies that discourage a man from performing his compulsory obligations.

Patience, enables resistance against the desires for indulging in sinful forbidden activities and provides the zeal and strength to be able to tolerate the unforeseen and unhappy occurrences, which threaten to break his determination and resolve.

With the explanation we have just discussed, one may appreciate the context of this important narration (hadeeth) from the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings be upon him and his pure family, as narrated by the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali, peace and blessings be upon him, which is as follows:

“The Prophet of Allah has said: ‘Patience is of three kinds:

• Patience in tragedies and unpleasant events,

• Patience in the performance of compulsory obligations, and

• Patience against sin”

At all of the above mentioned occasions, such as the occurrence of a tragic unfortunate happenstance, resulting in the loss of life, property, or both - as an example, a situation requiring the performance of compulsory obligations, and an alluring sinful pleasure tempting him to indulge in a forbidden act; a type of patience is required where the human being could manifest or display the most superior and heroic potential of his hidden exalted qualities.

In order for us to fully and completely understand these three types of patience, and given their criticality and importance in the human condition and journey, we will now discuss them all in depth.

In this paper we will cover the first - which is Patience in the Performance of Obligations (Obedience) - and in the next part (Part 5) we will cover the subject of Patience against Sin, and following that in Part 6, we will cover Patience against Unpleasant Events (tragedies, disasters, catastrophes).

Patience in the Performance of Obligations (Obedience)

All duties and compulsory obligations are accompanied with some headaches and/or inconveniences. In other words, they demand some amount of effort and involvement (positive or negative), which are at odds with the easy going and comfort loving nature of the human being.

Starting from the personal compulsory religious obligations such as prayers and fasting, to the financial obligations of ‘khums’ and ‘zakaat’, as well as collective social obligations such as the hajj, the separation from family and loved ones, sacrificing all the comforts and pleasures of life, and sometimes even self-sacrifice itself becomes a necessity.

Of course, this does not match or to quote a colloquialism ‘this doesn’t jive’ with the easy going and comfort loving nature of man. This holds true for all the laws of the world, be they heavenly or man-made (secular), be they right or wrong.

Although in principle, the law itself has been a necessity and for the same reason it is accepted by mankind, but generally nowhere, has it ever been accepted as something convenient, desirable or sweet by humanity.

The same holds true for the most common international laws and regulations. the benefits of which are clear for all, and their violation can result in serious consequences. An example of this, that everyone can understand, are basic traffic laws.

Passing through a red light results in the most horrible accidents, sometimes even leading to a loss of life, or lives.

Although everyone is fully aware of the consequences of traffic law violations, despite being aware of them, it is common that while waiting at a red light, the inner human nature is not comfortable, and feels a great inconvenience; sometimes there are even whispers that ‘this traffic light is broken, it is stuck on red’.

The case is similar, for when a person cannot drive through a short cut, because a traffic sign might prohibit them going the wrong way down - for example - a one way street, again this can feel very uncomfortable.

Although, the compulsory religious obligations are based on upon the inherent human nature (fitrah, innate self), and are without exception, designed and crafted to meet its genuine demands, and indeed, are in reality a means and instruments to lead a human towards perfection and exaltation. Despite that, it must be said that in practice, it requires effort, and can create the illusion of difficulties.

For example, in order to perform the compulsory daily prayers, one has to spend some time, he must clean his hands and face before the prayer, that is perform his ablutions (the wudhu), he has to meet the baseline requirements regarding the dress code and indeed location of the prayer, all of which must be in accordance to the religious guidelines.

It is clear, that - even prior to the act of praying - the above are in conflict with the easy going nature of humanity.

During the performance of the daily prayers, to control ones thoughts and to achieve that peace of heart and mind, strictly for prayers, instead of becoming preoccupied with other thoughts, worldly matters, why is that frame crooked, what is that draft, etc, etc, anything other than God, this is very important.

Indeed, in order for the prayer to be deemed meaningful, and accepted by God, and valuable to the human praying, it is important to strive to ensure that all other thoughts and ideas, all distractions should be thoroughly closed off during prayer.

Indeed, in his book ‘the Secrets of the Prayer’ (Sirr as-Salaat), Imam Khomeini, may God bless his pure soul, describes the presence of the heart as follows:

“During prayers, one must try to completely cut off the heart’s preoccupation with worldly affairs. If a person is submerged in love and desires of this world, naturally his heart is busy continuously from one involvement to another.

The heart behaves like a bird, jumping from one branch to another.

As long as we have this tree of worldly ambitions and desires (hubb ad-dunya) in our heart, it will behave in a restless manner. If, by our struggles, practices, efforts and reflections regarding the severe consequences and losses of succumbing to these distractions.

If we can successfully cut this tree of worldly ambition or desires, then our hearts would become reposed, and be at peace. It will take us towards attaining perfection.

As the person tries to free himself from the charms of this world, from the temptations of this world, the more he succeeds in cutting the branches, the roots and stems of this tree in his heart, he will see that the result is that the presence of the heart will be enhanced buy the same proportion (to his fighting to free himself).”

Furthermore, Imam Khomeini goes on to explain the term ‘hubb ad-dunya’ thusly:

“There are people who do not possessing anything at all of this mortal world, but they still could be the persons totally submerged in the love of this world. While on the contrary, one maybe like Prophet Sulayman ibn Dawood (Solomon the son of David), the king of kings and possessing all the treasures of this universe, but at the same time may not be a man of this world, and be completely distant from it.”

Off course, achieving the aforementioned state of heart and mind requires a lot of efforts, a lot of energy, a lot of discipline and is a difficult undertaking.

Another example is that of fasting, which requires the tolerance of hunger and thirst for long periods. To resist and struggle against the appetite for eating and drinking, to restrain the eyes from looking at forbidden things of beauty, and to resist sexual passions are difficult tasks requiring tremendous amount of resistance.

In spite of possessing appetising foods and drinks, to be able to impose a voluntary self-restriction, to spend a long summer’s day with an empty stomach and dry lips, of course, this requires a lot of strength, a lot of power and a lot of strong and resolute determination.

Then there is the idea of hajj, which requires tolerating the inconveniences of the process of obtaining the visas - which especially now has become extremely complicated, not to mention significantly more expensive, then there is the journey, the long distance, separation from home and relatives, friends and colleagues, the joining into groups of unknown companions, and the large amount of expense and time required.

If hajj is performed only for the sake of attaining nearness to and for the pleasure of God, without any motive of leisure, or ‘eating at a halal MacDonalds’ or marvelling and being intoxicated by the opulence and decadence of some of the buildings and the trappings of luxury on offer there, then this will also require a great deal of patience and self-sacrifice.

The obligations regarding ‘enjoining the good’ (amr bil ma’rouf') and ‘forbidding the evil’ (nahi anil munkar), as well as jihad (striving for the Truth), require a great deal of hardship, sacrifice, fortitude and patience.

Speaking the Truth in the face of the forces of falsehood, of corruption, of evil, is the most dangerous, unpleasant and bitter act. It can be thought akin to standing in front of a brutal tyrant, who’s unsheathed sword is ready to come down on the head of any proclaimer or promoter of Truth.

It can be thought of as being like facing enemies who are savage beasts, the glint of their electrifying eyes and swords stun and terrify the heart and soul of superficial observers. Or to be able to offer resistance against the waves of corruption and diversion of a nation, a class, or of mankind as a whole, is the hardest, most dangerous and most menacing task of all.

Similarly, it is the case with other Islamic obligations, which are accompanied by headaches, hardships and inconveniences, but at the same time, and without exception, all of which are beneficial and essential as a means of guaranteeing the salvation and prosperity of humanity.

Certainly, for those who have recognised the straight path (sirat al-mustaqeem), have tasted the sweetness of walking on the difficult road for the sake of God, and the sacred and exalted aims of humanity, all of these difficulties are in fact not only tolerable, they are also desirable.

The same prayer for the men of God, who have tasted the sweetness of fervent prayer and remembrance of God is something sweeter than honey.

The Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his pure family, at the time of prayers, would become restless and eager, such that he used to tell his companion, Bilal - who was the one who made the call to prayer, and who himself had made a great and sacred resistance in his journey towards the Truth - the Prophet would tell Bilal:

“Oh Bilal, please recite the call for prayer (the Adhaan), and make my heart and soul peaceful”

The same struggles for the sake of God (jihad fi sabeel Allah), for the self indulgent people, those without any insight for the ultimate consequences, is extremely harsh and undesirable, but for someone with high spiritual insight and power, such as Imam Ali, peace and blessings be upon him, is sweeter than honey.

For him, all inconveniences and hardships in this struggle result in strengthening his power of resistance and steadfastness.

He himself describes the astonishing state of his morale in Sermon 56 (In the company of the Prophet) of Nahjul Balagha as follows:

“Together with the holy Prophet we fought our own fathers, sons, brothers, and uncles, (but all these unpleasant events had the least influence upon us), except that these increased our faith to surrender ourselves completely to God and made the hard things tolerable for us.”

But in general, these difficulties and hardships as they are experienced by those with weaker spiritual insight and for those who are not possessed of the required determination and will-power, are deemed bitter and undesirable.

Now, what is to be done regarding these difficulties that exist in discharging religious obligations?

Since the offering of the daily prayers, the compulsory daily prayers, is difficult, presence of heart during prayers and curbing the roaming and wondering thoughts us even harder. Since fasting, jihad, hajj, charity, enjoining the good, forbidding the evil, and other social obligations, require pains and inconveniences, then should these all be declared as invalid or void?

Should we therefore, be allowed to live our lives according to the desires of the heart, which is filled with passions and a spirit that yearns for, and indeed loves great ease, luxury and all the comforts of life?

It is here that, the true Islam of Muhammad, tell us ‘No!’. Instead, patience must be practiced. Patience in obedience must be practiced against those passions that seek to lure the heart away from the prayer mat, from the masjid, from the alter (mihrab), luring the heart away and preoccupying it with countless amusements, making the entire notion of prayer something devoid of depth, indeed rendering it somewhat meaningless, and akin to a series of aerobic exercises.

Patience must be practiced, in earnest, and with great resolve, against these kinds of desires, and every effort must be made to ensure that prayers are offered with presence of the heart and mind, with concentration and understanding. This is such that they are accepted by God, and indeed are fruitful for us.

Patience must be offered against any negative and indeed arguably extremist tendencies, that tempt us to enjoy eating and drinking on a hot dry day, instead of fasting.

Patience must be practiced in confrontations with the enemies on and off the battlefields, where the dangers and threats show their real faces and there is a direct kinetic threat of the red death.

The pleasures and sweetness of life, memories of children, relatives, the faces of loved ones, the worldly trades and businesses in one way or another can attract the attention of man, thereby weakening his resolve or attempting to attract his attention.

In such situations great resistance must be offered against these forces and obstacles; and indeed all efforts must be made to remove such obstacles, barriers, distractions and such from the path.

Patience must too be offered in the face of the arrogant tyrant, who’s eyes burn with anger and rage, and who’s transgressions and corruption has pushed a nation to the brink of catastrophe. Such a tyrant must be opposed by every responsible individual. In this situation, from an Islamic judicial perspective, it is a compulsory obligation for everyone to work to over throw such a despot within their capacity and abilities.

Patience should be practiced against the insidious whispers of Satan, who with a plethora of deceptions will try to close charitable hands, by reminding one of their own personal needs, rather than helping others, who will incite desires for material things, and other worldly ambitions and will ultimately seek to prevent a person from moving towards and performing righteous activities.

Indeed, he will try to emphasise that the light in ones own home is more important than that in another’s house. Here, patience comes into the picture by offering the necessary resolve to resist such desires, to rise above such obstacles, to enable one to successfully discharge his financial, religious and societal obligations.

Yes! Patience should be practiced. Yes! One should be patient in obedience and the fulfilment of these religious commands. Resistance should be offered against the Satanic whispers and passions that constantly call and encourage transgressions.

Each case, where such resistance is offered, assumes a special meaning, and a special importance in proportion to magnitude and greatness of that specific situation or scenario.

In one scenario, resistance might mean to be steadfast in facing the enemy on the battlefield, or it may be in confronting the self, and sometimes it may be to struggle with the pangs of poverty and other difficulties and to be able to rise above them.

Therefore, patience means to be able to offer resistance in all the above circumstances. Patience never allows us to surrender, to bend the proverbial knee, to be insulted or humiliated, to give up the initiative and to become the prisoner of events and eventualities.

Examples of Patience in Obedience in the Lives of the Infallible Imams

Amongst the key phrases that has been strongly emphasised in the salutations that are made to the Imams is that of patience. We say:

“You (Oh Imams), remained patient and this patience was practiced with pleasure for the sake of God.

You accepted the heavy load of carrying the Truth, and in spite of all the difficulties and hardships you delivered it to its final destination”

Truly, the responsibility of guiding humanity and explaining to them the true religion of Truth, resisting tyranny, corruption and transgression during the time of our Imams, as in any time, was and is an extremely difficult and challenging task. One that requires great patience and strong determination.

If the practice practiced by the Imams would have been such that, although unhappy about the bad condition of their times, with hearts bleeding for the worsening plight of the Muslims and Islam, indeed of the oppressed per-say, had they confined themselves to the safe boundaries of their homes, without taking any real steps, any concrete steps towards the destruction of evil and towards the betterment of the situation in favour of the community, then this type of patience would not have been anything of great significance, it would not have had any special distinction, prestige or honour.

There is nothing special in such inert behaviour, and anyone can do that with ease, and off course this is what is practices by weak and uncommitted people.

The prominence and glory which distinguishes the lives of the blessed Imams, and the special characteristics which are repeated when reciting the salutations to them, as mentioned, was their patience in being obedient to God.

This is an area in which many regular people find themselves helpless, and can not tolerate the hardships and therefore fail to achieve that honour and distinction.

The Holy Quran on Patience in Obedience

It would not be out of turn to remind here that amongst the tens of verses in the Holy Quran regarding patience, and the patience of those who have been patient, there are many verses that speak explicitly of Patience in Obedience.

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ حَرِّضِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ عَلَى الْقِتَالِ ۚ إِن يَكُن مِّنكُمْ عِشْرُونَ صَابِرُونَ يَغْلِبُوا مِائَتَيْنِ ۚ وَإِن يَكُن مِّنكُم مِّائَةٌ يَغْلِبُوا أَلْفًا مِّنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لَّا يَفْقَهُونَ

O Prophet! Rouse the believers to battle. If there are twenty steadfast (patient) among you, they will defeat two hundred; and if there are a hundred of you, they will defeat a thousand of those who disbelieve; because they are a people who do not understand.

• Quran, Surah al-Anfaal (the Chapter of the Spoils of War) #8, Verse 65

The above verse emphasises the importance of offering resistance, and being steadfast while confronting the interior motives within the self, which act as obstacles in the path of a soldier facing an enemy in the battlefield.

The patient people mentioned in the verse, are those that neither the flashing swords, the missiles, the ‘bunker buster bombs’, nor the angry faces and rhetoric of the enemies and the red death, nor the memories of friends and children, and pleasures and the charms of life, stop. Nothing can stop them in discharging their obligations to engage in bloody hostilities in the battlefield in defence of the oppressed. And none of the above fears make even the slightest dent in their iron will in obeying God.

Another verse from the Holy Quran regarding the importance of Patience in Obedience is as follows:

وَلَمَّا بَرَزُوا لِجَالُوتَ وَجُنُودِهِ قَالُوا رَبَّنَا أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا وَانصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ

And when they confronted Goliath and his troops, they said, “Our Lord, pour down patience on us, and strengthen our foothold, and support us against the disbelieving people.”

• Quran, Surah al-Baqarah (the Chapter of the Cow) #2, Verse 250

This verse refers to a group of believers, who in order to discharge a compulsory obligation had readied themselves to confront an enemy in the battlefield. They are asking God to bless them with the spirit of endurance, of resistance, of steadfastness in facing the obstacles in their path, and thereby bestow upon them the fruits of their endurance, which is achieving victory over their enemies (the oppressors).

This verse very explicitly and clearly explains the meaning of patience in obedience.

There are many such verses in Quran, and a very detailed discussion of them is outside the scope of this discussion.

This is how we can understand - and of course - much more can be discussed on patience in obedience; but this will suffice for now.

As is the norm in these papers; it is always important to reflect and remember the epic of Ashura, and the countless lessons contained therein, especially when it comes to patience in obedience.

Earlier, we had spoken about Imam Ali, when he referenced the fervent and beautiful remembrance of God, as being ‘sweeter than honey’, yet in Kerbala, we remember the son of Imam Hasan, the grandson of Imam Ali, Qassim ibn al-Hassan; who was a very young man.

According to some accounts he was aged 14, others say 16, suffice it to say he was a very young man. Yet, his level of understanding, made him realise and articulate that to make the sacred resistance on the day of Ashura, which would almost certainly result in his death, in his martyrdom; was sweeter to him than honey.

This really warrants great reflection; and indicates that the power of patience possessed by this young man, against all the myriad of desires that would have been fighting him internally - not to mention the countless arrows, swords and spears that would have attacked him externally as he came out on the battlefield - was truly profound.

I am reminded of the young children of Palestine, who stand tall against the mighty tanks of the Zionist terrorist occupation, and throw stones at them, knowing the great danger they put themselves in, but knowing that this is more beautiful, and to go down standing is infinitely better than to live a life where you have betrayed everything, and have succumbed to the tyrants.

And this was the martyr Abu Ibrahim, Yahya Sinwar, who even to the last moments of his blessed life, never bent the knee, stayed standing, and resolute against the cowardly forces of Zionist child killing terrorists; looked them square in the eye; and told them, “you can kill me, but you can never corrupt me, you can never break me, for I have my strength, and I have my God, and you have nothing, and hell is your eternal abode”

And from Him alone is all ability and He has authority over all things.

To Ruhullah, Abu Hadi, Hajj Qassem, Abu Ibrahim, Abu Mahdi and Zulfiqaar, you taught us, you helped us, you guided us, and even though you left us, you are with us, and will always be, until - by His grace - we are reunited at the most beautiful well of Kawthar, along with Abu Turab.

This is the third part in a detailed discussion on patience. The discussion is built on the seminal work (based on a series of lectures) by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khamenei. The book is published as ‘Discourses on Patience’.

Video of the Majlis (Sermon/Lecture)

This write up is a companion to the video majlis (sermon/lecture) found below:

Contents

• Majlis - Patience - Part 3

• Nasheed - Ya Imam Mahdi

• Ziyarah - Ziyarat Aal-e-Yaseen

Patience in Islamic Codices

The idea of ‘faith’, can be defined as something which is made up of concepts such as ethics, legislation, rights and instructions. This is the same as is the case for any constructive social organisation, school or community.

Therefore, we can classify faith into the following points:

1. Worldview - The basis for understanding of humanity and the world.

2. Ideology - On the basis of these principles, the overall direction for the movement human action.

3. Guidelines - Within these boundaries, guidelines, regulations related to the relationship of the human with Allah, with the self, with fellow humans, with other creatures and with the environment

4. Ethical Standards - A series of moral guidelines for maintaining the requirement and necessary momentum or endeavour for achieving perfection and being successful in the various fields of the human condition, of life so to speak

Off course, this is vast and complex, and includes personal matters, related to the personal interests of individuals, as well as social matters relating to various types of groups, large and small, of families and above all the wider community (known as the Ummah by way of Islamic terminology).

Let us examine what the role of patience is, in the aforementioned complex of faith. To put it another way, a person committed to religion will act as follows:

1. He must believe in religious principles

2. He must obey the religious regulations

3. He must be familiar with the special clauses dealing with ethics

If one fulfils the above three, in his conduct, it would be fair to consider such a person as a true believer.

We will now examine the role of patience in the life of a believer, one who follows religion in the true sense.

Consider, in a geometric figure consisting of lines and angles, each point, each arc, and each semi-circle creates a special effect.

Let us examine the influence and role played by patience in the geometrical figure representing the faith of the true believer.

Consider the example of an automobile, which is supposed to move someone together with his household belongings to a certain location. As we say from point A to point B.

After traversing some streets, the automobile reaches the desired final destination.

What is responsible for moving this automobile? Is it the engine? What is responsible for providing this strength, this power to the engine? Off course it is the petrol (or in contemporary times perhaps we can say it is the electricity in a battery for electric vehicles).

Therefore, in the life of the believer, patience can be understood as somewhat analogous to the electricity in the battery or the fuel in the tank. It is that which gives life and strength to the engine.

Without patience, the truth, the steadfast logic of the exalted school of religion is impossible to understand correctly. The divine learnings (revelations) of this school which blessed humanity would lose its colour with the passage of and indeed ravages of time.

The ultimate hope of victory of Truth over falsehood, which provides fresh life giving blood for the powerful hands and steadfast steps of the believers, which otherwise would have been silenced. The laws and guidelines of the religion, which provide the checks and balances to ensure that the human tendencies of transgression would have ceased to function, would have become inactive.

The heroic field of valour and martyrdom for the sake of God and religion, would have been relegated to a mere graveyard of ideologies. The international congress of Hajj would have remained as a void.

The humming, sensational and confidential communications of the burning lovers - the believers - in the middle of the night with the Beloved (God), would have been silenced.

The beautiful scene of the Greater Struggle (Jihad al-Akbar) with the self, made up of concepts and activities such as fasting, reflection, introspection, and self-improvement would have lost all its charm and joy.

The arteries of the economy of the Islamic community would have dried up, the notion of giving charity, of giving alms for the pleasure of God would have been ignored and discarded.

Without patience all the high educational and ethical values of Islam - such as piety, trust, righteousness, etc - would have been forgotten; and in essence, each component, each parameter of religion which requires action and efforts would have remained deprived of such.

Because religion requires practice, and practice is not possible without patience.

Consider, if a person is for example, learning a new skill, a new language, a new art, the most important component for their success in their learning would be to constantly practice, to revisit the instructions, to keep practicing, to keep persisting, no matter how - perhaps monotonous - such a task maybe, no matter how many obstacles and distractions might present themselves in order to prevent this practice.

Therefore, what provides this life-giving fresh blood to this giant complex, this giant undertaking, what provides the ability to move to the car, or the train, or the caravan; this is patience; nothing other than true patience.

Even in writing this paper, or having a regular majlis (gathering), every week, without fail, this requires patience.

Understanding this short discussion above, gives us an ever clearer understanding, as well as providing clarity on the substance of what this divine inspiration is.

According to some documented narrations (ahadeeth) of the Prophet Muhammad and his pure family, may the peace and blessings of God be upon them all; the importance of patience as been defined as:

“Patience with regard to faith, is like a head to the body”

The head of a person holds the most critical importance as far as life is concerned. A person might be able to tolerate the absence of other parts, such as their hands, legs, eyes, ears and such. However, if the head - which is the control room for the entire nervous system - does not exist or is crippled, then every part of the body - even though it may appear to be alive, will in reality be akin to a corpse.

Indeed in medical terms we have the term ‘brain dead’, at which point a person is considered essentially deceased.

Sometimes, it may be such that a part of the body may perform an outstanding task. Maybe the fist, a powerful hand, fingers, or the eyes of a person might conduct a task in an excellent manner, a person maybe very strong and able to lift great weights, which would help said person in discharging their duties or completing their tasks. But, the strength of the hands, of the eyes, of the fist even, of every action, is only on account of the head, a person without a head cannot do any of these things, as the control center has been removed.

Another interesting point here, is that have you considered why enemies and tyrants, when attacking those who are making resistance to them, move to cut the head, to decapitate their victim? This is not just some random power-play; rather it is specific; as when they decapitate their victim, they have destroyed that person fully, they feel there is no coming back from their victim.

When Yazeed ordered the decapitation of Imam Husayn, and then in the Umayyad Palace in Damascus, chose to poke and humiliate the head of Imam Husayn, this was as a means of him someone feeling that he had destroyed the entire revolution of Imam Husayn.

Indeed, without patience, the existence of monotheism would not be possible either. The prophethood and the prophetic mission would not have produced any fruits. The rights of the deprived people could not have been obtained from tyrants. Praying, fasting and all other rituals would have become meaningless.

Therefore it is patience which fulfils all of the aspirations of religion and humanity.

If at the beginning of Islam, if the Prophet Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, had not offered resistance against all the tyranny and oppression that surrounded him, for the sake of Truth, then the most sublime of slogans:

“There is no god except God”

would have been suffocated within the bounds of his home from its very inception.

What kept Islam alive, intact and strong, was patience. If the righteous, pious people of God, and the great divine prophets had not been patient against the monumental opposition and obstacles that they were faced with, today, be certain, there would have been nothing left of monotheism (Tawheed).

The single factor responsible for keeping alive the system of monotheism, since the very start of human creation, has been patience, indeed it will be the flag bearer for this heavenly ideology from then, till today, and will continue to be so until the promise day (the day of judgement).

The most logical ideas and sayings of human beings, if no accomplished by the patience practices by those who espoused and founded them, would have died off in their throats, before even being articulated by their tongues. They would have disappeared into the turbulent waves of the ocean of history, permanently.

It is therefore, clear that patience holds a similar relationship with the religious body, as the position of the head relative to the human body.

The Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah shower his blessings and peace upon him, in one of his most famous sermons (Sermon 234 in Nahjul Balagha - which is also referred to as Sermon of the Divinely Guided or Khutbat al-Qasi’ah) explains the victory of the deprived of history over the tyrants and the success of their noble ideas as follows:

“When Allah witnessed their patience in resisting the tortures and hardships, which were inflicted upon them, because of their love for Him and following the path of Truth, He opened over them gates of divine assistance in the midst of those difficult bottlenecks of misfortunes.

The deprived of yesterday after they find themselves as rulers and governors. Their glory, fame, prestige, reached to a point, which had never been imagined in their best of dreams.”

• Nahjul Balagha, Sermon of the Divinely Guided (Khutbat al-Qasi’ah) #234)

And this is a lesson of history, a tradition of history, that is immutable. It will not change until the very end of time. Therefore, after the above detailed explanation one could describe in a nutshell the position of patience within the entirety, within the complex of Islam as follows:

Patience is responsible for the fulfilment of all the aspirations, and all the short and long term goals be they individual or social.

Indeed, when looking at the above sermon of Imam Ali, we can see that this can be understood by two important events in recent history. The first being the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, and then the rise of the Party of Allah (Hizb Allah) in Lebanon.

We can also understand this understanding of patience by looking at all the truly revolutionary movements across the world - be they contemporary or ancient. All of them had a common point; that in order to achieve a given goal, that a person has to be patient, to persist, to make that resistance, and to never allow despondency or weakness to appear. Such negative things are attack vectors that Satan and the Satanic forces use to cripple those who are working towards the Truth.

Indeed, if we examine the famous saying of Imam Husayn where he said following the demand by Yazeed that he - Imam Husayn - pledge allegiance to him, and if he refused, then he would be killed and indeed beheaded.

Imam Husayn said something remarkable - that also encapsulates what has been discussed here:

“This person of illegitimate birth, son of a person illegitimate birth (Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad the governor of Yazeed in Kufa) has placed us between two paths, between salvation and humiliation. And we will never accept humiliation!”

• Sermon on the Day of Ashura, Imam Husayn

For someone to be ready to stand firm for the Truth, regardless of the danger that may pose, to never accept humiliation, to never let the flag of Truth fall, this requires huge patience, and leaves a mark on the society and on humanity as a whole.

In future parts of this series, we will also discuss patience against concepts such as sin; which are related to all of this; as all of it is related and interconnected. Patience is what is the key component required to complete any task, any activity.

And patience is akin to resistance, because when doing any task, especially if that tasks helps the oppressed, and raises the flag of Truth, and moves towards Truth and stands firm against oppressors - regardless of how overpowering they might seem - this is the true patience.

And in that regard, Allah has said in Quran, that:

“O you who have believed, if you help God, He will help you and plant firmly your feet.”

• Quran, Surah Muhammad (the Chapter of Muhammad) #47, Verse 7

We have to understand that this ‘helping God’ doesn’t mean help in the literal sense. God is perfect and has no need for help, support or anything. He is the perfect.

Therefore to understand this verse, the ‘helping God’ here, is to patient in his pathway, in the way of Truth, in standing against tyranny and oppress. And His promise is very clear; if you are patient, if you make that sacred resistance, if you ‘keep at it’ to quote a colloquialism, then He will help you.

Again, God’s help is always there, its about getting tuned into His help, and this requires patience, this requires us to make that movement towards God. Regardless of what Satanic forces and agents might be telling is.

A voice may whisper that ‘oh that’s dangerous’, or ‘oh that will take your time, you can do more if you do such and such’, or ‘well thats a very silly thing to do’, or ‘that’s a very boring thing’, the voice of Satan will whisper incessantly, never being quiet; especially when a person seeks to undertake a task that will move himself and/or others towards the Truth.

Satan hates when that happens; and so his machinations increase; he creates distractions. He may even create scenarios within your family, within your friends that distract you. He will use all his influence in this world to distract, and confuse.

After all in Dua Kumayl, that should be recited and reflected on deeply, at least every Thursday evening, we say:

“And the soul with treachery, My God, I ask You by Your Glory, not to let my evil works and acts veil my supplication from You, not to disgrace me through the hidden things You know of my secrets, and not to hasten me to punishment for what I have done in private: My evil acts, my offences, my slips, my ignorance, and my excessive passion.”

• Dua Kumayl

This treachery of the soul that is spoken about, is when our patience falters with regard to the machinations, with the deceptions and manipulations of Satan and Satanic forces and agencies, and we weaken, and are deceived; we pray that such weakness, which can lead to sin or be a sin in and of itself, not be a blocker from our connection to God, not be something that disconnects us from God.

This too - by itself - is a monumental act of patience; to be aware of such, and that is a large part of the struggle.

After all it is said, that a person who does not acknowledge they have a problem, will not be able to remedy themselves, since they will not take the remedial action requires - because they feel they do not need it.

This is why introspection is so very important; and introspection requires patience; because sometimes the person that we find most difficult to be honest with to be open with is ourselves.

In light of that, and because there is great value in discussing the great heroes and lights that gave everything in the way of Truth on that fateful day of Ashura, it might be important to reflect on the commander of the army of Yazeed named Hur ibn Yazeed ar-Riyahi, may God send peace and blessings upon him.

Hur had initially stopped the caravan of Imam Husayn from creating their encampment near the stream known as al-Qamah (which is a small offshoot of the Euphrates river in what is now known as Kerbala, in Iraq).

He refused to let the Imam and his caravan camp near the banks of the stream, he had his instructions, but he also knew who Imam Husayn was. Indeed, when the Imam camped a little further away and without any easy access to water, and when it was prayer time, Hur chose to pray alongside the Imam’s caravan.

Now he was ranked against the Imam, he was part of the enemy encampment that had not only deprived Imam Husayn of water and were engaged in a massacre against all his companions, family and indeed himself.

In seeing this, in introspecting on himself, Hur realised that he was both on the wrong side of Truth and the wrong side of history. So he made a move, a dangerous move, one that that fraught with huge risk and danger. He escaped from the camp of Yazeed, where he was a senior commander, in some accounts the equivalent of a Major-General, and he made his way to the camp of Imam Husayn.

He begged the Imam for forgiveness, for having prevented him from camping near the banks of the stream, and he then took permission from Imam Husayn to fight on his behalf, and was ultimately martyred.

What is interesting, and what needs to be reflected on, is that 1400 years later, we still remember Hur, and we remember him as a hero, a light amongst lights, as one of the best of God’s creation. We remember his as one of the martyrs on the Caravan of Light and Truth.

All of this fondness, all of this beauty, is because of an important act of patience - both with his own self when he introspected and looked at his actions and when he realised he was in the wrong, he had the fortitude to make amends, to not just wallow in his despair, but to take action and make a change; and also with others in the army ranked against Imam Husayn.

He was a general, a senior person; when he made moves from one side of the camp to the other, the rest of the soldiers would have seen, and would have been following his moves; yet without any fear, and with great resistance and strength of mind; he chose to move himself physically - regardless of the consequences - from the camp of Satan, to the camp of God.

That itself bears great reflection.

We sometimes can’t see the importance of patience in every facet of the human condition; but as discussed here, if we are to understand patience as being how the head is to the body with regard to not just religion, but to the entire human condition, then we can understand how without patience, without the true patience we are like unto walking corpses, without any drive, without any ability, and we will - without patience - ultimately wither into the void.

For Sayyed Abu Hadi, you are always and will always be in our hearts, you inspired us, you taught us patience, you taught us what it means to be human, and you took us to Rasul Allah and to Allah, may the blessings and mercy of God be upon you.

This is the second part in a detailed discussion on patience. The discussion is built on the seminal work (based on a series of lectures) by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khamenei. The book is published as ‘Discourses on Patience’.

The first part can be found here.

Patience in the light of Traditions (Ahadeeth)

Building on what we discussed in the previous discussion, we can now start to look at the importance of patience in the light of the traditions, or ahadeeth, from the Prophet Muhammad and his pure family, peace be upon them both.

It may be summarised, if we want to as is said, provide an ‘elevator pitch’ for what patience is, we can see that patience has been recommended by all the divine prophets and the righteous leaders to their successors, followers and disciples.

Consider, the example of a caring father, or a compassionate teacher or mentor; someone who has spent their entire life filled with efforts, of resistance and has suffered much pain, tortures and deprivations all for the sake of attaining his goals.

In the last moments of his life, all the struggles, efforts, everything that provided purpose and direction in his life are now coming to an end, and off course he still cherishes his goals.

What would the last advice, the final teaching so to speak, of such a person be to those who he feels follow his struggle, and who will keep alive his pathway, his movement?

What will his lesson be to those who will carry on taking these giant steps and carrying this heavy load closer and closer to the final destination?

Of course, it will be nothing other than the extraction, the summary, of all the theoretical and practical experiences, of all the various possessions acquired by him throughout his life of struggle, resistance and in the movement towards perfection.

Such a person will give - as part of his will - everything that he has, and if he may have to put such monumental lessons into a single sentence. Something that can serve as a capsule, containing all the precious and valuable accomplishments and all the practical know-how that he has acquired. Presented in a very concise and simple manner as guidelines for his apprentice, his trainee.

He will hand this over to his successor and follower, which - when we think about it deeply - means transference of the entirety of his life’s works, indeed of his entire legacy, to the one who succeeds him.

The profundity of this, cannot be over emphasised.

With this mission, this important task completed, he can leave this temporal domain, certain in the fact that he has handed over the proverbial baton. Such a person can then make his due preparations and depart this world, for the eternal domain.

The last parting recommendations of the prophets, the pious, the righteous, the martyrs, the truthful, the strugglers in the way of God, in the way of Truth, for their followers and those who are tasked with building this divine society, is to be patient.

The last piece of advice they give, is their strong recommendation regarding patience.

This itself requires huge reflection.

We can now look at a couple of traditions from the family of the Prophet Muhammad in this regard, and, God willing, these will help us improve our understanding of this.

The First Narration/Tradition (aka Hadeeth)

Abu Hamza ath-Thomali, one of the very well known, sincere and highly respected followers of the Prophet and his pure family, a student of the fifth Imam of the Muslims, Imam Muhammad al-Baqir, and from whom he narrates:

“When the last moments of his life arrived, my father, Ali ibn al-Husayn, peace be upon him, held me close to his chest and said: ‘My son, I recommend to you what my father (Imam Husayn) recommended to me in the last moments of his life. My son, stand for the Truth, even if it is bitter’”

Imam Muhammad al-Baqir, is the successor and vicegerent of his father, Imam Ali ibn al-Husayn, Zayn al-Abedeen, and is the inheritor of the heavy burden of trust, and is responsible for continuing the movement and struggle, indeed the jihad (a term that is grossly misunderstood in our current society, and one we will work to clarify the meaning of in due course), of his father. This is in the same manner that his father himself - Imam Ali ibn al-Husayn, Zayn al-Abedeen, was responsible for continuing the movement of his father, Imam Husayn ibn Ali, the Martyr of Kerbala.

Each personality of the blessed and holy family, the household of the Prophet Muhammad, were responsible for the continuation of the divine mission of their predecessor, and all of them collectively were upholders of the divine mission of God’s final prophet, Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and them all.

All of them, as per our belief, are created from a singular source of energy, of light, of pure light, and are ones who are guides towards the Truth, towards the path of Salvation.

Now consider, the final words, the will of Imam Husayn:

“My son, I recommend to you what my father recommended to me in the last moments of his life …”

It is well known how and where the final moments of Imam Husayn’s life were. He was on the barren plain of Kerbala, on the fateful day of Ashura (Muharram 10, 61AH (680CE)).

Pain, torture, tragedy, heartbreak dominated the situation, that day on the plain of Kerbala.

Despite that, despite the fact that Imam Husayn was encircled by the blood thirsty, savage, child killing wolves, Imam Husayn, took advantage of the small and very short opportunity to go back to his camp before he made his final stand on the battlefield.

It is narrated in the books of history, that after having a brief meeting with the members of his family, who in and of themselves were carriers of his message, he held a very short, but sufficient, effective and very important discussion with his successor, his vicegerent, Imam Ali ibn al-Husayn, Zayn al-Abedeen.

These kinds of discussion, in common terms may be called ‘farewell meetings’, but we must understand that a pious leader, a true Imam, is far above sentimentality and such passions.

Indeed in that last opportunity of his life, he would only speak for important issues, important matters. All reports (narrations, historical accounts, traditions, and the like) that remain of such meetings, testify to this fact.

Indeed, as a sidebar, we can see in the many books of traditions from the Prophet and his pure family, peace be upon them, we can see that the wills of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali, of Imam Hasan, Imam Husayn, and all of the pure Imams are akin to this, and none of them contain any sentimentality or such passions but are only concerned with moving forward, and ensuring that the path is traversed correctly and successfully.

The Imam understood, that at that sensitive moment, that the heavy burden of trust for which he had struggled his entire life, and more so since his leadership started (following the martyrdom of his brother, Imam Hasan), this burden of trust, was something that had been carried by the Prophet Muhammad (and countless prophets before him), it had been carried by his father, Imam Ali, and his brother, Imam Hasan.

Each and every one of them had suffered all manner of pain, and were subjected to great hardships on account of them staying on this path, this path of Truth. This trust, would now be handed over to the next person. The powerful arms, the steadfast steps of his successor, his vicegerent would be assigned this responsibility, that of carrying this huge burden of trust, and taking it forward.

Therefore, when Imam Husayn had his ‘farewell meeting’ with Imam Ali ibn al-Husayn, also known as Imam Sajjad, he had come to advise him about the most important, the single most important, issue of his mission.

What was that important and cherished advice?

Now, we must also understand that Imam Ali ibn al-Husayn, who found himself in a condition similar to his father’s, explained the key issues to his son and his vicegerent, his successor, and offered recommendations accordingly.

He also emphasised that, as we have discussed, that his father Imam Husayn, had also been instructed by his father, Imam Ali, in the same manner:

”What his father recommended …”

The advice has been continually emphasised on, since it was first given by the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali, to the next Imam-designate, and onwards through all the successive Imams by the Imam that came before them.

What was that recommendation?

The outcome and summation of that advice is, and was, “patience”.

“My son, stand for the Truth, even if it is bitter”

My son, stand for the truth, and be patient, even if it be bitter and/or inconvenient.

In other words, on the road of Truth, one should never give up, one should never be frustrated by obstacles and difficulties. Once you know, and recognise the path of Truth, you must adhere to it, support it, all the way, as the saying goes ‘come hell or high water’.

All hardships, bitterness, failures, inconveniences and more, should be born patiently in order to continue the journey forward.

Of course, it is well known, indeed one might say it is obvious, that the confrontation of Truth and falsehood is laced with hardships, with bitterness, with pain and inconvenience, and one should not consider such a journey to be a proverbial ‘bed of roses’.

Indeed, if someone finds that their life is ‘too easy’, then they need to reflect back upon themselves, because it is entirely possible, that while they think they are doing something good, they have tragically fallen foul of the machinations of satan and his hoard. After all in the Holy Quran, Allah says:

قُلْ هَلْ نُنَبِّئُكُم بِالْأَخْسَرِينَ أَعْمَالًا
الَّذِينَ ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ يَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ يُحْسِنُونَ صُنْعًا

Say, “Shall We inform you of the greatest losers in their works?”
“Those whose efforts in this world are misguided, while they assume that they are doing well.”

- Quran, Surah al-Kahf (the Chapter of the Cave) #18, Verses 103 to 104

All of these issues, inconveniences, and hardships should be resisted and overcome with great patience and for the sake of Truth.

This was the last will of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali, given to his son Imam Hasan, and subsequently given to all the Imams from the family of the Prophet by their predecessors.

Indeed it is that which was given to our master, the Awaited Imam, Imam al-Mahdi, may our souls be his ransom, by his father Imam Hasan al-Askari, and indeed, as followers of Imam Mahdi, this is an instruction that the Imam has given to us, which if we abide by, if we follow, will hasten our meeting with our beloved Imam, and ensure that we are from the successful.

All of these, were given in the last moments of their lives, as they were defending the Truth, and accepting the consequences, even when it was the ultimate price, that their lives on this temporal realm were extinguished and they ascended to the eternal domain.

There is an Arabic couplet, which I have tried to translate poetically below, that they were manifestations of, and we must understand that while the Imams and Prophets are its primary manifestations, we also have more contemporary manifestations of the same.

From the likes of Imam Khomeini, Hajj Redhwan, from Hajj Qassem, Hajj Abu Mahdi, Hajj Abu Hadi and countless others from the Martyrs and the Truthful, may God shower his peace and blessings upon them all, they have all encouraged their lovers, their followers, their adherents to the same.

“I practiced patience in my life at the highest level.

Such that, even patience bears witness, to my patience in resisting all even that which is the most bitter.

Patience, indeed, bears witness, that through all trials and tribulations, I never faltered, I remain steadfast and patient.”

Therefore, on the basis of this first tradition, we can see that the importance of patience is profound. It is a key quality found in all the infallible Imams of the Prophet Muhammad’s pure family, may God’s blessings and peace be upon them all.

They have all enjoined this priceless jewel of a quality, and kept it as part of their noble inheritance that is handed down from one generation to another, and to all their followers and lovers, and indeed to all of humanity who seek the Truth.

It’s importance is such that, in their very last moments, they ensured that they passed it on, no matter how difficult the situation.

The Second Narration/Tradition (aka Hadeeth)

From the book titled ‘Fiqh ar-Ridha’, which is from the eighth Imam of the Muslims, Imam Ali ibn Musa ar-Ridha; we can find narrated, the wills of the Prophets, all of which say:

“Be patient for the Truth, even if it is bitter”

This book, Fiqh ar-Ridha, is one of the most important books of jurisprudence, of law, and as mentioned it is attributed to the eighth Imam of the Muslims, Imam ar-Ridha.

A portion of the book deals with legal issues and affairs in Islam.

Of course being a book that is generally considered to be about Fiqh, or Islamic Jurisprudence, or Islamic Law, will make some consider that this is dry, or something not very interesting.

But this is the tragedy, that as Muslims, we have silo’d Islamic concepts and teachings into their individual, disconnected silos. We don’t understand that Islam is holistic, everything is combined, everything is linked. Such that even when attempting to understand falsehood, and deduce a lie - for example in social media, we can understand how to determine its veracity from the teachings of Fiqh, and specifically the teachings about purity and purification.

I will not delve into that here; perhaps in a future session we can discuss that, God willing.

However, the major portion of the book, is an ocean of understanding on various key aspects of Islamic Learning; and indeed does deal with the interpretation of Quran and the Traditions of the Prophet Muhammad and his pure family also.

Indeed, it could be said, that true Islamic Jurisprudence, when understood correctly, is in fact the true Islamic Learning and the details surrounding such learnings, how to understand such learnings and how they impact our every day lives, that is the true understanding of Islamic Law, of Islamic Jurisprudence, all built from the primary source which is Quran, and the traditions, teachings and narrations from Prophet Muhammad and his pure family, peace be upon them all.

Let us also not forget that all of these Islamic and indeed secular sciences; are combined; since all that is True is from God, and God is not something that is made up of parts; rather He is the ultimate Whole, the ultimate and most Unique entity (though calling him an entity is incorrect, since by definition an entity has limitations, while God has no limitations, and He has authority over all things, and is aware of all things).

This book, Fiqh ar-Ridha, contains this profound narration; which we will try to interpret and expound through the course of these series of discussions

“We narrate this important tradition, which is the inheritance and memory of our noble family, left by our fathers and their ancestors, who left this last will for us, and in turn we willed it to our successors:

The will of all the divine prophets and their vicegerents, inheritors, trustees, flag bearers of the divine movements, and students of the divine schools of thought was:

‘Stand for the Truth, and be patient, even if it is bitter and inconvenient.’”

As we have discussed, this is exactly the same sentence spoken by the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali, without any variance.

Perhaps, this short, but meaningful sentence left by the prophets and their vicegerents, their successors, could be the best example for showing, for explaining the importance of patience.

Therefore on the basis of the two above traditions, these two narrations, we are able to define patience as follows:

“The will enjoined by the divine Prophets and Imams to their inheritors and disciples”

It is quite clear that this Islamic characteristic has so much weight, importance and indeed influence within the structure of the divine religion of Islam, that all the prophets included it within their last wills and testaments.

Now, as we have been reflecting on the last moments of Imam Husayn, and the will, the last testimony that he gave to his son Imam as-Sajjad, it behooves us to take ourselves to the great difficulty that the Imam faced in Kerbala.

It was not so much, that the numbers of Imam’s companions were few, and that of the enemy were large. That is almost inconsequential in this regard.

Rather; it is the tragedy that even with a thriving Muslim community, and after a mere 50 years following the departure of the Prophet Muhammad, the Muslim community as a whole had essentially reverted back to polytheism, while professing to be monotheists. Rather than actually being Muslim, they chose to merely ‘identify’ as Muslims.

The difference is subtle, but one that bears great reflection; God willing, this notion of being and merely identifying as will be covered in an upcoming part of this series.

The real tragedy was that Islam - the true teachings of Islam - had become so polluted, so damaged - that verses of the Quran were being used to allow for huge crimes to be justified (and deemed valid).

Indeed, there was the notion that given that Quran speaks of:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ ۖ فَإِن تَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَالرَّسُولِ إِن كُنتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَحْسَنُ تَأْوِيلًا

O you who believe! Obey God and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. And if you dispute over anything, refer it to God and the Messenger, if you believe in God and the Last Day. That is best, and a most excellent determination.

- Quran, Surah an-Nisa (the Chapter of the Women) #4, Verse 59

This verse, which tells the people to obey God, to obey the messenger and to obey those ‘in authority over you’, is tragically massively misunderstood by many people. Historically and even in contemporary times, it is used as a means to allow the worst of the worst to become ‘leaders’ of a given Muslim community.

Sadly, since the initial stanza of the verse indicates ‘obey God, obey the Messenger, and those in authority over you’ many people simply stop discussing that verse at this point.

They assume that there is an equivalence between obeying Allah, and obeying the Messenger, and those in authority over you. This is an invalid understanding and missed the entire nuance and point of this divine teaching.

The key points in the verse, are after this. Which gives us the criteria for following ‘those in authority over you’, and that is that whatever is done, should be referred back to God and His Messenger, that any action of one ‘in authority over you’ be in sync with belief in God, and belief in the Last Day (i.e. in accountability, and therefore only doing that which is in line with the teachings and commandments of God and the Messenger).

Allah, even says in no uncertain terms, that this is the best way, if someone believes in God (truly believes), and in the Last Day (accountability).

We can also easily infer that if one in ‘authority over you’, is going against the commandments of God and His Messenger, then as I explain further; said person might feel they have ‘authority over you’; but they have nothing.

Indeed, a person who may profess to be righteous, but they act as if they have no accountability, they are not from those who can have any authority over the believer, or over the free people of this world.

This is important. This means that obeying God and the Prophet is the key, and that you determine those in authority over you, not simply by virtue of the fact that they have somehow been placed in a position of authority over you; but rather, by virtue of the fact that they - those in authority - are also obeying God and His messenger.

Indeed, based on this, while a tyrant, who is working actively against the teachings of Truth and acting as an oppressor, and flaunting all decency and such; such a person; while they may attempt to impose their authority upon the people; in reality they have no authority upon the people.

This is because the authority is contingent upon them abiding by the rules and obeying the commandments of Allah and His messenger, as well as accepting and believing in the Last Day, and thereby accepting they will be held accountable for every little thing that they have done.

If we examine the leadership of Yazid, and I will be brief as I don’t want to go into this in great detail at this time, but it is always valuable to remember from the epic of Ashura when we have a discussion.

If we examine the leadership of Yazid, we can see he was openly flaunting the rulings of God and that taught by the Prophet. Yet there are people who suggested, that we should silently simply obey him, since he has authority over us.

Never. This is what the concept of patience, and sticking with the truth regardless of how bitter it may be, becomes paramount. Where when you have someone in authority who transgresses all the bounds, who rejects the divine rulings; and who actively flaunts the rules. Who acts in a manner where he thinks he will never be held accountable.

A ‘leader’ who has one rule for himself and his cronies, and another rule for the masses. Tragically, not unlike the situation in the many parts of the world, and more so in the collective West (including its vassals), in 2024, where the leaders expect the population to do one thing, but themselves they operate in a totally different way. The population must freeze in winter and no support will be given, but they themselves give themselves support.

The population must starve, but the ‘leaders’ give the rights of the people, the funds of the people to war mongers who then go on committing genocides and massacres, again in an entirely unaccountable manner, or at least they feel they are unaccountable.

Such a ruler, such a ‘leader’ is not only operating contrary to God and His Messenger’s teachings, he is - perhaps without realising - placing himself at the very least on a par with God and His Messenger, which is tantamount to polytheism, and something unforgivable.

In reality, as discussed earlier; do such ‘leaders’ have in reality any authority over the people? Not at all, the only place they have any ‘authority’ and that too by way of delusion, is in their own damaged minds. The free people of the world, will never succumb to such tyrants, in the past this has been the case, in the present it is the case and it will remain the case going forward.

But the question is then, who are these ‘free people of the world’. This is something that we will discuss later in this series, God willing.

The one who actually obey’s God, and His Messenger, will never accept such a deviated and corrupt ruler, for to do so, would be to accept humiliation, and the believer does not ever accept humiliation.

It should also be noted, that even if a ‘leader’, ‘one who is in authority over you’, so to speak, even if said leader feigns adherence to God and His messengers commands, but works in a manner that is harmful to the people, where the people are oppressed unjustly, then regardless of what pretence of righteousness said leader might have, they have no authority over the righteous.

In contemporary times, we have ‘leaders’ of the so-called Muslim world, who feign religiosity, they goto the mosques, in their speeches they say things that are wonderful to hear, but behind closed doors they fraternise with the enemy, but they are not believers.

Their like has been clearly mentioned in the Holy Quran:

وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَقُولُ آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَبِالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَمَا هُم بِمُؤْمِنِينَ
يُخَادِعُونَ اللَّهَ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَمَا يَخْدَعُونَ إِلَّا أَنفُسَهُمْ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ
فِي قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَضٌ فَزَادَهُمُ اللَّهُ مَرَضًا ۖ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْذِبُونَ
وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ لَا تُفْسِدُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ قَالُوا إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ مُصْلِحُونَ
أَلَا إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ الْمُفْسِدُونَ وَلَٰكِن لَّا يَشْعُرُونَ
وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ آمِنُوا كَمَا آمَنَ النَّاسُ قَالُوا أَنُؤْمِنُ كَمَا آمَنَ السُّفَهَاءُ ۗ أَلَا إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ السُّفَهَاءُ وَلَٰكِن لَّا يَعْلَمُونَ
وَإِذَا لَقُوا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا قَالُوا آمَنَّا وَإِذَا خَلَوْا إِلَىٰ شَيَاطِينِهِمْ قَالُوا إِنَّا مَعَكُمْ إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ مُسْتَهْزِئُونَ
اللَّهُ يَسْتَهْزِئُ بِهِمْ وَيَمُدُّهُمْ فِي طُغْيَانِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ ‎
أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ اشْتَرَوُا الضَّلَالَةَ بِالْهُدَىٰ فَمَا رَبِحَت تِّجَارَتُهُمْ وَمَا كَانُوا مُهْتَدِينَ

Among the people are those who say, “We believe in God and in the Last Day,” but they are not believers.
They seek to deceive God and those who believe, but they deceive none but themselves, though they are not aware.
In their hearts is sickness, and God has increased their sickness. They will have a painful punishment because of their denial.
And when it is said to them, “Do not make trouble on earth,” they say, “We are only peacemakers.”
In fact, they are the troublemakers, but they are not aware.
And when it is said to them, “Believe as the people have believed,” they say, “Shall we believe as the fools have believed?” In fact, it is they who are the fools, but they do not know.
And when they come across those who believe, they say, “We believe”; but when they are alone with their devils, they say, “We are with you; we were only ridiculing.”
It is God who ridicules them, and leaves them bewildered in their transgression.
Those are they who have bartered error for guidance; but their trade does not profit them, and they are not guided.

- Quran, Surah al-Baqarah (the Chapter of the Cow) #2, Verses 8 to 16

Tragically, this was the condition of the Muslims a mere 50 years after the Prophet. There were scholars who rejected the idea of making that divine resistance against Yazid and his cronies; who declared that since he was the ‘caliph’, he had authority and therefore based on an invalid understanding (or worse yet manipulation) of the verse quoted above, they claimed that all are duty bound to follow him, regardless of his conduct, behaviour, belief, or lack of the above.

Indeed, in Kufa, we have the famous event, when the true lover of Imam Husayn, Hani ibn Urwa, was arrested by the tyrant Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad, and dragged to the dungeons. The representative - direct representative - of Imam Husayn, who had come to Kufa, to determine if the people were sincere in their claim of being ready to take Imam Husayn as their leader, Muslim ibn Aqeel, asked the believers in Kufa to rise up against the tyranny of Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad, to work to free Hani from the dungeons, and to liberate the occupied government.

Yet sadly, that never happened, indeed, Muslim himself was betrayed, captured and then murdered, along with Hani ibn Urwa by Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad.

Now the tragedy is not so much that they were martyred; off course, that was tragic, but the reason why they were captured, betrayed, was what was truly tragic.

The ‘elites’ the ‘leaders’, the ‘scholars’ in Kufa, and chief amongst them, the ‘main scholar’, the ‘leading elite’ of Kufa, a person named Sulayman ibn Surad al-Khuzaa’i, who the wider population looked up to, and who was in the presence of Muslim ibn Aqeel, the representative of the Imam, when the call to rise up was made.

At this point, instead of being with Muslim, though, without a doubt it would have been difficult, it would have required much pain, and would be - for want of a better word - inconvenient, he chose instead, to say that he was not in support of an uprising against the regime.

He, Sulayman ibn Surad, felt it was not ‘justified’, and was not the right thing to do from a religious perspective, from a position of Islamic Thought.

Due to his position, the people refused to help Muslim, and that which should never have happened, tragically happened.

This is what is meant by being patient, what Muslim ibn Aqeel did, that is being patient, however to miss the entire point, to completely be lost, to waver from the path of Truth, is what was done by Sulayman ibn Surad.

Now, granted, some might say, that ‘well perhaps Sulayman thought that they didn’t have the capability to defeat the governor appointed by Yazid, Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad, maybe he felt that the regime was too powerful’, and yes, that is perhaps the case; but he - Sulayman ibn Surad - had also said, that since the ruling to rise was not coming explicitly from Imam Husayn, but was from his representative, he would not support it.

Furthermore, he had clearly forgotten, if he was thinking in this way, that Allah has said many times; that He will help those who - metaphorically speaking - help Him:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِن تَنصُرُوا اللَّهَ يَنصُرْكُمْ وَيُثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَكُمْ

O you who believe! If you help God, He will help you, and will strengthen your foothold.

- Quran, Surah Muhammad (the Chapter of Muhammad) #47, Verse 7

That means, that Sulayman was both extremely wrong; but he was going against the verse of the Holy Quran mentioned earlier, and indeed he had totally forgotten the verse I have quoted above.

Since Muslim ibn Aqeel had authority from Imam Husayn, and since he was from the righteous; since he was standing for Truth, that he was making resistance; he did in fact have authority over the people, and over Sulayman.

Sulayman’s failure to obey the representative of Imam Husayn, was a manifestation of his failure to obey God and God’s messenger, and was a monumental sin, that had consequences that resonate to this day.

As mentioned earlier; the notion of obeying ‘those in authority over you’ can only be applied, if you understand those in authority over you. Just someone being your ‘elite’, your ‘leader’, ‘your boss’, or the prime minister or president or even king or queen of a given place, there mere fact that they choose to give themselves titles and attempt to exude authority, this doesn’t confer real authority, and as a result, obedience to such is not what is meant in the verse of Quran quoted above.

As explained previously, but since it is important I’ll repeat it, since they (those who claim to have authority) are not themselves obeying God, nor are they obeying His messenger, therefore, their authority is meaningless, and they are not to be obeyed.

However, if you have a honourable person in authority, such as in Kufa, they had Muslim ibn Aqeel, who is asking the people to do something; then that obedience is mandatory; since the one in authority is saying that which has been and is being said by God and His messenger.

This is nuanced, but it is a very important notion. Above all, this type of understanding requires great patience, requires great adherence to the Truth, because it will be difficult, it will be painful, it will have much confusion and the whispers of Satan will be strong in creating more confusion.

Indeed in some cases, it might even be fatal. But as is said; the journey is not easy, journey to the final destination is not easy; rather it a journey that requires resistance, patience and perseverance, and removing obstacle after obstacle, and staying firm on the path towards perfection.

The work, on the journey that moves a person forwards, this is what is important, and the final destination, this is in the Hands of God.

Acting in a weak manner, as was the case with Sulayman, acting in a manner that acquiesces to the oppressor, to the tyrant, will endanger that the pure message of the true Islam of Muhammad, it will create a usurped, and destroyed, corrupted and broken, and ultimately lost understanding of the true Islam, where the real the actual true Islam of Muhammad, is lost to the proverbial sands of time - as sadly has been the case with the messages of many of God’s prophets.

It was down to this acquiescence following the passing of Prophet, to manipulations in Islam, to blindly accepting those perceived to be in authority, without challenging their claims, without checking if they were abiding by and obeying God and His messenger, this leads to a tragedy, this is the worst type of weakness, and it can destroy entire societies and indeed nations, civilisations and humanity as a whole.

Therefore, for Imam Husayn, standing against it was not just a mere requirement, it was rather an obligation, one might argue greater than even prayers of fasting, for Imam Husayn to rise against the corruption and threat that Yazid and those with him posed to the true Islam.

This is because if a person accepts tyranny and injustice, while continuing to pray; and gives themselves a false sense of piety, that they are fine ‘because they pray and fast’; such a person is in a terrible state of loss. Because, they have without actively doing it, put themselves in a position, were they have placed someone - the tyrant/the oppressor - above God, they have chosen to allow the oppressor to remain unchallenged, and to be ‘quiet’, while professing to continue to obey God and His messenger.

The victim here (the one who accepts tyranny, oppression and injustice, feeling they can’t do anything, and continues to pray and fast and so on), the victim has effectively placed the tyrant on a par with God; since while they claim to obey God, His messenger, they also obey the tyrant since they accept that the tyrant has ‘authority over them’, and ultimately it can be argued this is a form of polytheism.

The importance of this as part of the journey towards Truth, and the movement with patience, with resistance cannot be under estimated or under emphasised.

In 1979, when Imam Khomeini rose against the US owned and now dead Shah of Iran, may God curse him eternally, he had to do so on the basis of the wills of the prophets and Imams, there was no other option.

The Truth was being usurped, the Truth was being corrupted. He had to do it since the one who claimed to have authority, was not only unfit, he was a vassal of the US empire. Therefore to accept such a situation, would be to place the Great Satan on a par with God, the Mighty, the Wise.

The pure message and stance and revolution of Imam Husayn was being sidelined and diluted with uncleanliness; such as people would go to the mosques, and mourn Imam Husayn, but as they come out of the mosques and centres, they would immediately be acting in a manner, that would ensure they would be ranked against Imam Husayn.

Such a profound cognitive dissonance, where a person thinks one thing and thinks they are doing something good, but they are doing some terrible, and indeed, they profess, or identify that they believe in a particular way, but their actions are entirely contradictory to the beliefs they profess, such a profound cognitive dissonance, would render the true Islam of Muhammad a historical relic, studied in universities and seminaries, but without any substance, without any exemplar.

But of course, Allah, has in Quran, has promised that He will protect this message, and indeed he has made a powerful promise that it is protected:

فَلَا أُقْسِمُ بِمَوَاقِعِ النُّجُومِ
وَإِنَّهُ لَقَسَمٌ لَّوْ تَعْلَمُونَ عَظِيمٌ
إِنَّهُ لَقُرْآنٌ كَرِيمٌ
فِي كِتَابٍ مَّكْنُونٍ
لَّا يَمَسُّهُ إِلَّا الْمُطَهَّرُونَ
تَنزِيلٌ مِّن رَّبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
أَفَبِهَٰذَا الْحَدِيثِ أَنتُم مُّدْهِنُونَ
وَتَجْعَلُونَ رِزْقَكُمْ أَنَّكُمْ تُكَذِّبُونَ

I swear by the locations of the stars.
It is an oath, if you only knew, that is tremendous.
It is a noble recitation (Quran).
In a well-protected Book.
None can grasp it except the purified.
A revelation from the Lord of the Worlds.
Is it this discourse that you take so lightly?
And you make it your livelihood to deny it?

- Quran, Surah al-Waqiah (the Chapter of the Inevitable Event) #56, Verses 75 to 82

In this series of verses, we can see that Allah has vowed to protect the Quran, its teachings; and to not allow them to be corrupted. This was achieved by and will continue to be achieved by patience, by resistance against falsehood, by speaking and enjoining the Truth, regardless of how bitter it may be.

When we see the Zionists, on this the first anniversary of the al-Aqsa Flood, spewing their lies, we see them claiming that others are killing women and children, when it is well known, and clearly evidenced, that they are the ones doing the infanticide and the killing of innocents, the path of Truth, of patience becomes very clear; and that is the path to opposing such criminals and those Satanic forces that are behind them, and they are well known.

Such Satanic forces, that give the right of ‘defence’ to one party (that even according to their own laws does not have the right of defence), and take it from another party, simple because one is with them, the other is opposed to them.

It is well known that Nimrud, the despotic tyrant at the time of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), may peace and blessings be upon him, used to also consider himself to be a ‘god’, that he could give and take life as per his desire. Yet ultimately it is well known that he was killed by a tiny insect that burrowed into his brain and lobotomised him, all while he thought, high up on his tower of Babel, he would be able to fire an arrow at the Lord of the Universes and kill him.

Such is the delusion of those who believe their own lies; and this is why all free people, all honest people, must strive towards the Truth, must always make that sacred resistance against falsehood, and towards Truth, and ensure they remain on the road to salvation, no matter the obstacles, no matter the difficultly.

Indeed, his delusion was decimated by Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), when he told him, okay, so you think you’re god. Okay, in that case, my Lord (God), makes the sun rise in the East and set in the West, if you are really God, let me see you make the sun rise in the West and set in the East.

This destroyed the tyrant, and he attempted to destroy Prophet Ibrahim, and I won’t go into that story further as it is well known, but suffice it to say, the schemes of Nimrud was destroyed and he was humiliated and cursed in this world and the next.

And to all, who feel heartbroken, have no fear, and know, that you are not alone, for Allah is in the arena.

And from Him alone is all ability and He has authority over all things.

In Memory of our dear Abbas, martyred alongside Abu Hadi, may your and Abu Hadi’s eternal souls rest in peace, please pray that we are able to live up to and proceed on the path of Truth that you have, through God, guided us onto.

This is the first part in a detailed discussion on patience. The discussion is built on the seminal work (based on a series of lectures) by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khamenei. The book is published as ‘Discourses on Patience’

Introduction

Patience, in Islam is one of the most well known terms. It can be found frequently in all manner of Islamic literature, be it the Holy Quran, the Traditions of the Prophet and his family, and in other books of learning and Islamic thought.

The term is deemed a positive attribute, and when discussed carries a tone of encouragement, discussions of the rewards for those who possess this quality and act with it, and generally great praise is given to this concept.

In this regard, it is important, that Muslims, and indeed non-Muslims, become acquainted with this term, nay, become familiar with this term and understand what it means, such that they can work to incorporate and develop this quality within themselves.

However, the term patience has, due to manipulation, tampering, corruption and more, been distorted, and this is in our age, sadly a calamity, that has happened to many terms, and more so to many Islamic terms. The work of the enemies of humanity has left nothing untouched, and indeed it would be fair to say that this has left very little of its actual form, matter and substance, and has morphed it into something entirely antithetical to what it actually is.

The Common and Perceived Understanding of Patience.

Generally, when the term patience is used, the understanding is that of ‘tolerance of an unpleasant circumstance or thing’. Now, this definition, is laced with many ambiguities, and is extremely vague, and thereby it leaves itself open to manipulation and confusion.

Consider, for an oppressed society, steeped in corruption and decadence, patience as defined above becomes one of the most powerful tools for the oppressors and corrupters in their efforts to maintain the status quo. This understanding will keep a society in a state of backwardness, and of despondency.

When poor nations, who are exposed to all manner of problems and exploitation, or the oppressed masses crushed under brutal oppression, or societies faced with moral corruption, poverty, and suffering. Indeed, any individual trapped in a cesspit of misfortune and calamity.

If such a person is told ‘to be patient’; and if the prevailing definition is used (as mentioned earlier) the first result would be that person should simply take, they should simply 'tolerate these problems’, they should take the bitter pill and the fatal dose; rather than working to overthrow that which oppresses them.

In the face of terror inflicted upon them, this definition of patience, prevents the oppressed from saying no, from rising up against the oppressors.

Indeed, in such a scenario, not only will the people, not mobilise themselves against such tyranny and remove the negative state that enslaves them. No, on the contrary, when they are told, and indeed keep in mind the supposed rewards for ‘patience’ - for being indifferent, for tolerating the difficulty, for remaining naïve, they would in fact feel happy and content, such that they would regard such behaviour as a monumental victory. It would in fact engender a false sense of piety within them, that would enhance the delusion they are engulfed in.

The prevalence of such a mindset, such a mentality in a society, will, to a greater extent, be to the benefit of the class of exploiters and oppressors, and will be to the eternal detriment of the deprived and oppressed masses.

Sadly, this invalid interpretation, together with its tragic results presently constitutes the sorry state of affairs, not just in many Islamic societies, but in many societies across the world, and specifically within the collective West.

Individuals with open, free and unbiased minds may adopt an alternative definition and understanding of this term. However, the majority, habituated to a steady diet of an incorrect interpretation and enticed by the alleged 'rewards' of such a path, are often shocked and surprised when presented with a different meaning.

This reaction occurs as they begin to recognise the deceit and falsehoods they have been served by those they were led to believe were reliable.

Overall Views About Patience

When the meaning of patience is understood, and interpreted in light of the very clear, explicit, and illuminating verses of the Holy Quran, as well as in accordance to the reliable traditions and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad and his pure family, may God’s peace be upon him, and them all, then the result, would be a totally different understanding of patience, completely antithetical to the current common - and indeed extremely oppressive - understanding of the term.

This righteous definition, transforms patience into a means, a lever, capable of removing with ease the heaviest of obstacles and solving the biggest of problems, with fully positive results.

Therefore, for an oppressed society, patience is actually the key to prosperity and blessings, and it also serves as a strong bulwark against the oppressors, troublemakers and mischief mongers. Against all who seek to harm the society or individual.

In order to appreciate the true meaning, the true understanding of this term, this quality, the best methodology is to rely on the Holy Quran and the authentic traditions. A detailed investigation would allow us to reach a clear and decisive understanding.

Indeed, in the Holy Quran, there are more than seventy verses that discuss patience. They glorify the term, and glorify those who possess this virtue. The Holy Quran, details both the possessors of this virtue, as well as the results derived, and the circumstances wherein one can count on this virtue.

We also have many authentic traditions of the Prophet and his pure family, may peace be upon him, and them, that discuss this subject; and we will in the course of this discussion be discussing primarily from the traditions (which also help us to derive a clearer understanding of the Holy Quran).

Summary of the Meaning of Patience

On the basis of the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad and his pure family, peace be upon him, and them, we can see that patience is defined as:

The resistance shown by a person, on the road towards perfection. Resistance against mischief, corruption, despondency and degradation.

We can try to understand this - in a more simplistic manner for now - when looking at the example of a mountaineer, who in order to reach the peak, has to face many obstacles and barriers; both internal and external.

The internal obstacles are within their inner self, and the external ones are those outside their control. Each of these, in their own ways interfere and work to impede the climbing efforts of the mountaineer.

Internal obstacles such as a love for comfort, fear, despair, and other such passions try to stop the mountaineer. They give him/her feelings of indecisiveness, they work to kill his/her determination, they make him/her feel that ‘the task is too big, what can they do’.

External barriers for their part, such as stones, weather, rocks, landslides, avalanches, wild animals, and such, all work to retard, to break his/her progress.

Now, someone when faced with such barriers, such obstacles, will have to make a choice.

Either they drop the journey, which is dangerous, difficult, and filled with hardships, or they move onwards, they offer resistance against these difficulties and problems, they overcome each barrier with their determination.

This resistance, this moving forward and not giving up no matter how difficult things are, this is the real definition of patience.

In his/her limited lifespan, the human being, from their birth to their death, is but a traveller on the road to his/her final destination. Indeed, humans have been created fundamentally to work towards bringing themselves closer to their final destination.

The Holy Quran says:

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ

I did not create the jinn and the humans except to worship Me.

- The Holy Quran, Surah adh-Dhariyah (the Chapter of the Scattering Winds) #51, Verse 56

Without getting into the definition of ‘worship’, it would not be unreasonable to suggest that at least a part of worship is to reach closeness to God, after all every Muslim, when they make their intent to do any activity, be it praying, fasting or even going for a walk, they say - ‘I am doing such and such a thing, to gain closeness to God’, therefore, it is not complicated to understand that worship, since it moves us towards God, is also a manifestation of patience.

But, and this is important, not mindless worship; not ritualistic meaningless worship, not worship that has become a panacea, that keeps the person weak and that prevents the person from standing against the tyrants. The worship we mean here is true worship, real worship, worshipfulness where the worshiper is aware of the one they worship; and they desire His closeness and He is their final destination.

A worshipfulness that empowers and strengthens the worshipper in their journey towards perfection, and that is an activity that terrifies the oppressors, tyrants and despots.

Worship that involves accepting oppression is not true worship. If a person accepts oppression without resisting it — even if the only resistance they can offer is within their heart — such ‘worship’ becomes meaningless. Instead of bringing them closer to their goal, it leads them away from the path of perfection and deeper into darkness.

Bear in mind the oppression may not necessarily be an external oppression, indeed it can be an internal oppression, an internal obstacle that weakens the resolve and breaks the will, and creates despondency and despair.

To allow that internal oppression to prevail is against the human condition, it is against the reason why God created humanity in the first place; and it shows weakness in front of the enemy.

If, weakness is shown to an enemy, internal or external, then said enemy will be empowered, they will smell the fear; and they will work harder to overpower their victim.

Whereas, the believer, knows that God is always in the arena, God is always aware, and we have but to call unto Him and He will reply, and assist, support and provide strength. He has promised that those who rely on Him, will find that He provides them with solutions to the problems they face, from places they expect said solutions from, and from those places from whence they had no expectations.

Indeed, we know that God has power over all things, and His love for His creation is profound, it is key that the creation acknowledge, recognise and trust in Him, for then they will see that he provides every solution for all that ails them.

Indeed, showing weakness in front of the enemies - internal or external - has been classified by some of the senior scholars of Islamic thought as a form of polytheism; that is in itself a long discussion that I will not go into here, but suffice it to say, that the only entity that is worthy of being shown fear in front of, is the one who actually has any power to do anything. That entity is God, and God alone.

The human being has been created by God, to endeavour and work tirelessly to reach that closeness to God, that final destination. The many duties, responsibilities, tasks that have been assigned, that have been placed upon his/her shoulders are a means to bring him/her closer to the ultimate goal, to the target.

The primary aim of all the great Prophets, of all the divine religions, was to build a society, to create a situation, where the people, where the human beings, can travel on this journey, and can ultimately reach their final goal.

Indeed, when we examine the salutations that are made to the Prophet, to the members of his pure family, peace be upon them both, to the saints and the like, we see a series of common lines in almost all of them:

اَشـهَدُ اَنَّكَ قَد اَقَمتَ الصَّلاةَ وَآتَيتَ الزَّكاة
وَاَمَرتَ بـاُلمِعروف ِوَنَهَيتَ عـَنِ المُنكرِ
وَاَطـَعـتَ اللهَ وَرَسـولَهُ حـَتّى اَتيكَ اليَقـينُ

I bear witness that verily you established the prayers and gave the zakaat (prescribed share, poor-due, alms, charity) to the needy
And commanded to do what is right and lawful
And not to do that which is wrong and unlawful
And obeyed Allah and His Messenger until the inevitable came unto you.

- Multiple Ziyaraat

When we understand these salutations; we can see that the key is that they established the prayer - we will discuss what this means in due course; that they established the ‘zakaat’, which in reality is a very difficult term to explain, as it is far more than just mere charity, and cannot be explained as a religious tax. We will in the course of this discussion, attempt to have an explanation of zakaat that will explain why it too is a key part of patience.

We say that they enjoined that which is good, they commanded to do that which is good, and indeed lawful from the perspective of Divine Law, and Truth (not the satanic laws created by the worst of the worst that plague and oppress societies today), and they forbade that which is evil, that which we see being promoted in society, on our television screens, on various social media platforms and more besides.

These key tasks are core to patience; as without these, a person cannot reach their destination successfully; they cannot traverse their journey towards perfection, as they will be blocked at every instance; they will be pushed back, they will be humiliated, and the believer never accepts humiliation.

The pathway is very straightforward, very simple; it is a case of determining if a person wants to have eternal bliss, or eternal damnation coupled with perhaps some pseudo bliss in this temporal and highly transitory domain.

So, the purpose of the Prophets, the divine religions, as we can see, was to ensure that people can travel on this pathway, and ultimately reach their destination; they provided the provisions for said journey, and drew us a map, and ours is but to follow that map, and persevere through the difficult weather, the rough terrain, the many obstacles. This is the pathway to salvation, to success, and indeed to eternal bliss.

If, we throw the stones at the Satan, as the great Patriarch Abraham (Prophet Ibrahim) did, when accosted by Satan with a view to prevent his following the command of God, and sacrificing Ishmael (Prophet Ismail), if we are strong, and don’t waver, then have no doubt, we will be from the successful.

But never forget, even with all of these provisions, the path is difficult, it has many problems, many barriers, and the endpoint is different for each person; what is key is that we stay upon the path, and do not leave it, moving to the alleys and tributaries that we may find, that we not go looking for a proverbial ‘short-cut’.

Indeed as we traverse this path, we should be aware of our brethren who are also on this journey. If we see our brother or sister faltering, we must go to their aid, and they too must come to our aid should we find ourselves in a problem.

Islam is not a ‘private’ religion, rather it is a collective system, a pathway that all of God’s beautiful creatures traverse, and as a result, we have a duty of care to each other - to all of His beautiful creation.

We must be aware of the condition of our brethren, and if we find this troublesome, or difficult, or ‘I don’t watch the news because its depressing’, well then, if you don’t offer to help your brothers and sisters, how can you expect them to help you?

Indeed, it is an Islamic quality; and a key part of patience, and also of our journey, for us to be aware of the situation of our brethren, be they next door, or on the other side of the planet. We must be ready to provide support and assistance, even if it is difficult, as that is part of the patience, that resistance against ourselves - if we give our help, or funds or whatever, to help others then perhaps we won’t have. Without digressing, the reality is that we actually don’t have.

Everything we have is a trust, and is apportioned for us by God as part of our sustenance, and is not ours per say. Therefore, when we have teachings in Islam, that if a person eats, while their neighbour is hungry, this is unacceptable, and this is a way that deviates us from the path towards perfection. So to be there for our brethren, this is core to our journey, and this requires us to make that resistance, to have that patience, to ensure that we are aware of the needs of others, and that we help as much as we can, and put our trust in God, that He is the Lord Sustainer of the universes.

An important part of this, and a key point to understand is that on this path; it is not the destination that is important, it is the journey; it is how we get there, that will determine if we are from the successful, or the decrepit.

All manner of forces will accost us as we traverse this pathway, internal forces, fear, apprehension, anxiety, exhaustion, despair, sadness, and so on. Negative forces with in each of us, evil passions, problems within the environment we live in, thorns, potholes and sinkholes, will confront us on our journey.

Patience means, to be able to stand firm against all these obstacles - and to conquer them, to prevail over them, with determination, with enthusiasm.

We must understand that all our obligations as Muslims, are a means to help us on this journey, to give us the resolve, the power of resistance, the strength of will, to be able to confront them, for we must understand that if we are successful, if we continue to resist, whether we prevail or whether we perish; as mentioned earlier, the destination is fixed, it is the journey we take that determines our place in the destination.

All our duties are a manifestation of the Justice of God, of the Love of God, just like the love of a caring mother or father, who when their child goes on a journey, they provide the child with provisions, enough food, water, maybe a spare set of shoes, maybe clothes, maybe an umbrella and so on; the mother or father (or both), provide the provisions. It is however, on the child to use them, and to use them correctly.

If the child is to use the bottles of water he was given as playthings, or to use the bread as something to throw and kick around like a game, then if said child was to perish due to thirst and hunger, it is the fault of the child, the child failed to make the appropriate resistance, to have the required patience, to continue on his/her journey with responsibility and was ultimately destroyed by their own negligence.

Please note, that here I use the term ‘child’ figuratively, I don’t mean a child in the common understanding, I mean a child in the sense of a subordinate to. Naturally in Islam, and in all the divine faiths, a child is innocent until they reach the age of obligation, of maturity. My inference here is a child who has reached that age of maturity; and has then gone out on a journey with their given provisions.

The strength that allows us to persevere and resist the obstacles that come to break us down, to block us from reaching that divine perfection, that weaken our resolve. They are that which we must make that sacred resistance against. They seek to move us away from the path that God has given us, they seek to steal or squander the provisions we have been given to help us on our journey.

This power, this ability to continue, to persist, even when the entire world is falling apart around you, this is what patience is.

And when thinking of patience, in the scope of Islamic History, I am reminded of the patience of, the resistance of, Imam Sajjad, the fourth Imam of the Muslims, and the grandson of Imam Ali, and son of Imam Husayn.

I see someone, who witnessed the most difficult of scenarios, when He saw the blood of God spilled on Ashura, when he saw the tents burn, and when he heard he aunt, one of the greatest people to ever have existed, the lover of God, Lady Zaynab, who when taunted about the massacre of her brother, his family and companions by the worst of the worst; said “I saw nothing but beauty”.

I am reminded of the way Imam Sajjad, even though he was under great pressure, from both the Umayyads and the Zubayris and more besides, I remember how he continued his resistance; how he continued, how he had patience and gave the believers deep lessons through his supplications, through his prayers, through his whispered, and intimate conversations with God that even at the darkest of times, even when the enemy, the forces of despair and despondency, the forces of Satan and his minions, appeared to be prevailing; the light that is the love of God always shines.

For when he says in his whispered prayer of the Complainers:

إِلـٰهِي أَشْكُو إلَيْكَ عَدُوّاً يُضِلُّنِي
وَشَيْطانَاً يَغْوِينِي
قَدْ مَلأَ بِالْوَسْواسِ صَدْرِي
وَأَحاطَتْ هَواجِسُهُ بِقَلْبِي
يُعاضِدُ لِيَ الْهَوىٰ
وَيُزَيِّنُ لِي حُبَّ الدُّنْيَا
وَيَحُولُ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ الطَّاعَةِ وَالزُّلْفىٰ

إِلـٰهِي إلَيْكَ أَشْكُو قَلْبَاً قاسِياً
مَعَ الْوَسْواسِ مُتَقَلِّب
وَبِالرَّيْنِ وَالطَّبْعِ مُتَلَبِّساً
وَعَيْنَاً عَنِ الْبُكاءِ مِنْ خَوْفِكَ جامِدَةً
وَإِلَىٰ ما تَسُرُّها طامِحَةً

إِلـٰهِي لا حَوْلَ وَلا قُوَّةَ إلاَّ بِقُدْرَتِكَ
وَلا نَجاةَ لِي مِنْ مَكارِهِ الدُّنْيا إلاَّ
بِعِصْمَتِكَ

فَأَسْأَلُكَ بِبَلاغَةِ حِكْمَتِكَ
وَنَفاذِ مَشِيَّتِكَ
أَنْ لا تَجْعَلَنِي لِغَيْرِ جُودِكَ مُتَعَرِّضاً
وَلا تُصَيِّرَنِي لِلْفِتَنِ غَرَضاً
وَكُنْ لِي عَلَىٰ الأَعْداءِ ناصِرَاً
وَعَلَىٰ الْمَخَازِي وَالْعُيُوبِ ساتِراً
وَمِنَ الْبَلاءِ واقِياً
وَعَنِ الْمَعاصِي عاصِمَاً
بِرَأْفَتِكَ وَرَحْمَتِكَ يا أَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِينَ

My God, I complain to You of an enemy who misguides me,
and a satan who leads me astray,
He has filled my breast with tempting thoughts,
and his suggestions have encompassed my heart
He supports caprice against me,
embellishes for me the love of this world,
and separates me from obedience and proximity!

My God, to You I complain of a heart that is hard,
turned this way and that by tempting thoughts,
clothed in rust and the seal,
and of an eye too indifferent to weep in fear of You,
and eagerly seeking that which gladdens it!

My God, there is no force and no strength except in Your power,
and no deliverance for me from the detested things of this world save through Your preservation,
So I ask You by Your far-reaching wisdom,
and Your penetrating will,
not to let me expose myself to other than Your munificence
and not to turn me into a target for trials!

Be for me a helper against enemies,
a coverer of shameful things and faults,
a protector against afflictions,
a preserver against acts of disobedience!
By Your clemency and mercy, O Most Merciful of the merciful!

- Munajaat ash-Shakeen, Whispered Prayer of the Complainer, Sahifa Sajjadiyyah

When Imam Sajjad teaches us these beautiful words, he is not only making his own resistance, but he is empowering us to make resistance, to be patient, to be resistive, to be strong in the face of all calamities, all difficulties, all misfortunes, all disasters; and to yield back, for when the beloved ones fall, they fall but into the hands of God.

And never forget, God is in the Arena.

In memory of Abu Hadi, may God shower His blessings on your pure soul.