CULTURE OF ISLAM

112 Salaah - Point 2 Swabr Vs Stress

Imtiaz Muhsin 11-Jan-13

The main objective of these talks (and therefore the scripts of these talks), is to stimulate thinking. Sensible, rational and logical thinking. So, my message, think, think & think! Be sensible, be rational and be logical.

112 Salaah - Point 2 - Swabr Vs Stress

Please Note
1. I have had the great privilege, (since Aug 2010), of presenting talks on the weekly Radio Program Culture of Islam [Every Friday 8 to 8.30 pm, Radio Sri Lanka - FM 97.4] 2. Since these are Radio Talks, I refer to, or address the audience as listeners 3. I am well aware that the audience to these talks would consist of people belonging to a variety of faiths. So as to make people of all faiths feel included, I very often use words and names that are common to all religions. 4. For these reasons, I use the name GOD, as well as Abraham, Moses, Jesus etc as well as the names Allah, Ibrahim (Alaihis Salaam), Moosa (Alaihis Salaam), Easa (Alaihis Salaam) etc 5. Muslims by habit usually say Sallallahu Alaihiwasallam, when the name of Prophet Muhammad is mentioned, and Alaihis Salaam' when the name of a Prophet is mentioned. However, in these series of talks I have reduced the use of these prayers & sayings to the bare minimum. 6. Muslims, also by habit, use a number of Arabic prayers or sayings, such as Alhamdulillah, Insha Allah and so on. Again, I have reduced the use of these prayers or sayings to the bare minimum. 7. Sometimes I have to write Arabic words in the English script. I have devised my own way of writing Arabic in English, as follows;

th TH

s Ss SW

DHL DHZ

H h

Gh GH

Information on these talks along with all download links can be found on my on my Blog (http://imtiazm.wordpress.com/) The dates or the schedules of these talks can be viewed on the Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/ImtiazMuhsin786) The Scripts of these talks can be downloaded from www.ScribD.com (www.ScribD.com Author Imtiaz Muhsin) The audio files of these talks can be downloaded from YouTube (YouTube Channel Imtiaz Muhsin) The YouTube Link to this talk is at

All Praise and Thanks is due to Allah and Allah alone Alhamdulillah!

112 Salaah - Point 2 - Swabr Vs Stress

112 Salaah - Point 2 - Swabr Vs Stress

Dear Friends, Assalamu Alaikum, Today I would be discussing a very interesting topic. One that has fascinated me for many years, maybe for even a few decades. I hope this topic would fascinate all of you too, Insha Allah. I am discussing the phrase Wa Yuqeemoonas Swalaath from the 3rd Aayath of Surah Baqarah. Now Wa Yuqeemoonas Swalaath means and those who establish Swalaath which incidently is one of the diagnostic qualities of a MutthaQi or those who are God-anxious So to understand Wa Yuqeemoonas Swalaath it is necessary that we first understand Swalaath itself. To many of us Swalaath is just a ritual, which we perform regularly and think that we have performed our duty. Believe me Swalaath is very much more than just a ritual, just a duty. I now understand it as a process, an important process that every one who wishes to seek God should experience or should undergo. I hope that through these talks many of us would begin to realize and then make the efforts to correct our Swalaath and thus transform our lives. The word Swalaah appears 99 times in the Quran. Each Ayath that mentions Swalaah actually describes a different aspect of swalaah. So I think it is necessary that we read all these Aayaths along with the many connected Aayaths so that we may gradually begin to understand the magnificience of what Swalaah really is. Now, all Muslims are very familiar with the Surah Fathiha. It is the opening Chapter of the Quran and many consider it an opening prayer. It consists of just 7 short Aayaths and we Muslims recite it several times every day. Let me read the 5th Aayath of this short surah; (1:5) You alone do we worship, and from You alone do we seek help. Now we have this word Nastagheen or we seek help Then again, let me read another Aayath from the Quran;
(2:153) O you who believe, seek help through patience and Swalaah. Surely, Allah is with those who are patient.

These instructions need thinking out. Let me state them point by point.

112 Salaah - Point 2 - Swabr Vs Stress

1. We pray, in surah Fathiha, that it is only God that we worship and it is only from God that we seek help or assistance. 2. God then instructs us Seek my help through Swabr, that is Patience, and Swalaah. Now I think to myself, why patience first? Surely Swalaah is higher in priority and should have been mentioned first.Surely the sequence that we understand is; pray first and then be patient So why is God instructing patience first, or choosing to mention the word patience before the word Swalaah? Usually in the Aayaths of the Quran, instructions or words are mentioned in the order of priority, the more important element is mentioned first. So in this case why does the word Swabr or patience precede the word Swalaah? And then, this factor is further reinforced. God follows this instruction with the words. InnaLLaaha maghas Swaabireen, meaning Allah is with those who persevere in patience So, I think to myself, should not Allah, in this case be saying that He is with the MuSSwalleen or with those who perform their Swalaah? Why?
(2:153) O you who believe, seek help through patience and Swalaah. Surely, Allah is with those who are patient.

Does it not appear that we should seek Gods help through the combination of Swabr and Swalaah, and in this combination the presence of the quality of Swabr appears to be weightier. Why? So now I have to find out why Swabr or patience is so important? Then I ask myself, Am I not practising patience? Again I ask, Are not many others who are praying or who are regularly performing their Swalaah also practising Swabr or practising patience? Look at our lives. We face so many problems. We have problems in our businesses, problems in our homes, problems with our health some sickness or the other, problems in looking after our parents, or our children or those depending on us. What about our debts? What about our taxes? What about the bills that keep on piling up? Are we not all facing all these problems with patience. Are we not all just stressed out? Let me repeat that last question again. Are we not all just stressed out? Now that is the word. We are all stressed. But then patience and stress are words with two very different meanings. Listeners would be surprised to hear that stress and patience are two diametrically opposite words. We face stress because we have not practised patience. Think about it. Revealing isnt it?

112 Salaah - Point 2 - Swabr Vs Stress

So now how do we find out the difference between patience and stress? How do we find out as to what is patience and what is stress? At this point I would like to describe an example. All of us have been to a supermarket. At a Supermarket, all the goods are very attractively displayed on open shelves, and customers take a trolley and choose what they need from these shelves. Now imagine, two people enter the Supermarket. Both see the goods displayed and are very impressed. One of them tells the other, look there is no one in charge, no one is watching us, this means that we can take what we like, whatever we desire So what this person does is, that he begins to help himself to everything that attarcts him. He loads 3 to 4 trolleys with goods. Whilst in the Supermarket he also eats a number of items. He also decides to be very generous and he distributes chocolates, Ice creams and other items to the other customers especially to children. Everyone in the Supermarket are telling him what a nice, wonderful, generous person he is. In fact they even tell him that he deserves heaven. Many of the customers who receive goods from him thank him with prayers. This Man is now very proud of himself. Now, his friend who came along with him tells him, look there is too much of order here. Have you not noticed how the shelves are arranged, have you not noticed that there is a very elaborate plan in place. Everything seems to be according to a plan, everyting is in its correct place Does it not mean that everything we are doing here is being observed? Does it not mean that we have to give account when we try to move out of the Super market? The person who is giving the advice is very careful. He takes only those items he needs and which he can afford. Now listeners can imagine what would happen when these two friends try to check out of the Supermarket. You may think this is a stupid example because you may ask who is this person who would act so stupidly in a Supermarket? Then think of all of us who are now living on this Earth. Do we not look around and say, this is a nice place. There is so much opportunity here. This is where I can build my home, I can build my wealth, I can build my empire. I can have all that I desire. I only have to plan and scheme. Everything would fall in to place. But then there are some people telling us, Look at the signs around us Is there not too much order here? Should we not try to find out what these signs are pointing out to? Is there not a deep message within these signs? Those who follow these instructions and these signs would be immersed in finding out more and more they become wise, they become good sign readers.

112 Salaah - Point 2 - Swabr Vs Stress

So you may ask Where are these signs? Our Holy Books describe these signs. They are obvious. But they have to be pointed out. Only then would we really appreciate them. For Muslims the book that describes these signs, most eloquently, is the Holy Quran. The signs are its Aayaths. Now it is from this book that I am trying to discuss the signs or the Aayathas the first 5 Aayaths from Surah Baqarah. These 5 Aayath contain 12 phrases and in these last few talks I have been trying to discuss these 12 phrases, phrase by phrase. Today I am discussing Wa Yuqeemonas Swalaath but to do so I have to discuss Swalaath first. I have decided to discuss Swalaath through 5 points. The second point is only Swabr or Patience. So now let us examine our lives to see whether we practise Swabr. Or is it that we are generating stress and thinking that facing stress is actually practising Swabr. Remember being patient is to submit to the will of Allah. We await His decisions. Whilst in the case of stress, there is something that we have to do. Stress is the result of what we do the ego or the I factor. In describing these initial 5 Aayaths of Surah Baqarah or the 12 phrases in these Aayaths, I have thus far described 3 phrases. They are; Zaalikal Kithaab or in that Book, Laa Raiyba Feehi, or there is no doubt in it, and Yuminoona Bil ghaib or believe in the unseen In short, the many Aayaths of the Book or the many Signs of God are in the Universe and in the phenomena that God has established in this Universe. We have to read the Aayaths in the Quran and observe them or seek them out from how the Quran instructs us. The Aayaths contain no doubt, whilst everything else in this material world is full of doubts. There are two paths we can follow. The first is where we look at the world, believe in everything we see, and try to build our enterprise, our empire. This effort and its results are full of doubts. We are never sure, we are never in control. We deceive ourselves. The second path is of one who observes the world and realizes that what he observes is not the result of a series of random accidents, but is a carefully well controlled, well planned well, balanced world. He seeks out the signs and is convinced that things are happening through unseen forces, unseen but majestic and pure plans. These signs or Aayaths that he detects contain no doubt and this strengthens his resolve. The path of the first person is to become Doctor, Lawyer, Engineer, Politicain and so on.

112 Salaah - Point 2 - Swabr Vs Stress

The path of the second person is to become a Mumin or a believer, a Saleh or a righteous person, a Mukhlis or sincere person and so on. Now let me briefly describe the life of the first person. He has to face stresses right through life. Let us take the case of a businessman running his own enterprise. He would need a sales outlet a shop, which would mean monthly rentals, monthly staff salaries, monthly security salaries and arrangements, monthly utility bills such as for electricity, water, telephone and transport. Then he has to face other unavoidable costs such as Government Taxes, Trade Taxes as well as other statutory payments. Then what about the goods he has to trade in? Then there are purchase costs, whare house or storage costs, then import or Customs costs what about breakages, spoilages etc etc. Then there are marketting costs. What about funding costs he most probably would have some Loans whatever type of loans they are, they need to be regularly serviced. Then he has his own domestic costs. His home, his childrens schooling, his childrens marriage costs, then looking after his parents and so on and so on. Then there are status costs. He needs a good house, good vehicle status vehicles if possible, fashionable clothes, fashionable Mobile Phone and other accessories. This list could go on and on and on. How does he do it? Stress filled arrangements. He is not in control of anything. Thousands of things could go wrong everyday. Things some how move on and he thinks it is because of his cleverness his ingenuinity. He finds that he has to make many compromises and without even realizing he is deeply involved in what we could genenralize as immoral practises. Not only is he stresed by the uncertainity of all he plans but he is stresed by the threat of his competitiors, he even fears his own staff. His family and friends keep on encouraging him to be successful, and their idea of success is to increase material possession. To make plans and moves to become more powerful. It is all a decpetion and with it comes stress. Stress is actually panic on the low burner That is what it actually is. How do we treat this stress. With deception. We keep on dreaming of the new plans and the new materials that we are going to acquire. The new Mobile Phone keeps us hapy for a few days. The new car or the trip keeps us happy for a few days.

112 Salaah - Point 2 - Swabr Vs Stress

Our friends, the gym, the club and the matches keep us happily distracted in the evenings. Our boastings and peoples praise for us, fool us in to neglecting our stress, the panic that is on the low burner So, all of us face 2 emotions. First the emotion of stress due to the many plans and schemes that we set in motion so that we could possess material wealth and power. Deep inside we realize that we have no control whatsoever, and this is the cause of stress the panic that is always on the low burner We balance this panic with an emotion that could easily be described as an intoxicant. We intoxicate ourselves with hopes and desires and spend our lives accumalating them. This intoxicant is what helps us to keep stress or to keep that panic on the low burner. Now let me describe the life of the second person. He observes the beauty and the briliance of the Universe and he realizes that there has to be some hidden majestic power that is running nd controlling everything. This person seeks this unseen arrangement, and reads the Aayaths of the Quran to detect or to discern the real signs of this unseen. He then gradually realizes that the glitter, glamor and the pomp of the material world is all delusionary and is very very temporary and should not be relied on. So this person now having been convinced of the unseen begins to seek out the message or the pointers towards fulfilling the objective of his life as pointed out in the Aayaths of the Quran. His path is to become a true Mumin, a true Mukhlis or a sincere person to become a Muhsin or a pious person and so on. Now he avoids the material world, he is tempted, but in obeying the Aayaths of the Quran he takes on Sabr. He takes on patience. Every Prophet took on patience, you could even say it was their garb. So we say a person is stressed because he follows his desires, his plans his ambitions. He is full of the I factor. It is I who did this. It is I who planned that successful venture and so on. The Quran refers to this as pride. Stress is what accompanies pride. Let me read a few Quran Aayath that describes this pride.

(40:76)b. So, how evil is the abode of the arrogant. (40:77) Therefore, be patient. Surely, Allahs promise is true.

Does this not indicate that arrogance and patience are two opposite or two converse qualities. Let me read two Aayaths from the Quran that support this view.

112 Salaah - Point 2 - Swabr Vs Stress

In Surah Baqarah Aayath No 153, we read;

Surely, Allah is with those who are patient.

From Surah Nisaa Aayath No 36

(4:36) Surely, Allah does not like those who are arrogant, proud,

So God tells us that He is with those who practise Swabr or patience and He also informs us that He does not love those who are arrogant, proud the Mukhthaalan Fakhoora Aayath No 46 of Surah Anfal gives us more insight into the qualities of the arrogant.
(7:146) I shall keep away from My Aayaths those who show arrogance on the earth with no right to do so. Even if they were to see every Aayath, they would not believe in it; and if they see the Path of guidance, they do not take it as their way; and if they see the path of misguidance, they would take it as their way. That is because they have rejected Our signs, and have been neglectful of them.

Now, is this not what is happening? They do not want the path of humility and they choose the path of arrogance! Now regarding stress Iwould like to read to you 2 other Aayaths from the Quran; (5:91) Satan wishes only to plant enmity and malice between you through intoxicants and gambling, and to prevent you from the remembrance of Allah and from Salh. Would you, then, abstain?

I earlier spoke about the 2 emotions that are associated with stress. First, would be we chase our desires with plans and schemes all of which are speculative though we swear that they are sure! and cannot fail. Actually we are gambling.

112 Salaah - Point 2 - Swabr Vs Stress

We then balance this stress with activity that actually intoxicates us. The praise from our family friends and others. The new items we keep on relishing and buying. The worldy achievements of our near and dear. The list could go on and on. Could it be that we have become victims of Shaithaans plans? This becomes more revealing when we read what Allah tells us about Shaithaans assessment of us. (34:20) Ibls (Satan)has found his assessment true about them. So they followed him, except a group of the believers. Now who could be this group of believers be? Remember our main topic is Swalaath and do we not read that Shaithaan prevents us from Zikr and from Swalaah through these two factors, through speculative dealings and through intoxicating emotions. This is material for all of us to think. Think think and think. We have just one life. One short life. Are we to use it in discovering. Discovering the liberating truth. Or should we waste it in speculation, glitter and glamor? Whom are we trying to fool? There is a huge amount of change we should bring in to our lives if we are to first get in to a position where we can say that we now are in a position to choose Swabr Swabr by choice not stressed through mistakes. Today I spoke on the second point on the topic Swalaath - the qualities patience and arrogance. I based my talk on the Quran Aayath;
(2:153) O you who believe, seek help through patience and Swalaah. Surely, Allah is with those who are patient.

I sincerely pray and hope that all of you benefit from these talks as much as I benefit from preparing and then presenting these talks to you. May Allah Taaalah guide us all and accept us all. Jazza Kalla Khairan. Assalamu Alaikum

10

112 Salaah - Point 2 - Swabr Vs Stress

Imtiaz Muhsin Colombo Sri Lanka crescent786@hotmail.com

You Tube Channel - HaneefanMusliman

11

112 Salaah - Point 2 - Swabr Vs Stress