Sabr (Islamic term)

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Sabr or Sabur (Arabic: صْبِرْ ṣabr‎) is the Islamic virtue of "patience" or
"endurance".[1]
Sabr is characterized as being one of the two parts of faith (the other being
shukr).[2]
Its practice challenges, and to remain spiritually steadfast.

Contents

1 Etymology

2 Qur'an

3 Sunnah

4 A hadith on significance of
sabr

5 Quotes pertaining to
sabr

6 Classification

7 Sābirūn

8 Notes

9 References

10 External
links

[edit]
Etymology

Arabic lexicographers suggest
that the root ṣ-b-r, of which ṣabr is the nomen actionis, means to bind or
restrain. The word sabr has a special technical application in the
expression yamīnu ṣabr, which is an oath imposed by the public
authorities.[1]

[edit]
Qur'an

In the Qur'an, words that are derived
from the root ṣ-b-r occur frequently, with the general meaning of being patient.
For example, Muhammad is told to be patient
like the Apostles of God before him[3]
The Qur'an promises the patient with double the reward.[4]
The concept is also in jihad,[5]
where it is translated as "endurance" or "tenacity". It is also used when God
commands Muslims to serve Him: XIX, 66, "Serve him and persevere in his
service."[6]
Sometimes sabr is associated with the salāt.[7]
According to the Qur'an commentators, sabr
in these passages is synonymous with fasting, as the month of Ramadan was given
the name s̲h̲ahr ṣabr (meaning month of patience).[1]

The word is found with the meaning resignation, for example in the sūra of
Joseph,[8]
Jacob, on hearing of the death of his son, says "[My best course is] fitting
resignation", where resignation is the most appropriate translation for
sabar. The Qur'an also uses the adjective ṣabbār.[9]
This concept is related to s̲h̲ukr (meaning gratitude).[1]

In Qur'an there is usually a close connection between being patient and
expecting relief or deliverance from God (tawakkul). Thus Muhammad is
told to be "patient till your Lord decides, for you are in Our sight."[10][11]

"Seek God
(Allah)'s help with patient perseverance and prayer. It is indeed hard
except for those who are humble." (2:45)

"Oh you who believe! Seek help with patient perseverance and prayer, for
God is with those who patiently persevere." (2:153)

"Be sure We shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in
goods, lives, and the fruits of your toil.

"But give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere. Those who say,
when afflicted with calamity, 'To Allah we belong, and to Him is our return.'
They are those on whom descend blessings from their Lord, and mercy. They are
the ones who receive guidance." (2:155-157)

"Oh you who believe! Persevere in patience and constancy. Vie in such
perseverance, strengthen each other, and be pious, that you may prosper."
(3:200)

"And be steadfast in patience, for verily Allah will not suffer the reward
of the righteous to perish." (11:115)

"Be patient, for your patience is with the help of Allah."
(16:127)

"Patiently, then, persevere - for the Promise of Allah is true, and ask
forgiveness for your faults, and celebrate the praises of your Lord in the
evening and in the morning." (40:55)

"No one will be granted such goodness except those who exercise patience
and self-restraint, none but persons of the greatest good fortune."
(41:35)

"Verily man is in loss, except such as have faith, and do righteous deeds,
and join together in the mutual enjoining of truth, and of patience and
constancy." (103:2-3)

"It is not righteousness that you turn your faces towards East or West.
But it is righteousness to believe in Allah and the Last Day, And the Angels,
and the Book, and the Messengers; To spend of your substance, out of love for
Him, For your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who
ask, and for the ransom of slaves; To be steadfast in prayer And give in
charity; To fulfill the contracts which you have made; And to be firm and
patient, in pain and adversity And throughout all periods of panic. Such are
the people of truth, the God-fearing. Qur'an 2:177

Through every difficulty there is relief. Verily, through every difficulty
there is relief. Qur'an 94:5-6

[edit]
Sunnah

The virtue of sabr can also be found in traditions attributed to the
Islamic prophet Muhammad. The hadith talk of God's
sabr, which is considered one of the beautiful names
of God, indicating the high value laid upon this concept. One example God's
sabr is His patience towards those who deny Him. The hadith also say that
he/she who practices sabr will be granted sabr for sabr is
the greatest charisma.[12]

The story of the epileptic woman is significant in this and other respects.
The woman came to Muhammad and asked him for his du'a. He replied to
her that, if she refrained from her request and exercised sabr, then paradise would be
given to her.[13]

[edit]
A hadith on
significance of sabr

Abu Yahya Suhaib b. Sinan said that the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عايه و
سلم) said : “Wondrous are the believer’s affairs. For him there is good in
all his affairs, and this is so only for the believer. When something pleasing
happens to him, he is grateful, and that is good for him; and when something
displeasing happens to him, he is enduring (sabr), and that is good for him” (
Muslim )

The Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عايه و سلم) is reported to have said, "No one
had ever been given anything better than sabr." From Sahih
Bukhari and Sahih Muslim

Abu Musa al-Ashari
reported that the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عايه و سلم) said, "When a son of a
servant of Allah dies, Allah Says to the angels, 'Have you taken the son of My
servant?' They say, 'Yes.' Then Allah Says, 'Have you taken the fruit of his
heart?' They say, 'Yes.' Allah Says, "What has My servant said?' They say, 'He
has praised You and said, Inna
lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un (To Allah we belong and to Him is our
return). Then Allah Says, 'Build a house for My servant in Paradise and call it
the house of praise.' From Tirmidhi, Musnad Ahmad and ibn
Habban

[edit]
Quotes pertaining to
sabr

Umar bin Khattab –
radiyallaahu ‘anhu – said, “We considered the best part of our lives to be that
in which there was sabr.” Related by al-Bukhaaree (1 l/303) in ta’leeq form, and
it has been related in connected form by Imaam Ahmad in az-Zuhd with a Saheeh
isnaad – as al-Haafidh Ibn Hajar mentioned in Fathul-Baaree (11/303).

Ali – 'alayhi ssalam
– said, “Indeed sabr is from eemaan (faith). Its position is like that of the
head with respect to the rest of the body.” Then he raised his voice and said,
“Verily, there is no eemaan (faith) for the one who has no sabr.” Related by
al-Laalikaa’ee in Sharh Usool I’tiqaad Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah (no. 1659),
al-Bayhaqee in Shu’abul-Eemaan and Abee Shaybaan in Kitaabul-Eemaan (no. 130),
with a slightly different wording.

Imam Ahmad said, “Allaah has
mentioned sabr (patient perseverance) in over ninety places in His Book (Quran).” Related by
Ibnul-Qayyim in Madaarijus-Saalikeen (2/152).

[edit]
Classification

Many Muslim scholars have tried to classify and give examples of sabr.
According to the Encyclopaedia of
Islam sabr is of two kinds:[1]

physical, like the endurance of physical troubles, whether active (such as
performing difficult tasks) or passive (such as suffering illnesses), and

the spiritual, such as renunciation in face of natural impulses.

Fakh̲r al-Dīn al-Rāzī distinguishes four kinds:[14]

intellectual endurance
(for example in disputed points in religious dogma),

endurance in completing tasks one is bound or recommended to do by Islamic law (such
as fasting),

being steadfast in refraining from forbidden activities, and

resignation in times of calamity.

He also gives an application of the concept, Muṣābara, in which ones refrains
from taking revenge from one's
fellow-creature (like neighbors, People of the
Book).[14]

Al-Ghazali said that
sabr consisted of three parts: maʿrifa (the tree), ḥāl
(branches) and ʿamal (the fruits).[1]

[edit]
Sābirūn

Those that possess sabr to a certain extent are called sābirūn.
Out of the three classes of beings (animal and plant life, angels, and mankind), man alone
may possess sabr. This is because the animals are entirely governed by
their desires and impulses; and the angels are completely occupied by their
longing for God, so they have no desires and thus need no sabr to
overcome them. In man, however, the two impulses (that of desire and that of
religion) are fighting, where the former is kindled by Satan and the latter by the angels.[1]

This in humans, there are the pious, who have attained
sabr by overcoming their animal extincts, called siddiqūn, while
some still struggle in this task. Sābirūn are to remain steadfast not
only in health and prosperity (where their sabr is to be used as
gratitude to God) but also in the performance of religious obligations, in
refraining from forbidden things and in the event of uncontrollable
calamities.[1]

[edit]
Notes

^ a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
"Ṣabr," Encyclopaedia of Islam

^
"S̲h̲ukr," Encyclopaedia of
Islam.

^
[Quran 38:16]; [Quran 46:34]

^
[Quran 33:113], [Quran 28:54])

^
[Quran 3:140]

^
[Quran 19:66]

^
[Quran 2:42], [Quran 2:148])

^
[Quran 7:18]

^
[Quran 14:5]

^
[Quran 52:88]. Quoted by Watt, p. 12

^
Watt, p. 5-19

^
Buk̲h̲ārī, Zakāt, bāb 50. Quoted in "Ṣabr,"
Encyclopaedia of Islam

^
Buk̲h̲ārī, Marḍā, bāb 6. Quoted in "Ṣabr,"
Encyclopaedia of Islam

^ a
b
Fak̲h̲r al-Dīn al-Rāzī. Mafātīḥ al-g̲h̲ayb,
Cairo 1278, on III, 200. Quoted in "Sabr", Encyclopaedia of
Islam

[edit]
References

Giese, Alma; Reinhart, A.K. "S̲h̲ukr." Encyclopaedia of Islam.
Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P.
Heinrichs. Brill, 2008. Brill Online. 29 April 2008

Nemoy, Leon; Izutsu, Toshihiko (July 1969).
"Ethico-Religious Concepts in the Qur'ān by Toshihiko Izutsu". The
Jewish Quarterly Review (University of Pennsylvania Press) 60 (1):
70–72. doi:10.2307/1453525. JSTOR 1453525.

Watt, William Montgomery. "Suffering in Sunnite Islam." Studia
Islamica, no. 50 (1979), p. 5-19.

Wensinck, A.J. "Ṣabr." Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P.
Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill,
2008. Brill Online. 29 April 2008

[edit]
External links

Chapter 3 of
Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn: Ṣabr

Sabr - Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah

Points of
Benefit On Sabr (Patient Perseverance) - From Al- Baqarah: Verses 155 to 157 -
by Saleh as-Saleh [PDF]

Trails & Sabr

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sabr_(Islamic_term)&oldid=487134503"

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