Time is the most important grace that we ignore. The following is my own experience in managing time and best investing in it in the light of the Quran and Sunnah …
There is nothing that may a believer regret other than a moment that passed in this life without remembering Allah! There is not a much better moment for a believer than accomplishing work that pleases Allah Almighty, and he feels the blessing of this Great God…. Time is a major boon to us by Allah, but most people are unaware of the gift of time.
Some Western scholars have repeatedly published books about time management, these books have achieved high sales rate in the world. This confirms that people’s attention to this important aspect and their eagerness to learn new in the art of time management and investment at the best possible way. In addition, it is to achieve their goals and interests, and consequently to reach the happiness that every human being is looking for.
But if we look at these books, we find it focused on one goal: the world and its adornments. Measure for success for them is what an individual has achieved of material gain, fame or power. However, they ignore the simple idea of what fate awaits each and every one of us after death. This idea was the first step that made me head toward research, writing, reasoning, and reflection.
I have had a lot of ideas, theories and perceptions about the universe, time and nature. I aspire to create a new theory in physics, medicine, or language. I embarked on a journey deep in these sciences. For years I served science out day and night with a view to know “everything” but life is short. Whatever I live, I would not get from science more than just a drop of an ocean!
I started to think of a way that makes me gain the largest amount of science in the shortest period of time. After thinking and a long search, I found that the only book that contains the whole world science is the Quran! Indeed, I learned physics from the Quran and learned mathematics from the Quran and learned medicine from the Quran. It is true that I did not become a doctor or a physics specialist, but the happiness that I got as a result of my interest in the Quran is more than words can describe. It is a wonderful sense that cannot be expressed by other than only one word that subconsciously comes out: (Praise God).
Without Allah’s mercy and His guidance and grace, I could not have got to that happiness. Joy is something very complex and not easy to reach the summit of happiness, though, the researchers, thinkers and philosophers have written much about this subject. Nonetheless, I find that one verse from the Quran can give you the real road to happiness. Each verse of the Book of Allah Almighty contains a program that can radically change your life. This is my experience with the Quran for more than twenty years.
Cause for writing these Articles
One of our respected sisters presented to me the idea of preparing an article about time management in which I summarize the way I utilized time. It will be for brother readers to benefit and help them in utilizing and investing in time optimally. Verily, this idea has begun by writing these lines, but I found that the topic deserves more than one article. Therefore, this is the first article in a series I called “an innovative way to manage time,” It includes my personal experience with time. I ask Allah to make it useful knowledge and dedication for Allah’s sake. The ideas contained in this series reflect the views of my own. I have been through a real experience that anyone can repeat and come up with much better, because Allah Almighty is the facilitator who avails reasons. We ask Allah Almighty to accept.
You should set a target in front of you and draw the appropriate way to achieve this goal (or set of goals). You must know that the first step on any route is the most difficult, but once you have started down this road “through the management of time,” you will find the task easier and easier.
Time Determines your Destiny on the Day of Resurrection
This article, my dears, is not a piece for mere reading or a story to enjoy. It is a matter of life or death! Time is our most prized possession of the world. Allah has given us unknown time limit, and that is the age which we live on this earth. Everything of what Allah has foreordained will happen during these years. This period starts since your childhood up to your death. Then, everything stops, and another kind of time starts, either permanent paradise, or eternal punishment…, See where to put yourself from this moment, and do not wait for surprise!
The first thing you will be asked about before God on the Day of Resurrection: It is your time! How you have utilized it. Have you performed the prayers on time?! Have you invested in one of the year’s months, Ramadan, and fasted? Have you invested your time in charity, giving some money on the poor? Or have you spent your time in useful knowledge? Have you done well to your parents and those around you? Have you spent a little time and considered the Quran? Have you invested your time in obedience to your Creator … too many questions, we will consider… all revolve around time … What have you prepared for this meeting: to meet the Creator of the universe and Lord of the Mighty Throne, Almighty?!
I have found that the road to time management and then happiness is achieved only by the Book of Allah, because the books written by humans rely on trial and error, but the book of the Creator of humans has given us the right outcome in advance. Any of His verses is a constant law that can be applied without expecting a faulty result, but the results always come true and useful. Thus, we ensure the best investment of time, without wasting our time in experiments and theories that may succeed or fail. Due to my dependence on this idea, lost time has been reduced to zero. Every moment I live, there is a benefit, because I live through for only one goal … the satisfaction of Almighty Allah.
Time is the only thing that cannot be stopped or controlled. This is a universal law that Allah has made constant. Each second passes, takes with it part of your life that will never return! Man is a number of seconds, and the last second of your life will expire suddenly! Therefore, you should rush to exploit these seconds, and make it harnessed to the benefit of work in the world and the Hereafter…
Will you live with me this wonderful experiment?!
Dear Believer! The most important thing in managing time correctly is to determine the goal since the first moment, and think of the great results that you gain if you have thought correctly in managing and investing your time optimally. My advice is not to wait until you finish reading this article, but to take the initiative for decision-making in managing your time. Time is very precious and very short. The decision you have taken will be right! Therefore, it does not need to think about or discuss. There is no fear of error, the project which you will be taking is from the Holy Quran and Sunnah, and so the results are guaranteed.
The first thing you gain from your time management, you will feel the worth of time and the value of life that Allah has blessed you, besides, the value your existence in this world. You will live in happiness every moment, because your goals will be condensed in a single goal: the satisfaction of Allah, and yours of Allah! Yes, your satisfaction of Allah is very important, because most people today are dissatisfied with their Creator without being aware of that. I will explain to you this idea, which some may consider weird, through these examples.
You are satisfied with Allah, if you get a disease, and you felt happy because Allah wants to purify you of sins by this disease. You are satisfied with Allah, in case, your means of living narrowed, debt accumulated, you did not find anyone to give you some dirhams or dinars, then, you felt happy because Allah wants to give you reward as a payback for lack of money, and consider you among the people of Paradise because of your contentment of what Allah had given you.
You are satisfied with Allah, if you are suffering from grief or depression due to loss of a relative, a friend, or a lover, and then you find yourself patient and seek reward from Allah, you felt very happy because Allah wants to make you on the Day of Resurrection in the company of the patients who will enter Paradise without reckoning.
But if the opposite happened and you began to ask questions: What is the sin that I have done to Allah to be afflicted by this scourge? What is the sin that I have committed to deserve this shortage, worry or grief? Or say to yourself: It is a miserable life … Too tough life … Income is little … Drowned in concerns … I live from lack of death! And similar expressions you say it always and whenever anyone asks you how are you … If you do that, you are dissatisfied with Allah, His justness, and choice for you, and on the other hand Allah would not be pleased with you.
But how does consent of reality and predestination come? It is a very simple process. It is to be convinced that what has befallen you would never have missed you, and what have missed you, would never have befallen you. You will not leave this world before you have consumed the subsistence that Allah has blessed you with. And to be convinced that not anyone would take your subsistence. You are satisfied when inflicted by anything and considered a test from Allah in which there will be good. And to be convinced that everything is in Allah’s hands. He is the Creator of the universe and in His hand the reins of the heavens and the earth. Whatever happens to you is by the will, predetermination, knowledge and wisdom of Allah Almighty. If you have known that already then you will realize that everything that happens to you is for your benefit and for the sake of doing good and benefit, but on condition that you believe that Allah is mastering the universe and wants your advantage.
Either you learn how to manage your time and your life, otherwise your life will be like a ship buffeted by the waves … It does not know where to go and how it is heading and for what purpose it is going. O my lovers, life is like a short trip on a ship, danger surround you on every side, and at any moment can be thrown at your destination, so whenever your plan is drawn very nicely, as you will have access to the beach safely!
Feasibility study is more important than practical application
In any project there was a task often neglected by many people, a study of the project adequately. Whenever, the study is better, more comprehensive and more accurate, the practical results of the project will be better successful. Therefore, before you start this experiment “The experience of time management” you should be aware of the benefits of this experience and what you will achieve and how it will change many things around you. You must plan well for this experiment and live “the art of time management” in every moment.
Time management benefits
Psychologists confirm that any work you want to perform you should beforehand be aware of its benefits so that it will be working effectively and gives the desired results. When I have considered the Book of Allah, I have found that the Creator Almighty make desirous of Paradise. When He commands us to do something, it is accompanied by the benefits we gain from this deed. When He forbids us from doing something, He shows the negative aspects of this work and its damage. There are many verses in this area.
Therefore, when the Prophet (pbuh) wanted to tell us about the importance of time, he used the most important moment in the history of a believer, which is standing before the Creator Almighty. He said: Before one leaves the judgment on the Day of Resurrection, he will be asked four … one of them is how he spent his time. The linkage is between investment of time to satisfy Allah, entering Paradise and questions that face all of us. We will therefore enumerate some of the benefits of investment of time and use every second in useful work.
Time management and happiness
Modern studies show that man who knows how to take advantage of his time in useful and beneficial work, will be happier than those who spend their time without a return! Happiness is linked to useful work that you offer. A flashback to the days of my university where I had a lot of time, I did not know anything about utilization of time until I started memorizing the Qur’an. Then I have embarked on a journey of happiness with the Book of Allah. Quran teaches you how to invest your time fully, every moment there is remembrance, worship, kinship, useful work or beneficial knowledge…
This is what made me feel very happy that I did not know before. Utilization of time was the key to true happiness. If you want to get happiness, learn how to invest your time, and do not leave your life and your time depending on the circumstances surrounding such as a boat swapped by waves, the result will be drowning!
Time management provides you satisfaction and success
Most people are not satisfied with the realities of their lives due to lack of knowledge of the importance of time. This is causing them a lot of mental disorders. Psychologists assert that most mental illnesses result from dissatisfaction with reality. This issue causes psychological problems and pain of not less than organs’ pain. I have found after long experience that the best way to overcome this problem is by assigning part of your time and invest it in considering and listening to the Quran.
Contemplating the verses of the Quran and pondering their meanings makes you realize that everything in the universe is in the hands of Allah. Nothing happens without His permission and nothing occurs with you without predetermination, knowledge and wisdom of Him Almighty. This makes you happy with all of what is happening with you, and makes you feel Allah’s follow up and knowledge of what is happening to you. Many psychiatrists do not do anything to their patients more than listening to their concerns and problems, and this in itself is a treatment for psychiatric patients. When you know that Allah sees, hears and knows everything that happens to you, you will feel satisfied with the reality of what is destined for you.
As a result, the investment of time in the remembrance of Allah Almighty gives you the satisfaction of your reality. This makes you feel happy and increases your energy in accomplishing your business or study and thus, you have stepped a step on the road to success. So, successful time management means to succeed in school and work.
Often, one of us will be faced by two or several options and he has to make the right decision! Recently, psychologists affirmed that decision-making process is not instantaneous, but is subject to many interactions and cumulative information stored in your brain. So whenever your investment of time is better, the more your brain is organized and the more your decisions are true and correct!
Time management and money
Most of time management research depends on one outcome which is gaining money. We as Muslims do not put making money as a target, but as a means to achieve higher goals such as giving charity to the poor and supporting family and spend money to gain the satisfaction of Allah. Making money is a means of gaining the approval of Allah! Therefore, a believer needs time management culture to be able to live in some luxury without extravagance and miserliness. Islam is a religion of moderation … Extravagance is the work of devil, and paucity is also the work of devil. Moderation is the best way that Allah Almighty has commanded us to follow.
Allah has linked in many verses of the Quran between subsistence and piety. The most important element of piety is using time in good deeds, besides, trust in Allah Almighty and His gift and that He is capable of providing livelihood to his worshipers. We need trust in Allah. When you utilize your time in satisfying Allah, Allah will avail everything to serve you. He will facilitate means of living, and therefore I say: successful management of time means more of getting a living from Allah.
Countless benefits of effective time management
If we want to enumerate the benefits of effective management of time, we will need folders … But suffice it to say that the proper management of time in light of the Quran and Sunnah means: get a lot done in a short time … Means solve many problems with less effort…
Means social and psychological stability… Means more emotional stability and a sense of happiness, strength and optimism … Means get rid of negative accumulations that plague the human energies… Means get rid of sadness, anxiety, and it means you have started a new life that words cannot describe, but once you’ve lived this experience, you will realize the magnificence of organizing and managing time.
In the world of ants we find the best types of time management. The ant does not leave a minute to pass without an action. It cooperates and coordinates with other members of the group. It utilizes time in a wonderful way that man may be unable to do! Scientists consider ants to have a technique in managing time. Can we learn from these tiny creatures?!
Organization of time depends before everything on the time available for you every day. The day is 24 hours. There is a time to sleep up to 6 hours (preferably in two stages: 4 hours a night and two hours in the daytime). Thus what is left of our 24 hours? 24 – 6 = 18 hours. We should subtract from this period the time that man needs to get rid of waste, take food, drink, and wash, an average of two hours. 18-2= 16 that is what is left for us. Nonetheless, there are other things that Moslems should do; on top of them is prayer, which is sacred time. It should be on top of our concerns. We need at least an hour to perform five prayers and what remains with us is 16-1= 15 hours.
There is a work period that most people are committed to (for a living), such as a job, a business, trade or study in a school or university… or otherwise. This period is about 8 hours a day. Then, 7 hours remains for effective leisure time 15-8= 7! Imagine that most of the time is exhausted on the basic human needs, leaving only 7 hours that can be exploited in other things. But most of us do not benefit from these seven hours!
This period is sufficient for doing many things. First and foremost is memorizing the Quran. However, most people say they cannot find time to do such work; knowing that this is the most important work in the life of a believer, because it will change a lot in him. Through the creative way, we will see that man can utilize the 24 hours and invest them effectively, even the time of sleep!
Using time during sleep
One of the strange things is that the brain stays in a state of activity, work, and retrieval and organization of memories during sleep. Nonetheless, sleep increases the ability of human creativity. Therefore, we should use this period to listen to the Holy Quran and learn. The theme of learning during sleep poses a concern to scientists today. They are trying to monitor processes that take place in the brain of the sleeping individual, and the extent he was influenced by listening to the words while he is asleep. This is done by the functional magnetic resonance scanning device (FMRI)
Using time during work
The most important rule of success is to develop a goal, make this goal your concern thinking of throughout the day and work on it until it is achieved. Thus, the working time is necessary to accomplish a lot. Many people can accomplish many things during his time every day. For example, one can listen to the Quran during his work, driving his car or while sitting at his desk. Quran has always been my concern: How to understand, how to memorize it, how to learn new things of the Quran every day, and how to live each moment with the Quran … Therefore, I found blessing in time. This rule is overlooked by many people.
You can make use of your time by thinking about the goal you seek to achieve. For me, my first goal was: How do I become a writer on scientific miracles, so I utilized every minute in thinking and asking questions: How can I achieve this goal, what do I need for that … Because of continuous thinking and the grace of Allah Almighty, I have achieved this goal in few years.
Even the time of your sleep can be invested in learning new things. I have been using this method for years, where I listened to the Quran while I was sleeping. This helped me a lot to memorize, and to cure some diseases. Listening to the Quran is a cure for many diseases, on the condition that you trust this “free” divine healing! And when you enjoy better health, you should be able to carry out more and thus invest your time in a better way.
Use of lost time
There is a large lost time that includes transportation and visits to friends, relatives, and the daily work. Besides, the time specified for children, the wife, and parents, or to watch TV or listen to the radio and much time wasted on the Internet, etc. These times must be exploited. You will learn how to do so.
Through the second article in this series, we will live with the practical steps in time management process: how to achieve optimum utilization of our time, and how to achieve success in work or study by managing time, and how to solve any problem in a very short time … And other useful information and important rules that are needed by each and every one of us in his life.
Finally, here are some quick tips
· See the time as a precious treasure in your hands. Allah has given you this treasure. Will you dissipate it without charge?!
· Forget any problem you encounter and do not give it more than a minute or two of your mind … And then move to think of another case.
· Before going to sleep try to think what you must do in the next day … After waking up, try to think about what you will accomplish in this day…
· Make more supplications, forgiveness and reciting the Quran! These things will make you more comfortable and contribute to the stability of the heart and brain, which helps you to be creative and think a better way.
· Think of God’s creatures! Consideration will help to innovate and to take the right decision. And thus this will save you time which you waste with wrong decisions.
· Do not be fooled by the world and its adornments, wealth and rich people! A good example is Korah, the possessor of an extraordinary wealth which strong men failed to carry the chests’ keys. However, Korah was eclipsed by the earth because of his ego. What has he benefited from his knowledge and wealth?
· Don’t feel that you are a failure. This feeling is the enemy of time. Notwithstanding, try again and again and you will succeed, otherwise, you will get reward for trying.
I conclude this article with a great situation that every ignorant of Allah and meeting with Him will encounter. How he wishes at the moment of death that he has a lifespan of just a few moments to do good. But it is hard … Fate has come and he won’t get one additional second. Almighty said, “and spend something (in charity) out of the substance which We have bestowed on you, before Death should come to any of you and he should say, “O my Lord! why didst Thou not give me respite for a little while? I should then have given (largely) in charity, and I should have been one of the doers of good”. . But to no soul will Allah grant respite when the time appointed (for it) has come; and Allah is well acquainted with (all) that ye do.” [Al-Munafiqun: The Hypocrites, 10-11]. After this situation: Do you appreciate the value of time and you work from this moment on utilizing every minute from your time in what pleases Allah Almighty?!
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By: Abduldaem Al-Kaheel
