Difficult but invaluable
If there is anything sufficiently but commonly lacking in most Nigerians today, it is patience. The ability of an individual to endure difficulties, manage inconveniences and or live with problems to which solutions are not readily available defines patience. It is a manifestation of patience when a person confronted with an adverse situation remains full […]
If there is anything sufficiently but commonly lacking in most Nigerians today, it is patience. The ability of an individual to endure difficulties, manage inconveniences and or live with problems to which solutions are not readily available defines patience. It is a manifestation of patience when a person confronted with an adverse situation remains full of hope. The Arabic word for patience is Sabr. Other implied meanings of the word “patience” include: Self-restraint, perseverance, steadfastness, and firmness of purpose.
Life in the modern world is characterized by very many challenges that make living a “survival of the fittest”. There is no time in human history that gives testimony to Charles Darwin’s social theory than now. So many things have changed and they keep on changing fast. There are more challenges to cope with than the time and resources available to tackle them. An average Nigerian citizen, for instance, like his counterparts in the African continent, swims in a stormy sea of survival; lacking access to basic amenities of life including clean water, medical care, food and shelter. The challenges of gross indiscipline, poor parentage and loss of societal values occasioned directly or indirectly by the negative impact of modernity on traditional and religious societies have equally brought morality to its feet; making it the worst situation on the hands of Nigerians.
Although Nigeria is endowed with resources large enough to put smiles on the faces of even the unborn child; bad leadership has, over the years, continued to hamper the dream of over one million people for a better country. Nigeria, today, is a place where fundamental human rights have been converted into privileges. It would require a great deal of patience to live in the circumstances such as those currently experienced by Nigerians who suffer from poverty and unemployment; and whose well being is increasingly threatened by hunger, disease and inflation.
A nation bedeviled with corruption, indiscipline, insecurity of lives and property, selective justice, unpaid salaries and wages, collapsed education system is not a place where a man without patience can live in peace or succeed easily in life. Bad governance has brought us in Nigeria to a situation where vices have been interchanged with virtues. Patience in the given Nigerian circumstance, thus, becomes a prerequisite for a stress-free life. It takes patience not only to understand or appreciate the weak among us but also empowers us to manage the wicked and the insensitive.
If patience as a virtue is allowed to disappear from our socio-political life; words like peace, equity, love and compassion would cease to be. And the relationship that would come to exist between husband and wife, between a king and his subjects, and between employer and his employees can better be imagined. It is with patience that the weak amongst us have continued to live with the strong and vice versa. Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) asserts that strength does not lie in the ability to fight or subdue others but the strong is one who restrains himself when things are in turmoil.
Many verses in the Holy Qur’an enjoin us to exercise patience in all matters and at all times. Such verses also teach us about the virtues in patience. Allah (SWT) exhorts in Qur’an 2:45 “Nay, seek (Allah’s) help with patient perseverance and prayer: it is indeed hard except to those who bring a lowly spirit”. Similarly, Allah (SWT) in Qur’an 47:31 says: “And we shall try you until we test those among you who strive their utmost and persevere in patience…” Sunnah teaches that a true believer should always show gratitude to Allah (SWT) in matters of distress. No matter the extent of an affliction (physical or moral); we are obliged by Islam to practice patience, perseverance and self-restraint. We are to exercise these virtues for ourselves and in our relationship with others. Through the practice of patience, we would bind our mutual relations closer in our common submission to Allah (SWT).
Without patience, the teacher would be unsuccessful in the task of training or moulding his pupils. The Imam, too, would fall short of shaping or reforming his followers if he lacks patience. Without patience, a lot of marriages would have failed rather than succeed. Without patience, the counselor would be frustrated in counseling his client. In reality, achieving any set of goals would remain a dream unless accompanied with patience, perseverance and prayer. Allah (SWT) asserts in Qur’an 2:153 “O ye who believe! Seek help with patient perseverance and prayer for Allah is with those who patiently persevere.” And so if Allah were with one, what else would one desire? Today, husbands need to be patient to tolerate their ever-ungrateful wives just as wives require being patient in order to cope with their forever assertive husbands. Parents must exercise patience in bearing with the very unbecoming attitude of their children and wards even though morality must not be compromised in any form. Although Islam exhorts us to be patient with abnormal situations, it does not imply allowing evil to preside over good.
No amount of patience must be seen as too much. Like charity, it is never in excess. The higher the spirit, the better the outcome. Impatience brings about anxiety and irrational pursuit of the luxuries of this earthly life. If only a man will wait (patiently), all would come his way. Anxiety induces high blood pressure and other cardiac diseases. The impatient is therefore prone to becoming hypertensive. Anyone who allows impatience (out of anger) to over-ride him would be led in to deeds that are in most cases regrettable. No one has ever regretted being patient but many have executed actions they wish were unperformed. Such impatient persons have also fallen prey to evils and disasters that could have possibly been averted if they had exercised patience.
Considering its value, a patiently persevering heart is wealthy heart though without money. How poor then are those that have no patience. With patience, one is able to possess that which he lacks. Patience according to the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is light. It consoles the mind over adversaries. An impatient heart is the poorest of poor hearts. Apart from being a leadership quality, patience helps one to develop the capacity to undertake painstaking tasks. It also guides one to pursue all things with ease and comfort. These are some of the beauties of patience. The one who is patient is always a degree above others. He neither acts unwisely nor reacts unreasonably. Every act of patience will be rewarded by Allah (SWT) as stated in Holy Qur’an 39:10 “…Those who patiently persevere will truly receive a reward without measure”. May Allah (SWT) grant us the wisdom and enlarge our hearts to tolerate and manage detestable and unpalatable situations, amin.