‘Our critical last 10 years'

*** In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful; blessings and peace be upon Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. ********************** Reflection ************************* The Declining Day (Al-'Asr) 1. By the declining day, 2. Lo! Man is in a state of loss, 3. Save those who believe and do good works, and exhort one another to truth and exhort one another to endurance. *************************** * Assalamualaikum Saudara (Brother) LanH; So sorry for not keeping in touch since coming back from 'umrah' (small hajj). Your friend's story, published in the latest issue of Harakah, about how a white blossom fell on her hands at Raudhah (in Kisah Dari Tanah Suci – Stories from the Holy Land column), made such a deep impression on me that I had to read it three times! I am so glad that you are writing more than before you ‘retired’. Actually, writers, especially prolific ones like you, do not ever retire. (e-mail from a reader) ************************* * Roc, (my nickname in college) keep it up! What's good knowledge if it’s not shared to others (this writer commented on my weekly articles in Harakah) ....coming to this age, the pursuits of life of the past has little meaning and benefits...for the life we are about to enter! We have seen those messages in our younger days but we never understood it! As you, Roc said it in an article, if we are to follow 'Sunnah', we have yet about 13 years to redeem...hopefully enough to avoid 'azab (punishment) of hell'… (e-mail from a former college mate) ************************* Time is running short. My former college mate’s insight (above) was right. Our batch (class of Form Five 1979) who turned 50 this year would only have a balance of 13 years (if we are to follow the life span of the Prophet) to do our best to avoid the punishment of hell. Nauzubillah (God Forbid). Mind you, Prophet Muhammad, may peace be upon him (s.a.w.) died at 63 according to the Hegira year; if it is based on the Christian year, he died at 60, thus perhaps we have only 10 years to live in this world! ************************** If our past 50 years were wasted that easy, imagine how are going to benefit the last 10 years left? Yes, how are we going to use that short span of time to save ourselves from Hellfire. If we were to think hard (I mean moving in the straight path), then we would panick and tremble, the time left is so short yet we have drifted too far to catch back the time that was lost when we filled it with aimless activities what’s more with ‘haram’ (forbidden) ones. *************************** At 50, are we still after those worldly pleasures; for example if we have already owned a bangalow, are we all out to renovate it into an ‘istana’? Or are we chasing after a Lamborghini after having being blessed with a fleet of five cars including a Mercedes, a Bugati and Ferrari? ************************* Or are we still chasing after women (girls to be exact) to make them Mrs. No 2, 3 or 4? ************************** Or are we madly working to make our money (or to be exact RM figures) in our bank accounts with more 0 digits behind; for example if we were having RM100,000; would we like to add another one 0 to make it RM1,000,000 (one million ringgit) or three 0s to make it RM100,000,000 (one hundred million ringgit). Wow, that’s a lot of money! *********************** Ooh friends, remember at 50, we have finished using 5/6 of our lives. We have another 1/6 of it to go with; so dear brothers and sisters, enough is enough, with the balance of about 10 years, please make the best of it to work hard so that we would not be dumped into the furthest part of hell. Allah SWT says in the Quran: “O! You who believe, save yourself and your families from Hell-fire, whose fuel are humans and stones (idols)…” (At-Tahrim 66: 6) ************************** If we were to enter a race of 600 meters and we have only another 100 meters to pass the finishing line, would we still be dazzling away with all that worldly wonders that would be of no help to us in the Hereafter or are we putting all our energy and resources to reach the finishing line? *************************** Scholars have reminded us again and again that RM, dollars, pounds, rupees and yen would of no use in the Hereafter. The much sought items there were ‘iman’ (faith) and good deeds; unfortunately the Hereafter is not a place to do good deeds but a place to reaped ‘our best crop’ grown on earth! ************************* Note that in his e-mail, my former college mate had used my nickname of Roc or Roc Tapai. That name brought back memories of my younger days. The name itself suggested that “I have rock myself in life” and lived a ‘stubborn life’ (hard like a rock or in Malay ‘keras macam batu’). ************************** I admitted I made too many mistakes in my early life such as wanting an adventurous and glomorus life but fortunately for me that style of life halted when manys things turned up against my wish such as not getting excellent results in MCE, HSC, failing to secure a place in university and worst of all, being jilted a few times by girls. ***************************** Well, what’s the way out? Repent, repent and repent my dear brothers and sisters. Remember there were many good and true Muslims all along Islamic history who before receiving ‘hidayah’ (being shown the truth path by Allah SWT) were ‘gangsters’ and 'crooks' in their own way of life. ****************************** They included Umar Al-Khattab, the second Caliphate who during his ‘jahiliah’ (period of ignorance) admitted to have killed his infant daughters and there was a story about a man who had killed 100 people but when he repented, Allah SWT have mercy on him. ******************************** After admitting our mistakes, what are our tasks in life during this critical part of our short existence on earth? Dear brothers and sisters, begin all things with knowledge, for he who knows his own self knows God. ***************************** So acquire knowledge. It enables its possessor to distinguish right from wrong; it lights the way to heaven; it is our friend in the desert, our society in soliture, our campanion when friendless; it guides us in happiness; it sustains us in misery; it is an ornament amongst friends, and an armour against enemies. ************************* With knowledge we would know that our life in this world is not for the sake of material enjoyments of this world alone. Our temporary life here is only a life of probation, for perpetual life in the Hereafter. As we sow here, we shall reap in the Hereafter. **************************** To quote a saying of the Holy Prophet: “This world is the tillage for the Hereafter” i.e. we plough and sow here to reap in the next world. We, Muslims, therefore, cannot afford to live an irresponsible and reckless life. All life ends in death. ************************** Therefore, let us remember that a certain time is fixed for us when we will be abandoned to the darkness of our graves. We should be therefore, consider the passing life of this world as a means towards our ultimate goal. Yes, this material world is not the main object of our life but a means towards a higher goal. The purpose of man’s life is ‘service to Allah’ and nothing else. ************************* This life is a preparation of what Allah has in store for us. The life of the Hereafter is eternal, and it is that which the believer should strive for. Hence let us not be deceived by the glamour and spendour around us. This life should never be wasted by merely seeking a comfortable and rice life of worldly happiness because Allah SWT tells us: “And surely the Hereafter is indeed better than this world.” ************************ Again says the Qur’an, “Every soul shall taste of death” – none shall be made to wander this world for ever. ((Pearls of the Prophet, Islamic Outreah-ABIM) ************************* Well, brothers and sisters, what would be among our first steps after acknowleging that we have only a short period (say about 10 years) of time to live in this world? Free your busy schedule to attend at least the maghrib and isyak ‘jemaah’ (mass) prayers in masjids and between the two prayers sit and listen attentively to the lectures. ************************** Do it daily sincerely for Allah's sake (ikhlas), and ‘insya-Allah’ (God willing), you will gain knowledge that would guide you for your safety in this world and Hereafter!