Khutba on Making Use of Time

الحمد لله، الحمد لله الذي اقتضت حكمتُه أن يفضلَ بعض الأماكنِ والأزمان، وأن يأمر برعايته الإنسان، نحمده تعالى ونستعينه، ونشكره تعالى ونستغفره ونستغيثه، نعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا، من يهد الله فهو المهتد ومن يضلل فلن تجد له وليا مرشدا، ونشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، له الملك و له الحمد، يحيي ويميت، بيده الخير، وهو على كل شيء قدير،  ونشهد أن سيدنا و مولانا محمداً عبده ورسوله، وحبيبه وصفيه، بلغ الرسالة وأدٌى الأمانة ونصح الأمة، النبي الأمي الذي أرسله الله بالهدى والدين الحق، بشيرا ونذيرا بين يدي الساعة، صلى الله عليه وسلم وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين. أما بعد! فيا عباد الله اتقوا الله حق تقاته ولا تموتن إلا وأنتم مسلمون. يأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله وقولوا قولا سديدا يصلح لكم أعمالكم ويغفر لكم ذنوبكم. ومن يطع الله ورسوله فقد فاز فوزا عظيما. اتقوا الله فيما أمر وانتهوا عما نها عنه وزجر.

Each one of us wakes up each day feeling older, wakes up closer to our meeting with our Lord than the previous day, another portion of our allotted minutes on this earth having been used up, never to return. Those minutes that make up our day, those moments that make those minutes, each one more precious than we realise, more significant, and yet how many of them go by empty and unused, not filled up with anything worthwhile. Or worse, filled up with bile and poison and other things harmful and noxious. 
Those moments are all gone, but there are still the moments to come. But the speed with which they come at us is bewildering and our appointed time sometimes feels like it is hurtling towards at breakneck speed. Sometimes our time on this planet feels like the merest instant, a blinking of the eye and then we are gone. And in the wider scheme of things, it is. Allah says, 

لم يلبثوا إلا عيشة أوضحاها

the translation of which is, “It will be as if they had only lingered for the evening or the morning of a single day.” But time is not experienced in the same way by everyone. Its passing does not affect everyone in the same way. For some each moment is an expanse, filled with possibility, while for others it is constricted. They have no baraka in their time. Allah says:

وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ يُقْسِمُ الْمُجْرِمُونَ مَا لَبِثُوا غَيْرَ سَاعَةٍ

the translation of which is, “On the Day the Last Hour arrives the evildoers will swear they have not even tarried for an hour.” That is what their time on this planet felt like, and not an hour filled with possibility. For even an hour, even a single moment can be a tremendous gift when used correctly. But when it is misused, no amount of it can ever bring benefit. Allah says,

يَوَدُّ أَحَدُهُمْ لَوْ يُعَمَّرُ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ وَمَا هُوَ بِمُزَحْزِحِهِ مِنَ ٱلْعَذَابِ أَن يُعَمَّرَ

the translation of which is, “One of them would love to be allowed to live a thousand years. But being allowed to live would not save him from the punishment. ” The importance of time, the moments that make us our days, cannot be underestimated. It is what we do in them that makes us who we are. Indeed, you could say that we are no more than an amalgamation of those times. Al-Hasan al-Basri said,

يا ابن آدم، إنما أنت أيام، كلما ذهب يومٌ ذهب بعضك

“Son of Adam, you are but days. Every time a day passes, a part of you goes with it.” It is the subject of many of our Lord’s oaths, and He only swears by those things that have importance. Allah says, for example, wa-l-asri, wa-l-layli and wa-d-duhaa. In order to benefit from it, we must appreciate it and view it in the right way. 
We cannot fret about and worry constantly about how little of it there seems to be, morbidly aware of our own mortality and agonising constantly about it coming to a end. We cannot let fear of our impending demise consume us and suck up all our energy and joie de vivre. And we cannot think that time is inexhaustible and that there will always be more of it in the future. We cannot go through our lives thinking that we will live forever, thinking that we are immortal and untouchable and we will never run out of chances. Rather, we must tread the line between these two extremes, having enough good opinion of our Lord that He will give us the time that we need while at the same appreciating the importance of not letting any moment slip by wasted. Accepting the reality of death, knowing that we are mayyit, are mortal and bound to die, but placing our focus on the life that precedes it, not on it. 
Our lives only ever take place in the now, what the future holds is immaterial. It is unknown and unknowable. We cannot rely on it and we should not fear it. Allah says,

وَمَا تَدْرِي نفْسٌ ماذَا تَكسبُ غدًا وَما تَدْرِي نفْسٌ بأَيِّ أَرْضٍ تَمُوتُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ

the translation of which is, “And no self knows what it will earn tomorrow and no self knows in what land it will die. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.” We cannot know that future, but we can prepare for it and prepare for what comes after it. We can stock up now and fill our storehouses, make sure that whatever fate awaits us, we will be ready and prepared, inwardly and outwardly. Your present can shape your future. The Prophet said, 

اغتنم خمسا قبل خمس: شبابك قبل هرمك، وصحتك قبل مرضتك، وفراغك قبل شغلك، وغناك قبل فقرك، وحياتك قبل موتك

“Take advantage of five before five: your youth before you become old; your health before you fall ill; your free time before you become busy; your wealth before you become poor; and your life before you die.” And Ibn Umar said,

إذا أصبحت فلا تنتظر المساء وإذا أمسيت فلا تنتظر الصباح وخذ من صحتك لمرضك ومن حياتك لموتك

“When you wake up in the morning, do not await the evening, and when it is evening do not await the morning. Take from your health for when you become ill and from your life before you die.” When we talk about the future, we talk about two things – your remaining time on this planet and your life in the everlasting abode after death. And there are two types of action, although each and every action contains elements of both, actions for this world and actions for the Next. Actions to ensure your continued existence and survival in this life, and actions to raise your station in the Next. Your approach to each type of action should be consistent with its aim. The Messenger of Allah said,

اعمل لدنياك كأنك تعيش أبداً واعمل لأخرتك كأنك تموت غداً

ً”Work for this world as if you will live forever, and work for the Next world as if you are going to die tomorrow.” Work for this world as if you are going to live for ever. In other words, do not be impatient. Don’t rush things, take your time to appreciate them, and don’t expect or seek instant gratification. Don’t get anxious about your provision, and don’t chase after it. You didn’t pass your exam, there will be many opportunities to try again, you didn’t close the deal, many more lucrative deals will come your way. Your life stretches before you, and whatever you need will come to you. Make plans for tomorrow, take precautions against possible future shortage, like Sayyidina Yusuf did with the grain for the years of drought that lay ahead. Think long-term, do not be short-termist. 
And work for the next world as if you were on your deathbed. You need to stock up on the actions that bring you benefit in the Hereafter, you need to hoard, you need to be greedy. It is the currency that matters, the currency that never loses value. You need to be selfish, you need to make sure that never a minute, never a second goes by without taking full advantage. You cannot assume there will be a tomorrow, nor even assume there will be a tonight. Do it now and do not put it off. Do not make plans to do such things in the future when you have the opportunity and the capacity to do them now. These are not the sorts of things you plan, they are the sorts of things you do. Ibn al-Jawzi said,

إيّاك والتسويف، فإنه أكبرُ جنود إبليس

“Beware of procrastination, for it is the greatest of Iblis’ armies.” For the Hereafter, there is no future, there is only now. This is how the mumin must view it, but it has become increasingly difficult in a world where everything is topsy-turvy, upside down. When it comes to matters of this world, the dunya, every one is so desperate to get it now, that they forget the future of their world and the consequences of their actions, destroying the environment for profit, bleeding the earth dry until it becomes barren and without nutrients. I read an article recently that said the modern farming is gradually rendering the soil useless for growing things. Or electing governments and politicians for short periods of time on the basis of what they can do now, not on the basis of what sort of nation they can build. Or overindulging in their youth regardless of the consequences that has for them when they get older. While in matters of the Next world, they put it off and think they have all the time in the world. I’ll start practising my deen when I finish uni, I’ll stop drinking next year, I’ll go on hajj when I am a bit more mature and ready, etc. etc. We must set the world aright and approach it in the way that makes sense. 

أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله العظيم لي ولكم ولسائر المسلمين من كل ذنب فاستغفروه إنه هو التوّابُ الرَّحيم

الحمد لله الحمد لله رب العالمين، وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له وأشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله، صلى الله وسلم وبارك عليه وعلى آله وصحبه، والتابعين وتابعي التابعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.

أما بعد! فيأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله ما استطعتم واسمعوا وأطيعوا وأنفقوا خيرا لأنفسكم.

This deen is built around time and everything is assigned a time, especially its fara’id, its obligations. The first of those is the prayer. Allah says:

‏إِنَّ الصَّلاَةَ كَانَتْ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ كِتَابًا مَّوْقُوتًا‏

the translation of which is, “The salat is prescribed for the believers at specific times.”  If you fail to keep it within those times, then you become one of the saahun, and for them Allah has prepared wail/ woe. Then there is zakat, which requires a prescribed period of time to pass before it becomes obligatory; and fasting, which must be down in the month of Ramadan; and Hajj, which must be done in the months of Dhul-Hijja. There is an exact schedule that our Lord has prepared for us, and it is only by keeping to that schedule that we can truly know success. These fara’id take precedence, everything else is secondary to them. So whatever course of action that we do in life that stops us being able to meet that schedule must be abandoned or, at the least modified, even if those things we are doing are themselves recommended. 
The fara’id always take precedence. Take for example, standing the night in prayer, an action that is highly recommended and brings with it great reward. But if it prevents you from getting up for Fajr because of your exhaustion, then you have your priorities wrong. Praying Subh in its time is of greater reward than all those nafila prayers. 
Increasing in nawafil does take you closer to Allah, but not if it is at the expense of those things Allah loves the most, the fara’id. Increase in dhikr, make use of the times of your day to remember Him, but do not take on more than you can bear. Do not exhaust yourself, or exhaust your drive and himma, do not take on something that feels like a chore to you. For if you start to feel jaded, and it starts to feel like a chore, then Allah rewarding you for them will become like a chore for Him. In other words, you will not get out of it what you might have done if you had approached it with eagerness and a willing heart. The Prophet said,

عليكم من الأعمال ما تطيقون، فإن الله لا يمل حتى تملوا، وإن أحب الأعمال إلى الله ما دُووِم عليه وإن قلّ

A little done regularly is far superior to a lot done only once or twice. Take on only as much as you can bear and become constant in it, and then maybe your Lord will give you the success to do more. We ask Allah to make us constant in our right actions and give us the himma to always increase in them and thereby increase in nearness to our Lord. 

إِنَّ اللهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ، يَا أَيُهَا الذِينَ آمَنُواْ صَلُّواْ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُواْ تَسْلِيماً. 

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَبَارِكْ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ  أَجْمَعِينَ. وَارْضَ اللَّهُمَّ عَنِ الْخُلَفَاءِ الرَّاشِدِينَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرَ وَعُثْمَانَ وَعَلِيٍّ، وعن أم المومنين عائشة التي أمرنا الله في سورة النور أن ندافع عنها، وَعَنْ سَائِرِ الصَّحَابَةِ أَجْمَعِينَ، خُصُوصاً اِلأَنْصَارَ مِنْهُمْ وَالمُهَاجِرِينَ، وَعَنِ التَّابِعِينَ وَتَابِعِي التَّابِعِينَ وَمَنْ تَبِعَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ.

اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِ وُلَاةَ أُمُورِ المُسْلِمِينَ لِمَا يُرْضِيكَ وَلِاتِّبَاعِ سُنَّةِ نَبِيِّكَ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَهُمْ عَلَى الصِّرَاطِ المُسْتَقِيمِ، وَأَصْلِحْهُمْ يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ. 

اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى شَيْخِنَا، وَعَلَى أَمِيرِنَا، وَعَلَى جَمِيعِ أُمَرَاءِ وَزُعَمَاءِ المُسْلِمِينَ. 

اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى المُسْلِمِينَ فِي هَذِهِ المَدِينَةِ، وَوَفِّقْهُمْ لِمَا تُحِبُّهُ وَتَرْضَاهُ يَا أَكْرَمَ الأَكْرَمِينَ. 

اللَّهُمَّ أَعِزَّ الإِسْلَامَ وَالمُسِْلمِينَ، وَاخْذُلِ الْكُفْرَ وَالْكَافِرِينَ، وَانْصُرِ المُجَاهِدِينَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ. وَاجْعَلْ كَلِمََتَكَ هِيَ العُلْيَا وَكَلِمَةَ الْكُفْرِ هِيَ السُّفْلَى. 

رَبَّنَا ءَاتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقَِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ. 

إِنَّ اللهَ يَامُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَى، وَيَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ، يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَّكَّرُونَ، وَلَذِكْرُ اللهِ أَكْبَرُ وَاللهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ. وَقُومُواْ إِلَى صَلاتِكُمْ يَرْحَمُكُمُ اللهُ.