Our Three Winners: Five Before Five

When Allah loves someone, He puts that love in the hearts of people, so the entire creation ends up loving that person.^[1] It’s been a difficult time for our Ummah with the loss of three beautiful lives. Repeated appearances of three beaming and bright faces in my news feed shook me up. Beyond grief and sorrow, there was something else that put a spark in my heart and soul, making me go down in sujood and begging Allah  to have mercy on their souls and drench their families with sabr.

What is it about these young people that the whole world is grieving about? What good deeds did they do, that I, along with thousands of Muslims from every corner of the globe have sent a silent prayer or mumbled sincere duas with our hands up the air, asking Allah  to send His mercy and wrap their souls with His immense blessings?

You can either sit and lament about the bigoted media coverage or wake your soul up from slumber to introspect about your own existence. Looking at their lives and the legacy they were building, I cannot help but be reminded of the hadeeth by our Prophet who said, take advantage of five before five.^[2]

I’m going to suggest 1 tip, just to get you started, you can add a hundred more to it. Please feel free to share your tips in the comments section below so all of us can benefit in sha Allah.

#1 Your Youth before Your Old Age

They were 19, 21 and 23 years of age, but they were already building a legacy without even realizing it. They didn’t say “Let’s do this later”. No one’s guaranteed a tomorrow (and all of us know that). Oh Muslims, what you can achieve in your 20’s, you won’t be able to in your late 30’s and what you can achieve in your 30’s, you won’t be able to in your 40s’. Don’t wait for the “perfect time”. Bring about a change in yourselves, and you will in sha Allah be able to create ripples in the society!

What You Can Do:

Our Prophet  that the one who spends his youth in servitude to Allah  will be be amongst the 7 to be in Allah’s shade on the Day of Judgment.^[3]Your youth is the perfect time to earn Allah’s shade on a Day when eyes would stare in horror and hearts would tremble with fear.

My tip: What better way to spend your youth in Allah’s servitude than by memorizing and implementing the verses of the Qu’ran? Start with memorizing two verses of the Qu’ran every single day. Yes, memorizing an entire Qur’an might seem daunting to many, but two verses, not that much, right? With each verse you memorize, understand and implement, you will ascend one step higher in Jannah.^[4] Let’s rise together in jannah in sha Allah.

#2 Your Health before Your Sickness

These were three healthy young people who were very active in their community ma sha Allah. This health of yours is a blessing and a test, however, many of us take it for granted, because one never realizes the value of something until he/she loses it. Look at those who are suffering from severe ailments or those who are not even able to move a limb.

What You Can Do:

There are umpteen number of things you can do when you’re healthy, but this would be my recommendation for you to kick start your good deeds with a healthy body.

“All the deeds of Adam’s sons are for them, except fasting which is for Me, and I will give the reward for it.”[5]

“Fasting is a shield or protection from fire and from committing sins.”^[6]

My Tip: Start with fasting on the three white days and then slowly include Mondays and Thursdays as well to your list.^[7] What do you get in return: protection from Hellfire, unimaginable rewards from Allah  and protection from committing sins, subhanAllah!

#3 Your Wealth before Your Poverty

“I’m not “rich” enough”, I hear you say. It’s okay. Not able to do something all by yourself? It’s okay. Let’s face it, not all of us are billionaires, but when each one of us donate something, we can definitely give hundreds of thousands if not millions for a charitable cause. My proof: Check out what young Deah has embarked upon subhanAllah.

What You Can Do:

The Messenger of Allah said: “Save yourselves from Hell, even if it be by giving only half a date as charity: and one who does not have even that, should at least speak nicely.” (Bukhari and Muslim)

My Tip:

How about giving $5 in charity with a sincere heart rather than telling you have no money at all? How about buying a mushaf and donating it to your local mosque so whenever someone reads from it, you get the rewards too?  A bonfire begins with lighting a single matchstick.

#4 Free Time before No Time

These young people could have wasted all the time in the world, because they were “young”, but today, they are remembered by millions of Muslims and non-Muslims alike for their remarkable acts of charity and kindness. They didn’t wait to get “old” to spread hope and love in their community.

What You Can Do:

Apart from flipping channels on our television sets all day long, we have become enslaved to wasting enormous amounts of time on social media or sometimes engaging in needless arguments with each other.

My Tip:

How about spending 15 minutes reading the tafseer of a surah? How about conducting halal parties where you invite family and friends every weekend? Instead of wasting time in gossip, you could conduct Islamic Quiz contests/games for kids and adults alike; cook a meal together and give it to an orphanage; learn about the life of one prophet/companion every weekend; read Qur’an together for 15 minutes, ask each family member to reflect upon the verses and how they can implement it in their day-to-day lives; learn a new skill that would increase your productivity; the options are limitless. Sounds a lot better than each family member sitting with their respective phones/ipads/tablets and wasting time, right?

# 5 Your Life before Your Death

These beautiful souls have taught us to do good deeds, no matter however “small” they may seem. We’ve unfortunately mastered the art of living in the past and worrying about the future. We don’t live in the present but present is all have.

What You Can Do:

‘Every act of goodness is a charity.’ ~ Al Bukhari and Muslim

Say alhamdulillah for all that you have, and all that you don’t. Repent now, smile at someone to brighten up their day, leave a Thank-You note to someone to appreciate what they’ve done, pack as many good deeds as you can because they are going to be your sole companions in the grave, no one else, nothing else, just good deeds!

One act of hatred needs to be drowned with thousands of acts filled with love and affection because hate travels the world even before love can tie its shoelaces. We need thousands of people like Our Three Winners to stand up and drown that hatred.

May Allah fill the graves of Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha and Razan Abu-Salha with noor, make their graves a bed from Jannah, give them the highest levels in paradise and grant their families sabr during these difficult times and reward them without measure. Ameen

References

1. Al-Bukhaari (3209) and Muslim (2637)

2. Narrated by Ibn Abbas and reported by Al Hakim

3. Al-Bukhaari, no. 620; Muslim, no. 1712

4. The Prophet , “The one who was devoted to the Qur’an will be told on the Day of Resurrection: `Recite and ascend (in ranks) as you used to recite when you were in the world. Your rank will be at the last Ayah you recite.”’ [Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi].

5. Al-Bukhaari, Fath, no. 1904

6. Reported by Ahmad, 2/402; see also Saheeh al-Targheeb, 1/411 and Saheeh al-Jaami’, 3880

7. http://islamqa.info/en/21979

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