Assalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim
1. Introduction
Friends beloved by Allah, have you ever felt trapped in an endless daily routine? From the crack of dawn you have to get ready for formal school, university, or work. By the time you get home, it’s already late at night, your body exhausted and your mind drained. This external barrier of a formal school or work schedule that devours your time often makes us feel guilty and complain, “O Allah, all my time is gone for worldly matters—so when can I focus on learning Your religion?” Psychologically and in terms of activity management, burnout from a packed schedule can lower our motivation to learn. But spiritually, Islam never separates beneficial worldly knowledge from knowledge of the Hereafter. When you intend to pursue formal knowledge or work to uphold your own honor and that of your family, then every second that takes your time is actually channeling great reward of worship, as long as the foundation of your intention is sincere for Allah. Let us cool our souls with the words of Allah SWT, which affirm that busying oneself in seeking His bounty on earth should not make us forget our portion of the Hereafter, but rather the two must go hand in hand:
كَمَا أَحْسَنَ اللَّهُ إِلَيْكَ وَابْتَغِ فِيمَا آتَاكَ اللَّهُ الدَّارَ الْآخِرَةَ وَلَا تَنسَ نَصِيبَكَ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا وَأَحْسِن
“And seek, through what Allah has given you, the Home of the Hereafter; and do not forget your share of the world. And do good as Allah has done good to you...” (QS. Al-Qaṣaṣ: 77)
For you who feel your time is consumed in formal classrooms or at work, do not be disheartened. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave the assurance that physical fatigue from honest formal activity for the sake of good is a means of erasing sins that is highly effective:
مَنْ أَمْسَى كَالًّا مِنْ عَمَلِ يَدَيْهِ أَمْسَى مَغْفُورًا لَهُ
“Whoever ends the evening exhausted from the work of his hands, he ends the evening with his sins forgiven.” (HR. Al-Mu‘jam al-Awsaṭ, Aṭ-Ṭabarānī)
2. Lessons and Message
Our real problem is not “no time,” but how we “use the remaining time.” Don’t wait for your time to be completely free before studying religion, because the world will never let you be free. Fill the gaps in your school or work schedule with the intention of worship, and your formal activities will transform into a long, continuous study circle. Recall the true story of a madrasah student or young worker in a remote area who had to travel far every day for formal schooling and to earn a living. His schedule was packed from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. At night, he still had to help his parents in the rice field or at the market. One night, he was found asleep at his rickety study desk, his head resting on an open religious book. In the corner of his eye were traces of dried tears. On that page, he had managed to write a small note before his eyes closed from exhaustion: “O Allah, I long to memorize Your Book and understand Your law, but my daytime has been spent seeking formal knowledge for my family’s future. Accept the fatigue of my body as proof that I do not intend to forget You.” What a heart-wrenching scene, and at the same time a slap in the face for us who have plenty of free time at school or in comfortable workplaces, yet waste our energy on trivial things.
Seeking religious knowledge in the gaps of a packed formal school or work schedule is like squeezing a lime to make a refreshing drink. Someone with a lot of free time is like a person with a whole basket of limes; they can juice them leisurely with a sophisticated electric juicer. But we, whose schedules are packed to the brim? We’re like someone with only one lime in hand, squeezing it with all their might using their fingers until the very last drop, even pressing the peel! In terms of quantity, our lime juice might only fill a little at the bottom of the glass. But because it was squeezed with struggle and sweat, when it’s dripped into water and drunk, masyaAllah… it’s incredibly refreshing and packs a punch! That’s the analogy for knowledge. One verse you read during your office break, or one hadith you listen to on the public bus ride home from school, will penetrate and change your behavior far more than someone who has 24 hours free but spends it daydreaming. So a packed schedule is not an excuse to be void of knowledge, but a reason to become a skilled “time squeezer”!
3. Conclusion and Closing
Brothers and sisters, formal schooling or a time-consuming job is not a wall blocking you from drawing near to Allah. Make every general subject you study in school a path to marvel at the greatness of Allah’s creation. Make every drop of sweat at your workplace a means of practicing the honesty prescribed by the Sharī‘ah. Don’t let the busyness of your world extinguish your spirituality. Set aside even just 10 or 15 minutes every day to open the muṣḥaf or listen to a word of good advice. For before Allah, consistent small deeds done amid the storm of busyness are far more valuable than great deeds done only occasionally
والله أعلم بالصواب
الحمد لله رب العالمين
Wassalamu’alaikum Warahmaullahi Wabarakatuh.
ِAbu Sultan Al-Qadrie
