Category: Short Reminders

“We have time”

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

One of the biggest fitnas of our time is the idea that we still have time. Many of us are living in the delusion that we still have a long way to go until judgement day. We hear people saying “some of the signs of judgement day haven’t happened yet”. We see the youth look at those who are older and assume that because those others have lived many more years, so will they. Allah says in the Qur’an:

“Indeed, Allah [alone] has knowledge of the Hour and sends down the rain and knows what is in the wombs. And no soul perceives what it will earn tomorrow, and no soul perceives in what land it will die. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.” [31:34]

He says only He has knowledge of the “hour” – the use of this word is interesting as Allah could have said “day” but instead uses the Arabic word “sa’a”. In modern Arabic this translates to “hour” – in old Arabic they used this word as a “moment”. This is to show us that we must have a sense of urgency, as a moment is much less than a day.

The hour here represents death as every living creature and plant will pass away – Allah says He knows when everything will end and will continue to provide life-giving rain which gives birth to everything on Earth just like the womb of a mother.

Allah then reminds us that we have no idea what we will earn the next day. We hear those around us saying that they will start praying their daily prayers soon or whenever they reach a certain age – “live your life, you’re still young” – we don’t know if we can earn that tomorrow.

Judgement day may seem far away, but every single soul’s judgement starts in the grave and that can happen at any time, on any land – certainly Allah is fully aware. The fact that we are alive right now is a blessing and a chance to fix our deen, before it’s too late.

May Allah make us of those who are weary of time in all aspects of our lives.

Allah knows best.

Seeking dunya over the afterlife

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

Allah in the Qur’an speaks of those who take preference of the afterlife over the dunya and also those who wish for the opposite. He says:

“Whoever seeks the harvest of the Hereafter, We shall increase for him his harvest, and whoever seeks the harvest of this world, We shall give him thereof; but he will have no share in the Hereafter” [42:20]

The difference Allah places here is that those who seek the afterlife will be increased in their harvest, their blessing. Imagine a farmer that plants a certain number of seeds yet in harvest season, more crop appears than what he originally planted – that is how Allah wants us to see our good deeds in this world.

Yet when He talks about those who seek only the dunya, he mentions they will get a share of it, only a fraction of what they worked for. Let us remember that materialism cannot satisfy the heart so even someone chasing materialism will not gain full satisfaction and at the end of the day it’s temporary; the prophet said: “The life of this world compared to the hereafter is as if one of you were to put his finger in the ocean and take it out again then compare the water that remains on his finger to the water that remains in the ocean” [Muslim].

Then after death this kind of person will not gain any good portion of the afterlife at all.

This is a reminder for us all not to make our worldly gain our only priority. We have our responsibilities in this dunya yes, Allah mentions:

“. .but do not forget your share in this world..” [28:77]

However, letting the world take over to the point where we no longer yearn for Jannah is where the shaytan wishes to take us, because when we are no longer conscious of the afterlife, anything goes. Our good deeds will be empty and our sins will be beautified, as Allah warns us:

“Can that person be guided whose evil deeds are beautified to him that he considers them good?” [35:8]

Let us take a step back and analyse our lives. Is our everyday life merely for worldly gain? Or have we balanced it in a way where deen comes first?

Allah knows best.

How do we appreciate Allah?

Allah says in the Qur’an:

“O you who have believed, bow and prostrate and worship your Lord and do good – that you may succeed.” [22:77]

Ruku’ (bowing) and sajda (prostration) – salah is the first step to appreciating our creator. Where is our salah? How active and vigilant are we in getting out of bed? How lazy are we getting to the masjid?

When a non-Muslim who has never seen the Muslim prayer sees someone praying they realise the increase in humility throughout the prayer. We start by standing then we make ruku’, then after standing again we put our faces to the ground for the creator. The progression of salat itself teaches us that we are supposed to grow in our humility to Allah. The more humility we have the more humble we become, the more we appreciate our creator.

So what about in between the salawat?

Allah goes further, He mentions worship and doing good. We as Muslims understand that worship is more than just salah, it is an attitude. How we conduct ourselves everyday, how we walk, talk, dress, deal with others – our daily prayers are what shape these traits. Our salah is not merely a behaviour, it should have a direct effect on how we think, our attitudes to daily life.

If salah simply becomes just a form of exercise we will not see a change in our personalities. We must take a step back and review our prayer. Do we truly feel the humility or is it simply a chore?

Our salawat are the pillars that hold our day together, the foundation of a Muslim’s life. This is why we must plan our days around the salah and not the salah around our days.

May Allah make us of those who are truly appreciative of Him through the salah and our daily lives.

Allah knows best.

Seek refuge with Allah

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

Shaytan is the biggest enemy to mankind and wishes to make us all follow his path into hellfire. There is nothing that corrupts his plans more than when we obey Allah. One of the commandments of Allah is to recite Qur’an. Allah says:

“So when you recite the Qur’an, [first] seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the expelled [from His mercy].” [16:98]

Shaytan will approach when we sit and open the book of Allah, reminding us of things we may have to do or putting thoughts in our heads to derail us from pondering over Allah’s words and thus puts us off reading; this will happen every single time we try to read, even in our salah. Allah commands us to seek refuge with him from the shaytan every time we recite. Allah then follows up on this ayah:

“Indeed, there is for him no authority over those who have believed and rely upon their Lord.” [16:99]

This tells the Muslims that we should not fear shaytan, rather our belief in Allah and the words we utter as He taught us are enough to guard us. Not only to protect us from the shaytan making us lazy or put us off the Qur’an but also to make us misinterpret or turn our guidance into misguidance. Seeking refuge in Allah should not merely be a recitation but a genuine statement from our hearts to keep the shaytan away.

Allah knows best.