I want you to imagine stepping out of a really tough exam. Your brain is fried from the hours of studying prior to the exam and all you think about is relaxing. You take a deep breath, exhale, and say “Alhumdulillah”. Brothers and Sisters, my khutbah today will be about reflecting on moments such as these and taking advantage of the many blessings Allah has given us.
The Prophet Muhammad (S) was blessed with jawaami’ ul kalim (the most concise, or precise, speech). Meaning he only had to say a little on order to convey a huge message. I will be analyzing just one saying of the Prophet (S) to demonstrate the ocean of wisdom our Messenger’s words carried.
ibn Abbas (R) reported that the Prophet Muhammad SAWS said to a man while he was advising him:
“Take advantage of five matters before five other matters: your youth, before you become old; and your health, before you fall sick; and your richness, before you become poor; and your free time before you become busy; and your life, before your death.”
Let us venture into this hadith one advantage at a time.
Body:
#1: Take Advantage of Your Youth before Your Old Age
-Youthfulness is a time when a person is the most energetic and willing to take on the challeges of life. Channel this enthusiasm to please Allah SW through acts of worship, acquiring knowledge, being modest, respecting elders (especially parents), etc
-The enthusiasm and energy that you have been blessed with will never again be given to you after this age. Therefore, Hasten to please your Lord!
-After youth one loses this vitality and will not be able to achieve the things they once did due to physical/mental disabilites.
-Allah loves the youth who keeps himself busy with worship and is amazed at him because in general it is the youth who stray from the path of the worship of Allah SW.
#2: Take Advantage of Your Health, Before You Fall Sick.
-Health is one of the greatest blessings Allah has bestowed upon us. Ponder on how difficult life becomes when a person contracts a measley cold virus.
-There will come a time when we WILL fall sick. Some of those times the sicknesses will be more severe, and for certain people even more severe.
-Do not become disillusioned by the health Allah has blessed you with. Rather, take advantage of it by (again) committing acts that please Allah before it is taken away.
-Ponder on the example of those who are blind, deaf, mentally disabled, etc. and thank Allah for all he has given you.
-Make it a goal to at least complete the obligatory actions which require a healthy body such as salah five times a day, fasting in Ramadan, and going for the Hajj. Of course, the more that one does, the better it is for him.
#3: Take Advantage of Your Richness Before Poverty
-Contemplate on the world situation today. Where beggars become millionaires and millionaires become beggars. One day we might not have anything, and the next we might have much more than we need.
-Islam implores us to invest in the dunya (attaining good education, maintaining a job, providing for the family, etc) but not to become engrossed in it. Rather, one should be more worried about investing in the akhirah (hereafter).
-Always remind yourself that the wealth we have attained is due to the will of Allah and ponder over how true this is.
-Invest in your akhirah by donating you money for the sake of Allah to Islamic organizations, schools, civil services groups, etc.
#4: Take Advantage of Your Free Time Before You Become Busy
-Think about it. Think about how much free time all of us have been blessed with. What do we waste it on?
-Ponder about how much free time we used to have and ask your elders how much free time they have.
-How many of you wish you had more free time?
-Spending time wisely does not necessarily mean purely religious deeds (Quran, salah, fasting, etc.) But spending your time wisely learning something that can benefit you in this world and that can benefit other people as well.
#5: Take Advantage of Your Life Before Your Death
-This one phrase summarizes it all. We all have life. And we all WILL die.
-A whole khutbah can be spent on just the concept of death.
-Realize that death can come at anytime. When our time comes, there is nothing we can do. So take advantage of this life.
-Death does not discriminate. The Prophet, his companions, and those who disbelieved all have passed.
-Ponder on the example of those who die when
A story is told about a King in Africa who had a close friend that he grew up with. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) by saying
“Alhamdulillah” (All praise is due to Allah)
One day the King and his Friend were out on a hunting expedition. The Friend would load and prepare the guns for the King. The Friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his Friend, the King fired it and his thumb was blown off.
Examining the situation the Friend remarked as usual,
“Alhamdulillah” (All praise is due to Allah)
To which the King replied, “No, this is NOT good!” and ordered his soldiers to put his Friend into jail.
A few months later, the King was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. A native tribe captured the King and took him to their village. They tied him up and brought him to their altar, for sacrifice to their gods.
The tribe shaman came to inspect the body, he noticed that the King was missing a thumb. The shaman was in an uproar. He said the sacrifice must be perfect, the gods will be furious with us if we submitted one who is imperfect. They quickly untied him and chased him away in fear that he would bring bad luck.
When the King reached his Palace, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his Friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his Friend.
“You were right” the King said. “it was good that my thumb was blown off.” And he proceeded to tell all that just happened. “I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this.”
His Friend replied “Alhamdulillah” (All praise is due to Allah)
“What do you mean, “Alhamdulillah!”(All praise is due to Allah) How could you be grateful that I sent my Friend to jail for a few months?”
The King’s friend replied: “Remember that the Almighty knows best and if I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you(on this hunting trip).” [Book of Inspirations Vol. 1].
Brothers and sisters, whatever happens in our life is part of Allah’s plan. Rather than whining and complain we should continuously thank Allah for the countless blessings he has given us and show our gratitude by taking advantage of those blessings by doing acts which please him. Allah says in the Holy Quran, But you may hate a thing although it is good for you, and may love a thing although it is evil for you. Allah knows, and you do not. [Baqarah:216]
So once again, “Take advantage of five matters before five others: your youth, before your old age; and your health before you fall sick; and your wealth before you become poor; and your free time before you become busy; and your life before your death.”
Hasten to please Allah SW through acts of worship. Do not forget that all of the acts a believer does can be transformed into acts of worship if he does them for the sake of Allah SW. May Allah guide us all
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