The Effects and Virtues of Patience

O Muslims,

Trials and hardships that befall a person—whether they come in different forms or leave behind various effects and pains that disturb life and make it bitter—are a reality that cannot be denied. We must accept them, for they are a law from Allah in His creation. No one can change or avoid them.

People react to these hardships in different ways. Some, whose faith is weak and whose certainty in Allah is shaky, face these tests with anger, restlessness, and dissatisfaction. As a result, their pain increases, their suffering becomes heavier, and they may say or do things that displease Allah. This only adds to their sin and does not change what Allah has already decreed.

But those who are wise and strong in faith respond with patience, contentment, and trust in Allah. Even if their eyes weep, their hearts remain calm. They say and do only what pleases Allah. Their hearts find peace and their reward becomes greater.

The Qur’an encourages us to be patient and speaks about its sweet results and great benefits. Among them:

• Allah praises those who are patient and calls them truthful and truly God-fearing, as in:
  “Those who are patient in hardship and suffering and during battle—those are the ones who are true and they are the God-fearing” [Al-Baqarah: 177].
  And: “The patient, the truthful, the obedient, the givers, and those who seek forgiveness at dawn” [Āl ʿImrān: 17].

• Patience brings Allah’s love and special support, as in:
  “And Allah loves the patient” [Āl ʿImrān: 146],
  and: “Be patient, indeed Allah is with the patient” [Al-Anfāl: 46].

• Allah tells us that patience is better for those who practice it:
  “If you are patient, it is better for those who are patient” [An-Naḥl: 126].

• The reward for patience is given without measure:
  “Only those who are patient will be given their reward without limit” [Az-Zumar: 10],
  and: “We shall reward those who are patient according to the best of what they used to do” [An-Naḥl: 96].

• The patient ones receive good news, as in:
  “And give glad tidings to the patient” [Al-Baqarah: 155].

• Patience brings divine help and victory, as in:
  “Yes, if you remain patient and God-fearing and they suddenly attack you, your Lord will help you with five thousand angels” [Āl ʿImrān: 125].
  And the Prophet ﷺ said in an authentic hadith: “Know that victory comes with patience.”

• Those who are patient are the people of strong will and honor:
  “And whoever is patient and forgives—this is of the matters requiring determination” [Ash-Shūrā: 43].

• Only the patient can truly benefit from righteous deeds and divine lessons:
  “None receives it except those who are patient” [Fussilat: 35],
  and: “Indeed, in that are signs for every patient and grateful person” [Ibrāhīm: 5].

Dear Muslims,

Achieving your goals, finding peace, escaping distress, and entering Paradise—these are all reached through patience. Allah says:
“Peace be upon you for what you patiently endured. Excellent is the final home” [Ar-Raʿd: 24].

Patience also leads a person to a high position in religion. Ibn al-Qayyim said:
“I heard Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah say: ‘With patience and certainty, one achieves leadership in religion.’” Then he recited:
“And We made from among them leaders guiding by Our command when they were patient and had certainty in Our signs” [As-Sajdah: 24].

It is no surprise then that patience holds such a high rank. As ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib رضي الله عنه said:
“Patience in faith is like the head to the body—there is no faith for the one who has no patience.”

Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه also said:
“The best life we experienced came through patience.”

And the Prophet ﷺ described patience as light in the hadith collected by Muslim and Ahmad.

He also said, as in the hadith reported by Bukhārī and Muslim:
“Whoever practices patience, Allah will give him patience, and no one is given a gift better and wider than patience.”

Lastly, the Prophet ﷺ taught us that a believer’s whole life is good—whether in ease or hardship—because he lives between patience and gratitude. In the hadith from Ṣuhayb ibn Sinān:
“How amazing is the case of the believer! All his matters are good for him—and that is only for the believer. If something good happens to him, he is thankful, and that is good for him. If something bad happens to him, he is patient, and that is good for him.”