VALUE OF TIME HOW NOT TO WASTE

[S.O.S]

“You are bet numbered days. For each day that has gone, a part of you has gone. Not a day passes but that it says, ‘O son of Aadam, I am a new day who will witness your deeds; and when I leave you, I will not return.’ Your day is guest, so treat it well. If you do so, it will go on its way praising you; but if you do not, it will go on its way blaming you.†Xassan al-Basri

 

Dear brothers and sisters,

 

I found myself forgetting “time†during the day and realising again when I’m about to sleep. I did put some effort in understanding and contemplating “timeâ€, to the extent that I almost competently comprehended its centrality of our religion, be it between activity and inactivity or between life and death. In fact, I lost a lot of my pride just as soon as I started to entertain that I, a mere slave and a man of nothing, could possibly claim to be the reason for the existence of day and night, and the succession of cyclical interplay of space. Yet, I still lose so much valuable time every day that I have no choice but to rethink my strategy and approach.

 

I’m interested to find out whether there are others on SOL suffering the same fate as mine, or with an useful advise as how to turn time into your advantage.

 

WCWW

[Umm al_khair]

Time

 

Islam encourages Muslims to care for time, to utilize it and not to waste it. Besides, it holds them responsible for their time. The righteous Salaf were aware of that responsibility, so they acted accordingly. Describing their care for time, Hasan Al-Basree said, "I saw those people and how they were more careful about their time than about their Dirhams and Dinars."

(Abdullah Ibn-Al-Mubarak Az-Zuhd p.51.)

 

An important requirement for a Muslim's life is to be careful about time, to invest it wisely and to benefit from it. In this regard, Ibn-ul Qayyim says, "The highest, most worthy and most useful of reflection is what is intended for Allah and the Hereafter. There are various forms of reflection intended for Allah. One of them is reflecting on time, duty and function and focusing entirely on it, for the knowledgeable one is the breed of his time. If he wastes it, all his interests are wasted, for all interests arise from time. If he wastes his time, he can never regain it."

 

Also, Imam Shafi'ee said, "Out of my company with zahidoon, I benefited only two things, one of which is their saying: like a sword, time will cut you if you do not cut it. ..." In other words, if you do not spend time doing something useful, you are the loser by wasting it.

 

"Time is life itself." This reflects Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah's saying: "One's time is in fact his age. It is the material of his eternal life either in everlasting joy or painful torture. It passes more quickly than clouds do. It is only the time one dedicates to Allah that constitutes one's real life and age. The rest does not count; the life he leads in it is only animal life. Compared to a life of indulgence in appetitive activities, false aspirations and negligence of Allah's remembrance - and at best in sleep and being idle - death is a much better alternative."

 

Time is considered a vehicle for work. According to Ibnul Qayyim, "The year is like a tree, months are its branches, days are the branch sticks, hours are its leaves, and the breaths are its fruits. Therefore, if one's breaths are in obedience (to Allah and His Messenger), the fruits of his tree are good. If they are in disobedience, his fruits are bitter. The harvest is on the Appointed Day, when one's fruits are found out to be either good or bitter."

 

Such is the Islamic view of time, and such were the ways of the Salaf ways with it. How do we compare with them now?! Obviously, there is a big gap between the way they cared for time and the way we are wasting it. The sad and painful thing about us now is that "our nation has been improvising ways of wasting time at the public and the private levels. As a result, the world is already proceeding to the future without us, as if we were the 'orphans of history'. If such improvisation is not directed to investing and utilizing our time properly, the gap between us and the future will widen further, and we will remain importers and consumers of cultural products. Eventually, our survival will be entirely dependent on the producers of those products." (Khuldun Al-Ahdab, "Reflections on the Value of Time")

 

Therefore, Muslims must unite their efforts to identify weaknesses for treatment, and must give time its due attention as demanded by Islam.

 

The following are some of the most important duties demanded of Muslims:

 

1. Ensuring benefiting from time

2. Utilizing leisure time

3. Racing for good deeds

4. Learning from the passage of time

5. Seeking the superior times

6. Planning and organizing time

7. Fulfillment of time commitments

8. Necessary awareness of time wasters

[S.O.S]

Dear ukhti muslimah,

Jazaaka-Allaahu khayran for your informative post, I very much appreciate your effort and hope Allah will ease your time in this world.

 

What I am trying to find a way for is the “time†which is limited to one’s personal narrative, and not all the other aspects or dimensions of time of you wish, which is common in technical sense in all times in this world. That last perspective is the one I’ve wasted most of my time figuring out, and in the end I found out that it was not my “dimension†or part of my personal perspective of “time†since: (1) they are not subject to the same rules, (2) one is not allocated to me and the other is, though subservient to the former and (3) only will be held accountable for what I experience as "time", in time.

 

From then on, I decided to focus on my share capital/responsibility of time, but I’m unexpectedly struggling in what I originally thought was a modest task! I my disbelief I tried many tactics to make the best use of time, but I’m still not convinced about my approach as a whole, and that is why I put this topic forward to get some new ideas and fresh understanding of this fundamental aspect. Believe it or not, the personal perception of “time†you experience is nothing but LIFE itself, therefore lets not underestimate.

 

For example at one time I sought “time†as a friend and close companion, but could not make up whether to trust or to distrust. Another time I tried to take “time†as my enemy, but couldn’t decide whether to go on the offence or just on the defence. Nothing of what I try seems to ever work!

 

Therefore, is there anyone of you on SOL who has developed an efficient mechanisms to trick the mind and ease the soul midway between the points A and B, between the whom and the grave?

 

I’m looking forward to hear from you.

 

WCWW

[Nur]

Shamsuddin bro

 

An important topic indeed, If living is the combination of growth, feeling, movement, etc, the all of these activities are closely linked with time, if time passes without noticeable change, then we are dead, the walking dead.

 

Allah SWT says: " ....A fa man kaana meytan fa axyeynaah wa jacalnaa lahu nuuran yamshi bihi finnaas kamn huwa fizulumaat, leysa bi khaarijin minhaa" meaning " Are they the same, a person who was dead and we caused him to come alive, providing him with light that (guides) him (in dealing) with people, and a person who is in utter darkness who has no exit "

 

 

Nur

[Muhammad]

bro Shams-ud-Din, you are not alone.

 

I would not say i've found the Ideal strategy for myself, because an Ideal is something you always aspire to, not necessarily something you 'Live'. Also, my strategy may not work for another, and vice-versa.

 

my worst fear was and still is, Regret, a feeling the majority of people experience when they reach their death beds, knowing they have not realy lived but they were actually The Walking Dead.*

 

So I become very uncomfortable, always asking myself, Am I really doing my best right now? After reading many time management books, and came across many diffrent strategies and techniques, a new challange come to me.

 

A new fear came to me, the fear of "climbing the ladder just to find out when you reach the top, your ladder was leaning against the wrong wall!

 

so I had to know 3 things,

 

Who am I?

 

Where am I from?

 

Where am I heading?

 

Alhamdulilah, wih Allah's guidance, I found my true purpose and destination, and suddently everything became clear and simple, the fog of cunfution left me.

 

Now, all that I do in spending my time everday [24 hours] I make sure they fall in the following two categories, if they don't I'm wasting my time;

The Garden of This Dunya

*working

*eating

*drinking

*sleeping

*exercising

*school

*ext.. iwm..

The Garden of Aakhira

*praying

*fasting

*reading Quraan

*seeking islamic knowledge

*ext.. iwm..

My life is spent in cultivating these two Gardens of mine, and Insha'Allah reaping their rewards in this dunya, and in Aakhiria, Insha'Allah!

 

My moto each day is, as the Prophet(pbuh) adviced the Muslims; is to make sure that my two days do not become equal, so that;

 

My Today becames better than my Yesterday,

and My Tomorrow better than my Today! Insha'Allah

 

Right now, the Ideal I'm seeking is;

 

How to link my Dunya Garden to my Aakhirah Garden, meaning how can I always be in a state of cultivating my Aakhirah, even when I'm in my Worldy Garden!

 

one technique I've found very useful is to remain in a state of Dikher, Rememberance of Allah. It does not require any physical or mental effort, and its easy for the tongue and Qalb.

 

So when I'm at work, walking, exercising, I'll be saying with my Qalb,

 

Subhanallah wabihamdih, Subhanallah al-Adiim

Laa Hawla Walaa Quwati Ilaa Billah

Laa Ilaaha Ilallah

Sallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam, extra...

 

or reciting the Quraan, such as Ikhlas, Ayah Kursi, iwm...

 

Another area which takes almost 1/4th of our life, is Sleep. I have read a Hadith, i can't recall it at the moment, but It is in Sahiih Bukhaari, a Sahabi who use to make an Intention to do a good deed(pray) before he sleeps, so he would perform Wudu, and sleep, and when he wakes up he perfoms the good deed, thus His Sleep is recorded as a good deed also.

 

I've found the above strategy a very useful and wise one, Insha'Allah it will be very beneficial for those who take advantage of it!

 

So in short, Everything the Muslim does must be for the sake of Allah! so that if your eating your in a state of worship, when your earning a life, your in a state of worship. This is the Ideal we must aspire to!

 

Alhamdulilah, I'm still seeking new techniques, from the Sunnah, aswell as from other sources, each day I learn something new, a new distinction, and this has eased my discomfort of worring about regret.

 

I'm very excited and looking forward to reading what other nomads will add to this very important subject, so that I may learn something new from them, Insha'Allah!

Wa billahi Tawfiiq,

Stay in a Ni'mah State of Being!

 

ps. I would like to advice all to listen to this Khutbah:

 

Saaca-wa-Saaca: Sh Mustafa Xaaji

[-Serenity-]

The 1st post I read this morning. Salaxuddiin, you’re very inspirational and you always speak from an introspective perspective. MashaAllah. Keep it up.

 

Perhaps one of these days I’ll snap from this deep coma of worldly gains and entertaining myself.

[Dhagax-Tuur]

Asalaama calaykum....

 

There is a book re the subject written by Sheik Abd Al-Fattah Abu Guddah "Value of Time". I have been hoping to get hold of it, but haven't done so far. It may be helpful in regard to the value of time from an islamic prospective.

 

Salaams.

[Muhammad]

Originally posted by 7 of Nine:

The 1st post I read this morning.

Salaxuddiin

, you’re very inspirational and you always speak from an introspective perspective. MashaAllah. Keep it up.

 

Perhaps one of these days I’ll snap from this deep coma of worldly gains and entertaining myself.

thanks for the kind words walaal!

 

as for waking up; well i recall a famous quote, the docter once said to 7of9;

Between impulse and action there is a realm of good taste begging for your acquaintance.

 

[S.O.S]

Dear Brothers and sisters,

 

I thank everyone for their contribution to help me understand the best way to evaluate and exploit time. Our brothers (Nur and Salaaxuddin) have demonstrated to us that we are (a) required to do righteous deeds, and to achieve that (b) we are given time to fulfil these requirements. Thus we live because of that time and we are able to act due to that same time allocated to us, therefore time is life and time wasting equates life wasting.

 

The centrality of time in everything we do in this life, will be extended to the centrality of time of what we did in this world in the questioning of hereafter. The common denominator between our actions now and the final Judgment is time. From our Prophet (peace be upon him) is narrated that he said: “The feet of a servant will not move on the Day of Resurrection until he is questioned about four: about his life, how he spent it; his knowledge, what he did with it; his wealth, from where he obtained it and how he spent it; and his body, how he used it.â€

 

To guard ourselves from Allah’s wrath descending on us that Day, he (peace be upon him) warned us to “Take advantage of five things before five: your youth before your old age, your health before your illness, your wealth before your poverty, your free time before your busy time, and your life before your death.â€

 

Unfortunately it turns out to be a very difficult task to realise the importance of time in this world, so we could direct our lives accordingly on a day by day basis. That is the main reason I started this thread, because I was forgetful of that fact and wanted something to remind me of it, but also to remind it to all my brothers and sisters who shared my plight. For there is one Day where banii-aadam will fully be aware of the importance of time in this world, regretfully look back and plead with Allah: “…O Lord! Bring us out: we shall work righteousness, not the (deeds) we used to do!â€, but Allah will answer to those “Did We not give you long enough life so that he that would should receive admonition? And (moreover) the Warner came to you. So taste ye (the fruits of your deeds): for the wrongdoers there is no helper.†They will cry in vanity: “…O my Lord! Why didst Thou not give me respite for a little while? I should then have given (largely) in charity, and I should have been one of the doers of good.†(suuratul-Faatir 37 & Munaafiquun 10)

 

DEAD MAN WALKING:

 

This is phrase that most of us have come across before, which may be useful to explain the concept that I’m exploring to help me deal with time and life in general to increase my chances of avoiding The Punishments in the hereafter.

 

It all started a few days ago when I was robbed by three criminals on a peaceful morning on my way home from the masjid. They just appeared from nowhere, and despite having several belts in “Brazilian Jiu-jitsuâ€, I was intimidated enough to hand over my mobile phone and wallet. But I couldn’t pay much attention to the criminals, because my thought processing mechanism switched off and all I was left with was a deep voice coming from some consciousness previously unknown to me. It spoke not with words but with feelings. The general picture was that I would be disgrace if I faced Allah with a record like mine where the evil deeds out weighted the righteous deeds on the scale. Then came the feeling that this was not the way and the place in which I wanted to die.

 

Anyway, long after they were gone I was still standing there, unmoved by what happened and the loss of material possessions, but very deeply moved by what took place inside me and the loss of valuable time which I failed to utilise in the past. Furthermore, I was so overwhelmed by happiness for being still alive, while we know that a righteous man would value the hereafter more than this life. That reminded me of a line from a classical Arab poet, posted by brother Nur not so long ago, but also what Ibn Xaazim said to khaliif Sulaymaan bin C/Maalik when he asked him: “Why is it that we dislike death?†Ibn Xaazim ® answered him by saying: “Because you have ruined your afterlife and cultivated your worldly life, so you do not like to shift from affluence to ruin. And what a ruin it is!â€

 

That event made think in a way that I never thought of ever thinking. I wondered what would happen if I deducted all certainties in the future from the future and added to the past. My logic was, if the study of time is nothing more than one of Allah’s signatures or creations, then there should be no difference in the past and the future except in their sequences, as they are both pre-ordained under one worldly total time. Therefore our life/time can be understood with the “reverse stop-watch†theory, because if our death is certain in the future, is certain at present and always was certain in the past, then there is no reason to indulge in temporal illusions while the clock is ticking against us. So I concluded that we are already dead! How is it certain? Well, I’ve derived the concept of “dead man walking†from the revelation “kullu nafsin daaiqatul mawtâ€

 

Because I’m not always in a suitable position/situation to translate that concept from theory into practical reality, I’m asking for assistance from SOL nomads to test the usefulness of that concept, before I waste any more time pursuing fruitless course of strategies.

 

In the meantime ILLAAHAY HA NOO WADA NAXARIISTO!

WCWW

[-Serenity-]

Originally posted by Salaxuddiin:

as for waking up; well i recall a famous quote, the docter once said to 7of9;

Between impulse and action there is a realm of good taste begging for your acquaintance.

 

I find your self-expression ponderous - Seven in reply to the dr.