Who would believe that a year will be gone by soon. As if it was only yesterday we celebrated the coming of the new year of 2021. Three hundred and 65 days have passed so quickly that we do not even realise it. So swiftly has time passed. This is also one of the signs of the End of Time. The Prophet (may peace be upon him) used to say that at the end of time, it passes so swiftly that a year feels like a month, and a month like a week, and a week like a day, while a day is just like a moment. Such is the reality that every one of us must admit by now. As if it was only yesterday we paid for the rental of our houses, and now is the time to pay the landlords again, likewise other things as well.
There was a story of Fakhr al-Din al-Razi who passed by a market and saw a man shouting loudly: “I am selling time” again and again. He was perplexed as to how this man could sell time? He tried to get closer to him and finally managed to see he was actually selling ice. Every second time passed by, the ice melted away. Al-Razi immediately realised the importance of time and said to himself that no wonder that Allah had sworn “by the passage of time, that man is in grave loss” (Surah al-‘Asr).
Indeed, so precious is time that nothing else exceeds it, not even gold. Thus, the saying that “time is more precious than gold” rings true, for gold can be replaced, but not time. Once it is gone, it is gone. Yet, not many appreciate time, and only those who have lost it, could well appreciate it. There was a saying in Arabic that “a blessing which is not appreciated on its existence, will be appreciated on its absence”. The Prophet had also said that “two things most people do not appreciate: health and free time”.
If one wants to appreciate time, then one needs to ask those who have lost it. They say if you want to appreciate a year, then ask the student who has failed in his first year of university studies; if you want to appreciate a month, ask the mothers who lost their babies due to premature birth; if you want to appreciate a minute, ask those who missed a flight due to being late; if you want to value the second, then ask those who missed an accident and cheated death by a few seconds; and finally if you want to value a millisecond, then ask the athletes who lost the gold medal. Indeed, the importance and value of time are only felt by those who have experienced it.
Since time in Islam is so precious, it should not be wasted. There is no such thing as “I want to kill time” or “I do not know what to do”. Time is your capital. If age is not counted in years as we customarily do, it can, in fact, be reducible to how many million, billion or trillion seconds one has lived. It shows that time is life, in reality. This prompts a renowned classical scholar, Imam Hassan al-Basri to utter, “O Son of Adam! You are just a mere aggregation of days, whenever a day has passed by, a part of you has passed too”.
Even with the passing of time, it does not mean that we have to be pessimistic and sit idly without doing anything or waiting for the death angel to come. A Muslim is always optimistic and always hopeful that it will be better in the future even when we are facing trials and tribulations such as the current Covid-19 pandemic with many getting laid off as well as the recent floods. The Prophet (may peace be upon him) said: “To be an optimist is the best of character, and to be a pessimist is the worst of character”.
The next year will come again for us and for how long, only God knows. Let us have better resolutions than the previous years we have had when we had only been focused on worldly and physical matters. For the new year, we should have some spiritual and Hereafter-type resolutions such as “I want to have a better relationship with Allah SWT”. What does that mean? It means if I have always neglected the five-time daily obligatory prayers, from the new year onwards, I will make sure I fulfil it and others. What is life worth living if I do not have a better relationship with my Creator, the one who has made us and given us this life? What good is there if my Creator is not happy with me? Similarly, I want to have a better relationship with those around me, my families, my relatives, my friends and my neighbours.
A saying goes “each year passes by, we are closer to Allah” (kullu ‘am wa nahnu aqrabu ila-Lllah). Make sure that each year, we are also closer in our relationship with Allah. A man on his dying bed was asked how he was doing. He replied, while in the throes of death, “by Allah I am in the best of condition”. He was asked how could that be and he replied, “If I continue to live, Allah is with me, but if I die, then I am with Allah”. Indeed, such an optimism is one we all should emulate.