Quran Academy

“I have no time!”

“How do people accomplish so much in 24 hours?”

Have you ever wondered or uttered such sentences? As humans, we have a natural tendency to value money, relationships, wealth and other worldly goods, but there is one asset which the rich and poor, the young and old, the healthy and sick have equal access to, but we don’t even know a treasure like this exists in front of us.

Any guesses as to what this asset could be…

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It’s TIME.

No, really!

You need to look at time as the most expensive form of currency that ever exists. When used correctly, your time can turn out to be your biggest superpower, a currency that can actually land you a place in Jannah…maybe even Jannatul Firdous al ala – the highest place in Jannah. But free time is something so many of us take for granted, which is why we need to ponder upon Surah Asr.

Surah Asr is the 103rd surah in the Quran and one of the smallest Surahs revealed to us. In three verses, Allah talks about how a person can either achieve success or ruin himself by failing. So, who are those people who are successful? And what does man lose? Let’ see here.

This Surah starts with an oath. Allah takes an oath with time and says that mankind, in general, is at loss. Hmm…interesting. So why are we at loss? What are we losing? How could we be losing when we are busy with our day-to-day activities serving ourselves and our families?

“A simple translation for the word asr is time. However, asr has a much deeper meaning than another Arabic word meaning time, dahr. Dahr means time with no limits placed upon it. Asr on the other hand means time that is limited; time that will come to an end. At a linguistic level, one of the meanings of asr is something that is pressed or squeezed. Allah is swearing an oath by time, a time that is limited, a time that will end and a time that must be squeezed or pressed so that we, humankind, get as much from our limited time as possible.”

Mohammad Shafi says,” The struggle of human beings is like one who is trying to sell ice. Ice melts away, so the quicker he sells, the more money he makes.’

Who is at loss?

With each second that ticks, time is slipping away from your hands and you are one step closer to leaving this dunya. Imagine if you’ve been given 2 minutes to evacuate a building that’s on fire…what would your state of mind be?

Would you be thinking about taking a perfect selfie or watching the latest YouTube video, or…..you get the drift, yeah?

Well, in this Surah, Allah swears by Asr and says time that is running away from you, it’s a state of emergency, it’s leaving you at this very moment…so what would a man knowing he has very limited time of earth do?

More good deeds?
Stay away from inconsequential matters?
Pray more?

Wouldn’t you be doing whatever is within your means to make the most of this life before you reach your grave?

We often think of death as something that’s far off…but the Angel of Death could be standing right behind you, waiting to take your soul away. What would you regret most during those final moments?

“I wish I had prayed more.”

“I wish I had given more in charity.”

“I wish I had I has not been rude to my parents/ spouse/children, etc.”

“I wish I had read more Quran or indulged in more isthighfar?”

You see, we live on this planet thinking we have loads of time in our hands and every other good deed can wait, but you know what…time waits for no one, which is why Allah says by time, man is at loss. Every moment lost in not doing beneficial deeds makes you a loser in one way or another.

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So who are the successful?

“Those who believe, do good deeds and encourage each other towards truth”

See, it is very easy to indulge in gossip or spread lies about someone or something. With the advent of social media, we have a huge influx of “news” that’s constantly drowning our newsfeed 24/7. But here’s the reality: not everything we read or hear is true. We need to filter out what is not relevant and simply ignore those that revolve around suspicions.

Before jumping into the faults of others, let us assess our own shortcomings and rectify them. Imagine spending some time in doing isthighfar, dhikr or productive deeds. Just imagine the amount of goodness you would have collected in this dunya, to be presented on the Day of Judgment.

I know it’s hard to not get sucked into gossip and read/listen to juicy news, but sit back and think how this is going to be helpful for you 5 years from now? How is this going to be of any benefit even 5 days from now? So…stick to the truth no matter how difficult it gets.

How’s your investment?

Man is always running out of time, so why would a person looking for a profitable business invest his time and efforts in something that does not benefit him in dunya or akhirah? A smart Muslim knows that his time is precious and priceless. He will not spend it on things that bring no benefit to him in deen or dunya.

Look at how the sahabas went around in collecting good deeds like there was no tomorrow. They were not your average Muslims. They strived to be extraordinary…and you know what…you and I can be like them too….if only we live the verses of the Quran rather than just merely reciting them. The Sahabas were people like you and me who knew their weaknesses and strived to rectify them. They knew their strengths and used them to benefit their dunya and akhira. They knew how to please Allah and they went ahead to follow up their knowledge with action. Their imaan levels fluctuated just like yours and mine but they didn’t stay in that state for too long…they got back up and strived with increased vigor to please Allah. You can be like them too!

Those who have Sabr

“ To recommend one another to sabr is the fourth trait and establishing a commitment to haqq would not be possible without sabr. Being steadfast in following the commandments of Allah requires patience, staying away from sins requires patience, and not despairing in times of calamities requires patience. Ibnul Qayyim explained that having sabr meant having the ability to stop ourselves from despairing, to refrain from complaining, and to control ourselves in times of sadness and worry.”

It is easy to lose our cool, go away from the straight path or drown ourselves in difficulties when the going gets tough. Sometimes, it becomes difficult to even get up and pray, but if you are looking at long term success (Jannah), you won’t let the obstacles of this dunya stop you from achieving a nearness to your Lord, a closeness that can only be achieved with pure sabr.

So, whenever you feel you are falling short, remind yourself of this verse, and seize the moment, because the moment time slips from your hand, there is no way you are getting it back. May Allah make all of us successful in dunya and akhirah. Ameen

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