Q. How can you reconcile the two ideas of confrontation on one hand and patience on the other hand, isn’t this a contradiction?
A. No, there is no contradiction at all. Patience and Jihad are inseparable. When a man came to ask Rasulullah if his sins would be forgiven by martyrdom, didn’t he say,
يا رسول الله، أرأيت إن قتلت في سبيل الله صابرًا محتسبًا مقبلًا غير مدبر، أيكفر الله عني خطاياي؟
Allah frequently commands patience in Jihad and makes it a condition for His Support.
وَأَطِيعُواْ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَلاَ تَنَـزَعُواْ فَتَفْشَلُواْ وَتَذْهَبَ رِيحُكُمْ وَاصْبِرُواْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الصَّـبِرِينَ
As we know in Islam, patience has many forms. It does not only mean to wait and endure passively. It means to be strong and disciplined and self-controlled about doing what is actually necessary to achieve victory. It means subduing your emotions at those moments when your emotions are most likely to run wild; it means being judicious and deliberate in those moments when you are most likely to react on impulse; it means being calm in those moments when your adrenaline starts racing and your heart starts pounding.
When the Believers with Talut confronted the massive army of Jalut, they prayed for patience at the very outset of the battle.
قَالُواْ رَبَّنَآ أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًا
Allah mentions patience as the defining quality necessary for a small group to overcome a larger group.
كَم مِّن فِئَةٍ قَلِيلَةٍ غَلَبَتْ فِئَةٍ كَثِيرَةً بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ مَعَ الصَّـبِرِينَ
We have started to believe that recklessness and rashness are expressions of tawakkul, but patience is a quality found in those who have yaqeen in their Imaan. Jihad is not for the impatient and impulsive, for these are defects in battle.
When Abu Bakr sent ‘Ikrimah bin Abi Jahl to confront Musaylamah al-Kadhdhab at Yamamah, ‘Ikrimah’s hatred for Allah’s enemy made him impatient, and he led his troops into battle without waiting for reinforcements, and the Believers suffered many casualties and were turned back. There is no doubt that Allah was on the side of the Believers, but impatience caused them to rush without adhering to a more effective strategy.