Part One
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Universe, and a blissful ending be reserved for the
pious! I thank Him (May He be extolled) and I bear witness that there is no deity worth
worshipping save Allah alone, with no associate. He is the True Sovereign and the
Unmistakable Truth! I also bear witness that our Prophet and Master Muhammad is the
Servant of Allah and His Messenger, the divine mercy revealed to the whole universe. O
Allah! Send Your Salat and Peace upon Your Servant and Messenger Muhammad and his
virtuous family! O Allah! Be pleased with all his Companions, the tabi’in (the
contemporaries of the Companions of the Prophet [May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon
him] after his death) and with all those who follow them in righteousness until the Day of
Judgement!
Now then,
O servants of Allah! Adhere to taqwa (fear of disobeying Allah), and make yourselves
ready with the best of provisions for the Day of the Encounter. Do not yield to the
temptations of base life in the herein, and never let the chief deceiver and arrogant Satan
deceive you about Allah.1
1 This statement is drawn from the following Qur’ānic Verse: … let not then this (worldly) present life
deceive you, nor let the chief deceiver (Satan) deceive you about Allâh. [Luqmān: 33]
٢
O servants of Allah!
Indeed, life is replete with momentous events which overwhelm some people to the
point that they become so engulfed in them that they do not feel obliged to show gratefulness
to the source of all bounty. Therefore, they fail to show profuse gratitude to Allah for His
manifest favours, abundant bounties, and innumerable graces:
And if you would count the graces of Allâh, never could you be able
to count them. Truly! Allâh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. [Al-Naḥl:
18]
Such devastating incidents also tend to distract those people from their duties towards
their fellow Muslim brothers and sisters and their fellow citizens. For instance, they forget to
perform good deeds to benefit other people, show gratitude, contribute to eradicating misery,
take part in chasing away the nightmarish afflictions befalling those longing for any form of
support and commiserate with the distressed; such commiseration which depicts sympathy,
brotherhood, and true loyalty in its most beautiful manifestations.
It is worth pointing out that the incidents overwhelming the very existence of certain
people and distract from performing their duties do not have the same psychological impact
on them. Poverty, illness, fatal disasters, and grave tragedies as those seen in blood-spattering
conflicts and devastating turmoil exemplify the unpredictable incidents which might befall
people unawares and consequently distract their attention from their duties, prevent them
from accomplishing any positive mission, dissipate their time, and lead them to experience
the futility of life.
Furthermore, if there is a category of people whose life is submerged in routine
incidents distracting them from the performance of their duties towards their Lord (Allah),
towards themselves and their own community, there is equally another category of people –
perhaps the majority− who are immune from such afflictions. On the contrary, they enjoy
sound sleep, sound health, unfailing fortune, total bliss, life comfort, tranquil mind, safety
from afflictions, and leisure time unspoiled by strenuous worries about increasing their
earnings to face family expenditures, and uncorrupted by sudden negative changes in life
conditions.
This category of people should be fully aware of these blessings and graces bestowed
upon them by Allah and must accordingly show gratitude to the source of such endowments.
They can express gratitude through optimal use of the time during which they enjoy sound
health, free time, absence of obstacles and discomfort. Otherwise, they would be the ultimate
losers who expect afflictions to befall them at any time, and would probably be the people
meant in the hadith of the Prophet of Guidance (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him)
when he drew the Ummah’s attention to two irremediable misfortunes and irreparable errors
by saying, “There are two blessings in which many people incur loss: sound health and
٣
leisure time.” [Reported by Imam Bukhari in his Sahîh, as narrated by Ibn Abbās (May Allah
be pleased with him and his father)]
Gubn (in Arabic) means lack of something or too little of it; no one will keep it in
mind unless he is naive or has illusions; for man's nature always motivates him to gain
benefits in every field and pursue his strife in competition without idleness.
So, if there are some people who persist in not seizing such opportunities and
continue to live their carefree days of inactivity, relinquishing thus their major source of
gaining reward, they could only be feeble-minded fellows who cannot perceive where their
interest lies.
There is yet another group of people whose feeble-mindedness and set of
misconceptions lead them to totally dissipate the gains they have acquired and the advantages
they have been endowed with. They can neither draw any benefit from such privileges, nor
can they perform any action to perpetuate their enjoyment thereof. They are unable to take
pleasure in cheerful life while preserving the above-mentioned benefits endowed by Allah.
Servants of Allah! There is no greater gain, better blessing, or higher profit than the
enjoyment of sound health, just like an encompassing and hard-wearing costume which is
neither unstitched nor ripped apart. This is why it would stand to reason, for anyone upon
whom Allah has bestowed the blessing of sound health (just like an encompassing outfit) to
take care of it. The ways of attending to such a divine gift are numerous but converge towards
the same ultimate purpose. It namely consists in showing gratitude to the source of blessing
through obedience to Him, making maximum effort to use it properly, taking advantage of
youth through taking good initiatives, restraining one’s caprices and impermissible desires,
and abstaining from volatile behaviour. All the foregoing acts embody the idea of gratitude
due to be expressed to Allah in order to seek a prolonged enjoyment of blessings and a
sustained delight in sound health:
And (remember) when your Lord proclaimed: "If you give thanks
(by accepting Faith and worshipping none but Allâh), I will give you
more (of My Blessings), but if you are thankless (i.e. disbelievers),
verily! My Punishment is indeed severe." [Ibrahim: 7]
Quite certainly, and just like any other mortal entity predestined to extinction, the
blessing of health is liable to frailty and enervation due to constant exposure to affliction,
degeneration, and malady. Therefore, all those who fail to perceive this ultimate truth and
persist in squandering the prime of life and sound health will only reap irreparable and
grievous loss. Indeed, by getting totally engulfed in the distracting pleasures of life, immersed
in its forbidden desires and aspirations, oblivious of the moment of abrupt transition in life
conditions, negligent of the instant of relapse into degenerative old age –when one
experiences physical feebleness and succumbs to some irreparable physiological deterioration
bordering senility− one is simply engaged in a process of self-destruction. He has never got
٤
himself ready for hard times when, owing to degenerating physiological conditions and
generalised physical frailty, he literally loses the capacity even to perform his religious
observances.
There is still another group of people who share the same risk of loss with the
previous one. They share the common denominator of feeble-mindedness and oblique or
devious thinking. In fact, Allah bestowed on these people the blessing of free time. More
concretely, their time is free from all types of unnecessary worries that might spoil their lives,
bearing in mind that only a few people can enjoy this blessing and consequently experience
total happiness in a problem-free ambience.
This is mainly because enjoying the blessing of free time is conditional upon having
enough personal income, optimal safety, and property. As to sufficiency in terms of personal
income, it represents the main guarantee for not having one’s free time eaten out by strenuous
labouring for earning a living. Concerning safety, it includes the believer’s securing his
earnings against external danger and also procuring an amount of money for a rainy day.
Safety equally involves the inviolability of one’s bodily integrity so as to avoid be
preoccupied by potential afflictions or disasters befalling and destabilising peaceful people.
Thus, once a person enjoys safety regarding his source of personal income, his
property, and his physical wellbeing, he will have fully benefited from the blessing of free
time. Accordingly, he will be invited to give the necessary importance to such a blessing by
trying hard to take maximum advantage of it in order to enjoy its fruit in his current as well as
future life.
As there are more obligations than time to carry them out, the Messenger of Allah
(May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) instructed us to seize those opportunities that
could turn out to be quite beneficial once we choose to take them. In this context, he once
said to a man advising him: “Take benefit of five before five: Your youth before your old
age, your health before your sickness, your wealth before your poverty, your free time
before you are preoccupied, and your life before your death.” [Reported, with an authentic
chain of narration, by Al-Hākim in his Mustadrak2]
This hadith –O servants of Allah– bears reference to the fact that the favour of free
time, just like health or any other favour, is prone to demise and serious wrongdoing unless it
is exploited in a way that yields great benefit, widespread prosperity, good effect and positive
outcome. This includes, first and foremost, acts of piety and worship and utilizing one’s free
time in what would benefit people in the Herein and the Hereafter.
2 Al-Mustadrak is a five volume hadith collection (containing 9045 hadiths) compiled by Abu Abdullah Al-
Hakim Nishapuri. The book’s full title is Al-Mustadrak alaa al-Sahihain ( المستدرك على الصحیحین ); He claimed that
all the hadiths contained therein were authentic according to the conditions of either Sahih Al-Bukhari or Sahih
Muslim or both.
٥
May Allah benefit you and me with His Book's guidance, the Sunnah of His Prophet
(May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him)! This being said, I ask Allah, the Almighty, the
Exalted to forgive my sins, yours and those of all Muslims; He is truly Oft-Forgiving, Most
Merciful!
٦
Part Two
Praise be to Allah, the Defender of the righteous! I praise Him, the Almighty, and I
bear witness that there is no deity but Allah Alone, with no associate and that He is the
Cherisher of the believers. I also bear witness that our Master and Prophet, Muhammad, is
His servant and Messenger, the leader of all the Messengers and the seal of all the Prophets.
O Allah, send Your Salat (Graces, Honours, Mercy) and Peace upon Your Servant and
Messenger, Muhammad, his immaculate family and kind Companions, the tabi'īn (the
contemporaries of the Companions of the Prophet [May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon
him] after his death), and all those who follow them in righteousness till Judgement Day.
Now then, O servants of Allah!
In contrast to such practice, that is utilizing one’s free time and making use of it, some
people take a different stand as they choose to adopt the notion of “time killing” in this
regard. This amounts to filling their time with frivolous deeds and what they believe to be
innocent amusement that would bring upon them no burden or sin. In effect, some of them
might spend much of their time playing a game they wish to win so that they can feel the
sense of grandeur as though they have conquered a country or somehow carried the day. They
might also stay up all night undertaking trivial and disgraceful deeds or saying unbecoming
words.
More often than not, precious time, whether by day or night, is thus wasted,
particularly those early morning times which are made to be the brightest and the most
blessed times as gratification for the Prophet (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) in
response to his supplication: “O Allah, bless my people in their early mornings."
Such infringement could spill over into dereliction of obligation by sleeping through
early morning (fajr) prayer. Hence the burden becomes twofold and the situation much more
serious: it is the burden of wasting precious time coupled with that of mindlessly and lazily
failing to fulfill the prayer obligation. What an infraction! What a loss!
Therefore, fear Allah –O servants of Allah– and bear in mind that time constitutes the
days of man’s life and that it is the most precious of all that is worthy of his attention and
care. Every single moment along with every single breath is to be counted and calculated.
Man is held accountable for every single deed no matter how petty. As narrated in the hadith
that is reported by Al-Tirmidhi in his Al-Jami’3 and authenticated by Abu Barzah Al-Aslami4
3 Jami` al-Tirmidhi: It contains 3,956 hadiths, and has been divided into fifty chapters. It is also classified as a
Sunan, which implies that the book has been divided according to legal chapters, such as Purification, Prayer,
Poor-due and Fasting.
4 One of the Prophet’s Companions
٧
‒may Allah be pleased with him– who reported the Messenger of Allah (May Allah’s Salat
and Peace be upon him) to have said: "No man will be able to move his feet on the Day of
Resurrection before he is asked about his life, how he consumed it, his knowledge, what he
did with it, his wealth, how he earned it and how he disposed of it, and about his body how
he wore it out."
Al-Bayhaqi –may Allah bless his soul– narrated a hadith related by Mu’ādh Ibn Jabal
–may Allah be pleased with him– that the Prophet (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon
him) said: "The feet of the son of Adam shall not move from before his Lord on the Day of
Judgement until he is asked about five things: his life and what he did with it, his youth
and what he dedicated it for, his wealth and how he earned and spent it, and his knowledge
and what he did with it."
Therefore –O servants of Allah– it is only rational to think of one’s lifetime as an
opportunity not to be missed and to use one’s free time as a savings account of good deeds
for the Resurrection Day. Otherwise, wasting one’s lifetime would be manifest loss and deep
regret, when regret is of no avail.
Ask Allah to send His Salat (Graces, Honours and Mercy) and Peace on the Seal of
the Messengers, for you were commanded to do so in Allah’s Book (the Qur’ān) thus:
Allâh sends His Salât (Graces, Honours, Blessings, Mercy) on the
Prophet (Muhammad صلى لله علیھ وسلم ), and also His angels (ask Allâh to
bless and forgive him). O you who believe! Send your Salât[1] on
(ask Allâh to bless) him (Muhammad صلى لله علیھ وسلم ), and (you
should) greet (salute) him with the Islâmic way of greeting
(salutation i.e. As-Salâmu ‘Alaikum. [Al-Ahzāb: 56]
O Allah! Send Your Salat (Graces, Honours and Mercy) and Peace on Your Servant
and Messenger, Muhammad. O Allah! Be pleased with his Four Caliphs: Abu Bakr, Omar,
Othman and Ali, with all his family, his Companions, the tabi'in, and those who follow them
righteously until the Day of Resurrection! O Allah! We implore You to be pleased with us
all, along with them, by Your Pardon, Generosity and Bounty, O You, the Most Generous
and Bounteous of all!
O Allah! Grant glory to Islam and Muslims! O Allah! Grant glory to Islam and
Muslims! O Allah! Grant glory to Islam and Muslims! And protect the unity of Your
Religion! Destroy the enemies of Your religion and all despots and corrupters! Unite the
hearts of Muslims and unify them, guide their leaders and unite their word on the Truth, O
You, Lord of al-'ālamîn (the Worlds)!
٨
O Allah! Grant victory to Your religion, Your Book, the Sunnah of Your Prophet
Muhammad (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) and Your believing, mujahideen and
truthful servants!
O Allah! Grant us security in our homelands, make good our leaders and those
responsible for our affairs, support with truth our Imam and leader, provide him with a
righteous retinue and guide him to do whatever you love and accept! O You, the All-Hearing
of our prayers! O Allah! Guide him, his Crown Prince and his brothers to do what is good for
Islam, for the country and for the people! O You to Whom people shall return on the Day of
Resurrection!
O Allah! Protect us against Your enemies and ours in any way that pleases You! O
Allah! Protect us against Your enemies and ours in any way that pleases You! O Allah!
Protect us against Your enemies and ours in any way that pleases You! O Allah! We leave
Your enemies and ours to You (to deal with them) and seek refuge in You from their evils!
We leave Your enemies and ours to You and seek refuge in You from their evils!
O Allah! Grant our souls piety and purify them; You are the best Who Purifies them!
You are their owner and Lord.
O Allah! Make good all our last deeds (just before we die)! Save us from the disgrace
of this Worldly life and the punishment of the Hereafter!
O Allah! Make better our religion which is our bond, and make better our Dunya (life
in this world) which is the source of our living, and make better our Hereafter to which we
are returning, and make life an increase of everything that is good, and death a relief from
every evil!
O Allah! Protect Muslims in all their homelands! O Allah! Protect Muslims in all their
homelands! O Allah! Safeguard their blood! O Allah! Safeguard their blood, their honour and
their material possessions and reconcile their differences! O Allah! Protect us and them
against the evil of Fitnahs (temptations)! O Allah! Protect us and them against the evil of
Fitnahs, those of them which are apparent and those which are concealed! O Allah! Protect
Muslims in all their homelands, O Lord of al-'ālamîn!
O Allah! Cure those of us who are sick, have mercy on our dead, and help us fulfil our
hopes in accordance with what you please!
Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You forgive us not, and
bestow not upon us Your Mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers.
[Al-A'rāf: 23]
٩
… Our Lord! Give us in this world that which is good and in the
Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the torment of the
Fire! [Al-Baqarah: 201]
May Allah send His Salat (Graces, Honours, Mercy) and Peace on His Servant and
Messenger, our Prophet, Muhammad, on his family and all of his Companions, and all praise
be to Allah, the Lord of al-'ālamîn!
