Staying Young

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

There are only two secrets to staying young--being happy and achieving success.

Being happy has nothing to do with having worldly things. Happiness is a sweetness that Allah Almighty places in people's heart. Happiness comes about when you have a purpose in life. And that purpose is closeness to Allah. Seek the good in this life. By that it means seek those things which facilitates for us the eternal good of the next life.

Achieving success: Only Allah Almighty gives success. Therefore, in order to achieve success, you have to do what Allah wants, not what you want. Our guide is the Qur'an and the Sunnah.

Everybody think that they have a life because they are busy doing things but we have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it. There is a big difference between the living and the dead--the one who remembers Allah (he is living) and the one who does not (he is dead).

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

The difference between the one who makes dhikr (remembrance of Allah) and the one who doesn't make dhikr is like the difference between the living and the dead.

[Bukhari]

Growing older is mandatory but growing up is optional.

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

Allah has not created a disease except that He has created a cure for it; except for a single disease: old age.

[Tirmidhi]

There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are 21 and lie in bed for a full year and don't pray and don't fast and don't take care of your obligations, you will turn 22. If you are 80 and lie in bed for a full year and never pray and never fast and neglect your responsibilities, you will turn 81.

The idea of growing up is by about seizing the opportunity to change and transform. Everything will change eventually. It always does, even if things aren't changing. Don't be afraid of change. And if you are, then you are stunting your growth.

We will eventually turn back into dust in our graves. That's the way life goes. But believers know they will one day be brought before Allah to be judged about everything they did in this life and every single action will be displayed to them.

Allah Almighty says,

يَوْمَئِذٍ يَصْدُرُ ٱلنَّاسُ أَشْتَاتًا لِّيُرَوْا۟ أَعْمَـٰلَهُمْ ﴿٦﴾ فَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُۥ ﴿٧﴾ وَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَرَهُۥ ﴿٨

That Day, the people will depart separated [into categories] to be shown [the result of] their deeds. (6) So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it, (7) And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it. (8)

[Qur'an Al-Zalzala/The Earthquake 99:6-8]

We have to make the choice--to change or not to change. If things aren't working for you, change. We need to put the religion into action. The old people usually don't have regrets for what they did, but rather they regret for things they did not do. So, don't wait till you are 81 to repent, pray, fast, go to hajj and so on. You might not live to that age.

Seize the moment. Take advantage of the five before five. Take advantage of the five before five. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

Take advantage of five matters before five other matters: your youth, before you become old; and your health, before you fall sick; and your richness, before you become poor; and your free time before you become busy; and your life, before your death.

[Hakim]

Lao Tzu said an inspiring thing: If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the moment.

Be present, focus on the day you have, and know that even in hard times the longest day is only 24 hours. Don't worry about anything. It will all pass. Use the present to work for your hereafter, and don’t let this chance pass you by— you don’t know if there will be a tomorrow. Thank Allah for the moment and say Alhamdulillah.

Say sorry when you do something wrong. Don’t let negative emotions pile up. Make decisions as soon as possible. Accept that people and situations are imperfect and try to let go of things you can’t change.

Stay young and follow the straight path. Keep growing and you will stay young.

May Allah grant us good health and righteous deeds and make us die in La ilaha illa Allah إله إلا الله‎,لا (there is no god except Allah). Ameen.

Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam