Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Sacred Learning Notes May 22 2009: Scheduling Through the Sunnah

Peace be upon you,

Here are some personal notes I took from a Sacred Learning class on May 22, 2009. I'v written some of my own thoughts in as well. You can find the original speeches at the Sacred Learning Website.
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In the name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful.
May the Peace and Blessing of Allah be upon the Seal of Prophets, Muhammad.

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Every family, company, or organization has some assets which they manage their assets carefully.

One of the biggest assets a Muslim has is TIME. If we waste our this great asset which Allah has entrusted us with we essentially waste ourselves. We need to realize how important this gift is. When we waste our time we basically let Satan win.

Spending 4 hours online just "surfing" is letting Satan win.
Spending 4 hours just talking on the phone is letting Satan win.

We need to develop schedules to manage our time properly. If you look at any CEO of any major corporation they have very full schedules. They squeeze every minute out of the day. This is one of the reasons why they are successful in the material sense.

But as Muslims we should develop schedules according to the Sunnah (Traditions of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.) In the Prophet Muhammad's, peace be upon him, life the key component of his day was the Fard (obligatory)prayers. These should be the foundation or the skeleton of our schedule. Everything is scheduled or built around this.

For example...

(1) We should start our day with Fajr (the prayer before sunrise)in the masjid (mosque. And we should end our day with Isha (the night prayer) in the mosque. Our days should revolve around our devotion to Allah. Also, we should take care to note that Fajr and Isha should be in the masjid without exception. We have no other obligations during this time such as work or school. There should be no excuse why we can not pray these prayers in the masjid. For men the most reward is to pray these prayers in the masjid and for women the most reward is to pray in their homes.

(2) After Fajr we should try to do some dhikr in the masjid until Ishraaq (a voluntary prayer after sunrise.) This is the ideal goal we should strive for. If that is not possible we move on to the next item in our schedule. But it is important to note that sleeping after fajr is not an option. There is NO barakah (blessings) in sleeping after fajr whatsoever.

(3) After Ishraaq we should continue with our routine. For some this means going to work for others going to school. This is a time for work and one will notice that there is little worship or remembrance prescribed during this time. This lasts until zawwal (the zenith of the sun, or high noon.)

(4)During zawaal we have 3 options. First, we could prepare for Salatul Dhur (the noon prayer). Second, we could have lunch, or third, we could reset. Taking a 15 to 30 minuet nap will go a long way in refreshing out bodies.

(5) Next we pray our Dhur salat.

(6) After Salatul Dhur we work again up to Salatul Asr. Again, this is blessed time for work.

(7) After Salatul Asr we break again for a meal. This is the time for rest or relaxation. One could spend time with their family, friends, play, etc. This is also a good time for dhkir (remembrance of Allah).

(8) After taking a rest we move onto Salatul Maghrib (the dusk prayer).

(9) After Salatul Maghrib there is a very special time. A lot blessings descend and there is a lot of energy. This is the perfect time to study, review,and recite. Be extremely careful not to waste this blessed time, and use every second up to Salatul Isha.

(10) After studying or reviewing we ought to pray Salatul Isha and men should take the extra effort of offering their prayers in the Masjid.
(11) After Salatul Isha we should rest, spend time with the family. This is a time for solitude, not for going out. Ideally you should sleep early and wake up in the middle of the night for Salatul Tahajjud (mid-night prayer). If this is not possible we should wake up before Salatul Fajr and offer Salatul Tahajjud.

An important thing we should realize is that the schedule is a goal. This is a rough outline. One will not be able to have a perfect schedule every single day. But when we wake up we should ask Allah to bless us with the ability to follow the schedule of our blessed Prophet, peace be upon him. And when we go to sleep we should ask Allah for forgiveness for any short comings in our day.

The youth should be particularly careful. They should take extra caution about wasting away their youth. The college years are very unique. We have so much freedom during those years and we will not be able to see them again. We will not have opportunities like those again because of all the extra responsibilities we will have to carry.

When you are young in college you think you are busy with test but then...

you get married and you think you are busy with commitments but then...

you get children and you think you are busy providing for them but then...

you get old and you face diseases and health problems. You will wake up one day and realize that your youth has faded away.

Your youth, from 20 years to 35 years is a golden time. This is your prime where you achieve something. After this period people rarely achieve something new, unique, or groundbreaking. Afterwards they often expand or build upon their achievements but rarely do we see something new.

So take heed, repent to Allah for the time we have wasted, and set upon the path the blessed Prophet, peace be upon him, has set for us.

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~ Peace till next time...MoCo