Health and Free Time

As reported by Ibn Abbas, Prophet Muhammad
(pbuh) said:
"Health and free time are two great blessings the
benefits of which most people are deceived about."
This hadith invites us to consciously make use of the
"time" that starts with our birth and ends with our
death in the best way. It focuses our attention on the
two important blessings which we possess and use
selfishly, unaware of their value or destiny: Health
and free time. Is it not meaningful that of all the
blessings that flow through our hands these two
were brought to the fore? We are speaking of two
important values that act as springboards in the
development of physical and spiritual values. Without
health there are many forms of worship that we
cannot perform and we encounter difficulties in our
social life. If we do not have any free time in which to
be on our own, we cannot proceed on the spiritual
journey.
Today we no longer possess the opportunity to
perceive the "moment" in which we find ourselves.
We live a life that is indexed to the future. We have
no time to set aside for thinking or taking stock of our
actions and intentions. Perhaps we are seeking
unnecessary occupations in order to avoid such
undertakings. The fear that we encounter when faced
by questions about the meaning of our existence, of
where we have been and where we are going, of who
and what we are, puts a distance between us and
everyone and everything.
Islam, a civilization that is established centered on
time, puts forward how to behave in this matter most
in its approach to the matter of worship. Islam
establishes periodic forms of worship that must be
fulfilled: daily (five prayers), weekly (Friday Prayer),
annually (Ramadan) and once-in-a-lifetime (Hajj), and
thus encourages people to be constantly aware of the
concept of time. In fact, Islam takes people out of the
planned daily routine only with the funeral prayer
which unlike the Christian counterpart is carried out
as soon as possible after the death. This
consciousness is best expressed in the Quran in the
following verse: "Therefore, when thou art free (from
thine immediate task) still labor is hard, and to thy
Lord turn (all) they attention." (94, 7/8). The verse
includes religious activities like worship, prayer,
preaching the message and following the right way as
well as worldly activities, like working, producing,
learning and teaching, helping and solidarity, thus
showing more clearly how Islam balances the two
worlds (this world and the after life).
A person who is aware that they will have to account
for every minute of their life will not waste any time.
Only when one is aware that life is the most valuable
capital can one see free time as an opportunity to
purify and to revivify.
The following words, attributed to Ataullah Iskenderi,
will enlighten our journey in this matter: "Those who
want to learn their value and importance before Allah
should examine the task in which they are involved at
the moment."
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