Opposing Forces of Patience

Archived under Tazkiyyah .

Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah

[transcribed from the book "Patience and Gratitude; An abridged translation of Uddat As-Sabirin wa dhakirat Ash-Shakirin" - Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd 1997]

Psychologically speaking, each person has two forces working within him or her. One is the "driving force", which urges him towards certain actions, and the other is the "restraining force", which holds him back from others.

Essentially, patience harnesses the driving force to goad us towards good things, and the restraining force to hold us back from actions that could possibly be harmful for ourselves or for others. Some people have strong patience when it comes to doing things that are good for them, but their patience is weak when it comes to restraint from detrimental actions.

So, we may find that a person has enough patience to perform acts of worship (such as prayer, fasting and pilgrimage etc), but he has no patience in self-control and in abstinence from following his own whims and desires, and in this way, he may commit prohibited actions.

On the other hand, some people may have strong enough patience to abstain from forbidden deeds, but their patience in obeying (Allaah's) commandments and in performing acts of worship is too weak. Some people have no patience in either case, and needless to say, the best people are those who have both types of patience.

So, a man might have plenty of patience when it comes to standing all night in prayer and enduring whatever conditions of heat or cold may be prevalent, but (he may) have no patience whatsoever when it comes to lowering his gaze and stopping looking at women. Another may have no problem in controlling his gaze, but he lacks the patience required to make him enjoin good and forbid evil, and he is so weak and powerless that he cannot even strive against the disbelievers and polytheists. Most people will be lacking patience in any one case; few however, lack it in all cases.

A scholar said, "To have patience means that one's common sense and religious motives are stronger than one's caprice and desires". It is natural for people to have an inclination towards their desires, but common sense and religious motivation should control that inclination. The two forces are at war: sometimes reason and religion wins, and sometimes caprice and desire prevail - the battlefield is the heart of man.