How to develop Sabr (Patience) in Islam? 7 Steps to develop Sabr in Islam.

And religious lectures, books and wise men often exhort us to this virtue. We also have amazing, real-life examples of patience in islam – where our greatest role models persevered and reaped incredible rewards for it, both in this life and the next. Think especially of the Prophets Ayyub and Yusuf (peace be upon the both).

Sabr in Islam offers numerous benefits, but can it also boost productivity?

We can break the answer down into two main areas:

1. religious life
2. worldly life

Productivity Benefits of Sabr in Dunya:

Consider your School or working life. Say you’ve got a big assignment and you really, really don’t like the work. Maybe the content isn’t motivating enough, or you believe the task is too hard for you, or maybe you’re just doing it to assist someone – even though you don’t really want to.

Many of us will make a beginning, but when we hit the first hurdle, the trouble begins. Our mind gives us many excuses to ‘take a break‘ from work. We will find further things to do – things that are ‘more significant’ – and we will finish up leaving the task until the last minute (or if it’s not mandatory, we might forget about it entirely).

We will be exploring further things to do – things that are “more important” – and we’ll finish up leaving the assignment until the final minute (or if it’s not required, we may totally forget it).

Procrastination hits even the best of us, but practicing sabr is a powerful way to overcome it. Sabr in your work – particularly work you don’t want to do – boosts your productivity, because instead of procrastinating, you push yourself to start the work. Finding ways to break the task into manageable steps – both of which help you stay focused and ensure the task gets completed. In doing so, you also challenge your own limits beyond the mental barriers that hold you back.

Other than work, practicing sabr can boost your productivity in many aspects of ‘worldly’ life: handling administrative tasks, cleaning or tidying up your space or house, fixing repairing items, organizing your cupboards, and so much more.

Feel The Benefits of Sabr in Your Faith:

We know that the patient – the sabirun – will, Insha Allah, achieve massive reward in the Afterlife because of the path they bore this life’s trials with sabr.

But on an everyday level – where significant trials are few and far between – sabr can assist us tremendously in this life, in our deen-e-Islam. Let’s take an example (which is based on a true story, by the way):

Let’s say Hamza struggles to read the Qur’an. He finds Arabic challenging to read and this obstacle makes him so disheartened that he considers abandoning regular recitation and limiting it to only occasional reading. After all, why put himself through so much trouble when he doesn’t even understand what he’s reading? Isn’t it better to just read a translation of the meaning? Can’t he benefit more from that?

Let’s say Hamza struggles to read the Qur’an. He finds reading the Qur’an quite challenging because Arabic is not his strong suit. This difficulty leaves him feeling discouraged, making him contemplate reducing his recitation to occasional readings instead of a consistent practice. He questions the purpose of enduring such hardship when he doesn’t fully understand the words he’s reading. “Wouldn’t reading a translation be more beneficial?”

Hamza knows the answer is ‘no’. Understanding the Qur’an is important, yes, but recitation in the original Arabic form is of greater significance. So he resists the temptations and chooses to bear sabr in this struggle, knowing that “The one who is proficient in the recitation of the Qur’an will be with the honourable and obedient scribes (angels) and he who recites the Qur’an and finds it difficult to recite, doing his best to recite it in the best way possible, will have two rewards.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] [Riyad as-Salihin 994].

He also knows that gradualism is one of the most significant advices in Islam:

“The most regular constant deeds even though they may be few.” He added, ‘Don’t take upon yourselves, except the deeds which are within your ability.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 6465)

So Hamza patiently perseveres, committing to read a very small amount each day – just three verses. This small, manageable, and consistent effort is highly valued in Allah’s consideration, and over time, Hamza notices that reciting the Qur’an becomes easier and easier, so he increases his daily quota.

Finally, he can read so much more that he wants to deepen his Qur’anic recitation in other ways by refining his tajweed and even taking steps to learn Arabic. So, this small step gradually transformed into great results, which enabled Hamza to be more and increasingly productive in his spiritual journey.

The application of that islam sabrsabr can be applied to any area of deen, such as seeking valuable knowledge, developing your character, and making strong your emaan and taqwa to higher and higher levels.

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Building the Sabr Muscle:

In Hamza’s case, it’s clear that his progress resulted from Allah’s blessing—the barakah he received by practicing sabr and working to overcome his personal challenges. But his progress was also due to the consistency he maintained. Just like regular exercise helps you build your physical strength, that little bit of recitation of the Qur’an every day helped train Hamza, and the final result was the level of strength and spiritual productivity that he never believed he could attain.

Dua for Sabr (Patience)