Attaining Inner Peace in Times of Trial

Attaining Inner Peace in Times of Trial

Dr. Bilal Philips

Opening

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Indeed, the believers are those whose hearts tremble when Allah is mentioned, and when His verses are recited to them, it increases them in faith, and upon their Lord they rely. (Quran 8:2)

وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ

All praise is due to Allah. May Allah's peace and blessings be on the last messenger of Allah.

Introduction: The Foundation of Inner Peace

Attaining inner peace in times of trial addresses how we as individuals, as a community, can achieve the equilibrium, the balance which distinguishes the believers from the disbelievers. Allah describes us as ummatan wasata, the middle nation, the nation that has the balance that is in harmony with Allah's creation. Inner peace is an expression of this harmony.

There is a particular hadith from Rasulullah ﷺ in which he laid for us the foundation for the equilibrium. The foundation for the equilibrium was exemplified in the Islamic maxim: win-win.

The Win-Win Hadith

The win-win maxim was expressed by Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in a hadith narrated by Suhaib ibn Sinan, in which the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2999)

"The affair of the believer is amazing! The whole of his life is beneficial, and that is only in the case of the believer. When good times come to him, he is thankful and it is good for him. And when bad times befall him, he is patient and it is good for him."

This is the win-win maxim as divinely revealed. It addresses two essential elements in human life necessary to achieve harmony within the individual, harmony within the family, balance within the community, within the nations. The two key elements are gratitude and patience.

When good times come to the believers, they are thankful and as such they are rewarded. When bad times befall them, when trials befall them, they are patient and they are rewarded.

Gratitude (Shukr)

Praise of Gratitude in the Quran

Gratitude is praised in the Quran and in the Sunnah in many verses and in many hadiths. From the Quran, in Surah Ibrahim verse 7:

لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ

The more thanks you give, the more you get.

Praise of Gratitude in the Sunnah

From the Prophet ﷺ, he said:

"Any servant who is blessed by Allah and says 'Alhamdulillah' (that is thanks to Allah) will be given better than what he has just received." (Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 3805)

Warning Against Ingratitude

On the other hand, the opposite of gratitude—ingratitude—is dispraised in the Quran and in the Sunnah. There are many texts which speak against it, which warn against it. In the Quran, that ingratitude is even referred to as kufr, disbelief, a form of kufr—kufr al-ni'mah (rejection of blessings).

Allah says in the same chapter that we looked at, Ibrahim, verse 7:

وَلَئِن كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِي لَشَدِيدٌ

If you give thanks, I will give you more. And if you don't give thanks—that is, if you disbelieve, you don't recognize what I've given you—then My punishment will be severe.

From the Sunnah, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said in a hadith narrated in Sunan al-Tirmidhi authentically:

"Whoever does not thank people does not thank Allah." (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1954)

One who doesn't thank people does not thank Allah, cannot thank Allah. Because much of what is given us is given through people. Allah chooses people as the means by which His mercy, His grace, His beneficence is bestowed on us. So by not thanking those people, we're in fact not thanking Allah.

Though some people will say, "Thanks belongs to Allah, these people are only means." However, the Prophet ﷺ told us we must thank those people too. Yes, we have to believe ultimately it's coming from Allah, but we must thank people when Allah gives us things through them. Because that is a means of encouraging them to continue to do good. Allah will give us whether we thank Him or we don't thank Him. Human beings will give us if we thank them, but if we don't thank them, they won't give us. That's the nature of human beings. So in order to encourage them to continue to do good, we are obliged to thank them.

Patience (Sabr)

Praise of Patience in the Quran

On the other hand, patience also has a number of supporting texts in the Quran and the Sunnah praising it. We can find in Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 155:

"And certainly We will test you with something of fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives and fruit. But give glad tidings to the patient." (Quran 2:155)

Glad tidings of what? Of Paradise.

Praise of Patience in the Sunnah

From the Sunnah, Prophet Muhammad had said in a hadith which is narrated in Sahih al-Bukhari:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1469)

"No one has been given a gift better or vaster than patience."

Patience as a Key to Success

This is why patience is mentioned as one of the keys for success in this world in Surah Al-Asr:

وَالْعَصْرِ إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ

"By time, indeed mankind is in loss, except for those who believe and do righteous deeds and advise each other to truth and advise each other to patience." (Quran 103:1-3)

All human beings will fail in this life except for those who believe and do righteous deeds, call each other to the truth, and call each other to patience—remind each other to be patient.

Warning Against Impatience

On the other hand, impatience—its opposite—has been dispraised in both the Quran and in the Sunnah. In the Quran, Allah describes the human state as an impatient state, saying:

يَدْعُ الْإِنسَانُ بِالشَّرِّ دُعَاءَهُ بِالْخَيْرِ وَكَانَ الْإِنسَانُ عَجُولًا

The human being is forever impatient. In his impatience, he prays for evil as he prays for good instead of waiting, instead of being content. His impatience leads him to pray for what he thinks to be good, but in fact it is evil. Allah didn't give it to him because it wasn't good for him, but he is demanding it: "Give me anyway! I know what's good for me!" His impatience is his destruction.

From the Sunnah, there is a narration reported in both Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim and Sunan al-Tirmidhi. Abu Huraira related that Allah's Messenger said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2735)

"Any man or woman who calls on Allah in prayer will be answered. It is either granted to him or her in advance in this life, or stored away for him or her in the next life, as long as he or she does not pray for something sinful, or for breaking family ties, or as long as he or she is not impatient."

When the companions of the Prophet asked him, "How is one impatient with regards to dua? How is one impatient?" he replied by saying:

"I called on my Lord and He did not answer my prayer for me."

So one who expresses this will not have their prayer answered. Impatience in dua will cancel Allah's accepting that dua. That is how serious impatience can be.

The Example of the Prophet

We all know as Muslims that gratitude and patience are basic principles which each and every one of us must develop. They were exemplified in the life of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

His Gratitude

When he prayed at night till his ankles were swollen and his wife and companions asked him, "Why are you doing this to yourself when Allah has forgiven your sins of the past and the sins of the future?" He said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4837)

"Shouldn't I be a thankful servant?"

This was the way of the Prophet ﷺ.

His Patience

When he went to carry the message to Taif, relatives of his there stoned him, chased him out of the city and stoned him until blood clogged his sandals. When he was given the option to have that city destroyed, what did he say? "Perhaps they would come. Maybe from their children, believing people would come." He was patient.

You and I, if that happened to us, we would have told the angel, "Yes, wipe them out!" But Prophet ﷺ looked positively to the future, saying perhaps a believing people would come from among them.

So gratitude and patience should be a part of our characters as Muslims. It should be practically demonstrated in our families. It should be practically demonstrated in our communities.

The State of Muslims Today

On the world scale, there is so much which could be said about the importance of gratitude. Muslims today, unfortunately, with wealth they have not shown gratitude. Instead, that wealth is used to enjoy—so busy enjoying that they have forgotten that this is from Allah. So they squander that wealth in all kinds of corruption instead of using it to spread the word of Allah and to relieve Allah's servants in the earth.

Similarly, in times of difficulty when it comes, instead of depending on the believers, they depend on the disbelievers. They make the disbelievers their friends and their allies instead of the believers. This is ingratitude and impatience on an international scale.

How to Develop Gratitude

But taking it back down to the individual: how does one develop gratitude? If we are by nature unthankful, thankless, we have to be reminded. Even as little children, we have to teach our children to be thankful. Otherwise you give them something, they'll take it and they're gone. Finished—they got it, that's what's important. "I got it!" But we have to teach them, train them, raise them to be thankful.

Recognition of Allah's Favors

Well, for gratitude, fundamentally it involves recognition of Allah's favors. As Allah said in Surah An-Nahl:

"Whatever blessings you have are from Allah."

In Surah Al-Ahzab, verse 9:

"O you who believe, remember Allah's favor upon you."

It's a stress on reflecting on the favors of Allah.

Looking at Those Less Fortunate

From the Sunnah, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ had said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6490; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2963)

"Look at those who are less fortunate than you and not those above you. It is better for you in order that you do not deny what Allah has blessed you with."

Look at those less fortunate than you, those below you, and not those above you. It is better for you in order that you do not deny what Allah has blessed you with.

In another narration, the Prophet had said: "If you look at one who is above you, then look at one who is below you." Because we can't help it—somebody drives by with a new car: "That's nice!" But the Prophet said, knowing that this is our nature—you see that new car, go look at your old car. Though our nature will cause us to look at those above us, Prophet told us always, whenever that happens, the remedy for it, so it doesn't go into our hearts and then drives us to want whatever anybody else has.

This is what the society is promoting: look at what we have, look at what the rich and the famous have, so that we don't feel satisfied, we don't feel contented with what we have. Even though what we have is much more than many people in this world, but we are driven to want to have what they have. So we get credit cards, we live on credit. There's a sickness—unfortunately many Muslims are caught up in it.

How to Develop Patience

On the other hand, patience—how does one gain patience? This is perhaps the more difficult one. Gratitude we have been trained to be grateful as Muslims. Our parents reminded us growing up, etc. But patience, this one is most difficult. Why? Because it is not just recognizing something you have to do something. Recognizing Allah's favor makes you grateful. But what do you do to make yourself patient?

Most of us, we say, "Well, you know, there are some people, you know, who are very patient." You say they've been blessed by Allah. "How do I become patient?"

Western Thought vs. Islamic Guidance

In fact, western thought promoted impatience: "Don't be patient when things upset you. What do you do? Control yourself and be patient?" They said, "No! Fly off the handle! Explode! Get it off your chest!" That's what they say. Because if you keep it inside, you know, it's boiling around inside there, it's going to hurt you. So better you let it off, let off steam, explode.

Recently, neurologists studying the effects of explosions of this type on the brain found that it isn't better to get it off your chest. Because every time you explode, small capillaries, small blood vessels in the brain burst. You can see an angry person—you can see all the veins and everything sticking out of the neck. So you can imagine the very small blood vessels, very small ones with linings very, very thin. Sure enough, bursting in the brain. It's not good.

The Prophet's Command

So what the Prophet said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6116)

"Don't get angry."

He was right. And if you're angry when you're standing, sit down. And if you're still angry, lie down. This was the advice of the Prophet. Don't let it out.

The Formula for Patience

So how then does one become patient? In a hadith narrated by Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, found in Sahih al-Bukhari, the Prophet said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1469)

"Whoever pretends to be patient, Allah will give him patience."

This is a prophetic formula. One might say, "This is hypocrisy! You're pretending to be patient and exploding inside. This is hypocrisy!"

The Prophet said no. You pretend to be patient, knowing that patience is what is best, what Allah has commanded, struggling with it. Then eventually you will gain that patience.

The Principle of Consistency

In another narration from Aisha, she quotes the Prophet as saying:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6464; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 783)

"Indeed, the most beloved deeds to Allah is the one done consistently, even if it is small."

The one done constantly, consistently, even if it is small.

So practicing patience, pretending to be patient, done on a continual basis consistently, it will create in the individual patience ultimately. And this is a general rule for all of the various characteristics that a Muslim should display—all of them. It is a principle addressed to patience, which is among the most difficult of characteristics to develop. But it's a general principle for all.

Application to Other Characteristics

Generosity, for example, is difficult. Our nature is to be stingy, to keep for ourself. But if we pretend to be generous, we force ourselves to do acts of generosity. At first it may feel very contrived, very unreal—you feel fake, phony, counterfeit. But doing it continually, regularly, eventually Allah puts it in your heart, and so on and so forth.

So even when we come to prayer, when we hear of Prophet Muhammad and his companions praying and crying in their prayers, and we ask ourselves, "Why don't we cry in our prayers? How does one cry in his prayers?" Something missing in our lives. We cry over a lot of other things. When you get a new car and those jealous people around you see it and they come out and they slash all four of your tires, you come out, you break down into tears very easily. Over material things, very easy to cry. But to cry for Allah in prayer, this one we find so difficult.

So how do we do it? By forcing ourselves to cry. Forcing ourselves to cry. Artificially. Not bawling so it becomes a scene that you're showing off to people, people hear you in your prayer. Not like this. When you're on your own, when you're praying tahajjud, try to get up for tahajjud. Then try to force yourself to cry. Try to think about some things in our lives which we are ashamed of, something we know Allah knows about, we really shouldn't have done it, we feel bad about it. And by pressing ourselves, eventually some tears will come. And if we do this on a regular basis, we try to do it from time to time consistently, then our hearts will soften.

So all of the characteristics which we tend to think, "That was the Sahaba! We are 2006 UK! How can you expect this from us?" Reality is that Islam is Islam. Islam is Islam 1400 years ago, 1400 years hence. It's the

same Islam. Everything that was possible in those days is possible now and will be possible in the future. It is only for us to follow the guidance and to do it.

The Path to Inner Peace

Inner peace is what the world seeks. We have it if we only take it. It's been given to us. It is there in Islam. But we are living the same search as the non-Muslims. So we seek the inner peace from the material things around ourselves: if I get a big car, a big house, kids, lots of money in the bank, I will be happy, I will find my inner peace.

Reality is: no, it will not come from these things. Inner peace is something—it is an affair of the heart. A person can find inner peace with nothing, having nothing of the material world, yet inner peace is there.

Practical Steps Forward

So what we need to come away from, or come away with today from this presentation, is a practical approach to developing in our lives gratitude and patience. Gratitude and patience which should be manifest in our families, in our workplace, in our places of study, everywhere that we are. It should be there with us.

But for that to take place, we have to make a change. That requires change. We cannot continue the way we have done up until this point. A change has to take place in our lives.

These points that I have mentioned gratitude and patience is something that I am sure you have heard a thousand times before. Maybe not exactly in the same way that I presented it, but you have had lectures on patience, you have had lectures on gratitude. And now I give you a lecture on gratitude and patience.

Why Did We Come Here?

So we have to ask ourselves: why did we come here today in this conference? Did we come here for entertainment? Many people go to conferences for entertainment, to be entertained. We have a new speaker coming, we have a different speaker coming, he is going to entertain us. Spiritual entertainment, but nonetheless, for entertainment.

Some people come to socialize—meet people we haven't met for the last few months or whatever. Good to see them, sit around, eat a meal, chat about life and things, etc. Socializing.

Some people come because of peer pressure. "All my friends are going, I gotta go. I don't really feel like going, but since everybody is going, I may as well go too."

Some people come to conferences for what? For romance! There are people who come to conferences for romance. Maybe they might see a sister or meet a brother who has a sister, so they are coming to the conference

for romance, to get married.

Other people come, in this case for example, to see BP. "Who is BP? Bilal Philips! We haven't seen him for a year. Let's see what he looks like now a year later." Come to see the speaker and say, "I saw him, heard his lectures, and I never seen him before. I got a chance to see him there."

Some people come because they know that the conference is a good thing, so they've been doing a lot of bad things. So let me go do a good thing to erase some of those bad things.

And then some people come to boost their iman. Iman is low when they come. They hear the speaker, iman comes up, it rises. They are around other people who are keen or they hear them speaking good or speaking things about Islam that boosts their iman.

So people come for a variety of different reasons.

The Reality of Change

But reality is: if we didn't come prepared to make a change, this evening will be a waste of time. This evening will be a waste of time—time wasted which will be asked about on the Day of Judgment. Your time and how you spent it. Time wasted if we didn't come prepared to make a change.

Without that, we practice what the psychologists call obsessive behavior. Obsessive behavior. What is obsessive behavior? Where you keep doing the same thing while expecting different results. You did the thing, you didn't get the result you should have gotten. You did it again, you still didn't get the result you should have gotten. You keep doing this thing over and over again, expecting a different result. But in reality, if you keep doing the same thing, you will keep getting the same result.

They also call this banging your head against the wall. This is a syndrome. Banging your head against the wall. The wall is not going to break. Your head is going to hurt every time you bang it. This is called obsessive behavior—psychological disorder.

This is what we are displaying. We come to conference after conference after conference, and we go back unchanged. The same way we were before the conference, during the conference—yes, we felt this way and that way—but after the conference, we are back to where we were till the next conference. Isn't this obsessive behavior?

Change is Instantaneous

The only way out of this is change. That is the only way for us to change. But what's the problem about changing? People say: "Change takes a long time! Rome wasn't built in a day! Takes a long time to change! You

Commitment to Change

This is what we have to walk away with today. We have to walk away with a decision to make a change in our lives. To make gratitude and patience reality. To find that inner peace whereby our hearts are touched when we hear the Quran. Whereby our eyes fill with tears when we pray. Whereby we truly fear Allah. Taqwa becomes a reality.

So my brothers, to help us on the way, and this principle of change applies to all of the things that we have to do. It is the same principle we have to look at when we consider Ramadan. Ramadan which is around the corner, preparing for Ramadan. I had a talk which I was supposed to give today on preparing for Ramadan. But the principle is here. It's the same thing. Same thing I was going to talk about.

Ramadan to Ramadan—have we changed? Is there any difference? We pray more during Ramadan, but as soon as we come out of Ramadan, it's the same. We're back to where we were. Obsessive behavior.

Salah—obsessive behavior. We keep banging our heads on the ground, and in the end, it hasn't changed us.

Though Allah said:

"Indeed, Salah, regular prayer, prevents evil speech and evil deeds." (Quran 29:45)

But we are cursing, swearing, telling lies, slandering. Evil speech continues and our evil deeds continue. All of this because we have not committed ourselves to change.

And Islam is about change. Allah said:

"Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves." (Quran 13:11)

It is about change. So we have to change our attitudes, we have to change our habits.

Practical Steps to Implement Change

We have to walk away from this conference with a clear commitment to change, to change in accordance with the Quran and the Sunnah. So:

1. Read the Quran with Reflection

We read the Quran pondering over its meanings, not reading it ritualistically in a parrot fashion.

2. Seek Knowledge Sincerely

We seek knowledge sincerely. We seek to find out about the religion because that knowledge is the foundation of the faith. Without proper knowledge, we will be subject to the tricks and the traps of Satan. There are many sincere people in this world, but sincerely astray.

Knowledge, seeking knowledge is an obligation. The opportunity is here. We have this masjid in our midst. There are programs prepared, lessons that we can take advantage of. For us not to do so is ultimately only to harm ourselves.

3. Reflect on Death

We need to reflect on death. We need to reflect on death. The Prophet called it the destroyer of pleasures, the pleasure destroyer. When we reflect on death, the pleasures of this life lose their allure. They are not so beautiful anymore.

So we need to go to the graveyards. We need to follow the dead. When we come to the masjid, when somebody's janaza prayer is being said, follow them. Go to the graveyards. Get the reward. Get the spiritual benefit.

4. Keep Company with the Righteous

We need to be in the company of the righteous—those who are patient, those who display gratitude in their actions, who fear Allah—so it can rub off on us.

5. Do Righteous Deeds

We need to do as many righteous deeds as we can, not considering any righteous deed too small to do, nor considering any sin too small to be considered.

Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: "Beware! Beware of the scorned sins—the little sins—where we say, 'It is only a small sin. I'm doing so many other good things, that small sin..." Allah is... but what we may consider to be small, Allah may consider to be big.

Final Call to Action

So my brothers and sisters, I ask you this evening, I ask you to make a commitment along with me—a commitment to change. All those, and we are here in the house of Allah, all those ready to make a change from this evening onwards, a real change in their lives, in our lives, sisters and brothers, raise your right hand.

This is before Allah. I ask Allah to give us the tawfiq to make it happen.

May Allah grant us the ability to be among those who are truly grateful in times of ease and truly patient in times of difficulty. May He grant us inner peace and make us of those who achieve the balance and harmony that distinguishes the believers. Ameen.