Friday Reflection - The days of our lives
By Muneeb Nasir
First lesson as we go through the days of our lives:
Appreciate that each day is a gift and live each day purposefully.
The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is reported to have said:
“Purity is half of the faith. The praise of God fills the Scale, as the glorification and praise of God fill everything between the heavens and the earth. Prayer is a light, charity is a proof, and patience is luminous. The Qur’an is a decisive proof for you or against you. All people begin the day by trading for their soul, either setting it free or ensuring its ruin.” (Prophetic saying, source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 223).
The question we should ask is, ‘Is our daily routine and our actions freeing us or ruining us?’
Imam Abu Hamid Al Ghazali, the great 12th century Muslim theologian said,
“Your time is your life and your life is your capital, it is the basis of your transactions with God and the means to attain everlasting felicity in the proximity to God.”
When we take our account - life-to-date account - what does it show?
There are many articles written about regrets in life.
A nurse, Bonnie Ware, writes about her work with people who are dying and the regrets they expressed.
In her article titled, “REGRETS OF THE DYING”, she writes:
“For many years I worked in palliative care.
My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared.
I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.
People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality.
I learnt never to underestimate someone's capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal.
Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance.
Every single patient found their peace before they departed….
When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. “
She listed the most common five regrets - I mention the first which she says was the most common regret of all.
The patients said, “I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”
She writes, “When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled.
Most people had not honored even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.”
In the Qur’an, God tells us of the regret of the dying and about the choices they make, of the unfulfilled dreams they have and how putting off things, procrastinating, can be devastating.
“Believers, do not let your wealth and your children distract you from remembering God: those who do so will be the ones who lose” (Qur’an, 63:9).
God is telling us that distraction leads to loss; distraction from remembering God, and getting closer to Him can make us losers.
This is not being true to ourselves – i.e not living out our values and beliefs.
God continues,“Give out of what We have provided for you, before death comes to one of you and he says, ‘My Lord, if You would only reprieve me for a little while, I would give in charity and become one of the righteous.” (Qur’an, 63:10).
He is telling us in this verse that procrastination, not living out our values, leads to regret.
Second lesson as we go through the days of our life:
Procrastinating in doing good deeds leads to regret. In effect, not being true to ourselves leads to regret at the end of our lives.
Another observation that the nurse makes from the palliative care patients:
“It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way.
From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realize, until they no longer have it.”
There is an important saying of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, which we should pay close attention to:
"Take advantage of five things before five others occur.
Your youth before you grow old;
Your health before you become sick,
Your wealth before you become poor,
Your leisure before you become busy,
And your life before you die."
(Prophetic saying, Source: Shu’ab al-Imān 9767).
The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, also said: “There are two favors (or bounties) of God’s bounties, and in them many people are cheated (or deceived): health and free time.”
The Prophet is speaking of phases of our lives and taking advantage of the optimal conditions before it is too late.
Third lesson as we go through the days of our lives:
Always take advantage of the optimal time in your life.
So, let us look at how we are spending the days of our lives.
In summary:
First lesson as we go through the days of our lives:
Appreciate that each day is a gift and live each day purposefully.
Second lesson as we go through the days of our lives:
Procrastinating in doing good deeds leads to regret; in effect, not being true to ourselves leads to regret at the end of our lives.
Third lesson as we go through the days of our lives:
Always take advantage of the optimal time in your life.
God’s Messenger, peace be upon him, is reported to have said:
"A man shall be asked concerning five things on the Day of Resurrection: concerning his life, how he spent it; concerning his youth, how he grew old; concerning his wealth, whence he acquired it, and in what way he spent it; and what was it that he did with the knowledge that he had." (Prophetic saying, source: Tirmidhi 5197).
(Excerpt of a Friday Khutba [sermon] delivered by Muneeb Nasir).