Pearls of Islam Reminder Series

The Value of Free Time

By Atif Haque
So its almost March, exams are fast
approaching and youre now starting to realise
how much you have left to do in the remainder
of the term. With the benet of hindsight you
now realise just how much more productive
the past six months could have been. This is a
situation I certainly nd myself in and Im sure
many of you can relate to.
Time is a commodity; one which we are
encouraged to be conscious of, acknowledge
its importance and utilise it wisely in order to
yield maximal benecence. The stature of time
is emphasised in both the Quran and Sunnah.
We are all familiar with the words of the well
known Surat Al-Asr:
By time, indeed, mankind is in loss, except
for those who have believed and done
righteous deeds and advised each other to
truth and advised each other to patience.
[Quran, 103]
Yet, how many hours do we spend in front of
the TV or on Facebook? How many hours do
we spend having a lie in instead of waking up
for Fajr? All these summate to lost valuable
time. Time, which we will never have again.
Time, which could have been spent increasing
our knowledge and enhancing our Imaan, all
for the pleasure of Allah.
We are constantly reminded in the Quran that
this world is temporary. Hence we should
consider time to be a blessing from Allah and
we should spend it to full our purpose that is
to worship Allah. Worship is not conned to
praying to ve times a day. Everything we do
in accordance to the Quran and Sunnah is
considered an act of worship. There are
countless activities we can engage in to utilise
our time effectively.
Perhaps then, it is time to stop and take a
good look at ourselves and reect on what we
have achieved so far. Think of all the missed
opportunities or the things we promised we
would do once we start university and have
yet to do. Maybe it is time we think seriously
about the future and set ourselves personal
targets of things we would like to achieve. We
are all very lucky to be entering such a
rewarding profession but our free time will only
decline as we progress through medical
school and throughout our careers.
I pray that this article serves as a reminder to
myself rst and all of us as to the value of time
and just how lucky we are at the moment to
have plenty of free time. May Allah make it
easy for us to be more organised, increase
our knowledge both medical and religious,
and to utilise our time a lot more efciently
InshaAllah.
Humankind will remain
standing on the Day of
Resurrection until he is
asked about four things:
his life and how he spent
it, his youth and how he
used it up, his property
and how he acquired and
managed it and his
knowledge and how he
utilised it.
[Sunan at-Tirmidhi]
THE PEARLS OF ISLAM
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Pearls of Islam Reminder Series
You Are Never Alone

By Aamir Shamsi

Times will come in the life of a
believer where we will be tested in
this world whether it is through a
"loss in goods or lives or the fruits
(of your toils)" [2:155] but we must
always remember that we are
never alone and that we should
and need to turn to Allah in these
times.

Trials and tribulations can not only
change the course of your life but
also make you feel very down and
lost. Nothing remains the same
and although an oxymoron, those
who have been in such a situation
like I have will understand when I
say life can be consumed by
emptiness. Although it is
important to understand the many
reasons why calamities befall us
and how to cope with them, we
must never forget that we will
always have the one that loves us
more than a mother loves her
child (Muslim) close by to bring
some solace to our hearts. In
order to bring about this comfort
we must make du'a, build a
connection with Allah and believe
that everything that happens is for
the best.

'XD

Du'a is the weapon of the believer
for it can change the fate of our
lives. And it is for this reason, as
well as the fact that it shows our
need for Allah, that it is highly
encouraged in Islam. So we
should ask our Lord to alleviate
our pain, to make things easier
and to grant us peace and
happiness with His decree, even
though in some situations it is
extremely difficult to accept what
has happened and to want to
move on from it, for it is only He
that has the power to make things
better.

Connect with Allah

As the creation of Allah, we are all
connected with our Lord through
our souls. He is our provider, our
sustainer and our support. But it is
our responsibility to nourish this
connection for "Verily in the
remembrance of Allah, do hearts
find rest" [13:29]. We can do so by
reciting Quran, reading our salat
with concentration and regular
dhikr. The stronger our connection
with Allah the greater the comfort
our hearts will receive for it is then
when we truly feel Allah's
protection over us and this will
make the difficult times that much
easier for us.

Everything that happens is for
the best

Allah loves us so much that
everything that happens that is
not a direct result of our own
actions is for the best for us - "but
it may be that you hate a thing
which is good for you, and it may
be that you love a thing which is
bad for you. Allah knows and you
know not" [2:216]. Having this
belief at all times and being
thankful for all that comes your
way is a real test of our faith but
also an undeniable fact. If
adopted in our mindset it will ease
our pain for we will understand it
is for our best and so the true
believer would not want it any
other way than what Allah sees
best.

All the above can be summarised
with my favourite du'a that one
should regularly recite:
"Hasbunallahu Wa'Nimal Wakeel"
Allah is enough for me and
there is no better to look after me.



"When you feel all alone in this world
And there's nobody to count your tears
Just remember, no matter where you are
Allah knows, Allah knows"
- Nasheed by Zain Bhikha
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Monday 31st October 2011 4 Dhul - Hijjah 1432 Volume 4 Issue 1


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