only 5 minutes......

Alhamdulillah, ALLAH SWT has made us to dwell this earth as Muslims.
However, being humans we tend to forget and be ungrateful (of what ALLAH
SWT has given us). Reflecting on Surah Ar-Rahman , where ALLAH SWT
asked which creations of ALLAH SWT that we do not appreciate? I urge fellow
brothers and sisters to take (only) 5 minutes of our time to sit and
think on these:

1. Only 5 Minutes of Breakdown!

When your car that has been serving you very well, suddenly stalled on
the highway for a moment. You started to panic... cursing and swearing
on how late you would be for your urgent meeting. But have you ever
considered the past thousands of "breakdown free" minutes that smooth and
enjoyable rides your car has given you - and did you ever thank ALLAH
SWT for them?

2. Only 5 Minutes of Sickness!

All this while you are in a pink of health. You are able to enjoy all
the gourmet delights, able to play your favourite sports and enjoy
sight-seeing... suddenly ALLAH SWT jerked you with a tiny drop of flu
virus... You moaned and groaned. You lamented the misfortune that had
befallen you - the loss on your daily activities, the monies spend on your
medical bill - that brief moment of sickness did not make you more
thankful to ALLAH SWT but you grumbled... WHY ME? Have you ever counted your
blessing on the days you are healthy?

3. Only 5 Minutes of Interruption!

While you were engrossed with conversation with your friends suddenly
your child interrupted to ask you something you immediately scolded
him/her for being rude and interrupting your "discussion" or while
showering suddenly the water supply was cut or while watching your favourite
television programme the transmission was blocked - that 5 minutes of
interruption made you frustrated and angry... did you ever consider the
hours of uninterrupted talk (sometime to the extend of loosing your
sleep), your ever flowing water supply, and your 24 hours transmission?

4. Only 5 Minutes of Care and Love!

You have been busy working, filling every minutes with business,
meetings and projects - but do you ever stop for 5 minutes to visit your aged
and sick parents - only that few minutes of kind words to them will
make their day! Think of the sacrifices they have gone through to raise
you. The hours of devotions, the vigil nights they kept when you were
sick and young - only 5 minutes to keep them company - you gave plenty of
excuses. Remember what goes around comes around!

(There was once an old man who was badly treated by his son. Each time
his son mistreated him he would only sang praises to ALLAH SWT. His son
was quite annoyed and at the same time were astonished by his father
"untiring patience". Then one day he asked his father... "I have been
kicking you, cursing you and mistreating you but you still keep praising
ALLAH SWT... what is wrong with you?" Then after some thought the father
said "Son what you have done to me is nothing compared to what I had
done to your grandfather. I am more viscous than you... your treatment to
me is nothing, and this is ALLAH SWT's way to show me of my past
mistakes" - dear brothers and sisters, our parents du'a are very potent
especially our mothers, so take care, and to all parents, my advice is
before we utter something to our children please remember that our du'a to
our children - ALLAH SWT will grant it very fast - so please only good
du'a's for them).

5. Only 5 Minutes of Quality!

When we rushed to finish a job we tend to forgo on quality. Yes we met
the dateline but do we ever spare a thought on the quality - what is
the used if we managed to honour the contract but our works are sloppy
and of poor standard. We just need to spare 5 minutes of our schedule to
really improve the quality of our work - think of the long term
benefits - spare a thought on what that few minutes of quality will do...
fostering an everlasting relationship between us and our customers, and as
Muslims we must be truthful to ourselves and others to provide a
quality service... insya'allah.

6. Only 5 Minutes of Reading (Learning)!

We are able to sit (I meant really sit) for hours to finish a novel but
just 5 minutes of Al-Qur'an, our back started to ache, our eyesight
becomes blurry, our legs become numb and the list goes on. That few
minutes we spend reading and reflecting AL-Qur'an everyday will benefit us in
life hereafter - AL- Qur'an will give syafa'at to its readers -
insya'allah.

(please set aside 5 minutes of your day for this... 5 minutes is not
asking much, does it?) and remember the angels will flock to you upon
hearing your reading the AL-QUR'AN and 5 minutes of learning about ISLAM
is worth a fortune!

7. Only 5 Minutes of Mischief (Mistakes)!

Sometime we do not really think of our actions, we tend to be careless
and rash. 5 minutes of mischievous acts, sometime can ruin our entire
live and/or our loved ones...

(a man wanted to be rich and he agreed to smuggle drugs... he thought
his simple 5 minutes act of ferrying the drug will gain him big
fortune... alas he was caught during immigration check and was sentenced to
death!), only 5 minutes of mistake has caused him his entire life? Is it
worth the trouble? So before we act please think of the consequences -
if we are not bother about ourselves please spare a thought for our
loved ones - our parents, and our children!

8. Only 5 Minutes of Appreciation!

Your faithful wife has been dutiful serving you... do you ever take 5
minutes each day to thank her and remind her of how good a wife she has
been. Sometime we are so impatient that little mistakes she made, we
yelled on top of our voices. We viewed her 5 minutes of mistake as if she
had done 5 YEARS of mistakes - I must confessed I am no exception to
this - by writing this I hope to remind myself and others too. May ALLAH
SWT gives us the patience and strength, ameen.

9. Only 5 Minutes of Attention!

You have been enjoying your favourite past-time for hours- surfing the
net, listening to the radio, etc. Have you ever consider the time you
spend NOT REMEMBERING ALLAH SWT! ALLAH SWT asks a fraction of your time
- only 5 minutes to perform the Salat - that short a time for ALLAH SWT
is a very demanding task for some of us... we frown! 5 minutes to stop
and concentrate on ALLAH SWT's creations... Surah Ar-Rahman... "fabi
ayyi aa laa i rabbikumaa tukazzibaan?" (So which of your Lord's benefits
will both of you deny?)

10. Only 5 Minutes of Punishment!

Rasulullah (peace & blessings be upon him) mentioned that the simplest
punishment in hell is when a person is forced to wear a hot metal clog
- the hotness will boil the body from the toe up to the brain - and
this punishment is meted out to his uncle ABU TALIB. Just imagine what 5
minutes in hell will do to you/us... (only 5 minutes) we better be
prepared and not ask for it! na'uzubillah min zalik.

Dear brothers and sisters, we tend to overlook on these 5 minutes
deeds... simplest of mistakes, we grumbled... but the larger fortunes that
ALLAH SWT has bestowed on us we tend to take them for granted and
neglected them - please remember it takes ONLY FIVE MINUTES of our time to
make the difference.

comments inshalah....