.jpg)
Patience (al-sabr) and Certainty (al-yaqin)
🎧 Listen to this chapter (3 min)
Patience (al-sabr) and Certainty (al-yaqin)
Allah, Most High, informed us that the state of being an Imam in religion [a righteous person who people take as a role model] is earned through patience and certainty; He said,
"And We made from among them leaders guiding by Our command when they were patient and [when] they were certain of Our signs." [al-Sajdah (32): 24]
It is through patience and certainty that a person can become a religious leader. Scholars have different views on what patience means in the ayah: some say it means staying away from sinful pleasures, others say it means enduring hardships, and some say it means avoiding unlawful actions. The correct meaning includes all these aspects: doing what Allah asks with perseverance, avoiding what Allah forbids, and accepting what Allah decrees.
Allah combined patience with certainty because they bring happiness to His servants. The heart faces sinful desires and doubts, but with patience, desires are cast away, and with certainty, doubts are removed. Sinful desires and doubts go against religion. Only those who push away desires with patience and remove doubts with certainty will be saved from Allah’s punishment. Allah (SWT) said in the ayah,
"[You disbelievers are] like those before you; they were stronger than you in power and more abundant in wealth and children. They enjoyed their portion [of worldly enjoyment], and you have enjoyed your portion as those before you enjoyed their portion, and you have engaged like that in which they engaged. [It is] those whose deeds have become worthless in this world and in the Hereafter, and it is they who are the losers." [al-Tawbah (9): 69]
"Enjoyed their portion of worldly enjoyment" refers to their enjoyment of sinful desires, while "engaged [in vanities] like that in which they engaged" refers to engaging in false and unlawful matters regarding the religion of Allah, referring to vain and false topics of the people of doubts. The end of the ayah,
"[It is] those whose deeds have become worthless in this world and in the Hereafter, and it is they who are the losers." [al-Tawbah (9): 69]
Allah mentioned that the result of such a state, namely becoming losers and their deeds becoming worthless, depends on their following of desires and engaging in false and vain topics.
.jpg)
