Get Through Hard Times with Patience

When you and I have a difficulty, we’re supposed to have sabr (patience). You don’t have sabr when you’re happy. You’re supposed to have sabr when you’re upset, when something is wrong, when something goes badly. Look at the language of Allah azza wajalla,

He says, 

“Wa basysyiri ash-shabirin.”

“Congratulate the people who have sabr.”

Subhanallah. Why? Because for a believer the attitude is entirely different. May be the whole ordeal, the entire trouble you are going through, the goal of it all was one thing. So you could have sabr. Because if you could have sabr, you are worthy of congratulations.

We think the goal was this thing you are doing to get in dunya. Maybe I thought the goal was to get the job, maybe I thought the goal was to make the sale. But maybe to Allah, the real goal is you were going to learn sabr. That’s a bigger goal than anything else. Subhanallah. And if you got that goal, you should be congratulated.

Everything you get in this life is then a gift. It’s not something you earned, it’s a gift. So when you don’t have it, then you realize,

“Well it wasn’t mine anyway. It wasn’t mine anyway.”

We take our hands for granted, we take our eyes for granted, we take our nose for granted , we take our tongue for granted. The fact that I’m standing here speaking before you, I take the fact that I can speak to you for granted. But this tongue, it doesn’t belong to me. I didn’t pay for it, it belongs to Allah. So when it starts stuttering, Innalillah (to Allah it belongs).

“Innalillah” the wisdom of the statement Allah gave us when difficulty comes. The second statement is “Inna ilaihi raji'un”, no doubt about it to him alone we’re going to be returning. Why is that important? Because whatever problem you’re having right now isn’t permanent. Whatever problem you’re having right now isn’t permanent. Wheter it’s money problems, or health problems, or family problems or it’s emotional problems or physical problems. It doesn’t matter, none of them are permanent. You know why? Because you and I are not permanent.

Recap of everything.

First of all the first thing when difficulty happens, train your tongue, train your heart, “Innalillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un”. That’s number one.

Number two, don’t say to other people that something is happening to them because of Allah. Don’t say this to people. Do not say this to people. If you wanna say that to people, before you think of anyone else, think about yourself. You don’t get to decide, something happened from the ghoib (unseen), something happened from Allah. And you don’t get to decide.

“Why did Allah do this?”

He didn’t offer His explanation to you. You don’t have that license. And when it comes to ourselves, we have to make the distinction between things that are out of our hands, you can’t control them. Then you say, “Innalillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un”. And the things that are within our control, we have to take our own responsibility. We have to acknowledge the fact that we were the ones who messed up. we were the ones who should have done better. This is as a result of our own misbehaviour.

May Allah azza wajall make us of those who pass all of these tests and are meeting with him, with light in our chest and light that coming out of our right hands on the day of judgement.