Five Matters.

Salamualaykum,

I just came back from an awesome volunteer opp that I intended on applying to for quite some time, but I finally got around to it today Alhumdulillah. Funny how it happened actually. Last week, I decided to stick around for Jumu’ah at school rather than go to the masjid, and I’m sooo glad I did. MashaAllah, the khutbah was amazing! I mean, truly a *SubhanAllah* lecture. The brother talked about this hadith:

Narrated by Abbas Radi Allahu Anhu. Rasoolullah (S) said: “Take advantage of five matters before five other matters: your youth, before you become old; and your health, before you fall sick; and your richness, before you become poor; and your free time before you become busy; and your life, before your death.”

It’s a common hadith but his examples for each matter were incredible MashaAllah, and very relevant to us as college students. The knowledge was just oozing out of him and I really wish I could have taken notes. So anyway, a lot of his points were geared towards making everyone engage in some introspection. We have most, if not all of these thing right now–youth, health, wealth, time, and life but more often than not, we’re lethargic and we don’t exhaust every measure to use these ni’aam in the best way possible. One main point he talked about was time and money. A lot of us are prone to calling ourselves “poor college students” but if we think about it, the words “poor” and “college student” should not be in the same phrase together. Just the fact that we can afford higher education is enough of an indication of our status (not in front of Allah of course, but generally speaking). The second point that really hit home for me was the claim many of us make about not having enough time. It’s so easy for us to make time for ourselves but a lot of youth these are lacking on the volunteer front. Not all, but many. I was so good with volunteer work/mentoring regularly through most of high school but college has really slowed me down =/. It’s not that I’m out of things to do–I have lots on my plate already but most of it is beneficial to me and maybe my cohort, but I need to make time for other people. So while the Khutbah was going on, I made the decision in my head to fill up my time as much as possible, so much so that I can never ever say that ‘I have nothing to do’ (not that I can say that now either lol, but you know what I mean). I picked FACETS–an organization in my area dedicated to helping families get back on their feet and ending homelessness. How awesome is that!? I wanted to work with adults but for some reason, I always gravitate towards the youth programs. :) InshaAllah, I hope I can be a good impact on them without doing too much damage hehe. One thing I noticed with kids is that they always assume I’ll be the nice one or the pushover, but they realize pretty soon how sadly mistaken they are haha–maybe it’s the abaya :p.

There are sooo many people in this world who have no idea how much of an impact they’ve had on me. This brother is getting soo many hasanat because of the little mental push he gave me and a lot of the people in that room. That’s all I needed–a push :) May Allah increase him and make us all among those who use our time in the best manner, believing wholeheartedly that we will be questioned about every moment we spent on this ardh. Ameen.

Some pointers:

• Look below you, not above.
• Say Alhumdulillah, and you will be rich–sh. YB
• Don’t have time? Make it.
• Spending on your family is Sadaqa–do what you can.
• In every du’a, thank Allah for the roof over your head, the floor beneath you, the food you eat, the clothes you wear, the health you have, the loved ones around you, and the countless other ni’aam you and I could never fully thank Allah for.
• Remember that you are a walking, talking millionaire.
• If you feel like things aren’t going so well for you, Ask Allah for help before anyone else. He is our Wali, He is Ar Razzak, He is Al Wahhab. Remember Asmaa was Sifaat.
• Be merciful to people and Allah will be merciful to you. Make yourself eligible for Allah’s mercy.
• Don’t cheat yourself out of good deeds–know the virtues of good deeds, be they big or small and make the proper intention.

-Fi Amanillah-