Class 2 – Patience in Ibaadah

Class 2

‘Patience in Ibaadah’

Indeed, part of patience in Islam is waiting for Allah to reward you. But patience is not passivity. We need to do what is needed. This is especially true for patience in ibadah.

From the three types of patience, patience in ibadah/worship is the most important. For ibadah is done multiple times everyday, so patience in it is the most frequently tested.

Patience in ibadah can be further divided into “do it” and “while doing”. It is often difficult to do an important deed. Even more so to be consistent. Just remember though: The Prophet ﷺ  said, “The most beloved of deeds to Allah are those that are most consistent, even if it is small.” (Bukhari)..  

We human beings have a natural aversion to carrying out acts of worship, like salah,  because of our inherent laziness. If a man is hard-hearted and commits many wrong actions, thinking too much of physical pleasure and mixing with people who do not remember Allah, then he can hardly perform his prayers, and if he does not pray he does so absent-mindedly and hurriedly.

Every step of the way, man needs patience in carrying out an act of worship. Before he starts to do it, he must make sure that his intentions are correct. He should check his sincerity, and seek to avoid showing off in performing any act of worship. Whilst he is performing any act of worship, he must try to perfect it, to keep his intentions pure and his mind focused on the purpose of performing that act of worship, namely that it is to please Allah. After completing an act of worship, he must abstain from doing anything that could corrupt his worship. Allah has told us: “O you who believe! Cancel not your charity by reminders of your generosity or injury” (al-Baqarah 2:264). He should exercise patience in refraining from admitting and feeling proud of his performance, as this is more damaging than committing many other, more visible, wrong actions.

Similarly, he should always be discreet and refrain from telling others about his acts of worship.

Patience in Salah

Do you sometimes feel that your Salah (prayer) is not quite having the effect it is supposed to have on you and your life? Have you ever considered that perhaps it is because we are not giving it its due justice? It seems we have lost (or were never taught) that ability to *connect* in Salah that makes all the difference in its effect on us.

We know, that performing Salah restricts us from evil deeds but we see so many people praying and getting back to evil deeds. We need to ponder upon this. We have to see is our Salah Perfect? Are we fulfilling its rights? If we don’t feel like not doing sins after our Salah then surely we have a problem within our Salah

The Prophet ﷺ said: “A person may offer a prayer and nothing of it is recorded for him except one tenth of it, one ninth of it, one eighth of it, one seventh of it, one sixth of it, one fifth of it, one quarter of it, one third of it, or half of it.” (Narrated by Ahmad, Classed as Hasan)

The scholars say that this is based on how mindful we are in our prayer and how we fight against the whispers of Shaytaan.

But the question is which one is our Salah?                

Levels of Prayer

Ibn-Al-Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah (rahimahullaah) said: And mankind, with regard to their performance of prayer are in five levels:

• Level 5: The level of the one who is negligent and wrongs his soul: He is the one who falls short in performing wudhoo (ablution) properly, performing the prayer upon its time and within its specified limits, and in fulfilling its essential pillars.
• Level 4: The one who guards his prayers upon their proper times and within their specified limits, fulfills their essential pillars and performs his wudhoo with care. However, his striving (in achieving the above) is wasted due to whispering in his prayer so he is taken away by thoughts and ideas.
• Level 3: The one who guards his prayers within the specified limits, fulfills their essential pillars and strives with himself to repel the whispering, thoughts and ideas. He is busy struggling against his enemy (Shaytaan) so that he does not steal from the prayer. On account of this he is engaged in (both) prayer and jihaad (against his nafs).
• Level 2: The one who stands for the prayer, completes and perfects its due rights, its essential pillars, performs it within its specified limits and his heart becomes engrossed in safeguarding its rights and specified limits, so that nothing is wasted from it. His whole concern is directed towards its establishment, its completion and its perfection, as it should be. His heart is immersed in the prayer and in enslavement to his Lord the Exalted.
• Level 1: The one who stands for the prayer like the one mentioned above. However, on top of this, he has taken and placed his heart in front of his Lord Azzawajall, looking towards Him with his heart with anticipation, (his heart) filled with His love and His might, as if he sees and witnesses Allaah. The whisperings, thoughts and ideas have vanished and the coverings which are between him and his Lord are raised. What is between this person and others with respect to the prayer, is superior and greater than what is between the heavens and the earth. This person is busy with his Lord Azzawajall, delighted with Him.

The Level 5 type will be “PUNISHED”,

The Level 4 type will be “HELD TO ACCOUNT”,

The Level 3 type will have his sins and shortcomings “EXPIATED”,

The Level 2 type will be REWARDED

and

The Level 1 i.e. The Top Level will be CLOSE TO HIS LORD, because he will receive the portion of the one who makes his prayer the delight and pleasure of his eye. Whoever makes his prayer, the delight and pleasure of his eye, will have the nearness to his Lord Azzawajall made the delight and pleasure of his eye in the hereafter. He will also be made a pleasure to the eye in this world since whoever makes Allaah the pleasure of his eye in this world, every other eye will become delighted and pleased with him. (Source: Al-Waabil us-Sayyib)

Now think about this, what level do you think YOU ARE IN?

Are you SURE?

Could be better, right?

The “MINIMUM LEVEL” we SHOULD be on is “LEVEL 3” but are we sure we strive enough to stay focused in our Salah? Or do we just get carried away with the whispers of Shaytaan?

This is kinda scary.

A true fight to the finish.

The overall affect that the properly performed prayers should have upon humans is described in other verses in the Quran: “Verily, man was created impatient, irritable when evil touches him and niggardly when good touches him. Except for those devoted to prayer those who remain constant in their prayers…” (al-Maarij 19-23).

As for the Hereafter, Allah’s forgiveness and pleasure is closely related to the prayers. The Messenger of Allah  ﷺ said, “Allah has obligated five prayers. Whoever excellently performs their ablutions, prays them in their proper times, completes their bows, prostrations and khushu` has a promise from Allah that He will forgive him. And whoever does not do that has no promise from Allah. He may either forgive him or punish him.” [Recorded by Malik, Ahmad, Abu Dawud, al-Nasa’I and others., authenticated by Albani]

So how do we get better? How do we offer Salah properly? How do we get to higher levels of Salah?

We do so by learning and understanding the importance and virtues of Salah, by learning the Sunnahs, by implementing and alternating between different Sunnahs so our hearts are alive and we are not on auto pilot, we do so by understanding what we are reciting, by making Dua to Allah in prayer, by getting the feel of each action and position we take, but above by knowing that Who are we facing, The King of the Worlds!

May Allah give us all the Hidayah to get better in our prayers, to make us strong us so we can dispel the shaytaan in our prayers and give us the heart where we can pray in a way where we can taste the sweetness of faith.

Please join our free online certificate course(s) mentioned below , to learn to learn more about the Fiqh, rulings, pillars, waajibaat, Sunnahs of Salah and to learn about the spiritual side of each of the movements in Salah, to get out of Autopilot mode and make it more heartfelt. (available online now, register and learn).

Note these are not part of the ongoing course, it is an independent course that can be done at your own pace and at your own convenience.

• “ESSENTIALS OF SALAH” : https://learn-islam.org/essentials-of-salah
• “ENJOY YOUR SALAH” : https://learn-islam.org/enjoy-your-salah

Night Prayer (Tahajjud)

O My Brothers & Sisters in faith! Night prayers strengthen the bond between us and our Lord. Qiyaam al-layl is Sunnah mu’akkadah. Qiyaam al-layl plays a great role in strengthening one’s faith and helping one to do good deeds. Allah says in Surah Imran Ayahs 15-17 (interpretation of the meaning):

• 15. “Say: shall I inform you of things far better than those? For the pious ones, there are gardens (Paradise) with their Lord, underneath which rivers flow. Therein is their eternal home and purified wives. And Allaah will be pleased with them. And Allaah is All-Seer of the slaves.
• 16. Those who say: Our Lord! We have indeed believed, so forgive us our sins and save us from the punishment of Fire.
• 17. They are those who are the patient ones, those who are truthful and obedient with sincere devotion in worship to Allaah. Those who spend (in the way of Allaah) and those who pray and beg Allaah’s pardon in the last hours of the night.” (Aal ‘Imraan: 15-17).

The Prophet ﷺ encouraged us to pray qiyaam al-layl in many ahaadeeth, such as the following:

• “The best prayer after the obligatory ones is the night prayer.” (Muslim)
• “Our Lord, may He be blessed and exalted, comes down to the lowest heaven every night when the last third of the night is left, and He says: ‘Who will call upon Me, that I may answer him? Who will ask of Me, that I may give him? Who will ask Me for forgiveness, that I may forgive him?’ (Bukhari & Muslim)
• “In Paradise there are apartments the outside of which can be seen from the inside and the inside of which can be seen from the outside.” A Bedouin stood up and said: “Who are they for, O Messenger of Allaah?” He said: “They are for those who speak good words, feed others, fast regularly and pray to Allaah at night when people are sleeping.” (at-Tirmidhi, classed as hasan by al-Albaani). 
• “Our Lord admires two men: a man who leaves his mattress and cover, and slips away from his wife and lover, to go and pray. Allaah says, O My angels, look at My slave. He has left his mattress and cover and slipped away from his lover and wife to pray, out of hope for what is with Me and out of fear of what is with Me.” (Reported by Ahmad. It is a hasan)
• “Whoever prays qiyaam reciting ten verses will not be recorded as one of the negligent. Whoever prays qiyaam reciting one hundred verses will be recorded as one of the devout. Whoever prays qiyaam reciting one thousand verses will be recorded as one of the muqantireen.” (Abu Dawood; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani). The muqantireen are those who will be given a qintaar of reward. A qintaar is a large amount of gold, and most of the scholars of Arabic language are of the view that it is four thousand dinars. What is meant by this hadeeth is to emphasize the greatness of the reward earned by the one who recites a thousand verses. The Prophet ﷺ said: “A qintaar is better than this world and everything in it.” (Al-Tabaraani, classed as hasan by al-Albaani). 

Note: 

Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar said: From Soorat Tabaarak [al-Mulk] to the end of the Qur’aan is one thousand verses. Whoever prays qiyaam reciting from Soorat Tabaarak to the end of Qur’aan has prayed qiyaam with one thousand verses. 

Endeavor dear brothers & sisters, to pray whatever you can in the night and be constant in that, for it is by patience, perseverance, constancy and sincerity that you can achieve strength and help from your Lord. Know that minutes of the night are valuable; do not therefore waste them in forgetfulness and shopping. Also, wake members of your family in the night to pray and repent for their sins. As the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ prayed for one who wakes his/her spouse (Nisai’i & Ibn Majah).

Patience in Siyaam

The Prophet ﷺ called Ramadan the month of Patience, and he ﷺ also said, “Fasting is half of patience.” (Tirmidhi)

The best hadeeth about the reward of Fasting is where the Prophet ﷺ said, “Every deed of the son of Adam will be multiplied between ten and seven hundred times. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, said: Except fasting. It is for Me and I shall reward for it. He gives up his desires and his food for My sake.” Narrated by Muslim

The scholars said that this is because fasting combines three types of patience, namely patience in obeying Allah, patience in refraining from disobeying Allah, and patience in accepting His decree. It is patience in obeying Allah because the individual is patient in doing this act of obedience. It is patience in refraining from disobeying Him because he avoids that which is prohibited for the fasting person. And it is patience in accepting the decree of Allah because the fasting person experiences the pain of thirst, hunger, tiredness and lack of energy. Hence fasting is one of the most sublime forms of patience, because it combines the three types of patience, and Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “Only those who are patient shall receive their rewards in full, without reckoning” [az-Zumar 39:10]. 

Patience in Hajj

Hajj is full of patience, a person spends a great deal, travels for the Sake of Allah, stays in Ihram for such a long time, physically exerts him/herself and stays patient in the hope of reward from Allah.

Patience in other Ibaadaat

Generally any ibaadat that one does needs patience and perseverance to put in the time and effort and be consistent at it. We will list a few here that are specifically mentioned with patience and rewards in Quran & Hadeeth

Reciting Quran with difficulty

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The one who is skilled in reciting Qur’an will be with the noble, obedient scribes and the one who recites Qur’an and falters therein, and finds it difficult, will have a double reward.” (Bukhari & Muslim).

Patience while giving Dawah

Allah said, (interpretation of the meaning)

• “By Al-‘Asr (the time). Verily! Man is in loss, except those who believe and do righteous good deeds, and recommend one another to the truth and recommend one another to patience.” (Surah Al Asr)
• “So be patient (O Muhammad). Verily, the Promise of Allah is true; and let not those who have no certainty of Faith discourage you from conveying Allah’s Message (which you are obliged to convey)” (al-Rum 30:60)

 It is not sufficient that a person learns knowledge and acts himself and does not call to Allaah the Mighty and Majestic. Rather he must call and invite others so that he benefits himself and benefits others, and because this knowledge is something he is entrusted with, it is not your personal property which you can hoard away and withhold from the people, when the people are in need of it. So what is obligatory upon you is to convey it and to explain it and to call the people to good. He the Most High said:

And when Allaah took the solemn agreement from those who were given the scripture, you must make it clear to the people and not conceal it [3:187]

The Prophet ﷺ said, “Convey from me even an Ayah of the Qur’an….” [Al-Bukhari].

This is the way of Messenger ﷺ and the way of his followers: knowledge, action and calling to Allaah the Mighty and Majestic.

Tips to increase Patience for Ibaadah

Study the rewards

We study all our lives to get degrees because we know of the rewards (job, money etc), similarly when we study about the great rewards of the acts of worship and think about the great Mercy of Allah we would be highly motivated. On LEARN ISLAM we Alhamdulilah have courses regarding different kinds of ibaadaat highlighting their virtues, rewards and fiqh, topics like, (please click on them to join)

Sunnah Prayers, Dhikr, Dua, Simple Deeds – Great Rewards, Forgotten Sunnahs & many more.

Learn about Paradise

Once we read about the beautiful description that Allah has given of Paradise, our hearts would automatically yearn for it and we would be motivated to do good deeds to get to this eternal bliss by the Mercy of Allah.

Learn about the Allah through His names

One of the best way to increase emaan is to learn about Allah through His names, understand His mercy, power and magnificence. This helps us humble ourselves and feel the tranquility in standing in front of our Lord.

Dispelling Shaytaan before entering the Mosque

Abdullah ibn Umar said, “When the Prophet ﷺ used to enter the mosque he would say, (the below) He then said, “When (a man) says this, Shaytan says, ‘He has been protected from me for the whole day.’” [Saheeh Abu Dawood]

أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ الْعَظِيمِ وَبِوَجْهِهِ الْكَرِيمِ وَسُلْطَانِهِ الْقَدِيمِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ

A‘oodhu Billah il-‘Azeem wa bi wajhihi’l-kareem wa sultanihi’l-qadeem min al-shaytan il-rajeem

I seek refuge in Allah, the Mighty and His noble countenance and His eternal authority from the accursed Shaytan

Dispelling Shaytaan during Prayer

Uthman ibn Abil-Aas came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, “The Shaytan comes between me and my prayer and recitation of the Qur’aan, and he is confusing me.” The Messenger ﷺ said, “that is a devil called Khinzab. If you notice that, then seek refuge with Allah from him, and spit drily to your left three times.” (Uthman ibn abil-Aas) said, “I did that, and Allah took him away from me.” [Saheeh Muslim]

Start offering Night Prayer

Night prayer is a break-off from this life to get in contact with Allaah. Those who engage in night prayer do not find any sweetness in sleep. They remember the loneliness of the grave and the horror of the Last Day.

Repent & stop sins

Sins have a bad effect on emaan and worship. We will study about this in the next class InShaAllah.

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