Bismillah
The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was given the most succinct and the most blessed of all speech. Every single phrase that he uttered carries profound meanings behind it. The speech might be succinct, but the benefits and the blessings that can be derived from them are innumerable.
One of the hadiths that are comprehensive in nature, is the hadith of ibn Abbas radi Allahu anhu. In this hadith the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said to a man while he was advising him:
"Take advantage of five matters before five other matters: your youth, before you become old; and your health, before you fall sick; and your wealth, before you become poor; and your free time before you become busy; and your life, before your death."
What are these five things?
#1: Take Advantage of Your Youth Before Your Old Age
Youthfulness is a time when a person is the most energetic with high aspiration. It is when we lay out the foundations for our future, when we plan our life. The enthusiasm and energy that you have been blessed with will never again be given to you after this age. Therefore, the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said to seize the moment and take advantage of it. When we plan for our future, we study, go to college, get a job, get married, have kids and all that. This is well and good. At the same time, we should exercise this energy for the sake of Allah by procuring knowledge of Allah, obtaining halal sustenance, doing good for the society, taking care of the environment, worshipping Allah through acts that you might not be able to do later on in life.
#2: Take Advantage of Your Health, Before You Fall Sick
The second of the five matters is, "your health, before you fall sick." The fact that one lives a normal life and is not afflicted with diseases and plagues, represents a person’s health. Take advantage of this before diseases, plagues and another pandemic come because we, being human, will fall sick. Everyone falls sick. If we did not fall sick, we would not be humans, we would be divine.
There will come a time when we will fall sick. Some of those times the sicknesses will be more severe, and for certain people even more severe. Sometimes, even the common cold or a small headache can incapacitated us. So the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam is reminding us that we do not know when we will have full possession of our faculties, of our strength, of our mental powers, before we will fall sick. Therefore, take advantage of it before that time comes. Be productive and pro active in your society. contribute to your well being, your family and your community.
The Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said:
"There are two blessings the majority of mankind have been deceived concerning." The majority of mankind do not appreciate these two blessings. They are "health," good health, "and free time." All of us have free time but all of sudden we have become experts in killing time. We waste our time on activities that won't bear fruits in this world and the next world. So change and do things that are useful which will benefit us in this life and the next. Don't sit idle.
#3: Take Advantage of Your Wealth Before Poverty
The third is, "your wealth, before poverty." One day we might not have anything, and the next we might have much more than we need. One day, a person might have the best of jobs and the largest of salaries, yet, the next day, something happens and he does not have that job anymore and loses his source of income. So the wise person uses his wealth before he becomes poor. He invests for his future.
We should make sure we have enough money for our family and our children and ourselves, so we are not poor and become beggars. There is no doubt that this is a part of our Shari’ah as well.
But while we are doing this, let us not forget that we also need to invest for the Hereafter. Should we not think about investing this money so we can pick it and pluck it in the Hereafter when we need it far more than we need it in this world? We need to invest for the real future, our real life after our death.
#4: Take Advantage of Your Free Time Before You Become Busy
This is yet another great treasure that every single one of us possesses. Every single one of us must use our free time before we become busy. How much free time do we have and what do we waste it on? Think about it. Think about how much free time all of us have been blessed with. We have hours and hours every day and they go by. What do we waste it on? Primarily, in this social media age, people are constantly on the phone. It is also wasted on gossip and socialization of which there is no benefit whatsoever, in this world nor the Hereafter.
Remember the hadith about the two blessings (health and free time) most people have been deceived by. In other words, they don't realize their blessings of health and free time. You may have to work eight hours a day, Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aala has allowed this for you. He has obligated it upon you. When you come home, you have four or five hours, so spend them wisely for the sake of Allah.
Spending time wisely does not necessarily mean purely religious deeds. But spending your time wisely and even be something in this world. Learn a trade. Learn something that can benefit you in this world and that can benefit other people as well. Islam is a complete way of life, a complete code. Do not forget that all of the acts a believer do transform into acts of worship if he does them for the sake of Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aala.
Of course that there are religious deeds which are the best deeds to do. Every one of us should recite the Qur'an everyday, even if it's only for five or ten minutes, but work towards reading a juz or 2 a day, and with understanding. You should have some relationship with the Qur'an. Every one of us should pray some extra prayers as well, a few sunnahs or the nafls, if not the continual sunnahs that the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam used to pray. This is the most important thing for us to do. But at the same time, do not forget that there can be many acts that can be rewarded if you change your intention and do them for the sake of Allah.
Do not waste your time. The greatest waster of time is the social media. You touch the phone, and an hour or two go by, and not only have you not gained anything for the life Heareafter, you have not gained anything for this world as well. You have literally killed, murdered your time, and done absolutely nothing with it. And realize that you are lucky if you don't come away from those two hours without any sin. How many are the sins that are in social media, with provocative ads, gossip, and other corrupt things. Although we may not get rid of the phone anymore, you can minimize it -- go to your phone only with a good specific purpose, make a list, and not wander elsewhere. Remember, there is no requirement that you read or watch everything you get -- learn to pick and choose what is of most benefit to you when you stand in front of Allah.
The greatest thing that we can do in this free time is to worship Allah. One of the greatest acts of worship is to seek knowledge. Do whatever you can do to increase your knowledge. Read a book of seerah, attend some classes or even visit one another for the sake of Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aala. Visit your parents often, relatives and fellow Muslim with the proper Islamic etiquette and adab. This is an act you can do that will pass your time away, and be worthwhile.
#5: Take Advantage of Your Life Before Your Death
This one phrase summarizes it all: "take advantage of your life before your death." Every one of us has a life. That is why we are here right now. Every one of us without a doubt will die. Allah says:
You are going to die and they too are going to die.
And it is as Allah said, the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam passed away and so did the people that opposed him and believed in him. They all have passed away. And the turn came for those after them, and then those after them, until it is our turn.
This hadith deals with responsibility, wisdom, foresight, long-term planning, and good strategy. Every one of us has been blessed with these five blessings. There is no one amongst us who has not been blessed with these five things. So how do we utilize them? What do we utilize them for? Why do we utilize them?
The wise person is the one who strives to achieve the pleasure of Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aala and then expects the best from Allah. The wise one is one who tries to arrive at the goal and then has tawakkul in Allah. Tawakkul does not mean to sit back and say, "Oh, this will happen to me." Rather, you must strive for it. The fool is the one who follows his desires and then presumes that Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aala will reward him.
When that time comes, when we stand before Allah and we are asked, "What have you done with your life?", we will be able to list the good works that we have done for His sake.
Be pro active, take advantage of every blessing that Allah has given you, be a useful person, a person who brings about good and positive change wherever you go.
May Allah grant us iman, sincerity and make us amongst those who seize these five things, who take advantage of them before the five come. Aameen.
And Allah knows best.
Allahumma salli ala Muhamaad wa ala aalihi wasahbihi wassalaam
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