Looking through an hour glass

“Let not then this present life deceive you nor let the Chief Deceiver deceive you
about Allah.” (Surah Luqman, verse 33).
Someone e-mailed me the following passage and after reading it, I instantly got the
meaning of the ayah mentioned above. Satan called a worldwide convention of demons. In his
opening address he said, "We can't keep Muslims from going to the Mosque, or from reading
their Quran and knowing the truth. We can't even keep them from forming an intimate
relationship with their Allah and his messenger Muhammad. Once they gain that connection with
Allah, our power over them is broken. So let them go to their Mosques; let them have their
covered dish dinners, BUT steal their time, so they don't have time to develop a relationship with
Allah and Muhammad.”
“How shall we do this?” his demons shouted.
“Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their
minds," he answered. “Persuade their wives to go to work for long hours and husbands to work 6-
7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty life styles. Keep them away
from spending time with their children. As their families fragment, soon, their homes will offer
no escape from the pressures of work! Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that
still, small voice. Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive. Keep the
TV, VCR, CDs and PCs going constantly in their home and see to it that every store and
restaurant in the world plays music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that union
with Allah and His messenger Muhammad (PBUH). Fill their coffee tables with magazines and
newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day. Flood their mailboxes with junk
mail, catalogs, sweepstakes, newsletter and promotional offers. Give them storybooks to distract
them from teaching their children the real meaning of Salat. Keep them too busy to go out in
nature and reflect on Allah's creation. Instead send them to amusement parks, sporting events,
plays, concerts, and movies. Keep them busy, busy, busy! And when they meet for spiritual
fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences."
"It will work!" "It will work!"
It was quite a plan!
The demons eagerly went to achieve their new task. They got Muslims everywhere to get
busier and more rushed. Everywhere Muslims have very little time for their Allah or their
families. They have no time to tell others about the power of Allah and his messenger
Muhammad (PBUH) to change lives. I guess the question is has the devil been successful in his
schemes?
You be the judge!!!!!
The Chief Deceiver, Satan, is trying to make human beings waste their precious time
by leading them away from Allah SWT. He is trying to persuade us to believe that the Time of
Resurrection may never come whereas as Muslims we believe that it is a certainty because Allah
promised us that the Hour will come and He never lies. We must not play with Time nor be
deceived by its appearances. Worldly wealth, power, status and influence are nothing but trials.
Let not their possessors think that they have accomplished their tasks by making us astray. This
can only happen if we believe in these things and that they will necessarily bring us happiness.
The Day may come today or tomorrow or when we least expect it as it is explained in Quran:
“And verily the Hour will come: there can be no doubt about it.” (Surah Al-Hajj, verse 7)
Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) has said:
“The moment the light of dawn breaks through the night it calls out, “O children of
Adam! I am a new creation of Allah and a witness to your deeds, so take as much provisions for
the hereafter from me as you can, because I will never return”.
 It is time for the Believers to engage their hearts in the remembrance of Allah and of the
truth that has been revealed (to them). They should not become like those who were given
Revelation before, and as years passed by their hearts grew hard. It is explained in the Quran that
these people were the rebellious transgressors. Each of these nations was given Allah's
Revelation, but with time, they corrupted it, became arrogant and hard-hearted, they weakened
the justice, truth, and the purity of Life. But the general lesson that we learn lies far beyond that.
Allah SWT favors no one except the one that scores high on the form of righteousness. There is
no individual or race that is chosen on the basis of something other than this, there is no blind
good or ill fortune, this position is given only to those who fully utilize his or her time properly.
Death is inevitable, and it may come to anyone at any time, and we must all be ready for it. Time
as we know it will not exist forever and ever. It is a great factor in our affairs in this world, but it
hardly counts in the next world.
Allah says in the Quran, “But man wishes to do wrong (even) in the time in front of
him.” (Surah Qiyamat, Ruku 1).
“How many generations before them did We destroy? In the end they cried (for mercy)
when there was no longer time for being saved!” (Surah Sad, Rukuh 1)
Allah has sent Prophets, teachings, warnings, signs etc. to all nations and at all times, and
yet nations have rebelled and gone wrong and suffered destruction. If only later generations, like
ours, could learn from their lessons that wrongdoing results in self-destruction, because the
justice of Allah merely carried out the result of their own choices and actions. At any time during
their life they could have repented and obtained mercy, but their "Self-glory and Separatism"
stood in the way. Ultimately they did cry to escape from the punishment of Allah SWT but it was
too late. For example like Pharaoh, when he saw that he was going to drown, he called to the
Lord of Moses and confessed to there being only One Allah but Allah SWT rejected his last
minute confession because it was too late. Allah in His infinite mercy and forgiveness has given
us respite i.e. He has provided us time for repentance. There will be no escape from the final
Punishment after the time of repentance is past, so do not anticipate that there is time. We should
hasten things till the time is ripe for us and do not let it fade away. It is not a laughing matter. If
we only realize our own shortcomings all we will do is weep. But weeping alone will not help us.
“And they say: "What is there but our life in this world, we shall die and we live and
nothing but time can destroy us." (Surah Al-Jathiya, verse 24)
It is narrated by Abu Hurairah ®: Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) said: “Allah said, ‘The son
of Adam annoys Me for he abuses Ad-Dahr (Time) though I am Ad-Dahr (Time); in My Hands
are all things, and I cause the revolution of day and night.” (Sahih Bukhari)
We must try and understand Allah and adore Him because He has called Himself “Ad-
Dahr”, which means that “I am the Creator of Time, and I manage all the affairs of all creations
including Time.” And so we are invited by Allah SWT to prostrate before Him, adore Him and
not waste time, for this is the true attitude and approach that will lead us to Paradise, our final
abode. Fatima Bint Mohammad spent much of her time in Salat, reading the Quran and in other
acts of worship instead of spending it in the company of women. Do not think that we have a lot
of time at our disposal, the seconds are ticking by and the minute hand is moving faster and
faster. The end is drawing near and the time that is lost is dead now so instead of mourning the
time lost let us return to the present and avail every second of it. Let us pray that we do not lose
our levels in the Illiyyun (A register inscribed to write the good deeds of the pious and the
righteous people), and the others gain them. Sometimes we leave stuff for later because it was not
the best time or place for it, and sometimes we think that there still is a lot of time and years left
to do it. We take Allah’s blessing of time for granted. A person should fully utilize this time of
his life, this world for the hereafter, his youth before his old age and his life before his death
arrives.
 Imam Ibn Jozee® says that every breath of our lives is a precious jewel that cannot be
bought with any amount of money. Try not to waste this day and understand that there are 24
hours in a day and that every person has 24 lockers standing side by side in a row. On the Day of
Judgment Allah will open each and every locker and will see the deeds earned every hour. If they
are filled with the lights of the good deeds, the believer will be so happy that if his happiness is
distributed amongst the dwellers of hell they will not feel the anguish of hell fire. If by bad luck a
person was involved in doing bad deeds than there will be darkness present in the lockers in place
of light. The bad odor and darkness will spread out and the hour in which he did not obey Allah
will make him encounter dreadful punishment. He will be so uncomfortable and so much
humiliated that if this discomfort and humiliation was to be distributed amongst the dwellers of
Jannah all their rewards will lose their essence. Thirdly a treasure will open for those who did not
do any deeds at all, and this box will be empty. There will not be anything in that box of
treasures. This will be the hour in which they were sleeping (meaning wasting their time), and
every person there will feel regret and remorse for having this hour empty.
Allah's Messenger (PBUH) said to a man in the course of an exhortation, "Grasp five
things before five others: your youth before your decrepitude, your health before your illness,
your riches before your poverty, your leisure before your work, and your life before your death."
(Tirmidhi)
When time is limited, there is not much time for repentance. When this stay of ours in
this world is over, we will not be allowed to plead for more time. When no one knows when the
end will come, we don’t have time to waste. When Allah says that only time can destroy us, let us
try to grab it and not let it slip through our fingers. When Satan and his demons are sitting on top
of us with their claws out ready to pounce, let’s not make them succeed in their evil plans. When
a wrong is done, the time for its punishment is approaching near faster than anyone can realize,
therefore every moment counts. No one should wait for an appropriate time or place to repent.
The time for repentance and the time to act are now and it can be done at any given time. But
when the punishment comes, it is too late to ask for forgiveness, and all the caution and warning
would be useless. Allah SWT has given us these glad tidings; therefore we should rush our fellow
beings and ourselves and make full use of it.
“That is (the Bounty) whereof Allah gives Glad Tidings to His Servants who believe
and do righteous deeds.” (Surah Ash Shura, verse 23)

Written by:
Najam Barney
Tel #. 817-516-7343
Arlington, Texas
E-mail: nsbarney@hotmail.com