Do not tell others to have Sabr/Patience when you cannot be bothered to to help. Appealing to “Patience” to Deny People’s Rights Allah, in the chapter of the Qur’an entitled “Time”, describes the believers as those who: “enjoin each other to truth and enjoin each other to patience.” [Sūrah al-`Asr] However , it has become the habit of some people to call others to patience as a way of avoiding carrying out their duties towards them. This is a symptom of a much larger problem, a culture of poor planning and procrastination that plagues many Muslim societies. It is a problem of time. One of the biggest manifestations of this problem is the habit of waiting until the “eleventh hour.” This is where we sit around doing nothing until a major problem falls into our laps and then rush to solve that problem in the shortest possible time without forethought or planning. This inevitably results in more serious problems. Around the world, major projects are managed with the help of electronic project clocks that monitor the project’s benchmarks against performance from its inception until it is completed. This is considered part of the contract between the parties involved in the project, and it stresses the importance of setting goals with clear timeframes and holding to those times as precisely as possible. Alas, when there is a problem with our infrastructure, like intolerable levels of traffic congestion in Riyadh or Jeddah, a program of concentrated activity is undertaken to build new underpasses and overpasses in a short time, leading to the simultaneous closure of many major roads throughout the city and excessive project costs, not to mention the drain on society’s time due to the near-standstill traffic that ensues while the projects are underway. There is a need for develop expertise in urban management and planning so that we do not become aware of a problem only after it has developed into a major one. Well-planned projects can indeed be carried out on the ground in a short amount of time. The Chinese constructed a thirty-storey hotel in 94 hours, and they built a bridge over a dangerous river in a week. A Culture of Appointments I lament the prevailing culture of “soft” appointments. When someone says: “I will come to see you after the evening prayer,” they only turn up after the Morning prayer. The phrase “five minutes” has taken on a new meaning, better understood as “not now”. This shows us that we need to become more self-critical in the way we deal with time. When we make an appointment with someone, we should regard it as a trust which we are bound to fulfil. In Islam, trusts are sacred, and upholding them is a weighty matter. It is in this context that the principle of exhorting each other to patience gets abused. We should never allow ourselves to use the word “patience” to deny people their rights. When someone is entitled to something, the one whose duty it is to fulfil their right should do so instead of advising the other person to “be patient.” This habit has to stop. Laziness is not a virtue, and the lazy person is in no position to demand the virtue of patience from someone else. Lost in the Moment It is important for people to prevent themselves from becoming so fully absorbed in the present moment that they fail to consider long-term, strategic goals. Many people who put in a full day’s work do not achieve anything. They work very hard but are non-productive, because their work has become a rote habit, and too much of it simply leads to burnout. The West has achieved the highest level of innovation in their productive labour. At the same time, the West devotes the greatest amount of time to vacations. Working people constantly is not the way to get the best out of them. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) advised Hanzalah, saying: “An hour for this and an hour for that” [Sahīh Muslim], indicating that we cannot devote all of our time to one preoccupation. It is related that `Alī b. Abū Tālib said: “The heart grows weary, just like the body does, so seek to provide it with amusing and refreshing thoughts.” Hastiness There is a big difference between production speed and productivity. Hastiness is blameworthy. We can hardly find the word used in the Qur’an without a negative connotation attached to it. However, being quick to act is not the same as hastiness. Allah praises those who show initiative: “Be quick in the race for forgiveness from your Lord, and for a Garden whose width is that (of the whole) of the heavens and of the earth, prepared for the righteous: those who spend (freely), whether in prosperity, or in adversity; who restrain anger, and pardon people;- for Allah loves those who do good.” [Sūrah Āl `Imrān: 133] Being quick here refers to taking initiative and getting things done instead of dragging your feet and procrastinating. This is not to be confused with hastiness, which is to try and get too many things done in too little time, which is the inevitable result s of poor planning and procrastination. It is also a way to carry out work that leads to frustration and shoddy results. It also stifles creativity. A work environment that is geared to getting as much done in the shortest time possible is a joyless one. It is also ultimately counterproductive. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “Be in the world as if you are a stranger or a wayfarer.” Likewise `Umar said: “When you go to sleep at night, do not expect to wake up in the morning, and when you wake up in the morning, do not expect to see the night.” Both of these statements, the one from the Prophet and the one from `Umar, were quoted verbatim by Steve Jobs while addressing a group of university students, explaining that he lives each day as if it is his last and achieves what he can, adding: “The great innovators and achievers find in the last day of their life the motivation to be proficient and succeed today.” Sheikh Salman Mohammed Abbasi KhilafahOnline
Posted on: Mon, 05 Aug 2013 22:39:11 +0000
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