I have a wish: One day I want to go to sleep with a smile on my face and peace in my heart.
You know why?
Because I honestly want to say,
“Ya Allah ! I truly firmly believe in You! “la illaha ..”
“Ya Allah ! I truly tried to do deeds to please You “
“Ya Allah ! I tried to spread Your word through my actions with words of wisdom and love.
Ya Allah ! I truly tried to be patient with myself and others when I failed.
Ya Allah ! Please accept my efforts and count me among the winners and not among the losers ; if I don’t wake up tomorrow.
Ameen”
This wish did not spring in my heart unexpectedly. Rather, it was like a seed, buried deep in my heart, which needed a push from cancer and nourishment from the Quran to grow roots.
Surah Al Asr. A beautiful surah, that is so short that it amazes me how it carries the huge amount of wisdom on its shoulders. Ubaidullah Ibn Hisn 
reported whenever two companions of the Prophet 
met, they would not depart until one of them recited Surah Al Asr 1
Imam Shafi said, “If people recited Surah Al Asr in its entirety , it would be enough for their guidance”
I couldn’t agree more.
This surah with 3 ayahs outlines a complete way of life from the Islamic perspective.
If I tell you that there was a tornado which will hit your city at 6:00 PM today and you have been advised to stay at home indoors, which of the 2 reactions will you exhibit now?
- Quickly go home and stay indoors no matter what, or
- Not hurry right away, since there is still some time to 6:00 PM, so you will finish your work and then go home.
Now, 6:00 PM approaches and you will face 2 types of consequences according to the option you chose:
- If you chose option #1, you will be safe and warm in your houses.
- If you chose option #2, you may be delayed due to traffic jams and stuck outdoors when the tornado strikes.
Which action makes you smarter? The one in which you took the advice and did not waste time.
“By Time” (Surah Al Asr :1)
Run. Move it. Hurry. Quickly.
This is what Allah 
is telling us. Indeed, the time is running out. Allah is swearing by time. He wants us to feel the urgency, the adrenalin pumping in our blood.
Time!!
“Asr” linguistically means “time is running out or a period of time”. The ‘Asr salah happens when the time window is less, when the day is ending, so ‘Asr is associated with emergency. Allah is saying — the time of emergency is NOW! The sunset of our lives is passing by, the end of our day/life is coming soon.
Mohammad Shafi says,” The struggle of human beings is like one who is trying to sell ice. Ice melts away, so the quicker he sells, the more money he makes.’ 2
Think!!
How would you feel if you are stuck in the traffic jam, watching the rain lash at your window, the thunder rolling away, the lightning eerily illuminating the dark sky, the wind howling and buffeting your car? Would you wish that you would have been smarter, listened to the advice and made it home before and not wasted time?
When Allah says ” By Time “, Allah wants a person to :
- Reflect on the passing of time.
- Reflect on the time that has passed.
- Reflect on the time lost while running after wealth, beauty, power and fame in this dunya instead of running towards Allah.
- This process of wasting time has been repeated for generations, for thousands of years–so you need to be careful.
And ironically, if a person runs after Allah instead of these things, Allah will give a person fame, beauty, wealth, power and many other things as gifts with a contented and peaceful heart.
“Indeed, mankind is in loss,” (Surah Al Asr :2)
Allah is taking an oath because He is very angry at man as man is an incredible loser. Man is a loser because he is wasting the precious time that he has been given. But, Allah is the Most Merciful, He does not want any one to waste this opportunity and so immediately tells us what to do to ensure that we are not among the greatest losers of all!
Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience.” (Surah Al Asr : 3)
So, you and I are business men/women of our time. We need to be like the person who sells ice every second, minute, hour, day, week and year. We need to be quick, smart, wise, and fast. We need to invest our time in good deeds and doing normal deeds, routine deeds with the intention to please Allah.
The question that arises now is : How can we do “good deeds” all the time and go about our daily life and also increase in our worship of Allah ?
The good news is that The Messenger of Allah said: “Indeed, this religion is easy, and no one will ever overburden himself in religion, except that it will overcome him. So seek what is appropriate, and come as close as you can, and receive the glad tidings (that you will be rewarded), and take it easy; and gain strength by worshiping in the mornings, afternoons, and during the last hours of the nights.” 3
Let’s look at some ways in which we can invest our time wisely and be successful :
- Fix Your Focus — The focus of our lives as believing men and women should be Allah . Seeking His pleasure and fearing from His displeasure should be our main concern. Once our focus is right, all things will fall in place insha’Allah.
- Intentions : Any and everything action, like cooking, driving, talking, sleeping, shopping, playing, eating, etc., can all be counted as worship (which means time spent wisely) if done with the intention to please Allah and within the prescribed practices by the Messenger of Allah.
- Giving Importance to Salah by planning your day around Salah: Salah is the time when a person is directly in conversation with Allah . Planning the day around it helps keep our focus on Allah .
- Fixing a part of the day or week to gaining knowledge of the religion with the intention to apply it: There is nothing like focusing on Allah and investing time wisely. All the time spent while studying is a small investment with huge returns and the returns which come from applying that knowledge are too difficult to comprehend or enumerate because Allah’s blessings are unimaginable!
- Repentance: Then there is this. We, human beings with the natural tendency to forget and fail, need this energy drink to boost us up again. Repentance not only cleanses our heart from sins but also opens further opportunities towards guidance, helping us invest our time wisely.
- Spreading the Word of Allah with wisdom and patience: Calling people to the guidance of Allah is not a job that only the speakers we see on YouTube or people who study in religious institutions can do. Its a job that each one of us has to do. Allah simply said “insaan” in this surah. This surah is addressed to all of mankind. So, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, husbands, wives, friends, siblings, neighbors, all pay heed! We have to push and pull each other to Jannah. We can’t go there alone! It won’t be fun without our loved ones there! But, remember, do what ever you have to do with wisdom and patience. Don’t give up on people who don’t seem enthusiastic. Be patient with them. Remember, every one has a different way of approaching things. As long as they finally get ‘there‘, let them take it slow if they want to. And use that “wise” streak that you are born with to deal with people who resist. Trust me, if I could find mine, then I am sure you will find yours, insha’Allah.
The points that I have enumerated above are very simple and easy to do. Planning your day around Salah, getting into a habit of constant remembrance of Allah , sharing what ever pearl of guidance comes your way, genuinely wishing well for others are very easy to do. All you need is to really feel the tick-tock of the clock. Time is indeed running out. Get going , NOW. Before its too late.
Please share what gems you learned from this article in the comments sections. Please give your tips and advices on how we can use time wisely as well. We would love to hear your views. 🙂
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Surah Al Asr
30 replies on “Al Asr — Lessons Allah Wants Us to Learn”
Assalam wa alaikum wbr Jazak Allah khaire soooo much for this beautiful knowledge IOU shared with me may Allah khaire swt bless all of you the highest Paradise Ameen those who are striving and struggling in Allah swt path Ameen.
Masha Allah. Allah u akbar and Jazak Allah khair. Please could you do more tafaseer of these small surahs. It is so beautiful. It has also made me think about how I spend my time in my everyday life and how it is supposed to be. I am also aware taht the concept of time is only for this dunya. In akhira there will be no time. Subhan Allah. Ya Allah you are the greatest. Help us do things that are pleasing to you. Ameen
Assalam wa alaikum, Masha Allah, Jazak Allahu Khaire. I pray that for those of Us that have read this arcticle and for those yet to read, May Allah grant us the patient to work and walk by it . (Ameen)
Mashaa Allah, Subhana Allah so inspiring, this article has made me think on how am gonna start spending my time wisely. Sometimes we are so much a taken by the widely affairs that we forget that we need to go back to Allah… May Allah guide us. Amiin
asalomoakum,
the article is MASHAALAH tooo inspiring.could you plz tell me the ways of spreading this article to others?
May Allah blesses us all with Jannah
Beautiful awesome straight to the heart. Well dun… Keep on…
Very informative. I would like to get your lesson plans as it says you teach kids in a fun way which I believe includes every value and knowledge Islam has brought. I am also a teacher and a mother of three. So pls share the materials with me so that it will benefit our Ummah. Moreover I ask so because I am from a background where we were not taught how to integrate Islam in our life and when we realized it, it’s very late. So studying it and making my own materials would take lot of time compared to use already made effective materials by a Muslim teacher like you. JazaakahAllah khair
Assalamualaikum
Jazakallah khair. Love this article very much.May Allah reward you and I and whether single person for sharing this beautiful information
MashaAllah, Beautiful article
Beautiful reminder in sha Allah
THANK YOU FOR THE ARTICLE. MAY ALLAH SHOWERS HIS BLESSINGS UPON YOU AND YOUR FAMILY. AMEEN!
Masha Allah explained Surah Asr in a very effective and beneficial way. May Allah bless you. Jazak Allah khair
JazakAllah love this article each and every word
SubhanAllah what a beautiful article.And we all need to use our time in such manners.
May Allah bless you ameen.JazakAllah khair.
Jazalum Allahu kairn may Allah reward u alfurdous paradise ensha Allah.
Jazakallah khair may Allah bless you in this articibrle
Maa Shaa Allah very touching and inspiring article.
Beautiful article ma shaa Allah! May Allah make us among those who heed advice and strive to please Him only. Thank you for sharing.
jazakALLAH. very good article. if you plan properly then your days and months will be very much productive because a person who fails to plan is actually planing for his failure. so be focused, plan properly, and work hard. indeed ALLAH is with us.
Masha Allaah this is such a timely needed, short and sweet reminder ! JazaakAllaah khair for writing this for us !
The article was so much informative about the daily life routine and work., That how one should think, plan and act to please Allah and all His Creation.. Jazak Allah Khair for sharing this.
ASSALAAMU ALAIKUM
JAZAK ALLAH KHAIRAN
This Surah resemble Surah Teen.Saying Salat in early time is extremely beneficial.May ALLAH SUBHANO WATA AALA help us and our families to follow Islam correctly Aameen
Jazakallah khaiun katheera
Very motivating article Masha Allah
I’m very pleased to read it. Can you send some more tafseer if Surah Asr.
“…..Be patient with those who dont seem enthusiastic”…..my mother may ALLAH SWT grant her JANNAT UL fIRDAUS ameen,used to say this…..this is the crux of Islamic teachings which you have reinforced….jzkALLAH E khayrun katheera .it gives us the vigour to redouble our efforts to help our loved ones,may ALLAH SWT grant us Toufeeq to do so ameen
Very informative article. Time is fleeting, we have to make best use of the time for the life hereafter.
Jazakallahu Khiaran Sis Sana for reminding us that we are running out of time.The best way to spend the time is remembering Allaah and his order in each and every action we do.
As salaamalaikum,
MashaAllah , very inspiring and motivational. May Allah swt bless you and your family and Allah swt bless IOU in their hard work.
Jazakallah khairan… Alhamdulillah and thanks for this wonderful and inspiring post concerning time. I’m young but I’ve realised the importance of time and I try to use every moment for the remembrance of Allah. It’s not easy to think about making proper use of time because there are a lot of temptations every where and everyday except by the power of Allah. May Allah subhanahu WA ta ala grant us the zeal, wisdom and patience to be conscious of Him and fill our heart with His remembrance. Ameen.
Beautiful post.❤