Making Best Use of Time

Transcript of the Khatira delivered by Dr. Munawar Haque on Dec 8, 2018

الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين

Brothers and sisters! Are we making the best use of time in this life? Are we fulfilling both our religious and worldly responsibilities? Are we even conscious about how we are using our time? These are some of the questions we should be asking ourselves to make best use of our time and to get most from our lives. This is crucial because we have at best only a few years to live. Considering the various phases of our lives individually, the available time may be even shorter. Will we do things differently if we knew how much remaining time we had in this life? What if our remaining time is very little? Each heart beat taken draws a person nearer to his or her grave. This is the reality of time allotted to each one of us.  Imam Hasan al-Basri used to say, 'O Man, your life comprises of a few breaths that can be counted. With every breath that you draw, a part of your existence has diminished!'

In today’s khatira, I want to share some thoughts with you about making best use of time. We ought to know that time is one of the most valuable assets that we have. The wise people make use of this asset carefully and sensibly. Surat al-‘Asr begins with Allah (SWT) swearing by the time. The first verse says Wal-'Asr, which has been variously translated as ‘by the time, ‘by the flight of time’, ‘by the passage of time’, ‘by the time through the ages’, and so on. All these expressions show time to be something that is fleeting; that is running out. The word 'Asr refers to time that passes swiftly.

In a beautiful hadith, our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW) advised us to take advantage of five things before five, before time takes them away from us. The hadith says, “Seize the opportunity of five before five: your youth before your old age, your health before your sickness, your wealth before your poverty, your free-time before your preoccupation, and your life before your death.”

The reality is that our lives are too busy and our daily routines too engaging. Nevertheless, we must pause to assess what we are earning or what opportunities we are missing, as the time allotted to each one of us keeps shrinking.

One of the ways to ensure that we use our remaining time in this life effectively is to be mindful of our purpose in this life. As Muslims, we believe that Allah not only created mankind but clarified their purpose of being here in this world. Questions related to the purpose and meaning of life has engaged philosophers for centuries. The foundation of our religious beliefs does away with the need to get entangled in the philosophical implications of this topic. Islamic principles make it clear that Allah created life. Allah created this universe and the rules that embody it. And the purpose of life is to worship, obey and submit to Him without associating anyone or anything with Him.

Amongst the many verses in the Qur’an that make reference to this, let us consider just two of them. In Surat al-Dhariyat, Allah says, “And I did not create the jinn and mankind except that they should worship and obey Me” (al-Dhariyat, 51:56). And in Surat al-Mu’minun, Allah says, “Do you think that We created you without any purpose and that you would not be brought back to Us?” (al-Mu’minun 23:115)

Needless to explain, a sense of purpose can help in reconciling the many complex questions and issues that aren’t always that easy for us to comprehend. It helps to instill the energy that we need to keep moving irrespective of the challenges that we face and to adhere to a system of living that we believe was designed by the Creator for His creation.

We should become more action oriented. Declaring faith without translating it into good actions is meaningless. Admonishing the believers in Surat al-Saff to put their words into practice, Allah says, “O you who believe, why do you say what you do not do. It is most hateful to Allah that you say what you do no do.” (al-Saff, 61: 2-3)

There are numerous verses in the Quran where the mention of faith is coupled with the need to do righteous deeds. We will be judged on what we do. Our faith is incomplete without us following it up with good actions. What is it that prevents us from taking action or from failing to accomplish enough? We should ask ourselves if we could have accomplished more by this time in our lives. As it turns out, many of us fall victims to procrastination. We wish to do something; we make plans, but very often lack the discipline or the courage to act. The result is that time passes without us accomplishing much or not as much as we could have achieved. Refocusing to become more action oriented will help us in accomplishing more thus making our lives more fulfilling.

We should not concern ourselves with unnecessary matters. A hadith tells us, “From the perfection of a person’s Islam is that he leaves alone that which does not concern him.”

Today, we find ourselves exposed to a wide range of information outlets waiting to distract us from key priorities. Sunk in the satellite TV, the internet, the smart phones, and various other forms of social media network, we can end up wasting useful time by soaking our minds with information that we usually can do without. While a lot of such information may satisfy our curiosities and habits of gossip, they take up valuable time and drain our energies. Indeed, we’ll be lucky if after wasting time on the various media channels, we come out without committing any sin by watching lewd and obscene images or listening to vulgar music or both. We must become selective in using modern techniques and equipments of science and technology based on what benefits us. The Prophet (SAW) used to make a du’a: “O Allah! Benefit me with what you taught me and teach me what will benefit me, and provide me with knowledge that will benefit me.”

Brothers and sisters! Don’t forget the constant remembrance of Allah. Many of us make the mistake of taking advice about remembering Allah as merely a spiritual one and seeing no connection with the real world. Instead, we should remind ourselves that our success in this life related to our work, our earnings, our family, our health and all other aspects of life is tied to the remembrance of Allah, both in our prayers as well as at other times during the day.

Consider what Allah tells us in Surat al-Jumu’ah, “And seek the bounty of Allah, and remember Allah much, that you may be successful” (al-Jumu’ah, 62:10). And listen to what Allah tells us Surat al-Munafiqun, “O you who believe! Do not let your wealth or your children distract you from remembrance of Allah.  Those who do so will be the losers” (al-Munafiqun, 63:9)

In a hadith, the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: “Should I not inform you of the best of deeds, and the most sanctifying of deeds before your Lord, which does more to raise your positions (with Him), and is better for you than the disbursement of gold and money, or battle with the enemy?” The companions said: “Indeed inform us.” He (SAW) then said: “Remembrance of Allah.” 

Taking the time to pause and reassess of how we use our time can help us refocus, reprioritize and reenergize. It can also prevent us from going to extremes where we focus on certain priorities of life more than others. It is thus time to reflect on these principles in our actions and accomplishments. Brothers and sisters! I am not preaching. I am only inviting myself and you to reflect individually and collectively as to how to make best use of the precious gift of time given to us. We have got to strive to change ourselves for the better. Does not the Qur’an say “Allah does not change the condition of a people unless they change what is in themselves” (al-Ra’d, 13:11).

May Allah give us the tawfiq to make best use of the precious gift of time given to each one of us. Allahumma Amin.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

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