Part 3

CHAPTER ONE Patience (a/-sabr)' and Certainty (al-yaqin)

Allah, Most High, informed us that the state of being an Imam in religion [i.e. a righteous person who people take as a role model to follow his steps] is earned through patience and certainty; He said,

bor FS {<4 sees

OpEIe oA \nd We made from among them leaders guiding by

' Sabr. patience and steadfastness, the restraint of ones self to that which is dictated by the divine law. It is of three levels, steadfastness in the obedience of Allah, steadfastness in avoiding the prohibited matters and patience at the onset of calamity. /kA/as can neyer be complete without sidg and sidg can never be complete without ‘ks/és and the two can never be complete without sabr. The person is patient through Allah, i.e. seeking His aid Alone; for Allah, i.e. arising out of love for Him and the desire to draw close to Him; and with Allah, i.e. doing only that which He wills.

* Yagin: certainty. It is to faith (/man) what the soul is to the body, it is the soul to the actions of the heart which in turn formulate the souls to the actions of the limbs and through it one attains the rank of Siddiq. From yaqin does tawakkul (absolute reliance in Allah) sprout and through yagin is all doubt, suspicion and worry dispelled and the heart filled with love, hope and fear of Allah. Yagin is of three levels, that which arises from knowledge (‘/m al-yaqin), seeing (‘ain al-yagin) and actual experience (Haqq al-yagin).

Patience (al-sabr) and Certainty (al-yagin)

Our command when they were patient and [when] they

were certain of Our signs.” [al-Sajdah (32): 25}

It is therefore with patience and certainty that a person can reach the status of a/-imamabh in religion. [Scholars offered different interpretations of what patience refers to in the ayah]; some said it is to be patient with respect to this worldly life [i.e. abstain with perseverance from unlawful and sinful worldly pleasures], and some said it is to be patient with the hardships that befall, and some said it is to avoid the unlawful with perseverance. The correct interpretation, however, is that it is to have perseverance over all that; to perform the obligations that Allah ordained on us with perseverance, to avoid all that which Allah forbade with perseverance, and to have perseverance over all that which Allah decreed and predestined for us.

Allah, Most High, com! ed patience with certainty in the said ayah because the source of happiness of Allah’s slaves emanates from them and without them Allah’s slaves become detached from it. This is because the heart is [often] exposed to the knocks of the sinful desires that contravene Allah’s orders, and to the knocks of the doubts that contravene the divine revealed texts, however, with perseverance such desires (al-shawahat) are casted away and with certainty such doubts (al-Shubahat) are pushed out - for [sinful] desire (a+ Shahwa) and doubt (a/-shubah) oppose all the aspects of religion. Only those who pushed away their desires with perseverance (a/sabr) and barred their doubts with certainty (a/-yaqin) will be saved from ' Allah’s punishment i.e. Allah, Most High, said in the ayah,

PSS NG Se ed aD yp ae

s hae Secor et “7 ¢ Bcoc oo Ff Ae Ps “S ale as Nb rgelel 22 Abs Val

e -oA% ~76

HEARTFELT ADVICE TO A FRIEND

“(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]

The part “enjoyed their portion of worldly enjoyment” refers to their enjoyment of their share of [sinful] desires while the part “engaged [in vanities] like that i: ‘hich they engaged” refers to engaging in false and unlawful matters regarding the religion of Allah - refering to vain and false topics of the people of doubts. The end of the ayah,

OD) 5,7 SH 1531555 SIT Gals [It is] those whose deeds have become worthless in

this world\and.in the Hereafter, and it is they who are the losers.”

Allah mentioned that the result of such a state, namely becoming losers and their deeds becoming worthless, depends on their following of desires, which is enjoying their portion of worldly pleasures, and on following the doubts, which is engaging in false and in vain topics.

Guiding people and calling them to Allah and His Messenger (4%)

Aside from the two previously mentioned requirements [i.e. patience and certainty], the ayah brings to attention two other principles, the first of which is: calling people to Allah and guiding them, and the second one is: gaiding people to Allah according to what He ordained and order — through His Messenger (38), and not according to their intellect, opinions, policies, preferences, and blind following of their forefathers without having an evidence from Allah. This is because Allah said, in its meaning,

Oo BaP aM F ta 2 Pe we 24.7 “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] To recap, the ayah includes four principles.

1) Patience (a/-sabr), which means to withhold oneself from

HEARTFELT ADVICE TO A FRIEND

what Allah made unlawful, to dedicate oneself in fulfilling what Allah made obligatory and ordained, and to avert oneself from complaining or being angry at Allah’s decrees.

2) Certainty (a/-yagin), which means to have a profound established faith (#man)' - that is free of questions, hesitation and doubts, in five tenets that Allah stated in the ayah,

8 Se es Lee

Book, and the Prophets.” [al-Baqarah (2): 177]

{er oa) BZrorZ Zee ote 2 4s af a Oise

“And whoever disbelieves in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day has certainly gone far astray.”

' Iman: The firm belief, complete acknowledgement and acceptance of all that Allah and His Messenger have commanded to have faith in, submitting to it both inwardly and outwardly. It is the acceptance and belief of the heart that includes the actions of the heart and body, therefore it encompasses the -_ establishment of the whole religion. This is why thé Imams and Salaf used to say, ‘Faith is the statement of the heart and tongue, action of the heart, tongue and limbs.’ Hence it comprises statement, action and belief, it increases through obedience and decreases through disobedience. It includes the beliefs of faith, its morals and manriers and the actions demanded by it.

Guiding people and calling them to Allah and His Messenger (38)

And it is also stated in the ayah,

a, An arr a Ape Cen Palo

<A mS srr aire AZ os esti6s oa AAc <abw yy

“The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and [so have] the believers. All of

them have believed in Allah and His angels and His

books and His messengers.”

Wherein believing in the Final Day is part of believing in the divine Books and Messengers.

Umar ibn al-Khattab (1. dy Allahu ‘anhu) narrated that the Prophet (38) said: “Faith (a/-iman) is to believe in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers and the Last Day.”?

Therefore whoever does not believe in all of the five tenets is not a believer. As for certainty, it is the state when belief in all these five tenets is so profound to the point that the heart can realise the five tenets and observe them just like how the eyes can see the reflection of the sun and the moon [on water]. This is why some of the righteous predecessors said, “Certainty is from Faith.”

3) Guiding people and calling them to Allah and His Messenger: Al-Hasan al-Basri used to comment after reciting the

2 Bukhari (1/22) and Muslim (1/36)

HEARTFELT ADVICE TOA FRIEND

Jee ets ail Nes tei iast3s5 CP nel Siac)

“And who is better in speech than one who invites to Allah and does righteousness and says, ‘Indeed, I am

of the Muslims.” [al-Fussilat (41): 33],

“This is the one whom Allah loves, this is the wa/f of Allah; he submitted to Him, obeyed Him, done right-

eous deeds, and called people/to Him.” These type of a people are the best of people whose ranks will be the highest on the Day of Judgment. They are the ones whom Allah exempted from the being losers when He said,

eh Sy Ojai EheeGeswsithe

“By time, Indeed, mankind is in loss, Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience.”

In this S#rah, Allah swore that mankind is in loss except those who perfect themselves with belief and righteous deeds, and perfected others by advising them about belief and good deeds.

Imam al-Shafii said, “If people contemplated on Sirah al-‘Asr, it would have sufficed them.”

A person cannot be a true follower of Allah’s Messenger (38)

Guiding people and calling them to Allah and His Messenger (38)

unless he calls to Allah with a basirah for the ayah,

SAMI Pre deal We tne ote Ji “Say, “This is my way; I invite to Allah with basirah, I and those who follow me.”

wherein Allah used the words, foe 4% td 5% an A\Fest “T invite to Allah”

to explain the way upon which Allah’s Messenger (88) is; hence inviting to Allah must be his way and the way of his followers and so whoever doe: ot invite to Allah will not be upon the way of Allah’s Messenger. As for the part basirah,

it refers to standing firm in the religion, as Ibn al-‘Arabi said. It

was also said to mean, “a lesson and an example.”

The correct view however, after investigation is that a learned lesson is the fruit of having an insight about a matter because if a person has an insight about something, then he will come to realise the moral behind it; thus whoever does not know the moral or the lesson from a matter it is as if he has no insight.