Brief Comments on Riyaadh al-Saaliheen #6

Prayer & Patience

بـسـم الله والحـمـد لله والـصلاة والـسـلام عــلى رسـول الله، وبـعـد

Shaikh Ibn al-`Uthaymeen رحمه الله said, commenting on the saying of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم:

 الصلاة نور... والصبر ضياء 

"the prayer is light...and patience is brightness" [1]

As for patience (endurance) he صلى الله عليه وسلم said it is "brightness", in which there is light – but light in which there is heat, as Allaah تعالى said:

هو الذي جعل الشمس ضياءً والقمر نوراً

{It is He Who made the sun a shining thing and the moon as a light} [2]

And bright light (الضوء) without doubt has heat in it. Similarly, patience too without doubt has its heat and fatigue; because in it there is great hardship and that is why its reward is without measure. [3]

So the difference between the Noor (light) in al-Salaah and al-Dhiyaa’ (brightness) in al-Sabr is: the brightness in al-Sabr is accompanied by heat, because of what it contains of hardship of the heart (i.e. mental fatigue) and at other times physical tiredness.

[Sharh Riyaadh al-Saaliheen (1/191)]

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[1] Saheeh Muslim (432).

[2] Surah Yunus (10): 5.

[3] The Shaikh رحمه الله is referring to the aayah:

إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى الصَّابِرُونَ أَجْرَهُم بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ

{Only those who are patient shall receive their reward in full, without reckoning} [Surah al-Zumar (39):10.