The Fruits of Tawḥīd, Belief in the Hereafter and Patience in the Face of Adversity: Palestinian Man Displays Steadfastness After House Demolished

A PALESTINIAN MAN displays the fruits of the Tawḥīd (monotheism), ʿubūdiyyah (servitude) and istislām (submission) to the decree of Allāh, the Lord of Abraham, Moses, Jesus (عليهم السلام) and Muḥammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) after his house was demolished in the latest round of ethnic cleansing and forced displacement.

This patience, forbearance and nobility of character is not known from any but the Muslims in the face of such adversity, and this is from the fruits of the guidance of the last and final Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) who was rejected by the People of the Scripture (Ahl al-Kitāb) out of jealousy, arrogance and pride.

Standing on the ruins of his home, with a smiling face, he says:

I am steadfast, I am steadfast. Where shall I go? Let him destroy the house on me, I am standing…

He quotes the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنه), pointing to al-Ulūhiyyah:^[1]

إِذَا سَأَلْتَ فَاسْأَلِ اللَّهَ، وَإِذَا اسْتَعَنْتَ فَاسْتَعِنْ بِاللَّهِ

When you ask, ask (only) from Allāh and when you seek aid, seek aid (only) from Allāh.

He mentions the name of Allāh, pointing to al-Asmā wal-Ṣifāt:

He is al-Qādir (the Powerful, the Able) over everything…

Then he says:, pointing to al-Rubūbiyyah

He is the one who gives life and takes life and He is powerful over every thing.

Then he says:

I won’t leave, I am steadfast.

While smiling, and standing on the ruins of what is likely his decades-old home, he combined the indication and mention of Allāh’s Rubūbiyyah, Ulūhiyyah and al-Asmāʾ wal-Ṣīfāt in the face of great adversity, and showed not an ounce of concern for his worldly, material loss.

May Allāh reward him for his patience and grant him relief and grant him increase in this life and the next, āmīn

This type of patience, tranquility, satisfaction, contentment and perfect ease are from the fruits of those whose hearts are not attached and captivated by the world, its wealth and glitter, but which look to the Hereafter.

In contrast, you will see from those who have a craving for the world, its wealth and glitter, who devour it (falsely), wish they could live forever, and believe not in the Hereafter and its reckoning, you will see in them the opposite traits, and this is sufficient to show the path of truth from the path of falsehood, just as is related from Jesus (عليه السلام), Son of Mary, in the Gospel: “By their fruits ye shall know them.”^[2]

Indeed, the Prophet Muḥammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said:^[3]

عَجَباً لأمْرِ الْمُؤْمِنِ إِنَّ أَمْرَهُ كُلَّهُ لَهُ خَيْرٌ، وَلَيْسَ ذَلِكَ لأِحَدٍ إِلاَّ للْمُؤْمِن: إِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ سَرَّاءُ شَكَرَ فَكَانَ خَيْراً لَهُ، وَإِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ ضَرَّاءُ صَبَرَ فَكَانَ خيْراً لَهُ

How amazing is the affair of the believer. There is goodness for him in all of his affair(s) and this is not for anyone except the believer. If prosperity meets him, he expresses gratitude [to Allāh] and that is good for him. And if adversity befalls him, he endures it with patience, and that is good for him.

Footnotes

1. Related by al-Tirmidhī.
2. Matthew 7:16.
3. Reported by Muslim in his Ṣaḥīḥ (no. 2999)