tIme iS a sw0rd..!!

[hidaayah]

Time is a sword...Strike a balance


"By time, verily man is at loss" so begins one of the shortest surah in the Qur'an. The majority of the mufassireen (commentators) are of the opinion that the word Asr refers to time. Allah takes oath by time to impress upon us the importance of time. Perhaps, for many of us, this is the period when we are most conscious of the precious nature of time, as we try to stretch every second while gearing toward the all important exams. At a time like this when our minds are most focused and yet most distracted, we have to stop and take a moment to reflect and take stock of our lives. We have to ask ourselves what our goals and priorities in life are, and most importantly how we are expending the commodity upon which Allah has taken an oath?

This article started with the first verse of surah al-Asr. But do we truly understand the implications of this surah and put it into practise in our lives? Perhaps, you may he thinking that such assertions are patronising and condescending for who in their right mind, living in this society is not aware of the value of time, when people have to resort to country hideouts to get a sense of their lives. But, precisely because we live in this society are we becoming lost in the quagmire of materialism? Whether we are aware or not it would not be incorrect to say that many of us suffer from a disease, it is a disease of delusion about time and lack of understanding of our priorities in life.

Allah created us for the sole purpose of doing his ibadah 'I have only created the jinn and the mankind except that they may worship Me.' we were not created in vain: 'Did you think that we had created you without purpose, and that you would not be brought hack to us for account?' Indeed that is what our goal in life is, to seek the pleasure of Allah, attain salvation from the hellfire and a place in paradise. To achieve these, we have to make sure that the most precious gift Allah has given us, our life is utilised in the best possible manner, for our lives are only remarkable and we can only attain the position of the best of creation' when we serve Allah.

Hasan al Basri (rahimullah) writes whilst thinking of the oath of time, I saw a person selling ice and he was exclaiming, 'O people have mercy on a person whose merchandise is melting away'. He then concluded: 'Now I fully understand this oath'. The vendor's capital is ice, if he does not manage to sell it, it will melt away, thus suffering a loss. Likewise if one regards time as ones capital and life as a business, if it is allowed to pass without being utilised it is only a matter of time before we will lose our business. And if we invest that time solely for the dunya, then we have already lost.

Most of us consciously or unconsciously have a defected view of life and time. We tend to regard both as a vast expanse without end, where each day rolls into the next. This should not be the case, as many sayings of the Prophet indicate 'Every morning there is a shout, oh children Adam this is a new day, it is a witness over your actions.' Each day is unique and an opportunity, not a continuum of the last. Whatever we do on that day will be closed forever, only to be opened on the Day of judgement. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud once said 'I do not regret about anything as I regret about the day in which the sun has set, as this day has been decreased from my life and in that day my actions cannot be increased'.

We are at an age when we are enjoying some of the best things in life; wealth, youth and time without the pressure of responsibilities, which our parents are shouldering. But such blessings will not go unquestioned. As the hadith of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) tells us: .... on the Day of judgement a servant's feet will not move until he is asked about four thing; about his life and what he spent it on, his body and what he used it on and about his wealth from where did he earn it and what he spent it on: The substance of our answers to these questions is to be made now. 'Two blessings are such that many people are in deception about them.

The first is good health and the second is spare time' Each minute that goes we cannot get it back, each day that passes is gone. We have to invest the time of this life for the next life. The society we are living in is engrossed in the materialistic world and accumulating as much as possible be it power, fame or wealth. We Muslims are not exempt from this pursuit of the dunya. Our despicable position in the world is due to this very fact.

We may think that the position of the Muslim ummah and its many problems are very far from us and not a thing that we can affect. But are we not in our own way running after this world. What are our conditions and state of mind when we have to sit our exams or we have an assignment to sub-nut? It is one of complete anxiety to the extent that we start abusing the rights of our body. We become engrossed in attaining that goal we forget what our real goal in life is. Some of us are even prepared to miss our salat in order to get such tasks done. I am not advocating that we don't spend time upon our studies or other duties. Far from it, what I am trying to inculcate is getting our priorities in life straight and truly valuing our time and what we do with it. Of course we must study and try our best, for a Muslim should never be one who undertakes things half-heartedly There is no contradiction between the two when we utilise our time properly.

If we look at the lives of the companions and our pious predecessors we understand how vigilant they were about their time. They were a people who were successful for they truly knew the precious nature of time as Imam Shafi'ee said:'I stayed with the people of tasawuf and learned two things from them. First is that they say time is like a sword if you don't cut with it, it will Cut you. Second is your self, if you don't keep it busy with right, it will make you busy with wrong.

Umar (radiAllahu anhu) said 'I hate to see people wasting time, whether in their dunya or for Akhira'. Employ your time wisely, do not waste it sitting in front of the T.V or playing computer games. It is very easy for us to fall into the tricks of shaytan and justify such actions as valid, 'we all need time to relax and give our minds a break!' Such activities rarely achieve anything apart from diverting our balance of time. Abu Huraira narrated:
The Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said: Allah's saying 'The son of Adam hurts Me by abusing time, for I am Time; in My Hands are all things and I cause the revolution of night and day.'
There are much better and fruitful ways to relax if we look at the life of the Prophet and his companions. We do not want to-when we get to our Parents age-look back upon our youth with regret as time wasted.
'And it is not your wealth, nor your children that bring you nearer to Us (Allah), but only he (will please Us) who behaves and does righteous deeds. As for such, there will be twofold reward for what they did, and they will reside in the high dwellings in peace and security.'
We are blessed by Allah that we have Islam at a young age. If we endeavour with our lives now to attain the pleasure of Allah, perhaps we too can be one of the seven types of people who enjoy the shade of the Throne of Allah-on the day when there will be no other shade.

"In the name of Allah, the most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. By al-Asr. Verily! Man is in loss, except those who believe, and do righteous deeds, and recommend one another to the truth and exhort one another to patience."

[hidaayah]

Time: The Precious Asset



IN one of the shortest and most powerful surahs, we are reminded that our whole existence in this life would be utterly wasted, futile, and pointless unless we have faith in Allah, act righteously, and join with others in encouraging truthfulness, patience, and perseverance (Al-Asr, 103).

During our lifetime, we will encounter hardship and prosperity, grief and happiness. Allah will test us, with success and with suffering, to see who is best in faith, to test our iman. To the believer, time is a wonderful asset, it is a chance to seek Allah s mercy, to ask forgiveness, and to do more good deeds.

We must use our time wisely, because wasted time can never be recovered. Time and tide wait for no man. Time passes on, used or abused. And the two angels on our shoulders write down every action in our book of deeds.

Don t we often wish that we could live our lives again from the start, so that we could put right the wrong things we did? And that our successes could be repeated over and over again? The very fact that we now want to forget our mistakes, or, we want to repeat our good deeds, shows that we have learnt from our experiences in time. Yes, Allah has placed Time at our service as our teacher: it is a teacher that allows good and bad things to happen. But the decision is made by our own free will.

If we look back in history, we will see that, in time, every unjust oppressor was destroyed. In time, good prevails over evil. But this comes only with effort and sacrifice. Thus the hard work, suffering, humility and perseverance of all the Prophets of Allah, helped justice to prevail over oppression.

Just think of Prophet Musa (Moses) and Pharaoh, or Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the tribe of Quraish. Thus Allah Almighty reminds us in the Qur an:

Whoever does righteous good deeds, it is for (the benefit of) his own self: and whosoever does evil, it is against his own self.... (Fussilat 41: 46)

Time wears out and destroys all material things. But time itself was created by Allah. Allah Alone is the Master of time, and He punishes and rewards us in relation to how we use our time.

We have the power to use time to make our world a better place. But are we truly aware of the value of time? Does our use of the time show that we understand the purpose for which we were created? Do we fully realize that we cannot escape Allah s judgment? Allah created us to serve Him and Him Alone, and all our actions must reflect this. Our actions must be in harmony with all other creatures, and must follow with the Divine Plan of Allah.

Certain forms of ibadah (worship) need to be observed at definite, prescribed times, such as our prayers, fasting, haj, and Jumu ah. We cannot perform Jumu ah at any time, according to our convenience, like on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon! Our daily routines must fit in with our Islamic duties that are time-related. This way, all our good actions will become an extension of our ibadah.

Time is valuable. Let s not waste it on vain conversations and petty arguments. Let s use our time creatively, to move forward, as individuals and as an Ummah. Every moment in time is a favor Allah bestows on us, and surely we must repay honor with honor.

We must express our gratitude to Allah Almighty by using every moment in His service, by teaching others, inviting others to good and, serving our less fortunate brothers and sisters in distress.