The ‘Value of Time’ do you know?

                                                            THE VALUE OF TIME

Do you understand how valuable time is? Muslim scholars appreciated
their time a long time before the West ever did. This is how they achieved
their revival: 

Hazrat Imaam Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, “Every day the sun rises it calls
upon us,

 “Oh
people! I am a new day; I am an observer of your actions. Take advantage of me
for I will not return until the Day of Judgment.” 

“Oh, son of Adam you are nothing but a few
breaths. Once one breath goes out, part of you goes with it. In the same way
that part of you has gone, soon all of you will go.”

 Hazrat Ibn Al-Qayyim said,

“Every gulp of air that goes out in a cause other than the cause of
Allaah Almighty will turn to sorrow and regret on the Day of Judgment.”

He also said, “A sign that Allaah Almighty despises you is when you
find yourself wasting your time with trivial matters; in this way you miss your
chance of going to heaven. And a sign that Allaah Almighty likes you is when
you find yourself fulfilling more duties than you have time for.”

A saying goes, ‘The devil makes work for idle thumbs.’ If you want to
know whether Allaah is pleased with you, then think: Are you busy or idle?

Imaam Al-Muhasiby said, “I wish that time could be acquired with money.
If so, I would buy time from wasteful and ungrateful people so that I could
spend it serving Almighty Allaah.”

Ibn Masoud said, “I never regretted anything except a day that passed
by without having increased my deeds.”

You should know where your time goes. You should know when you can go
out and when you have some extra time. When you do have extra time, don’t waste
it – watching one soccer game is enough. You needn’t watch six.

Hazrat Abu-Yusuf, who was a student of Great Imaam Hazrat Abu-Hanifa,
once said,

“The Honorable Abu-Hanifa [Rahmatul Laah
Alaieh] was on his death bed, when he
asked for a paper and a pencil to solve a problem in jurisprudence, saying, if
I have but one instant to live, I will spend it doing something that pleases
Almighty Allaah.”

A man asked Ibn Al-Jawzi to chat with him for a while. The Imam replied,

“Only if you could stop the sun from
revolving.”

That’s how in a very short period of time, a few generations offered
humanity many advances. Allaah Kareem blessed their lives; they were able to
accomplish what would take us many years. 

When 16 years old, Usama bin-Zaied was an army commander. Under his
command were Hazrat Abu-Bakr and Hazrat Umar [Allaah
is well pleased with them]. The Holy Prophet [Peace be upon Him] said,

“By Allaah, Usama is fully qualified for this job.” Usama fought the
Romans and prevailed. The companions said,

“No army was ever rewarded like Usama’s army and the Muslims didn’t
suffer any casualties.” A successful person works even during his vacation; if
he doesn’t find a regular job, he works as a volunteer. 

Saad bin Muaadh accepted Islam when he was 30 years old and died when
he was 37. Despite living only seven years as a Muslim, the ‘Throne of Allaah Almighty’
was shaken for his death, and thousand of angels came down for his funeral.

Omar al-Mukhtar led the struggle against the Italian occupation from
the age of 60 until he was 70.

Muhammad bin Al-Qasim conquered India when he was 17 years old. He
fought twelve battles in one year and he won them all.

 Hazrat Zaied bin Thabit became a
Muslim at the age of ten. The Holy Prophet [Sallal
Laahu Alaieh Wa Sallam] taught him the whole Qur’an when he was twelve. He learned Hebrew at
14, and became the Prophet’s own translator at 16, and then became one of the
few companions chosen to write down the revelation at 17. When he was 19, he
was the head of the committee in charge of distributing inheritance. When he
was 21 years old, he was assigned the greatest task in history, which was
collecting the Qur’an and writing it down in one manuscript.

We waste a great deal of time: for eight hours we sleep and another
eight we use for meals and personal needs. That’s two thirds wasted, and the
remaining third is where productivity can be achieved. Imagine that every
breath you take is stored away in a locker, and that on the Day of Judgment
these lockers will be opened. Can you see them empty? Or do you see them full
of service, help, invention and worship…?

 Picture someone throwing a
hundred thousand dollars in the sea – he would be considered crazy and be put
under great restriction. You do the same if you waste your time: for your
greatest assets are your breaths in this limited life.

“Time bears witness that these people
shall definitely be in a state of loss. Yes! except those who accepted faith
and did righteous deeds and exhorted one another to the truth and exhorted one
another to remain steadfast on it.”

 (Quran-Surah/Soorah Al Asr: 1-3)