05-08-2006, 04:41 AM
"Your Time is Your Life"
- extracts from Amr Khaled
Do you understand how precious time is? Muslim scholars appreciated their time
long before the West ever did, & this is how they achieved their revival. Their
sayings and practices bear testimony to this.
Ibn Mas`ud:
I never regretted anything except a day that passed by without having increased
my deeds.
Al-Hasan Al-Basri:
Every day the sun rises it calls upon us, "O people! I am a new day; I am an
observer of your actions. Take advantage of me for I will not return until the
Day of Judgment. O son of Adam, you are nothing but a few breaths. Once one
breath goes out, part of you goes with it. In the same way that part of you has
gone, soon all of you will go."
Ibn Al-Qayyim:
Every gulp of air that goes out in a cause other than the cause of Allah will
turn to sorrow & regret on the Day of Judgment.
A sign that Allah despises you is when you find yourself wasting your time with
trivial matters; in this way you miss your chance of going to Heaven. A sign
that Allah likes you is when you find yourself fulfilling more duties than you
have time for.
The devil makes work for idle thumbs. If you want to know whether Allah is
pleased with you, then think: Are you busy or idle?
Al-Muhasiby:
I wish that time could be acquired with money. If so, I would buy time from
wasteful and ungrateful people so that I could spend it serving Allah.
You should know where your time goes. When you do have extra time, don't waste
it - watching one soccer game is enough. You needn't watch six.
Abu-Yusuf, a prominent student of Abu Hanifah, once said, "Abu Hanifah was on
his deathbed when he asked for a paper and a pencil to solve a problem in
jurisprudence, saying, `If I have but one instant to live, I would spend it
doing something that pleases Allah.'"
We waste a great deal of time: For 8 hours we sleep & another 8 we use for meals
& personal needs. That's 2/3's wasted, & the remaining 1/3 is where productivity
can be achieved. Imagine that every breath you take is stored away in a locker and
that on the Day of Judgment these lockers will be opened. Can you see them
empty? Or do you see them full of service, help, invention, and worship? Picture
someone throwing $100,000 in the sea; he would be considered crazy. You do the
same if you waste your time, for your greatest assets are your breaths in this
limited life.
Now, are you ready for change or is it all talk & no commitment? Are you willing
to make adjustments to your time? If you are truly ready, here are some details
that will help you to organize your time:
1. Every day write down in a daily planner what you are planning to do the next
day.
2. Focus on your work & don't stop without reason. Time gets wasted because of
all the interruptions. Press hard on yourself & you will notice a great increase
in productivity.
3. Cut down on your sleeping hours; even an hour a day will add up to 365 hours
a year. You can use this time benificially.
4. Stay away from idle and careless people.
5. Do things in parallel; for example, while waiting at the doctor's office or
traveling on the bus, read a book. Instead of wasting your time waiting, take
advantage of that time and do something productive. A great example is Ibn
Al-Qayyim, who wrote his famous book Zad al-M`ad during his journey to Makkah
for Hajj.
6. Be cautious of all the free time you have; use it wisely.
7. Every night, ask yourself what you have accomplished that day, and soon you
will be thrilled with your results.
Finally, never forget that you can't utilize your time wisely unless you have a
goal in life.
When you do, you will be vigilant with your time and you will be able to divide
it so you can achieve your goal efficiently
