LESSON OF THE DAY 1281

Ayahs of the Day:

Say, "I take refuge with the Lord of humankind, the ruler of humankind, the God of humankind, from the ill of flighty suggestion that whispers in the people's hearts from the demonic and human sources." [114: 1 to 6]

Hadith of the Day:

Take advantage of five before (another) five -- your life before your death, your health before illness, your free time before your preoccupation, your youth before your old age, and your wealth before poverty (i.e. preparing for the Hereafter). [Ahmad & Bayhaqi]

Wise Quote of the Day:

Renew your wudu whenever you break it, for wudu is the weapon of the believer, and when the weapon is in evidence, the enemy does not approach. [Abdullah ibn Alawi al Haddad]

Guidance of the Day:

To hope for the Hereafter but do nothing for it in terms of conduct and morality is false hope. A perennial teaching of revealed religion since the creation of Adam is that entry into Paradise is a matter of God's mercy and that this mercy is attained by combining faith and sincere deeds for the sake of God. Unfortunately, on the Day of Judgment many Muslims will find themselves in Hell because of false hopes. All they have to show for their religiosity is the mere declaration of faith, a testimony unconfirmed by deeds, especially the rites of worship and charitable acts towards others.

The Quran states that there are people who desire to continue in their wrongdoing throughout the entirety of their lives. The scholars have said that although people may be aware of ultimate accountability, they put off repentance as if they are guaranteed a long life. This is an ethic exemplified by the saying, "Sow your wild oats," which advocates getting all the lewdness and sin out of life when one is young, and then later calming down and getting serious about religion.

Besides being simply wrong, another terrible flaw in this ethic is that people die at all ages and never get the chance to repent and make amends. Moreover, what kind of repentance is this when people intentionally indulge in sin banking on the possibility that later on in life -- after all the energy and drive diminishes -- they will turn in penitence to God? We know that God loves those who spend their youth obedient to Him and His commandments. [Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Purification of the Heart]

Food for Thought:

Some die without having really lived, while others continue to live, in spite of the fact that they have died. Be of good cheer about death, and know this of a truth, that no evil can happen to a good man, either in this life or after death. A faithful life in this world is the best preparation for the next. This world is the land of dying; the next is the land of living.