Patience and Gratitude

There are two parts to Faith (Iman):  patience and gratitude.

Therefore Allaah has mentioned patience and gratitude alongside one another. In Surat Ibrahim (14:5), Allaah says: “Verily in this signs for all who constantly preserve and give thanks.”

The Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wasallam) said: “How wonderful is the affair of a believer; there is good for him in everything and this is not the case with any one except a believer. If prosperity reaches him, he expresses gratitude to Allaah and that is good for him; and if adversity befalls him, he endures it patiently and that is better for him.” [Muslim]

Man usually traverses   two states: prosperity and affliction, and he is often heedless of the blessings he finds himself enjoying, by forgetting to thank Allaah. Conversely when he is afflicted with tribulations, he complains about his distress, forgetting to be patient. During Ramadan however, man will train himself to exercise patience and consequently exhibit gratitude.

What is Gratitude?

Ibn al-Qayyim (Rahimahullaah) said: “Gratitude is to show the impact of Allaah’s Blessing on the tongue of the slave by his confessing and acknowledging the bounties, and on his heart by witnessing it and loving it, and on his limbs by submission and obedience.”

It is apparent from the statement of Ibn al-Qayyim (Rahimahullaah) that gratitude is felt by all the faculties of man, be it his tongue, his limbs or his heart. The heart initially admits and feels the bounties. Such a heart that admits and witnesses the blessings of Allaah allows the tongue to praise the Bestower admitting His blessings and continually and earnestly remembering Him. Such a state reflects the magnitude of the blessing and man will observe sincerity when he praises and thanks his Lord.

In addition, this loving heart that admits the blessing, will have an impact on the limbs of man humbling him to submit to Allaah with fear and obedience. Therefore, true gratitude is not only acknowledging the blessing verbally or by action, but also in submission and obedience.

   When should gratitude be displayed?

Gratitude is displayed when one initially feels the blessing; when remembering it and when contemplating it. For example:

If a man is blessed with offspring:

1-    Initially he feels the blessing

2- After a while, he remembers how his life has changed. As such, he feels the blessing while remembering it.

3- While living and experiencing the blessing; as it becomes natural to him, he feels it during contemplation.

The status of gratitude in the religion:

No Islamic legislation can be accepted without proof from the Qur’an and/or the Sunnah (way) of our Prophet (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wasallam).

Almighty Allaah said in Surat an-Nahl (16:78):

“And Allaah has brought you out from the wombs of your mothers while you know nothing. And He gave you hearing, sight, and hearts that you might give thanks (to Allaah).”

• From this verse, it is apparent that gratitude is the goal behind creation. For this purpose, Allaah has created for us hearing, sight and hearts, and it is the essence of worship. Allaah Almighty has commanded the family of Dawoud to work, which is in itself gratitude to Allaah. “Work you, O family of Dawoud (David), with thanks!” (Saba 34:13)

• Gratitude is inseparable  from   faith:

“Why should Allaah punish you if you have thanked (Him) and have believed in Him.” (An-Nisaa’ 4:147)

• Gratitude is the response to a special favor and blessing that Allaah bestows on some of His servants.

“Thus We have tried some of them with others, that they might say: ‘Is it these (poor believers) that Allaah has favored from amongst us?’ Does not Allaah know best those who are grateful?” (Al-An’aam 6:53)

• Man is either grateful or ungrateful.

“Verily, We showed him the way, whether he be grateful or ungrateful.” (Al-Insaan 76:3)

• Allaah has made gratitude a requirement of abundant favors, and abundance has no limits.

“And (remember) when your Lord proclaimed: ‘If you give thanks (by accepting Faith and worshipping none but Allaah), I will give you more (of My Blessings), but if you are thankless (i.e. disbelievers), verily! My Punishment is indeed severe.'” (Ibrahim 14:7)

• And finally, the Almighty informed us that the one who worships Him is the one who is grateful, whereas the ungrateful one is not worthy of being among those who worship Him.

“O you who believe (in the Oneness of Allaah – Islamic Monotheism)! Eat of the lawful things that We have provided youwith, and be grateful to Allaah, if it is indeed He Whom you worship.” (Al-Baqarah 2:172)

As mentioned earlier, gratitude is inseparable from faith, and hence is the ultimate goal behind creation. Therefore, gratitude is a kind of worship.

Allaah has praised His Messengers (Alayhi’ mu-salam) with this character, and He said about Noah (Alayhi’ssalam):

“O offspring of those whom We carried (in the ship) with Nuh (Noah)! Verily, he was a grateful slave.” (Al-Israa’ 17:3)

  And He praised Ibrahim, (His Khaleel or close friend, (Alayhi’ssalam)), that he used to be thankful for Allaah’s Graces.

 “Verily, Ibrahim (Abraham) was an Ummah (a leader having all the good righteous qualities, or a nation), obedient to Allaah, Hanifa (i.e. inclined to worship none but Allaah), and he was not one of those who were Al-Mushrikun (disbelievers in the Oneness of Allaah, and those who joined partners with Allaah). (He was) thankful for His (Allaah’s) Graces. He (Allaah) chose him (as an intimate friend) and guided him to a Straight Path (Islamic Monotheism, not Judaism or Christianity.” (An-Nahl 16:120-121 )

•  And Allaah Almighty ordained the first advice to mankind. He entrusted man to be thankful to Him and one’s own parents:

“And We have enjoined on man (to be dutiful and good) to his parents. His mother bore him in weakness and hardship upon weakness and hardship, and his weaning is in two years – give thanks to Me and to your parents, unto Me is the final destination.” (Luqman 31:14)

Ibn ‘Uyaina said, in explaining that: “He who offers the five (obligatory) prayers has indeed thanked Allaah (shown his gratitude).”

Al-Hassan al-Basri (Rahimahullaah) said: “The good in which there is no evil is ‘Aafiah (the well-being) accompanied with Shukr (gratitude). There are many people upon who are bestowed Allaah’s Blessings and they are ungrateful.”

Al-Fudail ibn Eyadh (Rahimahullaah) said: “You should continually on show gratitude for all the blessings of Allaah, because it is seldom that Allaah gives back a blessing after He removes it from a nation (due to their ingratitude).”

Yunus ibn Obaid (Rahimahullaah) said to a man who was complaining of poverty (adversity): “Would you accept a hundred thousand dirhams in return for your sight?” The man said: “No.” He said: “Would you exchange your arms for a hundred thousand?”  The man said: “No.” He said: “What about your legs then?” The man said: “No.” So he reminded him about Allaah’s Blessings and he (Yunus) said: “I see you have hundreds of thousands and you are complaining of poverty.”

This is the case of the human being. He does not thank Allaah for His blessings, instead he complains to people about Allaah, and he does not exhibit patience in the midst of a little pain he may undergo despite having numerous blessings.

Ungratefulness for any blessing is a means of its removal and it is seldom that it will come back to the person. Therefore, you should appreciate the blessing that you have, contemplate upon it, feel it, and do not take it for granted whereby you will regret its absence when you lose it.

What is patience?

It is that which describes any good deed that a person does, and it differs depending on the deed itself:

• If it is keeping oneself from expressing grief in a case of calamity, it is called patience.
• If it is in a battle, it is called courage.
•  If it is used when abstaining from talking, it is called discretion.

• If it is renouncing excessiveness in life (worldly enjoyment), it is called Zuhd (asceticism).
•  If it is used to guard oneself from sexual temptation, it is called chastity.

• If is to keep oneself away from the temptation of food, then it is called self- exaltation (nobility).
•  And if is to control one’s anger, then it is called tolerance (forbearing).

Indeed, it is clear that most of man’s noble states stem from being patient.

The status of patience in Islam

• Allaah has mentioned patience in His Holy Book in more than 90 verses.
• It is joined with Salaat (prayers). Allaah Almighty said: “And seek help in patience and As-Salaat (the prayer) and truly it is extremely heavy and hard except for Al-Khashi’un [i.e. the true believers in Allaah – those who obey Allaah with full submission, fear much from His Punishment, and believe in His Promise (Paradise, etc.) and in His Warnings (Hell, etc.)].” (Al-Baqarah 2:45)
• Leadership and scholarship in religion are inherited owing to patience and strong beliefs with certainty. Allaah Almighty said: “And We made from among them (Children of Israel), leaders, giving guidance under Our Command, when they were patient and used to believe with certainty in Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.).” (As-Sajdah  32:24)
• No one has been given any better or wider provision, than patience.
• Al-Musaabarah: a higher degree than patience, and this is by persistence in accomplishing any act without giving up on completing it. Also no matter how determined one is to finish something, if he has lost hope, he will not be able to complete it.

Waiting for the promised relief is in itself a kind of worship, because this waiting is (nothing but) putting one’s trust in Allaah.

“Surely, Allaah wastes not the reward of the Muhsinun“ (At-Taubah 9:120)

The Messenger of Allaah (Salla-Allaahu ‘alayhi wasallam) said: “Know that victory comes with patience, and relief comes with affliction and with every difficulty there is a relief.” [Ahmad and Tirmidhi]

So no matter how much distress you go through, remember that waiting for relief is considered an act of worship.  So when you wait for someone who is away to come back, or you wait for reformation of your spouse or a child to become better, all that waiting while putting your trust in Allaah is an act of worship.

The Relationship between Gratitude and Patience:

After knowing patience and gratitude, we should know the relationship between the two.

• Patience requires gratitude and patience will not be perfected except with gratitude and vice versa. If either attribute is absent, then the other is automatically absent, too. 

If one is enjoying a blessing, then it is incumbent upon him to be grateful and show patience. The act of being grateful for one’s blessings is clear. However, blessings can lead to sin if one does not exercise patience. Blessings may cause ungratefulness in the heart to the extent that one may use this blessing to disobey the Bestower.

Whoever disobeys Allaah, does so using the blessings of Allaah.

For example, a slave may commit the sin of looking at forbidden matters by using his eyes, and he may hear forbidden things using the blessing of his ears, or he utters an evil word using the blessing of his tongue, and so forth.

At times of calamity, showing patience is clear; while gratitude is practiced by establishing the right of Allaah during that affliction. This is because, in suffering the severity of the distress/calamity, the slave may forget the right of Allaah by being occupied with that affliction thereby forgetting to obey Allaah.

For example, if one is afflicted by the loss of a loved one, out of intense grief, he may forget to offer Salaat or to act according to the Islamic law in such situations, such as by wailing and so forth.

Accordingly, during a calamity, gratitude has two aspects:

(1) Not to be distracted from worshipping Allaah during the calamity.

(2) To act according to the Islamic law during that calamity.

Incumbent upon the slave is servitude towards Allaah during afflictions, in addition to servitude during prosperity.