Chapter Sa’d – Part 12

38:44 “[We said], “And take in your hand a bunch of grass strike with it, and do not break your oath.  We found him patient, an excellent servant, who would always turn to Us?

Recap: The change in the attitude of the Prophet Job (Peace be Upon him).  Job was patient, and patience does not mean only not to complain, but we need to turn to God and express our needs to Him and ask Him to give healing to our pains.  We must be conscious of the Source of Existence of the affliction.  Yes, our Creator creates us with disliking pain or disliking anything that afflicts us negatively and against our expectations (that is human, and we should not contradict ourselves).  We can see that any pain that we complain about is experienced through a physical process, or a spiritual one where the expectation of desiring something is not met.  Regardless, we must understand that this is our Creator’s plan for us.  After I try my best to see which way/attitude I should follow to release myself from this pain, I am assured that it is given from my Creator who is Wise, Conscious (knows what He is doing), and He did not create anything to punish me.

• If He is giving me pain, then that is for my benefit, hence it is out of Mercy and care for there is wisdom in it.

My Creator must provide me with all the means through which I can fulfill the purpose of my existence.  Pain or any unsatisfactory thing must be used for a reason.

It is commonly known that Prophet Job is known as the symbol of patience, that is right, however, the situation needs to be changed.  In other words, just being patient is not enough.  Yes, we must be patient but for a purpose.  What is the purpose?  It is to realize that it is from my Creator, and He is the One who facilitates my life with the things that I will fulfill the purpose of my existence, i.e., to use this creation of pain to connect with God.

Did I fulfill the purpose of my existence if I just acknowledge that all pain and affliction is from my Creator who knows what He is doing and is a Merciful One?

• No.  Patience is needed to be used as a means of getting closer to God and getting in touch with God, called “worship”.  Not rejecting it and acknowledging that it is  from your Creator is not enough!

• Example: your teacher says something, and you don’t reject what s/he says, rather your purpose of being in the class is to learn. That is, you must pay attention and listen to the teacher seriously, take notes so that the purpose of your being a student is completed.

It is not enough to conclude that something is from God.  I must get in contact with God, perform my worship.  Worship means to acknowledge my situation and acknowledge my Creator’s status as compared to mine.  “I am the created being, and He is my Creator.”  He gives something to me so I will benefit from it to acknowledge and communicate with Him better. “I must present my case to Him as a created being, I am needy of getting rid of this pain.”  You gave me the sense to dislike the pain, and the need to be relieved is created by You as well.  Hence, I must act to acknowledge Him as the Source of all sorts of healing.  “I need this, you are the Creator, please create a means for satisfaction of my need of healing.”

• Use the pain as a means to communicate with your Lord that “I need to be released from this affliction, and no one can help me except You.”

• We are expected to be aware that the Creator of the water is the One that I asked to release me from the afflictions.  The quality of the water to cure is not from the water itself or from anything of this universe.  The water and the people in the process of the cure are employed by the Creator and I am interacting with my Creator through water and the people.
• Even the miracles of the Prophets are acts of creation and don’t come out of the blues without any physical attempt from the human side.  Instead of God speaking, God makes the goat speak saying “la ilaha illallah,” or a person would be declaring the message of God.
• While I do anything, I must acknowledge that I am connecting with my God, I am the needy one and the Creator is the One who is providing it.  That is the purpose of patience.

Patience must be a vehicle of establishing a worshipful attitude with my Creator, acknowledging my status and His Grandeur, and accordingly connecting the worship line between me and my Creator.  Example: I received a call from my friend John.  What am I expected to do while knowing the call is from John?  I must respond back to the call.  Similarly, anything created is a call from my Creator.  

• Something “good” is a call to communicate with my Creator in a grateful way.  
• Something that I dislike (bad) is a means of communicating with my Creator in a begging way: “please release me from this pain.”  

• Whatever is created in the world, is a means of communicating with God and presenting my worship to Him.

We should always try to maintain a relationship with our Creator, so we don’t have to wait for something undesirable to befall, like Prophet Job where we start doubting God’s Mercy when things become unbearable to raise our hands (“Please God, save me”).  Any small thing that we feel that we need, use it as an excuse, turn to God and fulfill the purpose of your existence.  That is why we are here, to use every opportunity to turn to God.  A light or an unbearable pain, whatever it is, we must always be in an appreciative relationship with God, because at the end we are going to die, and we must prepare our mind for when we fall into our deathbed.  Still, we have to say, welcome if it is Your decision to give me death, because we are here to acknowledge that all decree, decisions, and disposal of my affairs is at Your discretion, and I acknowledge it.  “As He decided to bring me into existence, I was happy, and why should I not be happy if He takes me away from this life into another existence, because whatever He creates deserves to be appreciated.”  Why shouldn’t we be happy that we will be given “rebirth”?!  Death is a rebirth.  When we assume the message of God (the Quran) and follow the Prophet Muhammad’s way (the Quran) then we are reborn in this world.  How about our physical existence?  When we die, it is the beginning of a new birth as we die out of our mother’s womb and be given a new life which fits the conditions of this creation of the world.  

Question: What would “patience” as worship look like? Is it a state of mind and consciousness?

Consciousness must turn into practice of worship.  Worship means to connect with my Creator in an active way.  Just as in the phone analogy given above, I must respond back.  You must have a reason to call me John.  Patience and acknowledgement are not enough to fulfill worship. 

Let’s say the results of a poll is that almost 95% of the people in the world are believers, are they worshiping God?  

Followers of different religions who go to their houses of worship, are nice to people and involved in altruistic activities.  Let’s say that I have x amount of money, which I need to pay in the form of charity (zakat).  I gave the money in the form of zakat, and I fulfilled my responsibility.  However, one point is missing in the minds of the practicing believing people.  Giving charity and fulfilling the command of God must be used as a means of practical worship. That is, being conscious of the order-er of this religious command (sharia rule) is not enough, for it must turn into a conscious worshipful attitude.

1. Acknowledging that these properties are not yours.
2. Acknowledging that the needy people are created with less than what they need by God.
3. Acknowledging that I have been given a feeling that these people need happiness and satisfaction.

Then, the worshipful attitude will activate: “O My God you have created all this, and you have guided me with this sense to understand that these people are needy.  Through the sense of compassion within me, I acknowledge that this is Your command from me.  Also, through this charity activity, you are the One who is guiding me with how to satisfy the sense of compassion you gave me, and I am obeying your order to fulfill my purpose of existence in this universe. I am very  grateful for what you have blessed me with ”.  Use this act of giving to charity as a means of communicating with your Creator and presenting this action while you are turning to God saying that “I am doing it only because You ordered, and you are the One who is generous and gave me more than I need.  You are the One who is just, and through me, keeping the balance between the wealthy and poor people, through me you are making the poor people be happy with this action.  All of these actions are from You, la ilaha illallah”.

In every worshipful activity we look for two-dimensions of practice and acknowledging i.e., belief and submission i.e., Islam.  Belief (Imaan) and submission (Islam). Most people have belief, but how about submission?  That is the way of performing the worship.  Again, believing in God is not enough (acknowledging that the call is coming from my friend John is not enough), I must respond back to my friend John i.e. communicate with my Creator accordingly.  There may be a few people in the world who would ignore the call, recognize who it is coming from, but choose to go against their nature of responding back (Atheism).  Other than that, mostly people share belief, we must appreciate that, however, that is not enough.

With appreciation of receiving a call from my friend, we must practice as well, lailaha illallah i.e., “I am the One who is in need of supplicating You, invoking You, presenting my case to you, I need help. “Remember your Lord inwardly, in all humility and awe, without raising your voice, in the mornings and in the evenings- do not be one of the heedless-”(7: 205)), I am in need of cure, You created me with the need, and no one can satisfy that, it is You only”.  The tongue is created for this purpose, to communicate, and emotionally get engaged with God.  I must genuinely acknowledge Him.  If the Creator of the universe has not provided the means of anything that we need to be satisfied in this world (cure and provision), is there any way that things can happen by themselves?  No.  Hence, there must be wisdom by giving me this pain.  It is a call for me, I must respond back, by acknowledging a Merciful Creator (the first step), and then communicating with God (second step).  There are many Prophetic narrations (Hadiths) on this matter, (fa in kaana min al-muqarrabeen fa rawhun wa jannatu na’eem).  It means that someone is having a close relationship with God (muqarrabeen).  In other words, it means to get closer with my God in my relationship with Him, i.e., the worshipful attitude, I am the created (‘abd), you are the Worshiped One (ma’boud).  Acknowledgement and putting it into practice in our daily life through speaking, doing certain actions and supplicating.  These are the worshipful practices.  If our acceptance of “shari’a rules” are not practiced with accepting the two sides at the same time (belief and Islam), then we are not fulfilling the purpose of our existence. 

• Muqrarraboon means using every event to confirm my Creator as my Owner and to confirm that I am a totally dependent being and being in communication with Him.  

If you are among the people who do not deny and acknowledge God, the people of Paradise in Paradise will say, welcome my friends, because they are brothers in acknowledging God.  If someone has a grain of belief, he will be taken out of Hell and put into Paradise.  

There is a difference between acknowledgement only (ashaabu alyameen) and after acknowledging using it as a means of getting closer connection to God (muqarraboon), that is worship.  Unfortunately, the majority define religion as practicing certain rituals, which are essential, but not enough.  As students of the Quran, the way we perform our five daily prayers needs revision.  Yes, I obey God when I perform my prayers, but how should I perform my prayer?

Practicing your obedience of God’s command in terms of acknowledging what to do bodily and tongue recites the Quran.  That is not enough for we are expected to turn these physical activities into means of connecting with my Creator.  Again, acknowledging is not enough, we must take care of our main problems and concerns.

Example: During Ramadan, I must stop eating and drinking until sunset.  How must I acknowledge the order of God?  While I am doing all this, I must use it as a means of communicating with God. “Look, I am hungry, and I acknowledge that you were feeding me, now you kept your provision given to me by You”.  Communicate with God, anytime you feel that you need something, ask yourself why are you in such a state?

There are several levels of performing one’s acts of obedience to God.  One level: I am fasting, eating is forbidden.  This level of understanding is being on the right (ashabu alyameen) Second level: I am fasting to get close to God emotionally.  This level of understanding includes the muqarraboon which has many degrees of worship, to get closer to God.  Why would I stay at the first level only?  We must get closer to God and go further.  Yes, obeying God fundamentally, is essential: “I am an ‘abd and I have to obey what I am asked to do and abstain from what You have forbidden”.  But while performing all this, ask yourself, why are you standing? What are you experiencing here?  I am just following the rules.  Yes, you are on the right side, but while you are following the rules, what are you communicating to God?

The best form of communication is described in Job’s situation where he was patient despite losing everything (family, health, all pleasure in life), was he complaining? No.  Was the “no complain” enough?  No.  That is why the Quran describes that at the first affliction, he said that something afflicted me, and at the second affliction, he says that Satan is touching me.  Satan is the representative of the opposite of the truth, that is, God is not as you thought of.  He complained that “I am falling into the domain of Satanic understanding, I am doubting about Your Mercy, please help me, I need You”.  That is the purpose of patience.  Communicating, and getting closer (muqarrabeen).  

Slaughtering an animal “Qurban” means getting closer.  That is, while you are slaughtering the animal, you think that you are torturing the animal, however, it must be used as a means of getting closer through communicating with your Lord.  “O God, you created this animal for the purpose of being a means of nourishment for human beings.  I must obey You, even my acknowledgment is in the form of la ilaha illallah.“  I need to acknowledge you and this acknowledgement must be in the form of la ilaha illallah relationship.  That is being in the presence of God and saying: “I acknowledge that everything is from you and all sorts of needs are from my side”. This communication is needed by way of speaking, thinking, feeling…the communication must be established.

Again, the best example of this communication is through the Prophet Job.  First being patience for the pain as being created by a Merciful God without any complaint (ashabul yameen).  When we say, “Please save me”, it is communicating with God, and answering Him. What do you want? I need to do all this, you are the Creator, source of existence of everything. This lailaha illallah relationship is physically mentally, emotionally, and spiritually established.

We are not here in this discussion to repeat the words that we hear in the Quranic way of life, rather we are here to understand them.

38:43 “And We restored his family as many more with them, as a mercy from Us; and a reminder for those who possess intelligence.”

I need Your help to solve my problems. Patience is used as an excuse to establish the relationship and become closer to God.  He acknowledged My Mercy, but He did not come and connect to Me that He needs My Mercy, that was the purpose.  However, when he starts expressing the need of My Mercy, my Mercy comes down, and responds back to Him. Before, he did not communicate and connect with me that he needs My mercy, that was the purpose.  When He recognized this, now, he asked for My Mercy, and I responded back to Him by returning everything back to Him. 

This is a reminder for us now, (uloo alalbaab).  Example: Look at this food, beautiful banquet, perfect iftaar, it is from Allah, not us.  It was just a call, speak to me and I will speak to you, establish a close and active connection between you and Me.  If I don’t go through the first stage that the food is provided and generously given to you by God, there is no way to imagine that I will communicate with God with the beautiful, delicious banquet.

How does God’s Mercy come down?  Without any means, it does not come down.  Example: Prophet Solomon wanted to spread the message so that the administration area shall spread all around as possible.  He must have asked, and God replied to Him, because he realized that he cannot do it by Himself.  As a result, God subjugated the wind to his service.  He got on and traveled like we do in airplanes.  Prophets are not emperors as people, they are emperors in spreading the message.

Even if we think that we have a higher status than someone, that is relative, because at the end we all die.  The best equalizer is death, it does not mean that everyone will be equal after bodily death. As far as the condition of this world is concerned, everyone will leave behind what they have gained.  Death is the biggest blessing!  Through death, we understand the reality of everything.  That is why ‘abd means the One who is subject to die, and Ma’bud means the One who is the source of life and existence, this relationship is perfectly performed and realized during our death, no one can escape it.  

• I am the One perfectly in need of Your help, and You are the fulfiller of the need”.

 38: 44 “[We said], “And take in your hand a bunch of grass and strike with it, and do not break your oath.” We found him patient, an excellent servant, who would always turn to Us.”

This is the world where means are needed to communicate with the Creator.  Example: the spirit cannot function without the body; the mind cannot function without the memory, and if you reason, then it does not record.  All the means are created in this world, this is the world of veils, or screen.  Example: If I did not have this laptop, is the processor anything good for me?  No. What is the important part of the laptop?  The processor.  How about the other systems and programs?  They are all the means to communicate with the processor.  Similarly, that is how worship is established, only after the processor/spirit is put into the machine of the body, then the machine/body is alive.  When the processor/spirit is taken out of the laptop, the machine/body is good for nothing.

Solomon gets help from jinn, satan, wind… We understand that if we expect something from God, we should not expect anything coming with no screen or veil.  I can communicate with the program (knowledge) only through the screen (body).  

Prophet Job needed the cure for his body at first, now he needs another cure for his spirit. He was deprived of everything; and he lost the compassion for his family.  That is why he got disappointed, and he took an oath.  We must be careful with any type of biblical interpretations.  He loses the source of affection for his wife, and he must somehow correct his family relationship with family members.  Now, what does taking a bunch of grass and striking with it means?  

It means to solve the problem with your family, that you were angry and disappointed with, in the softest way to release yourself from this anger.  He was patient but it was not enough, we must be an ‘abd, establish a worshipful relationship with our Lord, turn to Me and ask My help.  He always turns to God, hence an excellent servant, and I respond back.  We may be disappointed with some cases in our life, not only with God but other people as well. We may try to revenge or release our anger with them, we may be furious about it and look to beat these people up.  God says, when you do this to fulfill your promise/oath, do it in the softest way but not harsh.  You may be right, and the other person may be wrong, and transgressed your right, so you lost your patience and somehow wanted revenge. 

The sense of anger is given to us by God.  We should get angry with a person when s/he deserves it. How are you going to solve your anger with this person?  Try to use the least hurting way.  Example: I was angry with what you did, and you hurt me, rather use a soft tone, I am hurt with what you did to me.  

If only I had the power to hit this man, but I don’t have it now.  God gives you the power, what will you do now?  God says that if you were rightly angry, you can calm down your anger in a soft way.  “I felt resentful about your actions, please watch out, you hurt me”, rather than shouting and attacking.  God advises us to use the softest means.  During anger, we can do and say everything, under the influence of anger, we can decide to do anything.  However, we must do it as softly as possible, just as the striking of the stick of grass.  This is the softest way we should look to soothe our patience.

Any negative attitude in our relationship with others, another person must be done in the softest way.  Without doing nothing, it is not human, because the sense of anger is my reality.  I must admit it.

Side note: A public punishment/whipping in Islamic Jurisprudence (fiqh) considers the honorable dignity of human beings.  Human psyche does not want to be dishonored in public for any wrongdoing.  Therefore, it is better to avoid all wrongful acts that will lead to a public subpoena.  Also, the one whipping must feel pity for the victim, rather than being harsh.  It is all a means to connect with one’s Creator.  The point is that the person deserves the punishment, and everyone should know about the consequences of such wrong doings as to be performed in public is to avoid such behaviors.  There is wisdom in all the Islamic jurisprudence issues.