Time is Relative
Aug 4, 2009
The scientific concept of time is that time can only exist when there is space. Allah Almighty is One, Eternal, and Absolute. He has always been in existence before time, in negative eternity, and He is present after time, in positive eternity. Before the creation of the heavens and the earth, only Allah Almighty existed.
Space and time came into existence:
[Wonderful Originator of the heavens and the earth, and when He decrees an affair, He only says to it, "Be," so there it is.] (Al-Baqarah 2:117)
Our concept of time is relative to the revolution of the day and the night (i.e. the time it takes Earth to spin on its own axis, which is one day, while one year is the time that it takes Earth to revolve around the sun. Yet, the concept of "day" has different meanings, some of which is beyond our comprehension:
[To Him ascend the angels and the Spirit in a day the measure of which is fifty thousand years] (Al-Ma`arij 70:4).
[The grand night (Laylat Al-Qadr) is better than a thousand months] (Al-Qadr 97:3)
So our concept of time is related to one revolution of the earth axis, i.e. one earth day. Thus Allah Almighty, the Most Merciful, has decreed that whoever is fortunate to take advantage of the Blessings the night of power, then this is better than a thousand of earthly months. A thousand months amount to 83.3 years — a whole lifetime for some. This is a phenomenal return on investment.
You only invest 12 hours of prayer, and obtain a reward of 83.3 years of worship — truly, Allah Almighty is Most Gracious, Most Beneficient, and the Most Merciful. Surely, those believers who spend this blessed night in gossip or socializing or watching TV are the true losers.
There are many examples where the benefits we obtain on spending our time on the important matters, far outweigh the temporal benefits of this world.
When we are faced with the situation that we simply do not have the time to do the important work, we should reflect and decide which activities we can reduce, so that we are then left with more time to spend on the important areas of our life.
For example:
The average person spends 15 hours per week on TV.
+ Add to this half an hour a day on newspapers = 3 hours
If the time spent on TV and newspapers is cut in half, this gives a saving of 9 hours per week. Nine hours per week can be translated as follows:
= 468 hours per year
Or
= 28,000 minutes per year
Or
= 77 minutes extra per day.
77 minutes = 1155 breaths = 5544 heartbeats
What we can do with 77 minutes extra per day:
In 77 minutes, one can recite 77 duroodon Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
* In 77 minutes one can recite Surat Al-Ikhlas 77 times.
* In 77 minutes, one can pray, study, assist in volunteer work, teach someone, spend time with loved ones, cook a halal meal for the family instead of buying in a questionable TV meal, visit a sick friend, ponder over ideas to earn an honest living, give charity, teach a skill to someone, fight poverty, learn how to use a computer, etc.
The point is, is that we only have a limited amount of hours every day. We have to sacrifice our time to do certain activities. We have to decide what is important, and which activities can be considered "sacrificial" blocks of time. If we allow frivolous activities to overshadow our important activities, we could end up losing the race in this life.
When we plan to go for a holiday, we plan well in advance, pack our bags and our tickets and clothes (depending on the season, winter or summer) etc. It therefore makes common sense that we have to make preparations for our journey to the hereafter. The only problem is that our ticket (death) is already booked, but we do know the date and time of our "flight."
When we are called, we cannot say, "we are not ready." Furthermore, we do not know whether we will go to a very hot place or a very peaceful one — the only provisions that we take with us are our deeds, both good and bad; our deeds are the currency of the hereafter; the scale will then determine our ultimate abode, either in Paradise or in Hell.
Space and time came into existence:
[Wonderful Originator of the heavens and the earth, and when He decrees an affair, He only says to it, "Be," so there it is.] (Al-Baqarah 2:117)
Our concept of time is relative to the revolution of the day and the night (i.e. the time it takes Earth to spin on its own axis, which is one day, while one year is the time that it takes Earth to revolve around the sun. Yet, the concept of "day" has different meanings, some of which is beyond our comprehension:
[To Him ascend the angels and the Spirit in a day the measure of which is fifty thousand years] (Al-Ma`arij 70:4).
[The grand night (Laylat Al-Qadr) is better than a thousand months] (Al-Qadr 97:3)
So our concept of time is related to one revolution of the earth axis, i.e. one earth day. Thus Allah Almighty, the Most Merciful, has decreed that whoever is fortunate to take advantage of the Blessings the night of power, then this is better than a thousand of earthly months. A thousand months amount to 83.3 years — a whole lifetime for some. This is a phenomenal return on investment.
You only invest 12 hours of prayer, and obtain a reward of 83.3 years of worship — truly, Allah Almighty is Most Gracious, Most Beneficient, and the Most Merciful. Surely, those believers who spend this blessed night in gossip or socializing or watching TV are the true losers.
There are many examples where the benefits we obtain on spending our time on the important matters, far outweigh the temporal benefits of this world.
When we are faced with the situation that we simply do not have the time to do the important work, we should reflect and decide which activities we can reduce, so that we are then left with more time to spend on the important areas of our life.
For example:
The average person spends 15 hours per week on TV.
+ Add to this half an hour a day on newspapers = 3 hours
If the time spent on TV and newspapers is cut in half, this gives a saving of 9 hours per week. Nine hours per week can be translated as follows:
= 468 hours per year
Or
= 28,000 minutes per year
Or
= 77 minutes extra per day.
77 minutes = 1155 breaths = 5544 heartbeats
What we can do with 77 minutes extra per day:
In 77 minutes, one can recite 77 duroodon Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
* In 77 minutes one can recite Surat Al-Ikhlas 77 times.
* In 77 minutes, one can pray, study, assist in volunteer work, teach someone, spend time with loved ones, cook a halal meal for the family instead of buying in a questionable TV meal, visit a sick friend, ponder over ideas to earn an honest living, give charity, teach a skill to someone, fight poverty, learn how to use a computer, etc.
The point is, is that we only have a limited amount of hours every day. We have to sacrifice our time to do certain activities. We have to decide what is important, and which activities can be considered "sacrificial" blocks of time. If we allow frivolous activities to overshadow our important activities, we could end up losing the race in this life.
When we plan to go for a holiday, we plan well in advance, pack our bags and our tickets and clothes (depending on the season, winter or summer) etc. It therefore makes common sense that we have to make preparations for our journey to the hereafter. The only problem is that our ticket (death) is already booked, but we do know the date and time of our "flight."
When we are called, we cannot say, "we are not ready." Furthermore, we do not know whether we will go to a very hot place or a very peaceful one — the only provisions that we take with us are our deeds, both good and bad; our deeds are the currency of the hereafter; the scale will then determine our ultimate abode, either in Paradise or in Hell.
0 comments: