what is wrong? Such patience is a form of jihad in Allah’s cause, for the purpose of jihad is that Allah’s word should reign supreme and that all worship should be devoted to Allah alone. Jihad and patient endurance in it are therefore the finest deeds, as the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“The head of the matter is Islam, its pillar is prayer, and its pinnacle is jihad in Allah’s cause.”

This is an authentic hadith, related by Imam Ahmad and by al-Tirmidhī, who graded it authentic. It forms part of the lengthy hadith of Muʿādh ibn Jabal. Jihad is also the deed most beloved to Allah.

Thus, patient restraint from that sin is the patience of an emigrant who abandons what he has been forbidden, and of one who wages jihad, striving against his own soul for Allah’s sake and against Allah’s enemies, both outward and inward. The emigrant who patiently refrains from sin has striven only against his own soul and his devil. He then strives against Allah’s outward enemy so that Allah’s word may reign supreme and all worship may be devoted to Allah alone.

The patience of someone wronged is the patience of someone afflicted by calamity. Yet someone struck by a heaven-sent calamity can endure what someone wronged by other people cannot. The former is conscious that Allah is the One who has brought this upon him, so he gives up all hope of warding it off, exacting punishment, or taking revenge. By contrast, someone wronged by others feels that he can repel his oppressor, punish him, and take revenge upon him. Patient endurance of this calamity is therefore more meritorious and greater, as was the patience of Joseph, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him.

Such patience arises because the person knows that Allah has decreed what happened, so he bears it patiently, just as he would a heaven-sent calamity. It may also arise from his desire to attain the reward of those who restrain their anger and pardon