We need to examine and adopt the examples the All-Merciful Allah has provided for us through our Prophets and Imams (peace be upon them), as well as the Quran. Let us not react right away to sudden situations.
Life is full of tests and trials that an individual must face with patience. Allah the Almighty has told us that among his most pious servants are those who, upon encountering a tragedy, say: "We belong to Allah and to him we shall return."
The truth is that sometimes we can't help but lose our temper and become angry about something worthless, but we don't realize that at that very moment. After losing patience and taking our anger out, we go into deep thought and reflect about why we behaved in such a manner. This is natural in human beings, and it takes time and increasing faith to maintain a healthy life with patience.
Allah has said in Sura Inshirah of the Qur'an, "With difficulty comes ease." Everywhere I go, I hear that verse, but yet it is the same people who constantly say it that have no patience. That verse indicates that we must get through the difficult times to enjoy the reward in the end. In order to achieve our goals in the next world, we must struggle in this life. The more faith a person has, the harder their test is. We can somewhat compare the test of this world to any test we take in school. For example, a senior in high school who takes a calculus class will definitely have a harder exam than that of a sophomore who is taking basic algebra.
To keep ourselves on the right track, we must constantly remind ourselves of what others have been through. For example, Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon) was given an extremely difficult trial by Allah to test his faith. Honestly, how many of us can sacrifice our own family member if we were ordered to do so by our Creator? Asking ourselves such questions helps us know which level we are at in faith.
Another example that we should remember is Lady Zainab (peace be upon her) during the tragedy of Karbala and the difficulties she faced. Could any of us face what she had faced back then? She saw her brother Imam Hussain (peace be upon him), the Master of the youth of Paradise, slaughtered on the sands of Karbala. She had to take care of the orphans and her sick nephew Imam Zainul Abideen (peace be upon him). This teaches us a lesson that we must not forget. If Lady Zainab was able to get through this by being patient, why can't we get to her level of patience? Nowadays if someone we love dies, we question Allah and become angry with Him. But Lady Zainab went through much more, yet she never complained. Instead, she said, "Oh Allah, accept this sacrifice from us!"
We need to examine and adopt the examples the All-Merciful Allah has provided for us through our Prophets and Imams (peace be upon them), as well as the Quran. Let us not react right away to sudden situations. We must try to think before we act, because we don't want to end up regretting something we can’t change later on. Let us ask Allah to give us patience Insha'Allah until the reappearance of our Awaited Imam.
