Time; the enemy of students.
Time is a sword, if you don’t slay it, it will slay you.
— Sufis saying.
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We student often cry out that time is[i] limited and wish that a day would be 48hours instead of the normal 24hours.
When asked we simply say we do not have enough time, the work load is too much and hours accomplish the task are not sufficient.
In the name of Allah the creator of time, the giver of time, the controller of time and the greatest keeper of time, who swears by time because he alone has the right to swears with what he likes as at when, where, and how he likes. I seek his protection and guidance as I begin and seek his help for this piece of write up to beneficial to me and the reader.
TIME! WHAT IS TIME? It defined as the interval at which event occurs.
Time, in physics is defined as: the rate of change of velocity with respect to distance measured in second.
Wikipedia defined time as the indefinite continued progress of existence and event that occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past through present to the future.
In the line with the above definition, one thing is common and that is change and continuity. Allah the originator of time says in (Q76:1) “has there not been over man a period of time when he was not a thing worth mentioning?” let’s look at this verse from a different view, Allah in his verse is calling our attention to a time when we never existed, it is means that time was there before our existence and time will always be there until we cease to exist.
The usefulness of time is emphasized in many verses of the Holy Qur`an like: (Q103:1),(Q93:1-2),(Q92:1-2),(Q91:1-4) and (Q98:1).
A deep through of the above reference give us insight of the events occurrence and change that take place at different time interval. With this we can say that definition of time earlier stated above is in line with the saying of the creator of time (Allah).
Since the owner and creator of time is Allah who at the same time is our creator have balanced up life and produces substances for all his creations, so therefore man has enough and sufficient time to accomplish all his tasks only on a condition that he organizes his time appropriately. But if this is not done then he should be responsible for not being able to accomplish and should not accuse time as been limited neither should such a person say time is the enemy of students as claimed , rather, should hold himself responsible for being the enemy of time.
Time is life and your life can never be your enemy because you are made up of time, and as it passes by, you get closer to your end.
Hassan Al-Basri was reported to have said that “there is no day that has it daybreak begins except that its cries: `Oh! Son of Adam, I am a new creature and a witness over your deeds (Actions), take provision from for if I go away, I shall not return until the day of resurrection`”.
He also said: `Oh! Son of Adam, you are just a number of days, whenever a day goes, a part of you is gone, very soon the whole of you shall go away with the passing away of the remaining part”.
In view of these sayings, whoever wastes any part of his time (day) has also directly or indirectly wasted part of his life.
In respect to our own level as students how this does involves us? Yes it does, because a student who does not regard his studies or neglects his studies and while away his time in vain talks and unethical behaviors would surely get the result of his action during the examination and outcome of result. Then he will wish for second chance.
How do we overcome the misuse of time or how do we effectively make use of our time? This should be one of the questions running through our minds.
Having known what time entails it will then be easier to curtail it.
- By avoiding procrastination. The best time to do good act it now. Meaning, do not delay doing anything good that will add value to your life and humanity in general.
- Do not spend any part of your time in what is not beneficial, if you have any important affair, be brief in accomplishing it, for they say, Time is money and money is life.
These should be learnt from the companions of the Prophet may Allah have mercy on them all.
Umar bn khattab was so much averse to idleness and waste of time that he said. “I hate to see any of you stating idle, not engaged in either the work of his world or the work of the hereafter”.
Ibn Mas`ud said, “I regret nothing other than over a day which when sunset reduces my remaining life time but adds nothing to my good deed.”
Umar bin abdul azeez said, “The day and night work within you; then you work within them’’.it is up to us decide our faith either to work against the time or it work against us. Time and tide wait for no one.
As Muslims. Who are seekers of knowledge, we should learn to put time in its proper place for seeking the pleasure of our lord rendering service to humanity. Then, we may be fortunate in this world and successful in hereafter.
Effective planning and consistency are the greatest tools, which can be used to curtail this self-claimed enemy by students.
As students, we should learn how to define our objectives for each stage, means of each objectives, desired timing, necessary materials, and potentials. Once all these plans fits into our time based schedules, it means that we are heading to success.
However, let’s not forget that time is Amanah (trust), we will be asked about it by the giver of time.
The prophet (SAW) was reported to have said, “seize this five opportunities before the other five:
*Your life before your death
*Your youth before your senility (old age)
*Your richness before your poverty
*Your health before your illness
*Your free time before you become occupied’’
He also said, “there are two gift of Allah which many people waste away, good health and free time’’
Imam Shafi’i Rahimahullah said, “I accompanied the Sufis and I only benefitted from two of their sayings first; time is a sword, if you don’t slay it, it will slay you.
Secondly; keep your soul occupied with good, otherwise it will keep you occupied with evil’’
The occupation of the soul above here, is keeping the soul busy always, don’t be idle doing nothing.
The real enemy of time! Does time actually have enemy?
This concept will not be comprehended without knowing the meaning, so what do I mean by enemy of time? Enemy of time are activities/things that are meaningless and have no value or add value to us positively. They are:
- The social media/internet /cell phone/TV media
- Unproductive companionship/bad role Model
- Laziness/negative thoughts/procrastination/Distraction
- In modern time, the internet social media, cell phone, and TV media has proven to be the greatest killer or enemy of time. Over the years before the advent of internet research, work were done mostly on filed and libraries but today with the aid of these tools, research work has been limited to the for walls of our comfort rooms, with just a click on the button of our computers, cell phones, and TV sets. This windows opened by the internet (Social media) such as Facebook, 2go, WhatsApp, Snap chat, Instagram, etc. has been seen to be the killer of time while one is unaware. A student can spend 3-5 hours communicating or viewing unethical stuffs which contribute nothing to their life, forgetting the fact that an hour spent on frivolities can never be regained.
- Unproductive companionship: as the name sound, unproductive! Sitting and working with friends who are not productive useful to themselves, how can such people be useful to you? A proverb says “show me your friend and I will tell you who you are.”
The prophet of Islam (SAW) said “a good companionship is like a perfume seller, its either he gives you a perfume, or the scent from him will be spread to you. While a bad companion is like blacksmith, is either he burns your cloth with coal or the smell of the coal touches you.
- Laziness, negative thought, and procrastination are also part of the enemy of time as these factors tend to take us away from achieving our goals; a task that can be done if left undone will remain undone. The best time to plant a tree that will yield fruit in ten years’ time is now, because the time itself has started counting right from the moment you think of planting it.
In conclusion, there is nothing to complain about time as we have seen that effective planning leads to successful outcome. We have also come to note that our religion disciplines us on time, the time for salat, zakat, hajj etc.
It is with this point, I conclude that may Allah us the understanding of this write up better than the way I presented it.
By Ibrahim A. Mustapha.
[i] AL-QAMAR; A PUBLICATION OF MSSN SBRS/1438/2017(2ND EDITION) P: 4-5.
MSSN ABU/SBRS 