Reflection on The Eternal Value of Time from The Perspective of Islamic Spirituality
By
Prof. Henry Francis B. Espiritu, New Age Islam
13 August
2020
All
throughout these months of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have devoted a big chunk of
my time in stepping-up my reading of books that are unread in my bookshelves. I
realized that I have accumulated books for years that I really feel guilty of
not having enough time to read them. I feel the sadness in a book not read. I
feel it asks for my attention: pleading with me and beckoning me to open it up,
hold it, cuddle it and caress it with my hands. All through these whole five
(5) months of extended quarantine, I realize that life is indeed short and our
time here on earth is so uncertain that I must find and make time to read those
many books that are resting on my bookshelves not just in my home, but also in
my university faculty office.
Time is
really more than gold… I begin to experientially realize the preciousness of
time when time passes me by all these 5 months of the COVID-19 quarantine and
hard lock-down. I begin to realize that prior to the lock-down when everything
is normal, I have wasted my time in not exhausting all the possibilities that
time can give me so that when this lock-down was enforced, I blame myself to no
ends for not using to the fullest the time allotted to me before this pandemic
happened.
Time is
given equally to everyone! Both rich and poor are given the same twenty-four
(24) hours in a day. Time challenges us to utilize it prudently and
productively. The problem with me is that I often waste my time in frivolous
matters and thus carelessly spill the precious sands of time at my disposal,
thinking that it will last forever: until I reflected right now in my later mid-life
that the sand of time is fast sinking itself upon me…
Shree
Krishna-ji, the divine preceptor of the ancient Hindus says in the Bhagavad
Gita: “Time—I am the destroyer of the worlds and the destroyer of dreams, plans
and aspirations of all living entities (BG 11:32-33)”. How true this statement
is! Time is fair to everyone and is not partial to anybody. Time keeps its
appointment to everyone from life to death...
Time is
never a second advance nor is it a second late: Time is always punctual; it is
always right on schedule! This why our Beloved Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (peace
and blessings of Allah be upon him and his holy companions) says: “Do not curse
Time, for Time is itself Allah’s instrument and servitor” (Hazrat Imam Nasa’i
Hadith Kulliyah, section 27). The Holy Prophet Muhammad says that we can never
know the time of our death; yet our death is already fixed in All Merciful
Allah’s Book of Records (See Sahih Bukhari Sharif, “Prophetic Sayings on Time”,
Hadith/Statement 119.). The Blessed Prophet Muhammad therefore tells us not to
waste our time in negligence (Ghaflat) and frivolity (Shararat)
but use our waking time here on earth most productively since we do not know
when we can finish our determined course in this world.
Likewise,
the Holy Quran-an shows us that even our Almighty and All-Merciful Allah
(glorified be His Most Holy and Majestic Name) pays respect to Time by
mentioning it in His pledge to humankind and His pledging to use time and the
way how we treat time in His judgment upon us. Our Most Beloved Allah says: “I
swear by Time. Humans are indeed at a great loss, except for those who put
their trust in Me; and perform pious deeds for one-and-all, and those who
enjoin the truth, and those who enjoin patience in adversities (Al-Qur’an
Al-Kareem, Surah Asr: 103:1-3)". In short, this blessed passage of the
Holy Qur’an tells us that our Beloved All-Loving Allah promises blessings and
mercies for those who utilize their waking time here on earth most productively,
most piously, most prudently, most compassionately, most wisely and most
lovingly; for the benefit of one-and-all…
May our
Most Beloved All-Loving Allah be merciful upon us so that we may be counted
among those fortunate people of Everlasting Bliss who are not losers in the
Eyes of our Most Compassionate Allah; by using our time in the best way we can
for the benefit of all sentient and non-sentient beings in this Ongoing
Universe. Amen, a thousand times Amen! May it be so! And Blessed Be!
-----
Prof. Henry Francis B. Espiritu is Associate
Professor-7 of Philosophy and Asian Studies at the University of the
Philippines (UP), Cebu City. He was former Academic Coordinator of the
Political Science Program at UP Cebu from 2011-2014. He was former Coordinator
of Gender and Development (GAD) Office at UP Cebu from 2015-2019. His research
interests include Islamic Studies particularly Sunni jurisprudence, Islamic
feminist discourses, Islam in interfaith dialogue initiatives, Islamic
environmentalism, Classical Sunni Islamic pedagogy, the writings of Imam
Al-Ghazali on pluralism and tolerance, Islam in the Indian Subcontinent,
Turkish Sufism, Ataturk Studies, Muslim-Christian dialogue, Middle Eastern
Affairs, Peace Studies and Public Theology.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-spiritualism/reflection-eternal-value-time-perspective/d/122618
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