By Shaykh Saalih Aal Taalib
Fellow Muslims! Fear your Lord Who knows all that is hidden, and Sufficient is He, concerning the sins of His servants, as Acquainting and Seeing. Allah says,
“O you who believe! Fear Allah (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared. (Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always), and die not except in a state of Islam (as Muslims (with complete submission to Allah)).”
(Aal ‘Imraan 3:102)
In this world, man is between two dreaded things: his past life which he does not know what Allah is going to do with it, and the remaining part of his life which he does not know what Allah is going to decide on it.
The wise one then makes proper use of his life for his own benefits, fills his worldly life with righteous deeds in preparation for his hereafter and judiciously uses his free time before a time comes when he will be busy. By Him in Whose Hand is my life, there is nothing one can do after the death has come, and there is nothing after the life of this world but Paradise or Hell.
Dear Muslims! Man’s conditions in this world change between health and illness, free time and busy time, toil and rest, seriousness and indolence.
These days, the end of the academic year has created some free time. It is now common that people have their annual vacation in the summer; a situation that was unknown before but only created by the contemporary modernity that has turned man into a tool for the whole year, toiling tirelessly and frantically running after the materials of this world, far from spiritual nourishment like eemaan, which is the source of rest for the body, heart and the soul. The plague of vacations had become so widespread that it has become the sign of the summer all over the world.
In view of the reality of Islam, its universality, its comprehensiveness and its balanced rules and just laws, it has affirmed the soul and the body’s right to have their share of rest and relaxation. The Messenger of Allah said, “Surely, your body has a right upon you and your family has a right upon you. So give each their right.” (Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim)
The soul might become tired because of a long work. And the hearts also are tired like bodies. ‘Alee said, “Give the hearts an hour of rest every now and then, for if the heart is coerced into work it becomes blind.”
