Allah says in the Holy Qur'an, Sura Al-Baqarah, Ayat 153 : "...Indeed Allah is with those who have Sabr."

 In the above Ayat we are told that if we have Sabr (patience) then Allah is there with us, and we know that if Allah is with us then we have nothing to worry about.

The Holy Prophet (S) has said: Sabr is in three parts:

The perfect example of Sabr is the life of Prophet Ayyub (A). He was blessed with so much (health, children, wealth, land and sheep).

Then Shaitan asked Allah for power over Prophet Ayyub's (A) affairs saying that while Prophet Ayyub (A) had all these blessings he would remain grateful but if they were taken away then he would turn away from Allah.

Shaitan then destroyed all of Prophet Ayyub's (A) animals and property and worse of all, he killed his children as well. Then he caused Prophet Ayyub (A) to get a horrible disease, and his people forced him to leave his town.

Even with all this hardship Prophet Ayyub (A) remained faithful to Allah, praying and thanking Him for everything. Not only did he have Sabr but also Shukr (thankfulness).

The Holy Prophet (S) has said that faith is divided into two halves, one half is patience (Sabr) and the other half is thanksgiving (Shukr).

The above hadith tells us that to have true faith in Islam not only should we be patient but also thankful. So next time when something bad happens to you not only should you be patient but also thank Allah because Allah knows best.

Once a group of people came to our 4th Imam, Imam Ali Zainul Abideen (A) and said that they were his Shias.

Imam (A) asked them what they did when they got something nice. They replied we say "Alhamdulillah". Imam (A) asked them what they did when something nice was taken away from them. They replied that they got upset then they would come to terms with it. Imam (A) asked what they did if they did not get anything. They replied that they did nothing.

Imam (A) replied that these were not the actions of his Shia. These actions were the same as the actions of the dogs of Madina:

When the dogs were given something they would wag their tails in Shukr (thanks). When something was taken away from them they would bark a little (complaining) and then walk away. When they got nothing they did nothing.

• "Alhamdulillah" when they get something,
• "Alhamdulillah" when something is taken away and
• "Alhamdulillah" when they get nothing.

Complaining when in distress:

This is the opposite of sabr. It is a bad habit, and is one which takes away mercy from Allah.

To complain when misfortune falls upon us, shows that we have little faith in Allah. This is because Allah is testing us to see whether we have patience and forbearance.

If we try to overcome the problem, and say Alhamdulillah it was not worse, then we will pass the test.

If we don't do anything about it and just complain to Allah, and say "Why me!" and "It's not fair!" then we have failed the test, because Allah tells us in Surah 94, Ayat 6: "Verily, with every difficulty there is relief."

This means that no matter what difficulties we have in this world, if we have patience and try our best to remove them, Allah will help us, and we will have relief.

Many people have a habit of complaining. This is called whingeing. These are the people who when it is winter, complain that it is too cold, and when it becomes summer, they complain that it is too hot. They will always find some reason to complain or criticise.

The important thing to learn from this lesson is that if you are in a problem, you should put in the effort to get out of that problem. If you are sincere, then Allah will help you. It may take a long time, but in the long run, you will be successful if your heart and intentions are in the correct place.