parents, and yet we find many people dealing with them in an
inappropriate manner or even severing ties with them altogether. As
for those who do try to fulfil the needs of their parents, many of
them do it begrudgingly, while expressing discontent or complaining
that it is a burden upon them. This is in spite of the fact that
Allaah The Almighty commands us to not say even the least expression
of discontent in this regard, saying )what means(:}"…Say not to them
]so much as[ 'Uff,' and do not repel them but speak to them a noble
word."{]Quran, 17': 23[
The mother of Huthayl bin Hafsah, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said,
"He would collect wood during the summer and peel off the outer layer
of bark himself. Then, when winter would come, he would come to me
whilst I was praying, light a brazier )in my room( and place the
peeled wood in it, as this does not give harmful smoke. He would do so
just so that I would be warm during prayer. He would do so even though
we had a servant who could do the job. Whenever I thought of stopping
him and commanding him to return to his family, I would remember why
he was doing it, and thus I would allow him to continue."
Why was he doing this himself despite him having a servant who could
have done it for him? It was nothing but a reflection of his full
dutifulness towards his mother.
This type of nobility is not limited to ones parents; rather, one
should be kind to all his relatives and even his fellow Muslims.
Wasting time: The issue of wasting time is a very important one
indeed. We must be careful about it and hold ourselves to account
regarding it because we spend much of our time uselessly instead of
spending it in acts of obedience to Allaah, as it should be utilised.
Allaah The Almighty Says )what means(:}"And it is He who has made the
night and the day in succession for whoever desires to remember or
desires gratitude."{]Quran, 25: 62[
Therefore, time was created so that we would fill it with acts of
obedience to Allaah, The Almighty but many people do the exact
opposite of this. The Salaf )righteous predecessors(, may Allaah have
mercy upon them, were very keen to make use of every second of their
time. Al-Hasan, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said, "I have met some
people who were stingier with their time than they were with their
wealth."
People nowadays waste their times in games, late nights, socializing,
watching television and in vain talk. They may even go as far as doing
so at the expense of their religious obligations, such as their daily
prayers, and so on.
Wasting wealth:Many men cave in under pressure from their wives and
children and therefore spend extravagantly, but when they are asked to
spend in charity, one would find that they are so stingy that if they
were to pull out two bills to give in charity, one would invariably
return to his pocket. However, if this same person were to go to a
restaurant, he would have no problem in spending multiples of this
amount.
Allaah The Almighty will ask us about our wealth because we were
informed as such by the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam. Abu
Barzah, may Allaah be pleased with him, reported, "The Messenger of
Allaah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said:"Man's feet will not move on
the Day of Resurrection before he is asked about his life and how he
consumed it, his knowledge and what did he do with it, his wealth and
how he earned it and how he disposed of it, and about his body and how
he wore it out.""]At-Tirmithi[
This does not imply that people do not spend generously or that there
are no people who do any of the abovementioned matters correctly. The
purpose of highlighting these points is to serve as a reminder for
Muslims – at both the individual and community level – so that we
realize the importance of these matters and hold ourselves to account
with respect to them, as there are many of us who are failing to do
so.
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