Page 32 - The Importance of Patience in the Qur’an

30 THE IMPORTANCE OF PATIENCE IN THE QUR'AN

In the coming pages, we will analyze the principal circumstances
during which the faithful, with Allah's support, exhibit patience.

Following their consciences

Allah created each person with a conscience to let him or her know
what is right and wrong in all situations. This conscience calls upon
people to think in the manner that pleases Allah and behave in the
manner that will earn His approval. Every person also has a lower self
that urges them to follow their whims and desires. However,
believers always display a sure determination to ignore their lower
selves by listening only to their consciences, even if their lower self
calls them to something that appears more attractive and more
appealing.
Throughout their lives, the faithful make this judgment call and
then select the most correct attitude. In daily life, this can mean
ignoring the lower self's urging to behave selfishly by following the

conscience's advice to be self-sacrificing. In the case of finishing an
important task or when faced with many things at the same time, it
may require a person to assist somebody who needs even more help
at that specific time. Or it may require the faithful to share something
that they need with someone who needs it even more, or even to give
it to that person. Those who obey their conscience exhibits good
behavior without hesitation. In other words, they do whatever they
can to help others who need assistance. The Qur'an gives an example
of this morality, as follows:

Those who were already settled in the abode and in faith, before
they came, love those who emigrated to them. They do not find
in their hearts any need for what they have been given, and
prefer them [the emigrants] to themselves, even if they