Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Allah (swt) the owner of time and everything says, “Blessed is He who has placed in the sky great stars and placed therein a [burning] lamp and luminous moon. And it is He who has made the night and the day in succession for whoever desires to remember or desires gratitude.”[1]. Human existence is dependent on place and time. In these realities created by Allah (swt), all creatures, especially us, maintain their liveliness. Since a place is a tangible asset, its value is more easily understood. However, since time is an intangible entity, we, as servants, can sometimes be neglectful about understanding its value and giving it its due. However, realising the importance of time and using our days, hours, minutes and even seconds accordingly is one of the conditions for our success in this world and the next.

Dear Jama’ah!

We Muslims, who believe in Allah (swt), His Messenger (saw) and the Last Day, see ourselves as responsible for making the world successful. On the other hand, we must pay attention to the words of Allah (swt) regarding this. He says, “And the worldly life is not but amusement and diversion; but the home of the Hereafter is best for those who fear Allah, so will you not reason?”[2] We should not forget that the real and eternal thing in our life, which consists of this world and the hereafter, is the hereafter. Hasan-i Basri, one of the elders of the Tabi’in generation, said:
“You are nothing but a number of days, and whenever a day passes away, a part of you passes away.”[3] Also, referring to the Companions he says, “I have seen such people that they are fond of spending their time usefully more than you are fond of your dirhams and dinars.”[4].The Khalifa Umar b. Abdulaziz, on the other hand, drew our attention to the value of time with the following words: “The day and night works (to end life). Consider the day and night for good deeds.”[5]

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

We are going through a period in which the tendency towards the world has increased and the hereafter has been ignored, and this has been adopted as a systematic lifestyle on a global level and has almost been imposed on humanity. The Quran mentions; “No! But you [i.e., mankind] love the immediate and leave [i.e., neglect] the Hereafter.”[6] With this verse, he almost described and warned Today’s societies. Worldly happiness cannot be attained by worrying about the world. Keeping in mind the brief expression of Yunus Emre; “The one who is troubled by the world alone, would have all the troubles in the world.” However, those who aim to attain the hereafter will attain happiness in this world as well as in the hereafter, with their good deeds.

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Rasulullah (saw) has said the best of Muslims are: “One with a long life of good deeds.”[7]

May Allah (swt) grant us a healthy and good life. May we be one of those who benefit from the blessing of the time he has given. May Allah (swt), the Most Merciful and Most Kind, make us and all our loved ones among his pleased servants who come before him with good and beautiful deeds. Ameen.

 

[1] Surah Al-Furqan, 25:61-62

[2] Surah Al-An’am, 6:32

[3] Ahmed b. Hanbel, Kitâbü’z-Zühd, 2/392, No: 1591

[4] Ebû Gudde: Kîmetü’z-Zemen, s. 27

[5] Ebû Gudde: Kîmetü’z-Zemen, s. 27

[6] Surah Al-Qiyamah, 75:20-21

[7] Tirmizî, Zühd, 20

Value of Time