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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

 Nafsiya Reflections: The Opportunity in Time

Assalaam u alaykum welcome to today's episode - ‘the opportunity in Time’.

Busy, busy, busy, that’s the motto of the 21st century. We are so busy keeping up with the Facebook newsfeed, the latest Instagram activities of our friends that our whole life feels like one big snapchat!

Mothers complain- I wish I could have an extra day in the week, just for me, but they know that an extra day would just be another day of the same rushed routine and trying to fit it all in. Fathers come from work shattered and ready for some mind numbing TV.

Many of us can see our lives are running away from us. We are over scheduled and still want more because it seems to be how the world works and it is not ok to sit still for a moment.

But looking back our parents’ or grandparents generation we notice how much more they got done with less appliances and gadgets. So what has happened?!

Living in a society where self-interest is the basis for actions - leads to a situation where individuals use their time to constantly chase their own desires that are defined by a secular system. Whereby ‘happiness’ is to find the next best thing that brings self-gratification and satisfaction, and that is why we end up running around chasing this undefined goal of happiness and in the end feeling less happy and still chasing this goal!

We also find, that since the secular thinking focuses on this life alone and removes the constant link to our Creator we find some Muslims praying and doing other rituals but also so busy in life that the problems of the ummah can be ignored or just pass us by, which is sad and unfortunate.

At times we fail to link all of our life to Allah SWT and neglect our obligations and see the extra rewardable actions such as sunnah or nawafil as far beyond our reach.

Capitalism upholds the mantra to live this life to the max and does not define clearly what life's purpose is. The education systems do not address what was before this life, and what will come after it.

In the secular capitalist thought, which is the basis of our societies, this life is not linked to the Creator in any way - hence the relationship with Him is left to the individuals to discover for themselves.

The temporary nature of this life or this dunya, is ignored; and death is not a subject people want to think or talk about, because it’s considered morbid.

Is it not natural then, that we see people trying to make the most of this life? and living in the moment, with no real long-term vision for themselves? This attitude of pushing the thoughts related to the Hereafter to the back of our mind, is implanted via the education system and then further nurtured by the secular western culture.

So most people will go to bed at night, shattered from the activities of the day, without taking stock of what they achieved in that day in terms of good or bad deeds - rather it’s about ‘Gosh today was a busy day, and tomorrow I must also do ‘x, y and z’!

This is how the precious time is spent.

Allah SWT speaks about how man appreciates his own hard work. He says in Surah al-Kahf, verse 103-104, Bismillah Ir Rahman nir Raheem:

قُلْ هَلْ نُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِالْأَخْسَرِينَ أَعْمَالًا {103}
الَّذِينَ ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ يَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ يُحْسِنُونَ صُنْعًا {104}

“Say, [O Muhammad], "Shall we inform you of the greatest losers as to [their] deeds?. [They are] those whose effort is lost in worldly life, while they think that they are doing well in work."

The practice of the Sahabah (RA) is key to our discussion on ‘time’ and how we view our life and what our priorities in life should be.

The reminders about death and the Afterlife were frequent amongst the Sahabah - in an era when life was relatively difficult, the early muslims made full use of time to strengthen their relationship with Allah swt with actions that could benefit them to attain Jannah.

The whole islamic society promoted learning and advancement for the betterment of the society, and the main driving source behind this was to seek the pleasure of Allah SWT.

So how can we have a similar mindset that will produce fruitful actions where our time is working for us and not against us?

Firstly - we need to strive to reflect upon the sublime text of the Quran, and the enlightened Ahadith of Rasulallah saw. This is for the purpose of establishing the clear vision, that this life is temporary and that our ultimate abode is the Hereafter.

Secondly, the company we keep, is also key to how we view life and its priorities. We must always reflect upon our social interactions. What did we speak about? was it something that strengthened our Islamic personality? And all in all, how valuable was this time spent?

Thirdly, whatever roles we have in life, whether we are parents, married, unmarried, studying etc, we have obligations to fulfil and we need to have clear knowledge of the rights and responsibilities regarding these roles, so we can fulfil them to a good standard.

And fourthly , if we have a clear understanding of our purpose - to worship Allah by following His commands - we will see that the distractions at our disposal whether it is TV, the internet, the constant meal deals and sales can be used in serving that purpose rather than becoming the purpose of our life.

Hence, as Muslims, we need to be extra vigilant in how we spend our time and know that one day we will return to Allah and be accounted for the opportunity He gave us in this creation called ‘Time’.

Jazak Amullah khairan for joining us, until next time.

Wasalaam u alaykum wa rahmatullahee wa barakathu hu.

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