Seize the opportunity to do good.( Abdullah Cheng)
Dear brothers and sisters,
It is necessary to constantly remind ourselves that the passage of time is flowing whether we like it or not. The remaining opportunities to do good deeds in our lives are getting fewer and fewer. Our death is certain to our families even before we were born into this world, yet many of us live as if death will never come to us.
Another year has passed and Ramadan is approaching as we enter the month of Rajab, it’s time to think and reflect again what we have done within the last year. What was something we didn’t like about ourselves that we have been trying to improve. What was something we wanted to achieve that we have seen some progress. What was something that we had to fix but still didn’t fix.
We could be very optimistic to assume that there’s always another chance. There’s always another month to live, another day to see. But death doesn’t ask for our permission to come. And therefore we must be prepared to meet death at any time, not only after we are retired, not only after our children are grown up, not only after we have finished that project we were working on.
That’s why we shouldn’t become too attached to the pleasures of this life, because it will not only make us lose focus of what’s more important, but also the moment when we eventually lose the things we cherish, we would suffer from extreme sorrow. And our Prophet ﷺ reminded us:
أَكْثِرُوا ذِكْرَ هَاذِمِ اللَّذَّاتِ يَعْنِي الْمَوْتَ
Remember often the destroyer of pleasures: death [Sunan al-Tirmidhī 2307]
We have to admit and be honest to ourselves that the remembrance of death comes and goes. There are times when we become too involved into our work and our lives that we forget that someday all of this will perish, and remembering death could affect our mood, but that would help us appreciate and cherish more what’s in front of us.
The Prophet ﷺ also told us:
كُنْ فِي الدُّنْيَا كَأَنَّكَ غَرِيبٌ، أَوْ عَابِرُ سَبِيلٍ
Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a traveler [Bukhari 6416]
There’s very limited time when we travel to somewhere and we want to make sure that we maximize whatever time we have to accomplish something that we could only achieve while we are there. To be able to perform good deeds is something so precious that it’s a privilege that only belongs to us people who are still living. The moment our souls are taken away, we are no longer the traveler, there’s no way to perform any type of good deeds with your own hands, except through the Sadaqah Jariyah which you have left in this Dunya, but even that would have a limit depending on how much impact you have left in this Dunya.
In the last verses of Surah Al Munafiqun, the chapter of the hypocrites, Allah gives us a reminder of what we shouldn’t do as righteous people. Allah swt says:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُلْهِكُمْ أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَلَا أَوْلَادُكُمْ عَن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ۚ وَمَن يَفْعَلْ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ
O believers! Do not let your wealth or your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. For whoever does so, it is they who are the ˹true˺ losers. [63:9]
When we dive deep into root causes that leads to hypocrisy in the Iman, we will find that it’s related to selfishness, cowardice, stinginess, and the fear of death. And as Muslims, these are the evil attributes that we should protect ourselves from, so that we don’t get distracted from remembering Allah because of our possessions.
وَأَنفِقُوا۟ مِن مَّا رَزَقْنَـٰكُم مِّن قَبْلِ أَن يَأْتِىَ أَحَدَكُمُ ٱلْمَوْتُ فَيَقُولَ رَبِّ لَوْلَآ أَخَّرْتَنِىٓ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍۢ قَرِيبٍۢ فَأَصَّدَّقَ وَأَكُن مِّنَ ٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ
And donate from what We have provided for you before death comes to one of you, and you cry, “My Lord! If only You delayed me for a short while, I would give in charity and be one of the righteous.” [63:10]
Those who wish to have more time in this Dunya would request Allah to give them more time, to not perform any other deed, but to do charity. Because charity is different than other deeds like praying and fasting. Charity requires us to give up, to give away something that we own and we love. Nobody enjoys or takes pleasure in giving away their possessions or their money. There’s always an inner struggle within ourselves when we have to sacrifice something we own. And that is why charity is one of those actions that counter against hypocrisy. If we want to cure the hypocrisy in our hearts, then let’s be generous, and humble ourselves by giving charity. Charity softens our hearts, it helps us remove our pride because we understand that those possessions don’t belong to us forever, and it purifies our wealth and our souls.
وَلَن يُؤَخِّرَ ٱللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِذَا جَآءَ أَجَلُهَا ۚ وَٱللَّهُ خَبِيرٌۢ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ
But Allah never delays a soul when its appointed time comes. And Allah is All-Aware of what you do. [63:11]
Because once we become stingy, that stinginess will remain forever if we don’t try to fix it, and if we only realize the importance of charity until the end of our lives, then that would be too late, and we won’t have any other chance to do more charity when that time comes.
This relates to a Hadith, where a person came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked him: What kind of charity is the best, that has the most reward? And the Prophet ﷺ replied: it’s the one given while you are still healthy, while you are still hoping to become richer, and while you are afraid of becoming poor. That’s the charity that’s the best. Not the charity when you are already rich and comfortable.
And the Prophet ﷺ continues to say: Do not delay it until you are approaching death, and only then you give charity. Because by that time, the wealth is already leaving you even without you giving it away.
So my dear brothers and sisters, let us try to leave some impact and legacy in this world while we still have the ability. Each one of us can help people in different ways, and there are many people that need our help. Whether it’s the charity to the poor, or helping to build Islamic school, or to invest for Da’wah, or to help relieving the pain of those who are struggling. Even if our names are not remembered by the future generations, the angels will be aware of those who have contributed to the future generations hundreds of years later.
May Allah soften our hearts and grant us sincerity in our deeds, may Allah use us as forces of good, and may Allah accept from us before our time is over.
It is necessary to constantly remind ourselves that the passage of time is flowing whether we like it or not. The remaining opportunities to do good deeds in our lives are getting fewer and fewer. Our death is certain to our families even before we were born into this world, yet many of us live as if death will never come to us.
Another year has passed and Ramadan is approaching as we enter the month of Rajab, it’s time to think and reflect again what we have done within the last year. What was something we didn’t like about ourselves that we have been trying to improve. What was something we wanted to achieve that we have seen some progress. What was something that we had to fix but still didn’t fix.
We could be very optimistic to assume that there’s always another chance. There’s always another month to live, another day to see. But death doesn’t ask for our permission to come. And therefore we must be prepared to meet death at any time, not only after we are retired, not only after our children are grown up, not only after we have finished that project we were working on.
That’s why we shouldn’t become too attached to the pleasures of this life, because it will not only make us lose focus of what’s more important, but also the moment when we eventually lose the things we cherish, we would suffer from extreme sorrow. And our Prophet ﷺ reminded us:
أَكْثِرُوا ذِكْرَ هَاذِمِ اللَّذَّاتِ يَعْنِي الْمَوْتَ
Remember often the destroyer of pleasures: death [Sunan al-Tirmidhī 2307]
We have to admit and be honest to ourselves that the remembrance of death comes and goes. There are times when we become too involved into our work and our lives that we forget that someday all of this will perish, and remembering death could affect our mood, but that would help us appreciate and cherish more what’s in front of us.
The Prophet ﷺ also told us:
كُنْ فِي الدُّنْيَا كَأَنَّكَ غَرِيبٌ، أَوْ عَابِرُ سَبِيلٍ
Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a traveler [Bukhari 6416]
There’s very limited time when we travel to somewhere and we want to make sure that we maximize whatever time we have to accomplish something that we could only achieve while we are there. To be able to perform good deeds is something so precious that it’s a privilege that only belongs to us people who are still living. The moment our souls are taken away, we are no longer the traveler, there’s no way to perform any type of good deeds with your own hands, except through the Sadaqah Jariyah which you have left in this Dunya, but even that would have a limit depending on how much impact you have left in this Dunya.
In the last verses of Surah Al Munafiqun, the chapter of the hypocrites, Allah gives us a reminder of what we shouldn’t do as righteous people. Allah swt says:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُلْهِكُمْ أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَلَا أَوْلَادُكُمْ عَن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ۚ وَمَن يَفْعَلْ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ
O believers! Do not let your wealth or your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. For whoever does so, it is they who are the ˹true˺ losers. [63:9]
When we dive deep into root causes that leads to hypocrisy in the Iman, we will find that it’s related to selfishness, cowardice, stinginess, and the fear of death. And as Muslims, these are the evil attributes that we should protect ourselves from, so that we don’t get distracted from remembering Allah because of our possessions.
وَأَنفِقُوا۟ مِن مَّا رَزَقْنَـٰكُم مِّن قَبْلِ أَن يَأْتِىَ أَحَدَكُمُ ٱلْمَوْتُ فَيَقُولَ رَبِّ لَوْلَآ أَخَّرْتَنِىٓ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍۢ قَرِيبٍۢ فَأَصَّدَّقَ وَأَكُن مِّنَ ٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ
And donate from what We have provided for you before death comes to one of you, and you cry, “My Lord! If only You delayed me for a short while, I would give in charity and be one of the righteous.” [63:10]
Those who wish to have more time in this Dunya would request Allah to give them more time, to not perform any other deed, but to do charity. Because charity is different than other deeds like praying and fasting. Charity requires us to give up, to give away something that we own and we love. Nobody enjoys or takes pleasure in giving away their possessions or their money. There’s always an inner struggle within ourselves when we have to sacrifice something we own. And that is why charity is one of those actions that counter against hypocrisy. If we want to cure the hypocrisy in our hearts, then let’s be generous, and humble ourselves by giving charity. Charity softens our hearts, it helps us remove our pride because we understand that those possessions don’t belong to us forever, and it purifies our wealth and our souls.
وَلَن يُؤَخِّرَ ٱللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِذَا جَآءَ أَجَلُهَا ۚ وَٱللَّهُ خَبِيرٌۢ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ
But Allah never delays a soul when its appointed time comes. And Allah is All-Aware of what you do. [63:11]
Because once we become stingy, that stinginess will remain forever if we don’t try to fix it, and if we only realize the importance of charity until the end of our lives, then that would be too late, and we won’t have any other chance to do more charity when that time comes.
This relates to a Hadith, where a person came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked him: What kind of charity is the best, that has the most reward? And the Prophet ﷺ replied: it’s the one given while you are still healthy, while you are still hoping to become richer, and while you are afraid of becoming poor. That’s the charity that’s the best. Not the charity when you are already rich and comfortable.
And the Prophet ﷺ continues to say: Do not delay it until you are approaching death, and only then you give charity. Because by that time, the wealth is already leaving you even without you giving it away.
So my dear brothers and sisters, let us try to leave some impact and legacy in this world while we still have the ability. Each one of us can help people in different ways, and there are many people that need our help. Whether it’s the charity to the poor, or helping to build Islamic school, or to invest for Da’wah, or to help relieving the pain of those who are struggling. Even if our names are not remembered by the future generations, the angels will be aware of those who have contributed to the future generations hundreds of years later.
May Allah soften our hearts and grant us sincerity in our deeds, may Allah use us as forces of good, and may Allah accept from us before our time is over.