Mankind Is In Loss

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

I was sitting in my apartment with my sons entertaining a guest when suddenly we heard a huge commotion of cars with very loud music, honking in front of my apartment building, and the sound of gunfire. This was at 'Asr time. We were not sure what was going on, so we looked outside."

There were several cars that parked in the middle of the street with music coming out off their cars and the music became louder and louder. I went outside to quiet them down. It was so loud that I felt like I was hit by an earthquake. They turned the music off when I asked them to do so politely.

But as soon as I went back inside they started the music again. So I went back outside again to ask them to turn it off but to my disgust, a bunch of guys in suits were dancing on the street. So I walked away. All my neighbors were watching what was going on off their balconies. I looked up and asked them to do something. One of my neighbors said they were announcing a wedding to the people and that, the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said you should announce your marriage. I said, "Yes, but not in a haram way! And how sad they are starting their beginning with haram and annoying the neighbors."

Our life is like a business. Our capital is limited to our life span. Like any business the aim is to maximize the return in our investment. We can profit, break even or even lose all our capital. It all depends on how we use our capital.

There are people who will squander their capital, so these people will suffer huge deficits at the end of the day. There are people who are ignorant about business and refuse to learn, so these people will lose their capital. There are people who know something about business, and they might lose some of the capital, break even or make a small profit. But there some people who have sound business knowledge and practice and they use their capital wisely and these are the people who will succeed in their business and make huge profits. The latter are those who do not waste time, very focused, and they keep improving their business.

We are already in this container called "Loss" except those who believe and do good works and counsel each other to Truth and counsel each other to patience (patience in our worship of Allah, patience in avoiding disobedience of Allah and patience in facing adversities and disliked matters).

No matter how much you do, how good you are, how knowledgeable you are and how pious you are, there are still much more that we can do for our Hereafter. There is always a better fast, a better prayer, a better charity, a better du'a. If you don't do that extra, you are missing out on the greater profit (higher reward) i.e. you are losing the extra profit that you could have made.

So, don't just pray the 5 prescribed prayers, pray the sunnah before and after as well. Don't just fast in Ramadhan, fast the sunnah Mondays and Thursdays, etc. Don't just give charity in Ramadhan or suffice giving out a few dollars a month, give at other times as well and give more. If you see someone in distress or grieving, this is your chance to reap huge profits. Try to help them even with supportive and encouraging words. You will make them happy. Bringing happiness to the heart of others will give you great return in the Day in Judgment, "the Day a man will flee from his brother and his mother and his father and his wife and his children" (Qur'an 'Abasa 80:34-36) If you see someone disobeying Allah, try to help them leave the disobedience.

For sure, you don't violate people's rights as doing so can bankrupt you in the Day of Judgment. For example, don't spy on your fellow Muslims, or backbite and slander people, or cheat people or take their property with their permission, or pollute their air space with your second hand smoke, or disturb your neighbors with your loud parties and loud music.

Smile more for the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "Smiling is charity." I don't normally smile at strangers, but the other day I remembered this hadith, and I smiled at the lady who was standing in front of me. And she smiled back with a big smile. At that moment, something uneasy that veiled my heart left me. SubhanAllah.

Allah says,

بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
وَالْعَصْرِ ﴿١﴾ إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ ﴿٢﴾ إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ ﴿٣

By 'Asr (time, afternoon), indeed, mankind is in loss, Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience.
(Qur'an 'Asr 103:1)

And Allah alone gives success. May Allah give us tawfiq. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. JazakAllahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam