FOCUS AND DISCIPLINED USE OF TIME MAXIMIZES PRODUCTIVITY

Jumuah lecture on Friday 13 July 2018 (29 Shawaal 1439)

by Mowlana Syed Aftab Haider

at the Ahlul Bait (a.s) Masjid, Ottery, Cape Town

In our discussions about the qualities of Ibadur Rahman, (servants of the most Merciful), our discussion of last week was in the light of the last verses of Surah Furqaan (chapter 25 of the Holy Quran). Verse 72 reads as follows:

“And those who will not witness vanity, but when they pass near senseless play, pass by with dignity.”

This verse says that Ibadur Rahman (servants of the most Merciful) are those who do not testify to falsehood. They do not witness or attend gatherings of sin which take away the remembrance of Almighty Allah (SWT).

IBADUR RAHMAN REFRAIN FROM WASTING TIME

Almighty Allah (SWT) draws our attention to the next very important quality of Ibadur Rahman in the second half of the same verse, which is that they pass by with dignity when confronted with vain talk or useless discourse. This is a very, very important quality of Ibadur Rahman.

“Lagh” is a very broad term in Arabic. It basically includes every wrong deed. Sometimes falsehood is very powerful and is presented with philosophy and convincing argument. At other times, falsehood (baatil) is simply nonsense and completely meaningless ie. just for time-pass.

Ibadur Rahman (servants of the most Merciful) sometimes engage in debate and respond to baatil (falsehood) with strong evidence. At other times, baatil is completely vain and useless, with no sense to back it up. The Holy Quran refers to this as “Lagh”. Ibadur Rahman (servants of the most Merciful) do not waste their time here. They protect their dignity instead, as referred to in this verse of Surah Furqaan cited above. They do not indulge themselves because there is no benefit in engaging with this type of discourse. They rather keep themselves focussed.

Another very important point to understand here is that engaging in this pointless, vain talk is an utter waste of time, and Ibadur Rahman are very much concerned about the value they place on their time. They are focussed!

OUR ENDLESS DISTRACTIONS TODAY DUE TO INFORMATION OVERLOAD

This quality of Ibadur Rahman is a very important reminder, especially in our contemporary era of social media. How much time and energy goes to waste in a meaningless debate on a watsapp group or Facebook page?! We may assess from the start that this discussion is not going to go anywhere meaningful, as it becomes a back and forth which never ends. It becomes a complete waste, which we find ourselves addicted to! It is so widespread that none of us can claim immunity to.

This verse 72 of Surah Furqaan is very clearly saying that the life of Ibadur Rahman is a focussed life. They do not indulge in reacting or responding to meaningless nonsense. There is so much to do in life which requires the appropriate investment of time to achieve, than indulging ourselves in matters of no value.

To be focussed in life with clear direction is one of the most important qualities of Ibadur Rahman. They have a clear purpose in life. You know, sometimes we see in these social media platforms that a person will be sharing an opinion on fiqh (jurisprudence). Then this same person will share an opinion on Aqidah (ideology). Then this same person will share his opinion as a final authority on medicine. Then this same person will move onto sports, and jumps around to various topics.

This shows that such a person does not have a purpose in life. He or she does not have a focus, whereas for Ibadur Rahman, time is so crucial and important.

BEAUTIFUL ANECDOTES BY FAMOUS SCHOLARS ON EFFECTIVE TIME MANAGEMENT

We have renowned scholars like Mullah Hadi Sabzavari, the great philosopher and mystic who has written a large number of books on various subjects. He says that when he migrated from home to his place of education, he dedicated his life on education!

People would bring him letters from his family, but would never open them. Instead, he would place the sealed envelopes in his pillow. A similar anecdote is narrated about the author of the Encyclopaedia of Fiqh, titled Jawahir al-Kalam, by Shaikh Hasan Najafi.

After a very long time when they attained a certain level of academic excellence and achieved great goals Mullah Hadi Sabzavari said that is when he decided to open his pillow and start perusing those letters which were sent to him. He opened all these letters, one after the other. In one of the letters he saw that one of his family members passed away. Then in another letter he read that this one has a difficulty. Then in another letter he read that someone else is embroiled in a family feud. And the list goes on and on.

After reading all of these letters, he prostrated to Almighty Allah (SWT) in Sajdah Shukr, saying Oh Allah I don’t know how to thank you, because I would not have completed my objectives if I had opened these letters when they arrived!

The author of Jawahir al-Kalam, Shaikh Hasan Najafi, had the same to say…that he would not have completed this encyclopaedia of fiqh because his attention would have been diverted to matters which pale in significance to his noble objective.

GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS ONLY COME FROM MAINTAINING FOCUS

This is where we need to reflect on the second half of verse 72 of Surah Furqaan, which says that when the Ibadur Rahman pass by something which is meaningless and has no value, they pass by with dignity, focussed in their efforts and struggle on the purpose of their life.

This is a crucial reminder for all of us, particularly since there are far too many temptations diverting our attention in today’s life due to technological advancement and information overload. That is why we all complain that we have no time and are far too busy. The reality is that if we keep our life structured with a focussed timetable on the purpose of what we want to achieve with this life, then we will see that there is no shortage of time! However, if we are tempted by these diversions and “Lagh” in our life, then there will never be enough time to do anything meaningful in life.

Human beings can achieve great goals if they keep their focus on the purpose of life and restrain him/herself from “Lagh” as referred to in the above verse. Those who have achieved great goals were not necessarily extraordinary geniuses. They were normal people, but with a focus and firm purpose in life for which they disciplined themselves and directed all their energies and effort towards that purpose and achieved great goals.

SECOND KHUTBAH

IMAM JAFAR SADIQ (A.S) – TEACHER OF IMAM ABU HANIFA (R.A)

In the past week, we commemorated the martyrdom anniversary of the 6^th Imam of Ahlul Bait (a.s), Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s). This Imam is known as the head of the school of Ahlul Bait (a.s) due to his focus on education and establishing the infrastructure of theology as well as jurisprudence. Both Aqeedah and Fiqh which we Shia follow, was given an organised structure with the teachings of this great Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s).

Therefore, the followers of Ahlul Bait (a.s) have so many different names. Some are given by their enemies, but among the positive names is that we are known as the Jafaris, or the followers of Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s).

Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s) is also the teacher of great personalities and scholars from other schools of thought. This means that Shia were not the only ones present in his class. A broad spectrum of scholars, including the great Imam of Ahlu Sunnah, Imam al-A’dham Abu Hanifa (r.a), was also present in the class of Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s).

Other notable scholars are also listed as being the students of Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s), so much so that it is recorded that these grand scholars and heads of other schools of thought on jurisprudence (fiqh) acknowledged the status of Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s), claiming that they have not seen any person on the earth more capable of understanding Islam and fiqh, than Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s).

Imam Abu Hanifa (r.a) says that he would have been banished if he did not spend the 2 years as a student of Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s)! Furthermore, such notable luminaries said that streams of knowledge and wisdom flow from the source of Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s), so much that when he would ascend the mimbar (pulpit) of Masjid Nabi in Madina, thousands of pens would be busy recording his lectures.

Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s) is the climax of education and educational system, freedom of thought and tolerance of differences of opinions. Therefore, such a huge variety of different scholars from different backgrounds could manage to sit in one class and take benefit from Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s). Among them were people who did not believe in the existence of God (SWT), like Abu Shakir al-Daisany.

He did not mind to come near Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s), who did not issue fatwas of kufr against him! Instead, Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s) engages with such people in a debate, proving them wrong and explaining to them that faith and belief in the creator is the most basic, natural principle which is part of our innate nature as human beings blessed with intellect.

This is Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s) as the symbol of unity and tolerance, who embraced diversity in knowledge and academia unreservedly. This is Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s)!

VISIT BY SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA TO IMAM HUSAIN (A.S) MOSQUE IN DURBAN

We acknowledge this very kind gesture by the president of our country, Cyril Ramaphosa, to Imam Husain (a.s) Mosque in Durban to pay his respects and offer his condolences to the family of our martyr, Shaheed Abbas Essop, and to show his solidarity with the community.

We greatly appreciate this. The initial program was that he will stay for 15 – 20 minutes, but Alhamdu Lillah, the Masjid of Imam Husain (a.s) was so comfortable for him that he stayed for more than 1 hour 45 minutes.

We had a chance to share with him, who is Imam Ali (a.s) and who is Imam Husain (a.s), where I referred to the letter of Imam Ali (a.s) to his governor of Egypt, Malik al-Ashtar, regarding our approach to humanity, and our approach to governance.

He also positively reaffirmed that there is no concept of majority and minority in the South African constitution. Shia, as followers of the Ahlul Bait (a.s), are protected as much as a Christian is protected. There is absolutely no difference according to him.

THE CASE OF SHAIKH IBRAHIM ZAKZAKY IN NIGERIA

Unfortunately, under the pressure of the enemies, most notably Saudi Arabia, his case has been delayed further, and this oppressed leader of ours will continue to be incarcerated. This leader of millions of followers in Nigeria, and the voice of Palestine in Nigeria, has been tortured and persecuted in the worst form in Nigeria.

It is crucial for us to raise our voices in whatever manner possible to support for his release. These are the same forces that interfere and influence in different parts of the world and promote their agenda by suppressing the forces of truth and the voices supporting the Palestinian Resistance.

THE ENSUING GULF BETWEEN THE SAUDI REGIME AND THE WAHHABI CLERGY

Indeed, we are very much concerned that with the huge amounts of money coming to our country from the visit by president Ramaphosa to Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, that it does not come with other poisons that these 2 regimes in the Middle East are known for. It is the same cancer in the Islamic Ummah which does not accept any opposition!

As a general point I would like to mention that this Saudi regime with its ambitions of Saudi Vision 2030 is moving so openly and clearly towards the Westernisation of the land of Haramain, and the Americanisation of the land of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) and other beloved Prophets (a.s). It is moving in such a radical manner that their own supporters and their own backbone is starting to feel very shy of continuing their support for this cancerous Saudi regime.

Therefore, the gap is becoming wider between the Saudi Royal family and the Wahhabi religious establishment which they were founded upon. These days we are hearing regularly of Wahhabi Shaikhs being arrested for publicly uttering a few words against the Saudi regime.

Consistent with this approach, we witnessed in the past week the arrest of the very prominent Saudi scholar Shaikh Safar al-Hawali, together with his sons, for raising a few questions of challenge to the ruling establishment. One of the questions he raised was to King Salman and his Crown Prince, wanting to know why they are placing all their eggs in the basket of Trump, which is meant to be defeated and decay. He further raised the question of why the businesses in the streets of the Haramain belonging to the worst enemies of Islam are flourishing, and we are nothing more than customers.

These valid questions resulted in his arrest! We prayer to Almighty Allah (SWT) to bring down this system of evil and hate as soon as possible, in order to free the people, especially those in Yemen who are suffering under this injustice, oppression, attacks and assault every day.