Categories of Faith
1. Natural Faith:
Natural faith is that which God grants, such as faith of the prophets and their successors, because those
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individuals are the highest examples of faith and nobility of conviction. Neither doubts nor can the devilish inspirations influence them.
Transient Faith:
Transient faith is the artificial that is only said without having any reality in the inner self. Such category of faith is very soon influenced by doubts and ill inspirations.
Imam as-Sadiq (a) said: "A man may begin his day with faith but ends it with disbelief or the opposite. Some people borrow faith then dress it. Those are the borrowers."
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"Allah created prophecy in the prophets; hence, they never apostatize. Likewise, He created succession of prophecy in the prophets' successors; hence, they never apostatize. For some believers, He created faith in them; hence, they never apostatize. For others, they are given faith as loans; but if they pray and supplicate to Allah importunately, they keep on that faith."
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After these two sayings, Imam as-Sadiq (a) adds a third one as the criterion of constant and transient categories of faith. He says:
"Regret, sorrow, and woe-all will be to him who does not benefit by that which is shown to him and does not realize whether his belief is for his good or bad… he whose deeds conform to his words will be saved (since he enjoys constant faith), while he whose deeds do not conform to his words enjoys the transient faith."
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Acquisitive Faith
Acquisitive faith is the slight natural that has been grown and increased until it is exalted to a considerable level. This category of faith, however, has different ranks.
Now, let us provide some advices that help in protecting the natural part of faith and saving the acquisitive:
It is recommended to associate with the faithful, pious individuals and avoid the sinful, wicked ones. It is well
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known that the associate plays a great role in acquiring moralities. Referring to this fact, the Prophet (s) said:
"A man follows his associate's beliefs. Hence, you should care for choosing your associates."
It is recommended to avoid looking in and listening to the books of deviation and sayings of the misleading people whose main concern is to poison the others' pure ideas in order to take them away from the Islamic creed and to corrupt the values and concepts of faith in their mentalities.
It is recommended to practice pondering over God's creatures that are characterized by beautiful made, accurate organizing, and fascinating wisdom of management:
"In the earth, there is evidence (of the Truth) for those who have strong faith. There is also evidence of the Truth within your own selves. Will you then not see? (51:20-1)"
It is highly recommended to strive oneself and practice acts of obedience to God. It is recommended to avoid acts of disobedience to God so that one's mentality will be established correctly by the concepts of faith. As a matter of fact, the soul is as pure as fresh water unless it is blemished by pollutions. Were it not for the rust of sins and the dirt of wrongdoings that raid at the souls to seize their beauties and abate their lights, most of people would benefit by the illumination of faith:
"(I swear) by the soul and that (Power) which designed it and inspired it with knowledge of evil and piety, those who purify their souls will certainly have everlasting happiness and those who corrupt their souls will certainly be deprived (of happiness) (91:7-10)."
Imam as-Sadiq (a) said: "When a man commits a sin, a black spot emerges to his heart. If he repents, that spot will disappear. But if he keeps on committing sins, that spot will increase in area until it covers the whole heart. That man will never see success."
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PATIENCE
Patience is the moderate steadfastness against misfortunes. It is also defined as to compel oneself to stand the necessities of the Sharia including the matters to do and the matters not to do. It indicates wisdom, broadmindedness, high morality, and great steadfastness. In more than seventy places in the holy Quran, God refers to and praises patience. He promises the patient of His contentment and liking:
"Allah loves those who have patience (3:146)."
He promises He should always support them:
"Allah is with those who have patience (8:46)."
He promises He should grant them abundance rewarding:
"Allah will recompense the deeds of those who have exercised patience, without keeping an account (39:10)."
He promises He should confer upon them with a variety of kindness:
"We shall test you through fear, hunger, loss of life, property, and crops. (Muhammad), give glad news to the people who have patience and in difficulty say, "We are the servants of Allah and to Him we shall all return." It is they who will receive blessings and mercy from Allah and who follow the right guidance. (2:155-7)"
Imam al-Baqir (a) said: "Paradise is surrounded by misfortunes and patience. He who shows steadfastness against misfortunes of this world will be in Paradise. Hell, likewise, is surrounded by lusts and appetites. He who allows himself to have these lusts and appetites will be in Hell."
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"In his final hours, my father embraced me to the chest and said, 'son, stand the right even if it is bitter, for if you do it you will be granted your rewards without interrogation."
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Imam as-Sadiq (a) said: "The rank of patience for faith is as same as the rank of the head for the body. When there is no patience, there will be no faith."
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"The believer who shows steadfastness against misfortune that befalls him will be given the rewards of one thousand shahids."
One may ask how people of patience are given the rewards of one thousand shahids who are the heroes of patience in the fields of jihad? To answer this wonderment, we say that people who practice patience deserve the rewards of those shahids although God will grant them more rewards.
Amir ul-Mu'minin (a) said: "He who is not saved by steadfastness will surely be killed by impatience."
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Categories of Patience
Steadfastness against Misfortunes and Calamities
This category of patience is the greatest because it implies self-dignity, wide-mindedness, unruffledness, and progression. Man is naturally the subject of misfortunes that befall him unwillingly while he has no ability to stop them. The best thing that such a man may practice in such states is to armor himself with steadfastness without which man will surely collapse and become a palatable bite of griefs:
"Give glad news to the people who have patience and in difficulty say, "We are the servants of Allah and to Him we shall all return." It is they who will receive blessings and mercy from Allah and who follow the right guidance. (2:155-7)"
Amir ul-Mu'minin (a) said: "If you practice patience, the destined calamity will befall you while you are rewarded. But if you lose your temper, the destined calamity will befall you while you are sinned."
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It is worth mentioning that patience that is described as nice stands for the steadfastness against the inescapable calamities, such as loss of a dear person, usurpation of the wealth, or persecution of the enemy.
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Submission to calamities, while the ability to protect oneself against them is available, is a sort of foolhardiness that is denied by Islam. The thing that divests of the virtue of patience is the excessive intolerance, such excessive complaint and grumbling. To give vent to the mental pains by means of moderate weeping and to complain about the sufferance of a disease are among the necessities of the vital emotions. The Prophet (s) said when his son Ibrahim died:
"The eyes shed tears and the heart grieves, but we will say nothing that may displease the Lord."
Within the folds of history, there are many stories carrying glorious examples from the past generations who practiced patience remarkably:
It is narrated that Khosrow the Persian king, once, was angry with Bozorgmehr; therefore, he detained him in a gloomy house and ordered to enchain him with iron. Several days later, the king sent some people to investigate his state. As they visited him in that gloomy house, they found him tranquil and cheerful. They were astonished; therefore, they wondered: "How can you enjoy such peace of mind while you are in such miserable state?" He answered: "In fact, I have made, mixed, and used six humors that helped me keep such manner. The first humor is trust in God. The second is to believe that every destined matter will inevitably occur. The third is the fact that steadfastness is the best thing that the inflicted person should opt. The fourth is the fact that what should I do if I do not practice patience, since I will not make impatience prevail on me. The fifth is that there may be some others who suffer harsher calamities. The sixth is that relief may come in any moment."
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Imam ar-Rida narrated the following story on the authority of his fathers (a): One day, Prophet Solomon said to his companions: "Although Allah has granted me a kingdom that no one will ever have its like, made the wind, humankind, jinn, birds, and
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beasts subservient to me, taught me the languages of birds, and granted me a part of everything, I have never passed a whole daytime with pure pleasure. Tomorrow, I want to go to the surface of my palace in order to watch my kingdoms. Thus, do not let anybody visit me so that nothing will ruin my pleasure."
The next day, he took his stick in the hand, went to the highest point in his palace, and leaned on his stick watching his kingdoms cheerfully. Suddenly, a young handsome man came to him from one of the corners of his palace. "Who permitted you to enter my palace on this day that I have dedicated to my seclusion?" asked the prophet (a). "I entered here by the permission of the lord of this palace," said the young man. "Well," said Solomon, "the lord is worthier of this than I am. Who are you?" "I am the angel of death," answered the young. "What for are you here?" asked Solomon. "I am here for grasping your soul," answered the angel. "Do it, then," said the prophet, "This is surely the day of my pleasure. Allah has rejected for me to have pleasure other than meeting Him." Hence, the angel grasped the soul of the Prophet Solomon while he was leaning on his stick…"
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Standing the Obedience and Perseverance against the Disobedience to God
Man, naturally, rejects the obligatory regulations that delimit his freedoms, even if such regulations are put for sake of achieving his pleasure. Thus, man does not submit to such regulations except by means of inducement, encouragement, warning, or threat.
Seeing that the practicing of acts of obedience to God and the avoidance of acts of disobedience to him are two difficult deeds, to stand the obedience to God and to persevere against the disobedience to Him are within the most important obligations:
Imam as-Sadiq (a) said: "Stand the acts of obedience to Allah and practice the perseverance against the
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acts of disobedience to Him. This world is only one hour: you cannot find the taste of pleasure or bitterness of all that which passed, and you can never realize that which has not come yet. Hence, show steadfastness in that hour and you will be surely happy."
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"On the Day of Resurrection, a group of people will go straightly to knock the door of Paradise. As they are asked about their identities, they will answer they are people of patience. As they are asked about the fields of their patience, they will answer that they stand the acts of obedience to Allah and persevere against the acts of disobedience to Him. Then, Allah will say, 'They have told the very truth. Let them be in Paradise.' This is the indication of Allah's saying:
Allah will recompense the deeds of those who have exercised patience, without keeping an account. (39:10)" 207
"Patience is of two forms: steadfastness against misfortunes. It is good and fair. What is better and fairer is the ability to avoid what Allah has forbidden."
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Patience of the Graces
This category of patience stands for self-control against the inducements of ingratitude. As a matter of fact, steadfastness against tragedies of this life is not preferable to self-control against pleasures, passions, and charms of this world. The neglect of steadfastness against misfortunes results in destroying impatience. Likewise, negligence of self-control in luxury results in ingratitude and exaggeration, which are both detestable:
"The human being still tends to rebel when he becomes wealthy (96:6-7)."
Patience of graces means to observe the rights of such graces and exploit them in the fields of charity, such as helping the miserable, aiding the persecuted, settling the
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believers' needs, and avoiding slips of ingratitude and vanity.
Advantages of Patience
Patience is the shelter of the grievous because it supplies with tranquility. It is also security against intolerance and anxiety. Without patience, the afflicted people would fall in and become the prey of mental and physical defects. Patience, too, is the expected hope due to which God has prepared the great rewards.
How to Acquire Patience?
To acquire patience it is recommended:
(1) To look in the virtues and nice traits of patience.
(2) To ponder over the disadvantages that impatience leaves on people's lives. Impatience does not settle a need, save from acts of God, or change a reality. It only results in wearisome. In his How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, Dale Carnegie says: "In the last eight years, I have read every book, magazine, and article that dealt with worry. Do you want to know the wisest and most beneficial advice that I extracted through such prolonged survey? It is 'satisfy yourself with the inescapable.'"
(3) To sympathize with the actuality of this life, which is based upon troubles and concerns. Indeed, this world is not the abode of comfort. It is a transitory place of test for the believers. Like students who exhaust themselves in the tests for sake of obtaining high grades, the believers in this world are examined for recognizing the scope of their faith and conviction:
"Do people think they will not be tested because they say, 'We have faith?' We had certainly tried those who lived before them to make sure who were truthful in their faith and who were liars (29:2-3)."
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(4) To learn lessons from the sufferings of the great persons who exercised patience for sake of God purely, and
(5) To practice matters of entertainment that help in alleviating the pains and relaxing the nerves, such as traveling, visiting charming views, and reading amusing stories.
GRATITUDE
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Gratitude stands for thanking the conferrer for his graces and using them in the fields that he accepts. It is one of the qualities of perfection that grow and perpetuate the graces. Because of His absolute self-sufficiency, God does not benefit by one's thanks. As a matter of fact, the benefits of thanks are due to the thankful himself, since he expresses his appreciation for the divine graces and uses them in the fields that achieve the contentment of God. So, the thankful person's happiness lies in his acts of obedience to God.
The Islamic Sharia, through texts of the holy Quran and Sunna, has called people to be characterized with gratitude:
"Thank Me and do not show ingratitude to Me. (2:152)"
"Eat of the sustenance of your Lord and give thanks to Him. (34:15)"
"Remember when your Lord said to you, 'If you give thanks, I shall give you greater (favors), but if you deny the Truth, know that My retribution is severe' (14:7)."
"Very few of My servants are grateful. (34:13)"
The Prophet (s) said: "He who eats and gives thanks will have the reward of him who fasts purely for the sake of Allah. He who gives thanks and enjoys good health will have the same reward of him who practices patience in his illness. He whom is conferred with graces and gives thanks will have the
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same reward of him whom is deprived and satisfied."
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Imam al-Baqir (a) said: "If you look at an ailed person, you should say, but not let him hear you, 'All praise is due to Allah Who protects me from that which inflicted you, but if He wills, He shall do.' He who says so will never be befallen by that ailment."
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Imam as-Sadiq (a) said: "He who is conferred with thanks will be granted increase. Allah says: 'If you give thanks, I shall give you greater (favors).'"
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"The thanks of every grace, no matter how big it is, is to praise Allah for it."
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"The gratitude that is shown to Allah for any grace, no matter how big it is, is surely better and weightier than the grace itself.
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"Verily, one of you drinks water and Allah assigns Paradise to him on that account.
Verily, one who takes the vessel (containing water), brings it to his mouth, then takes Allah's name, then drinks from it, then draws it away while desiring it, then praises Allah, then drinks from it again, then takes it away while he desires it, then praises Allah, then drinks from it again, then sets it aside and praises Allah, Allah makes the paradise obligatory for him."
Categories of Gratitude
Gratitude can be classified into three categories:
1) gratitude of the heart,
2) verbal gratitude, and
3) gratitude of the organs.
Once the heart is full of the recognition of the graces of the Conferrer Lord, the tongue expresses thanks. Once the heart and the tongue unite in the feelings of gratitude, they inspire the organs to express their gratitude by submission and response to the acts of obedience to Him.
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Thus, there are various categories and methods of showing gratitude:
A. Gratitude of the heart is to recognize the grace and recognize that its source was God.
B. The verbal gratitude is to express thanks to the Conferrer.
C. Gratitude of the organs is to engage them in acts of obedience to God and save them from plunging in acts of disobedience to Him.
Hence, it is necessary to thank each of the graces of God in a suitable form:
To thank for a fortune is to spend some of it in the fields of obedience to God.
To thank for the knowledge is to publicize and expose its beneficial concepts.
To thank for a high rank is to support the weak and the persecuted and save them from the oppression that befall them.
The true gratitude of any grace cannot be attained whatever efforts are exerted, because showing gratitude is one of the graces and items of success that God confers. Consequently, man is too short to show the proper gratitude for any grace.
Imam as-Sadiq (a) narrated that Allah revealed to Prophet Moses: "Moses, thank Me so properly." "Lord," asked Moses, "How can I thank You so properly while I cannot find any method of showing gratitude to You other than that which You have conferred upon me?" The Lord answered: "Moses, as long as you realize this fact, you are thanking Me so properly."
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Virtue of Gratitude
The appreciation for graces and acts of kindness and thanks for the conferrers of favors are within the properties of the noble personalities. As the graces are increased, they should be thankworthier and more
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appreciative so that they may attain the level of the divine favors that man can never evaluate and thank properly.
As a matter of fact, every single twinkling of the eye, every single word that is produced by the mouth, every single movement of an organ, and every single breath-all these are great favors of the Lord that none can evaluate except those who are deprived of them.
If it is obligatory to thank the favor of the creatures, how will it be then if the favorer is the Creator Whose graces are countless and favors are innumerable?
Finally, showing gratitude takes nearly to the Lord and achieves His contentment and His endowments of more graces and favors.
Ingratitude, on the other hand, is the trait of the humble personalities. The holy Quran tells that ingratitude is a direct reason of the collapse of nations and the eradication of their blessings:
"Allah tells a parable about a secure and peaceful town surrounded by abundant sustenance. Its inhabitants rejected the bounties of Allah and He caused them to suffer hunger and fear as a result of their deeds (16:112)."
As he was asked about the explanation of God's saying, "And they said: our Lord! Make spaces to be longer between our journeys; and they were unjust to themselves so We made them stories and scattered them with an utter scattering; most surely there are signs in this for every patient, grateful one, (34:19)" Imam as-Sadiq (a) said: "Those were some peoples whose villages were connected to each other. They had flowing rivers and many fortunes, but they showed ingratitude to Allah and changed what is in their hearts; therefore, Allah changed the graces that they enjoyed. As a matter of fact, 'Allah does not change the condition of a nation unless it changes what is in its heart.' He then sent upon them a torrent that scattered their villages, ruined their territories, and wasted their fortunes. In place of
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their two gardens, Allah gave to them two gardens yielding bitter fruit and (growing) tamarisk and a few lote?trees. 'This We requited them with because they disbelieved; and We do not punish any but the ungrateful.'
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"When the people of Tharthar were given great graces, they baked the core of wheat and used it for cleaning their babies from feces. That bread was put on each other until it took the form of a high mountain. As a man passed by a woman who was using that bread for the same purpose, he said, 'Woe to you! Fear Allah and do not cause your graces to be eradicated and taken away from you.' She answered, 'Are you threatening us with starvation? As long as our lake is flowing, we do not fear famine.' Allah did not accept so; therefore, He blocked their lake and stopped rainfall and planting. They, first, consumed all that which they had stored. Then, they had to consume that mountain of bread to the degree that it was distributed among them by measure."
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Imam ar-Rida narrated on the authority of his fathers that the Prophet (s) said: "The quickest in punishment is ingratitude."
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How to Acquire Thankfulness?
To acquire thankfulness, it is recommended:
(1) To ponder over the great variety of graces, good turns, and acts of kindness that God has conferred.
(2) To neglect considering the luxurious people who enjoy excessive means of living and false pleasures of this world, and to look at the miserable people as well as those who are in less levels of livelihood. Amir ul-Mu'minin (a) said:
"Try to look very frequently at those who are less than you are in the levels of livelihood, for this is a sort of showing gratitude."
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(3) To keep in mind the calamities from which God has saved and the diseases that God has changed into
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good health and the hardships that He has changed into luxury, and
(4) To think of the advantages of showing gratitude, some of which are the attracting of the conferrer's contentment and increase of his favors, and to ponder over the disadvantages of ingratitude, some of which are attracting the conferrer's dissatisfaction and decrease of his graces.
TRUST IN GOD
Trust in God means to rely upon Him and to commend all affairs to Him by diverting from anyone or anything else. The source of trust in God is power of heart and conviction. Likewise, loss of trust in God is originated from feebleness of heart and conviction and influence of apprehensions and illusions:
"Allah is Sufficient for the needs of whoever trusts in Him. (65:3)"
"Allah loves those who trust Him. (3:159)"
"(Muhammad), say, 'Nothing will happen to us besides what Allah has decreed for us. He is our Guardian. In Allah alone do the believers trust.' (9:51)"
"If Allah is your helper, no one can defeat you. However, if He abandons you, who would help you? The true believers trust in Allah. (3:160)"
Amir ul-Mu'minin (a) said: "Regarding all of your affairs, seek the refuge of your Lord, for you are seeking the refuge of a sheltering haven and powerful sanctuary."
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"Within his sermons to his son, Luqman said: Son, for him who is unconvinced and ill-intentioned in the matter of seeking earnings, he should learn lessons from the fact that Allah has created him and guaranteed his sustenance in three states; He secured him and gave him his decided shares of sustenance without exerting any efforts or planning
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for any proposal in gaining them. First, when he was in mother's womb, Allah was giving him his sustenance without being exposed to coldness or heat. Then, Allah caused him to go out to this world and gave him his shares of sustenance, which were sufficient and nutrient, from the mother's breast while he had no power to earn. Then, when he was weaned, Allah gave him his share of sustenance out of the earnings of his parents who were very kind to him to the degree that they preferred him to themselves in many situations. When he attained maturity and went on seeking earnings for himself, he became unable to stand it, mistrusted his Lord, denied the rights that he should defray from his earnings, and behaved stingily with his dependants and himself. All that was because of his expecting scarcity, mistrusting Allah and suspecting His promised recompense in this world and the world to come. See, my son, how evil such man is!"
Imam as-Sadiq (a) said: "Richness and honor are wandering. They settle only when they find a situation of trust in Allah."
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He (a) also narrated that Allah revealed to Prophet David (a): "For any one of My servants who relies upon Me heartily exclusively, then the heavens and the earth plot against him, I will surely grant him an exit between them to escape their plots. But for the servant who relies upon any of My creatures, I will cut the rope that links him to the heavens and will sink the earth under his feet and, then, I will not care where he will perish."
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"He who is given three things will not be deprived of three others: he who is granted supplication to Allah will not be deprived of response; he who is granted thankfulness will not be deprived of increase; he who is granted trust in Allah will not be deprived of His security." Read in the Book of Allah: 'Allah is Sufficient for the needs of whoever trusts in Him. (65:3)' 'If you give thanks, I shall give you greater
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(favors) (14:7).' 'Pray to Me for I shall answer you prayers. (40:60).'"
Reality of Trust in God
Trust in God does not mean to neglect the means that achieve benefits and to lift no single hand for facing events and crises. As a matter of fact, trust in God is to confide in and depend on Him exclusively, because He being the source of goodness, the originator of reasons, the predominant over the creatures, and the only able to give success. To have such trust in God should not conflict with the reliance on the natural means and the outward reasons for achieving the aims, such as supplying for traveling, armament for fighting against the enemies, treatment against diseases, and guard against dangers. All these are necessary for protecting man and achieving his aims. God has decided to make all matters proceed according to their natural reasons. Notwithstanding, it is necessary to depend upon and trust in God for achieving the purposes.
As he noticed a Bedouin neglecting hobbling his camel for he had relied upon God exclusively, the Prophet (s) instructed him: "Hobble your camel then trust in Allah exclusively."
Ranks of Trust in God
Like the variety of faith, there is a great variety among people in ranks of trust in God. Some are forerunners in this regard: they devoted themselves completely to God and neglected everything except Him. Those are the prophets, their successors, and the saints.
As an example on the best picture of trust in God, it is narrated that when Prophet Abraham (a) was in his way to the fire, the angel Gabriel met him in the air and asked whether he would do him anything. He answered: "For you, you can do me nothing. I depend on God Who is the best Guardian." Then the angel Michael met him and suggested that he would extinguish that fire since rain and water had been
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under his disposal. The prophet also rejected. Then the angel of wind met him and suggested that he would cause that fire to fly away, but the prophet also rejected. Then the angel Gabriel came to him again and asked him to supplicate to God. Abraham said: "My supplication is worthless so long as He knows my current state best."
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