Sorry for not realizing that this question has been languishing beneath cob-webs.
Taken from the book History of Madinah Munawwarah;which was prepared by group of scholars under the super-vision of Shaikh Safiur-Rahman Mubarakpuri; translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab; copyright held by Maktaba Dar-us-Salam, 2002.

ok cool

Question to the Mods team

"Islam in its totality is based on Patience (Sabr)"

a) give the Islamic definition of Patience

b) What is the most difficult type of Patience ?
c) Around how many times is patience mentioned in the Quran ? [ coz pearl asked me to make it hard. ]

the time now is 5:25am (my time )

START

Unnecessary posts deleted. You can feel free to use the Brainstorming for the Face off thread to discuss the questions and to mention the time left.

P.s: To make the game easier and get more participants, it was decided earlier that a team gets 2 days to have a go at the question. So be patient and dont give time updates every hour.

Over to Admins and SuperMODs to answer. They got two days.

ANSWERS

a) “Sabr” is an Arabic word that comes from a root meaning to detain, refrain and stop. Patience means to stop ourselves from despairing and panicking, to stop our tongues from complaining, and to stop our hands from striking at times of stress and grief. Patience means to keep close to Allah and to accept calmly the trails He sends. A scholar said: “to have patience means that one’s common sense and religious motives r stronger than one’s whims and desires".



b) The most difficult type of patience is when u have a strong motive to commit an action and also have the ability/means to do so, but STILL refrain from doing it. and the stronger the motive and ability, the harder it is to be patient. whereas if one has NO motive to kill, drink alcohol, or steal, and at the same time is NOT able to do it, will find abstaining from these things EASY.

Among the most difficult types of patience is patience in refraining from committing wrong actions of speech - such as backbiting and slander, telling lies to create trouble between ppl, and praising oneself explicitly or implicitly, and insulting people one does not like and praising those whom one does like - these are all 'entertaining' and 'enjoyable'. there is a strong motive to commit these wrong actions, and it is so easy to move one's tongue and speak, so the patience required to abstain from them is particularly difficult.

therefore the Prophet (SAW) told Mu'adh, "Control ur tongue". Mu'adh asked, "Are we accountable for what we say?" The Prophet (SAW) answered, "Is there anything other than the wrong actions of speech that cause ppl to be thrown in Hell on their faces ?"

Once wrong actions of speech have become a habit, patience becomes even MORE difficult. so u might see a man who stays up all night praying, fasts all day, and would refrain from touching the pillow if it were made of silk, yet he gives his tongue free rein in BACKBITING, SLANDERING and causing TROUBLE between people.

The tongue is deep inside, enclosed between our teeth, between our jaws, and between our cheeks. whereas the ears are on the surface. this signifies that we should TALK LESS, and LISTEN MORE.

especially in a TENSE environment if we cause even one wrong word to slip out of our mouth, it causes a whole chain of nasty reactions to take place

Misuse of the tongue can KILL the peace, cause FITNAH beyond FITNAH, and has so many EVIL consequences. It destroys brotherhood and unity, which the Muslims so badly need. But the shaytaan has made this look like such a small sin, so that we commit it freely and easily.

there's a saying in urdu which says "aik chub, hazaar shukh" - meaning "one silence, thousands at peace"

so we should exercise patience in controlling our tongue, even if it means biting it


And even if we - *erm WAIT m supposed to be giving the answers, not giving a lecture

sheesh sorry

*back to the answering the question*


There is another Hadith that 7 type of people will be shaded in the shade of Allah’s throne for their perfect patience :-

• the patience of a absolute ruler who is JUST in all situations, regardless of his own feelings.

• the patience of a young man in worshipping/obeying Allah and suppressing is whims and desires.

• the patience of a man who stayed in the mosque

• the patience of a man who resists the temptation of a woman of beauty and status

• the patience of two men who part for the sake of Allah, in keeping their relationship for the sake of Allah

• the patience of the man who gives sadaqah in keeping his sadaqah secret

• and the patience of one who weeps out of fear of Allah, in keeping that secret and not telling others about it.

All these are amongst the MOST difficult types of patience.

Therefore, the punishment of an old man who commits adultery, a king who tells lies, and a poor man who is arrogant is more severe, because it is EASY for them to keep away from such actions, and does not require much in the way of Patience. Their attitude indicates that they are willfully REBELLING against Allah.



c) Imam Ahmad said: “Allah has mentioned patience in the Quran in ninety places.


~And Allah Knows Best ~



May Allah give us all the Tawfeeq to exercise patience and be grateful.

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(from the book “Uddat as –sabirin wa dhakhirat ash-shakirin” by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah)

right so is it members turn to ask again?

If so next QUESTION

In the Quran there are some words that sometimes appear written with a 'taa marbuta' (ة) at the end and sometimes written with 'taa maftuha' (ت) at the end.

Of these words is the word نعمة which also appears written with a 'taa maftuha'- نعمت

QUESTION- HOW MANY times does this word appear written with a 'taa maftuha' (نعمت) (at end) in the Qur'an and WHERE?

clue: the number of times it appears with 'taa maftuha' is less than 20

I think the answer to how many times the word نعمت appears in the Qur'an is 17. I have listed the places below. There were 2 places where the online Qur'an had it written in a taa marbutah form, but the mushaf had it in taa maftuha form, so I have included those 2 in bold:







Al-Baqara [2:122]

يَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ اذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَتِيَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَأَنِّي فَضَّلْتُكُمْ عَلَى الْعَالَمِينَ

Al-Baqara [2:40]

يَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ اذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَتِيَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَأَوْفُواْ بِعَهْدِي أُوفِ بِعَهْدِكُمْ وَإِيَّايَ فَارْهَبُونِ

Al-Baqara [2:47]

يَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ اذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَتِيَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَأَنِّي فَضَّلْتُكُمْ عَلَى الْعَالَمِينَ

Al-Imran [3:103]



Al-Ma'idah [5:11]

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ اذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَتَ اللّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ هَمَّ قَوْمٌ أَن يَبْسُطُواْ إِلَيْكُمْ أَيْدِيَهُمْ فَكَفَّ أَيْدِيَهُمْ عَنكُمْ وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ وَعَلَى اللّهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ

Yusuf [12:6]

وَكَذَلِكَ يَجْتَبِيكَ رَبُّكَ وَيُعَلِّمُكَ مِن تَأْوِيلِ الأَحَادِيثِ وَيُتِمُّ نِعْمَتَهُ عَلَيْكَ وَعَلَى آلِ يَعْقُوبَ كَمَا أَتَمَّهَا عَلَى أَبَوَيْكَ مِن قَبْلُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْحَقَ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ

Ibrahim [14:28]






Ibrahim [14:34]

وَآتَاكُم مِّن كُلِّ مَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُ وَإِن تَعُدُّواْ نِعْمَتَ اللّهِ لاَ تُحْصُوهَا إِنَّ الإِنسَانَ لَظَلُومٌ كَفَّارٌ

An-Nahl [16:72]

وَاللّهُ جَعَلَ لَكُم مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَاجًا وَجَعَلَ لَكُم مِّنْ أَزْوَاجِكُم بَنِينَ وَحَفَدَةً وَرَزَقَكُم مِّنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ أَفَبِالْبَاطِلِ يُؤْمِنُونَ وَبِنِعْمَتِ اللّهِ هُمْ يَكْفُرُونَ

An-Nahl [16:81]

وَاللّهُ جَعَلَ لَكُم مِّمَّا خَلَقَ ظِلاَلاً وَجَعَلَ لَكُم مِّنَ الْجِبَالِ أَكْنَانًا وَجَعَلَ لَكُمْ سَرَابِيلَ تَقِيكُمُ الْحَرَّ وَسَرَابِيلَ تَقِيكُم بَأْسَكُمْ كَذَلِكَ يُتِمُّ نِعْمَتَهُ عَلَيْكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُسْلِمُونَ

An-Nahl [16:83]

يَعْرِفُونَ نِعْمَتَ اللّهِ ثُمَّ يُنكِرُونَهَا وَأَكْثَرُهُمُ الْكَافِرُونَ

An-Nahl [16:114]

فَكُلُواْ مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمُ اللّهُ حَلالاً طَيِّبًا وَاشْكُرُواْ نِعْمَتَ اللّهِ إِن كُنتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ

An-Naml [27:19]

فَتَبَسَّمَ ضَاحِكًا مِّن قَوْلِهَا وَقَالَ رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِي أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيَّ وَعَلَى وَالِدَيَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَالِحًا تَرْضَاهُ وَأَدْخِلْنِي بِرَحْمَتِكَ فِي عِبَادِكَ الصَّالِحِينَ

Luqman [31:31]

أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ الْفُلْكَ تَجْرِي فِي الْبَحْرِ بِنِعْمَتِ اللَّهِ لِيُرِيَكُم مِّنْ آيَاتِهِ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّكُلِّ صَبَّارٍ شَكُورٍ

Fatir [35:3]

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اذْكُرُوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ هَلْ مِنْ خَالِقٍ غَيْرُ اللَّهِ يَرْزُقُكُم مِّنَ السَّمَاء وَالْأَرْضِ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ فَأَنَّى تُؤْفَكُونَ

Al-Fath [48:2]

لِيَغْفِرَ لَكَ اللَّهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِن ذَنبِكَ وَمَا تَأَخَّرَ وَيُتِمَّ نِعْمَتَهُ عَلَيْكَ وَيَهْدِيَكَ صِرَاطًا مُّسْتَقِيمًا

At-Tur [52:29]

فَذَكِّرْ فَمَا أَنتَ بِنِعْمَتِ رَبِّكَ بِكَاهِنٍ وَلَا مَجْنُونٍ

And Allaah (swt) knows best.

The number of places this word appears in the Qur'an in maftuha form is 11:

1- Al-Baqara: 231

2,3,4- Al-Nahl: 72, 83, 114

5,6- Ibrahim: 28, 34

7- Al-Ma'idah: 11

8- Luqman: 31

9- Fatir: 3

10- Al-Tur: 29

11- 'Al Imran: 103

MashaAllah you've found 10 of these (all in bold).

As for the extra you've found- I should have made the question clearer:



POINT 1
Taa marbutah lit. means the 'tied up'/'connected Taa' (the ends are connected to form a circle)- ة

Taa maftuha lit. means the 'opened Taa' (the ends are NOT connected together as apposed to Taa marbutah)- ت



POINT 2
When Taa marbutah is joined to a letter after it- it is written as the Taa maftuha is written, hence- نعمة + ي = نعمتي



POINT 3
The word نعمة is originally supposed to be with a Taa marbutah.
This is how it is normally found in the Arabic language - (except when (as explained above) it is joined to a letter after it (such as yaa) then it is written like the maftuha form is written) - BUT there are some places in the Qur'an (11) that have this word نعمة written WITHOUT anything joined after it,- but still in maftuha form instead- نعمت

(These are the 11 anomalies that I wanted)




POINT 4
The reason this is important to know is in the rules of Starting and Stopping (الوقف والإبتداء) when reading the Qur'an.

When you stop on a word that ends in Taa marbutah this changes to a 'haa' ه sound. (So نعمة would be stopped on as نعمه )

Whereas if the word ends in a Taa maftuha then when stopped on, it keeps its 'taa' sound. (So نعمت would stopped on retaining its 'taa' sound)


Since I didn't make the Question clear enough and you found most of the correct ones anyway, Admins team can have a point inshaAllah.

Jazakallahu khayr for that useful clarification - I realise what I did wrong.

Also, Jazakallahu khayr for the point. I think the next question is for the Mods... so we'll be asking that soon Insha'Allaah.