The Two Kinds of Sabr in ʿUmar's Letter

Consider now the types of ṣabr. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with him), during his khilāfah, sent a letter to Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī (may Allah be pleased with him), who was governor of one of the cities. He says: verily, there are two types of ṣabr, and one is better than the other. It is beautiful, it is excellent, that a person can show ṣabr toward calamities, difficulties and hardships; this is fine. But there is another form of ṣabr which is better than this — and this is where the majority of Muslims miss the point. Everyone understands that when one goes through pain one has to show ṣabr; that much is understood. That, says ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him), is ṣabr when the muṣībah comes: no problem; it is virtuous, righteous, excellent. But there is another form of ṣabr that is much, much higher than that first form. What would that be? To show ṣabr in abstaining from what Allah (swt) has prohibited. Keeping away from the ḥarām — showing ṣabr in keeping away from the ḥarām — is a greater form of ṣabr.

A woman is walking in front of a man in a red miniskirt, or whatever it might be. No one is watching; there are no Muslims around. If he can hold his eyes — if he simply lowers his eyes and says astaghfirullāh al-ʿaẓīm, I am going to resist, I am not going to look — that is ṣabr, and this is the greatest form of ṣabr. Every man goes through it every day. There is a ḥadīth of the Prophet (peace be upon him) that when a man sees a ḥarām thing for the first time, the first look is allowed; but if he insists on going back and looking a second time, that is where the sin begins to rise — it is written. The angel writes nothing for the first one. So one young questioner once put up his hand and asked: since the first look is free, is it all right simply to make the first look a long look? No.

If a person abstains from committing a ḥarām, and especially from looking at a ḥarām, Rasūlullāh (peace be upon him) says that Allah (swt) will give him such a pleasure — the pleasure of īmān — that he will feel it in his heart afterward. This has been experienced millions of times: while a man is driving, and he is fasting, shayṭān comes in front of him — especially at those times shayṭān comes.