 السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته باسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الله مفتح لنا فتو العرفين وفقنا طفق صالحين يا رحم الراهيمين لا إله الا أنت سبحانك أني كنت من الضالمين رب الشحي صدري وصل لي أمر وحل الأقتة من الإساني يفق القولي وصلى الله وسلم وبارك على سيدنا محمد وعلى آله وصح فيه سلم السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته I hope you all are doing well so we are continuing these virtual Friday Juma reminders given that the times we're in we're not able to actually have Juma prayer and we ask that Allah make this time easy for all of us and allow us to congregate in the massage again soon فهي جنور رمياندر ونحن نتبع this talk about twenty minutes ونحن نحن بحاجة الهراء to pray our doher prayer afterwards this does not take the place of the جمع فتبة it's simply just a virtual جمع رمياندر so today we are going to be talking about patience and trying to understand what exactly patience means in the time that we are living in الحمد لله الله has really honored the rank of the patient ones in the Quran He has given them an immense rank He has encouraged us to be patientHe has told us of the virtues of patients, and the Prophet ﷺ has outlined in various hadith the different ways that the Muslim can try to To what what we can do to implement this virtue of patients how we can go about acquiring this virtue of patients. But let's start with just the fact that Allah honors the patient ones. And encourages us to be patient By telling them that his love هو for the people of patience. الله says in the Qur'an, الله يُحِبُوا صابرين. Another special trait that Allah defines the patient ones with is that Allah is with those people who are patient. He says in Allah هماء صابرين. That Allah is with the people of patience. And so we see in this specific example and we see in these specific ayahs that it's a category of people that has been selected out. Allah selects out a portion of people, with different types of traits that people may have for His love. And then it's also we see that Allah says that I'm also with those people who are patient. That yes I love them and I'm also with them in assisting them regularly in being patient because it's not easy to be patient in the times of difficulty. It's not something that's easy to do. And so when is patience necessary? When is it applied? Well Allah mentions in the Qur'an that one of the main reasons that He created us is to test us. He says in the Qur'an in various surahs that He created life and death in order to test you. To test you to see which one of you would be best indeed. And He mentions in Surah Al-Baqara that He created that He is going to test you and I. Right? وَاَنْ وَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ بِشَيْئِ مِنَ الخُوفِي وَجُورِيِ That we will test you with some portion of fear, hunger, loss of life, loss of fruits and wealth and in yourselves and then glad tidings again to who? وَبَشْرِسَ سَابِرِينَ So the patient people, they have Allah's love. Allah is with them. And Allah is sending glad tidings to them. And then Allah mentions in other parts of the Qur'an that He is giving them a special type of mercy for the people who are patient. But again He's linking here His tests with the response that He wants us to have. Which is the response of patients. And so in the Qur'an when Allah speaks about the different challenges that are going to that the human being is going to face He is trying to help us shift our framework of this life. That our framework for this life should not be that this life is going to go by easily and then we're just going to easily attain Jannah. That's not the framework that we are supposed to have with regards to this life. The framework that we're supposed to have is You know what? This life is going to be filled with tests. And insha'Allah Allah makes the test easy for us and that He makes these times of luthf and ease and gentleness but we are going to be tested. It's a guarantee from Allah but He also gives us the response that He wants us to have. And it's almost you could think that one of the main reasons why He tests us is to help cultivate this response. That if you and I are not even given the opportunities to quote-unquote shine to spiritually shine then how are we going to attain the reward for spiritually shining? Right? It's kind of like you know you have in the workplace if you don't give somebody the opportunity to prove that they can do the next level of role and then eventually you promote them how are they going to be able to do it if you just keep them in one specific capacity for their entire duration of their career. No, it's about growing. It's about progressing. Somebody comes in as let's say an analyst and then they become an associate and then they become a you know a senior associate and then a manager and then a senior manager and a director and then a VP and all these different titles, right? But they're given the opportunity. You have to be afforded the opportunity to do so. And then what happens? You show your organization yeah, I'm capable of this. And then they say okay, you had that trait. Now I'm going to promote you. I'm going to give you more responsibility. I'm going to give you more oversight, right? I'm going to trust you more. It's very similar with spirituality in that the more and more we grow okay, we got the basics down. Insha'Allah. Then Allah says okay, now let's see how you do with this. I eventually is going to see okay, now let's see how you do with these challenges. Now I'm going to send somebody in your life to push your buttons and see can you be patient with them because all of my messengers were patient and you want to be somebody who follows my messenger you claim to be somebody who follows the sunnah of my messengers and so if all of my messengers were patient then let's see if you can be patient in these times. So he's giving us opportunities spiritual promotion and spiritual progress is about ascending in the ranks of virtue. That's what spiritual progress is about. The more virtuous we become the more we progress spiritually and that's very much linked to the idea of our nafs. We have a nafs our lower self and it's supposed to progress there are stations of the nafs right and the more our nafs goes from what's known as a nafs the evil commanding soul to the nafs to the self-blaming soul to the nafs to the tranquil soul right and then all the way up eventually to the station insha'Allah of nafs the perfected soul and then there's the station the contented soul there are different stations in between but our progress is about how we are progressing spiritually and virtue is the main way to exemplify our spiritual progress how do you know if you're progressing spiritually okay are you exemplifying more and more virtuous traits if so Alhamdulillah that's a good sign if not okay we got to keep working on it right and so tests then are ways for us to progress spiritually or they're ways to progress spiritually we pick right wherever a response that we want to have but Allah says He will test you to see how you will respond and then He gives you here's the answer I'm giving you the answer of how you are supposed to respond usually when a teacher gives us a test they don't give away the answer but Allah says here's the answer I'm going to give you the answer I'm going to give you a cheat sheet I'm going to tell you I sent the best of teachers the Prophet ﷺ said in a hadith that I was only sent as a teacher Allah sent the best of teachers to give us the whole playbook this is how you're supposed to do here's a study guide on how you get through this life and how you get through these tests Alhamdulillah we have that but then what happens right do we apply it or not a teacher can give you the outline they can give you the study guide they can give you everything but do you and I implement it and then when we go and take our final exam or we go and take a midterm if we studied and if we implemented it and if we actually used it Insha'Allah we're going to get a good grade on the midterm if not how can we expect to right in the same way we have the roadmap and we have more we have the answer already we already know what the answer is that the problem becomes and this is the problem this is the one of the most difficult parts for the spiritual traveler that we understand it intellectually but do we get it pragmatically how we implement it so many of us we know we know that there's a day of judgment we know that we're going to die we know that the angels are going to question us we know all of these things intellectually but have they moved us and become solidified in us in a strong enough way to where we're actually going to take action and change our life that is the focus of the believer that does that knowledge actually turn into or does that information turn into true knowledge which moves the limbs and the heart into action that okay now I know what I have to do I am in a battle in this life against shaitan against my nafs and I am in a battle regularly against the forces of evil so and I have to progress I have to push and I have to fight that is the way we're supposed to actualize the material actualize the knowledge and the information that we are learning so if we know all of that we have to take a step back do we actually implement it and that goes back to all of the actions that we do on a day-to-day basis they will help us answer the question of are we implementing the knowledge that we have or not are we praying are we taking this religion seriously are we careful and we speak about others are we trying to be patient are we just going in the opposite direction and being lazy and complaining all the time and seeing this life as one big we're being let down in some way or another you can have either a response depending on where we're at or in between type of response on that spectrum so we will start to think though when the tests happen like what's going on why is this happening to us why is this happening to me why is this happening to my family all of these situations these answers will come up when the tests happen but Allah again already gives us examples He gives us examples in order to help us understand look if I'm testing you it doesn't mean I'm upset at you necessarily right tests can descend as a form of punishment we know that it's in the Quran and they can test they can descend as a form of us trying to turn repentance towards Allah but they can also descend as a form of elevation for some people one test could elevate them and for others it could cleanse their sins and for others it could drive them towards Toba and for others it could be a a punishment at the same time for something that they should have been doing to try but to try to wake them up right so tests can descend for any reason and Allah tells us who we are with when we are tested He says in the Quran gives us examples of different messengers and He's telling us you are joining the club of these messengers that I had one messenger Sayyidina Nuh and the Prophet Noah that Allah gave him a difficult test that he called his people for 950 years and they regularly rejected him every single day week month they're rejecting him they're turning away from him they're physically harming him they're doing all sorts of difficult things to our beloved Prophet Noah and yet he remained patient Allah says that he remained patient such that he attained the Resolute among the messengers Subhanallah but what was the signifying quality that if he's a messenger and he is so close to Allah and he's among the mighty messengers and he regularly mentioned in the Quran you would think well maybe life is supposed to be easy for him maybe he just goes out and he has a beautiful way of calling people and speaking to people and he knows how to do all these things shouldn't people just listen to him not necessarily no that's it one of his tests and of course the messengers have many tests he was tested with his own family as well that some of his family members did not make it on to the ark when the great flood came so how does that work well if the test comes if the response was to be patient say in the Noah of course he's our teacher he of course passed the test with the best of grades he passed that test because he was patient Allah says that he is from the patient from the Sabaidi that he is from those people who are patient he remained patient we can't even remain patient for a few days let alone a few weeks he remained patient for 950 years our lesson we take from that is sometimes the answer is to keep trying what we need to do but to wait in this situation we have to wait it out in this quarantine situation that we're in we have to try to let ourselves and our families not get perturbed internally of and get this anxiety of when is this going to end when is this going to stop we just have to be patient through it just like say in the Noah of Islam he waited it out and that is one of the main responses that we need to have is to essentially wait out the situation say in the Abraham of Islam and we've mentioned this in the past conversation say in the Abraham of Islam had immense tests but he remained patient through all of the tests that he went through say in the Yusuf of Islam the Prophet Yusuf of Islam he went he exemplifies patients and again his example is being used in the Quran that he exemplifies patients because he was patient when he was thrown into the well by his brother he was patient when he was again thrown into jail and falsely accused he was patient in being in a land with no family and nobody but he always had a lot and keep in mind then from this story that you and I might have to be patient alone sometimes nobody else will get what we're going through sometimes nobody else will hear us or feel us or kind of understand it but God always understands your problems of course he does and he is your best friend through the problems part of this being patient is in the Allah that Allah is with the people of patients that when you and I are patient he's trying to tell you very colloquially like I got your back I'm with you don't worry I'm going to help you through this I'm I'm assisting you without you even realizing I'm going to create the traits of patients in you but you have to rely on me you need to put in the effort right that if you and I put in the effort Allah is going to give us immense assistance immense spiritual madad immense spiritual assistance through the difficulties and he was with he told the prophets that he's with you right that he told Sayyidina Abu Bakr and he told the Prophet ﷺ and Sayyidina Abu Bakr right in the famous story of them being in the cave look at this amazing story when they were in the cave and they were running from the Quraish and the Prophet ﷺ is with Sayyidina Abu Bakr and they see that the Quraish are right there they're in the cave and the cave was such that had in the narration had the Quraish looked down they would have seen the feet of the of the blessed Prophet ﷺ of Sayyidina Abu Bakr صديق رضي الله عنه but they didn't that Allah gave them a way out but he tells he reveals this that he says to the Prophet ﷺ tell your your companion your صحبي لا تحزن إن الله محمد لا تحزن إن الله معنى that don't worry don't grieve don't don't be in a state of of anxiety because Allah is with you with the إن الله معنى Allah is with us سبحان الله that that was the station of the Prophet ﷺ but of Sayyidina Abu Bakr صديق that an ayah was revealed to console him that Allah is with us because look at the patience you have to have internally to just maintain right like you have to just be hiding because people are chasing me look in this situation حمد الله we're generally most of us are in safe circumstance so we have to be patient just to kind of ride it out wait till it ends we don't have to be patient through trying to figure out somebody gonna get me and God forbid is my life under threat but the Prophet ﷺ Sayyidina Abu Bakr صديق in this situation they had to be patient through all of that but Allah told them that he's with them and that his being with them removed that anxiety and that worry and that kind of that comes with the waiting at time from time to time and so we see that all the prophets have this these different stories Prophet أيوب ﷺ right the Prophet جاب ﷺ that he has to be patient for an immense period of his life because of a sickness that he that he was afflicted with but he achieved this station and he is mentioned he is mentioned in the Qur'an as being from among Allah's most excellent servants and his patient servants right it's we could go story by story of different prophets but all of them were tested immensely and we know there's a Hadith that the prophets are tested the most and then those closest to them and those closest to them so if we're in tests we should be in a state of patience and that Allah is giving us a chance now to show him that we can respond with virtue so our response then in these specific situations should be one where first we just accept intellectually that I have to be patient through these times and then we have to figure out what does that practically mean right we can say be patient be patient be patient all we want but what does it mean or you see that in patience is when the difficulty first happens and the Hadith of the Prophet ﷺ he mentions there's a story of a woman who had lost she had lost one of her children and she was at the grave of that child and the Prophet ﷺ walked up in the cemetery and he told her he consoled her to try to be patient and she without looking said you don't know what it's like what I've been through and that she is expressing that emotion that she's feeling at the time and the Prophet ﷺ walked away and eventually the Sahaba came up to her and they told her do you not know that that was the messenger of God and she immediately she runs to his house and I'm paraphrasing here she immediately runs to his house she says I'm sorry I didn't realize that was you and he mentions to her that patience is when the calamity first strikes is when you have to be patient that is when we expect things to go smoothly and then immediately boom everything is turned upside down in a minor way or in today's world in a major way our job plan and our plan for this and our social plans and our financial plans and all the different planning that we did turned upside down now patience is when the blow first strikes so in this situation it's already happened but as things continue to change and develop and inshallah they get easier but if God forbid they get they turn in a direction than the one that maybe we hope for okay we have to know we have to be patient our first response has to be okay inshallah Allah knows what he's doing Allah has a plan okay if Ramadan is not the same this year if we're not able to congregate in Tarawee and all these things our response should be one of okay at the heart level we're saddened but we should not be in a state of of being upset this is Allah's decree he knows what he's doing so we be we're patient through it and practically how do we implement this first we understand that the time we're is one where we're used to immediate instant gratification okay I need this I can order it right online immediately and alhamdulillah these are good things in general but as soon as I need this fast food fast everything as soon as I need something I can get it or I want something more so I can get it right so we patience is about waiting it doesn't happen immediately so the first step is to train ourselves to realize that the cure and the result does not immediately but it doesn't mean it's not coming we make a dua and then 5 minutes later or 10 minutes later we're like why is the dua not accepted we have to be patient with the answer we have to be patient with the time and the circumstance and the situation that we are in the second response then is to see this as okay it's coming from Allah what does Allah want me to do how does He want me to behave in this situation that I need to internally maintain a state of composure when you and I complain we can leave the station of patience if we're trying to attain the station where Allah loves the sabidin he loves the people of fortitude and patience and subar is more than just patience it's like perseverance it's putting in the effort it's a struggle it's active struggle with ourselves that's when we're talking about this idea of subar but just to kind of use a word that easily like an easy word in lexicon but it includes patience and perseverance in this constant struggle okay so we see this is from Allah reminding ourselves then not complaining about it right and then we have to try our best to have the response that God would want us to respond with so if we have let's say time and we have time to do things we use that time for good or at the very least not for bad something neutral or good ideally and that now we're starting to get to the essence of being patient with the situation right if we start to use the time that we had in the opposite of what we should be doing or to engage in more sin or something of that nature it's hard to actually then say we're being patient and you and I just there is a a hadith that into Dar al-Faraj waiting for relief is part of ibadah it's part of worship so just sitting in our homes trying to do good trying to spend time with our family and just waiting for this situation to get better is we're getting ibadah it's ibadah if our intention is correct all of us should make the intention that we want to be in a state of ibadah as we wait for this situation inshallah to get better and to remember that practical things that we can do to fill our time with good right we should have a portion of time where we spend learning order some books whether it's religious books or other types of knowledge right but we should spend learning the more we thrive internally and that's important we should have a portion of our time where we are physically taking care of ourselves exercising if we can portion of our time where we're spending with family portion of our time where we're trying to work on some type of good project or something that we want right we have time right now and many of us say if only I had the time to do such and such Alhamdulillah now we have the time and so if we spend the time then inshallah we will be able to if we spend the time doing good to attain this state of not only are we being patient through the time but we're also being patient in the best of ways not complaining and doing things fulfilling our time with what Allah appreciates us doing right and lastly just remember that this might be difficult to do but it's totally doable so use this time now Allah has given us a chance to show okay ya Allah I am weak yes I am not very capable but with your help inshallah I can attain this state I want to be among the people you love I want to be among the people you have who you are present with I want to attain these stations so we turn to Allah and we turn to Him and help and we turn to Him in assistance and inshallah we are going to get through the time we are going to get through the difficulty and we ask that Allah grant us and all of you and all of this community and all of our loved ones and this entire global community immense patients through these times and lastly just to mention that this coming Wednesday night inshallah will be a very very famous night in our tradition known as ليلة النسة شعبان that known or شبب برات in some cultures that is known as the night of the fifteenth of شعبان it is generally accepted through by the majority of the ulama in our community as a night that we should spend in worship in a famous hadith of the Prophet ﷺ he said that Allah gazes at His creation on the fifteenth of شعبان and He asks and He says is anyone seeking forgiveness from Me so that I may forgive them is anyone seeking provision from Me so that I may provide for them and is there anyone suffering so I may relieve their suffering and so many of us are in one of these categories and we should make an intention to get the special gaze of Allah on this coming night and spend the night of نسة شعبان I believe MCC inshallah will be doing a program on نسة شعبان via live stream to help encourage us and teach us what we should be doing how we can spend the night in worship but we should make a niyah spend that night in دعاء spend part of that night in the hadjud prayer or the very least extra prayer after Isha and ask Allah for assistance for all your worldly and other worldly needs and ask Allah for immense relief from the suffering that humanity is going through this is a very very honored night and some of the ألم I say after ليلة القدر this is one of the best nights of the year for the Muslim and so we should keep that in mind try to bring this night to life and ask Allah to elevate you to increase you to give you and make you among the people of patient among the category and in sha Allah don't we should try not to worry that Allah is is the best of planners he is all wise he knows exactly what he's doing and he's going to take care of us in this situation and in all the situations that we will face in our life وصلى الله وسلم وبركة لسيدنا محمد وعلى آلي وصحبي وسلم شاء الله جزاكم الله خير thank you for joining us we will have another talk Sunday night in sha Allah 8 pm we're going to regularly be doing these we're going to be talking about how to manage faith in these trying times and and these regular Friday reminders in sha Allah we'll continue wishing everybody the best please stay safe please stay healthy happy Friday جمال مبارك in sha Allah and please again remember that this does not take the place of the Friday sermon we still have to pray our 4 أقات الضهر وصلى الله وسلم وبركة لسيدنا محمد وعلى آلي وصحبي وسلم و الحمد لله رب العالمين