Overcoming Procrastination: Hastening Towards Good Deeds Like The Sahaba

Jumu'ah Khutbah — Mufti Noman Khan

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. Peace and blessings of Allah be upon the Master of Prophets and Messengers, upon his family and companions, and those who follow them with goodness until the Day of Judgment.

The Sahaba's Hastening Towards Good Deeds

In the Quran, Allah talks about a very unique action of the Sahaba, and in this instance, Allah talks about a specific incident. In Surah Al-Mujadala, Allah talks about how the rich people and some of the Munafiqeen used to visit the Prophet (peace be upon him) and frequent him and have meetings with him. But the outcome of those meetings was nothing — it was just basically wasting the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him). What this resulted in was that it deprived the poor Sahaba of having time with the Prophet (peace be upon him).

The poor Sahaba used to come, they used to sit, but they would walk away without having met the Prophet (peace be upon him), because these Munafiqeen or the rich people would take all of his time. So Allah brought about an obligation: if you wish to meet the Prophet (peace be upon him), you must first give some charity to the poor people. This was again a burden — especially on the Munafiqeen, who wanted nothing but to waste the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

Long story short — after a few days this obligation was abrogated. The ayah remained, but the obligation to give the sadaqa was abrogated. But Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) would be proud of this incident. Why? Because it was only him — he was the only Sahabi who had the opportunity to act on this ayah, and he did it so that he could practice upon it.

What this shows us is that the Sahaba and the Prophet (peace be upon him) were quick — they were hastening towards fulfilling the obligations of Allah.

Procrastination: A Spiritual Disease

One of the biggest setbacks that this Ummah faces today — and in the majority — is that we tend to procrastinate. The actions that are obligatory upon us, we tend to procrastinate. We tend to delay actions that will gain the pleasure of Allah.

Once Hassan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) was standing next to the grave of one of his friends, and he had with him one of his companions. Hassan al-Basri asked him: "What do you think this man would do if he had the chance to return back to this world?" His companion said: "If he indeed had the chance to come back to this world, he would make a great deal of istighfar, he would pray a lot, and he would give lots of sadaqa and charity." Hassan al-Basri then said: "He has missed his chance — the time that he had is done. He has missed his chance, but you have it, so benefit from it."

The khulasa — the summary — is that we are the Ummah of the Habib of Allah. We are the followers of the companions and the beloved of the Prophet. And regarding them, Allah says:

"Those are the ones who hasten to good deeds, and they are ever foremost in them."

So procrastinating is actually a spiritual disease, because the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the Sahaba would hasten in fulfilling their obligations. This is why, if you read the stories of the Sahaba, of the Prophet (peace be upon him), or of our aslaf, you will find that they would prepare beforehand for anything that was to come. If it was time for prayer, they would be the first ones to come to the prayer. If it was a sadaqa or a charity to be given in the path of Allah, they would be the first ones to give. They would be the first ones in fulfilling things that would gain the pleasure of Allah.

Shaytan's Weapon of High Hopes

When the Prophet (peace be upon him) preached Islam, the Jewish rabbis and the Christian priests — when common people would come to these rabbis or priests and express their desire to accept Islam, saying "When we look at the Muslims and their actions, it feels as if we want to accept Islam" — Shaytan would use these rabbis to make them procrastinate. "You must contemplate, you must look into these matters more." So they would procrastinate, they would delay accepting Islam, and eventually they would pass away upon kufr.

What holds us back from Allah, what holds us back from gaining closeness to Allah, is this spiritual disease of procrastination. And this is something that our akabir would cure in their students. For example, a person came to Sheikh Ashraf Ali Thanawi to take bay'ah. So Sheikh Thanawi asked him: "Do you think you have fulfilled all of your previous prayers — the qada prayers?" He said: "No, I haven't." So he ordered him to complete those prayers before he could take bay'ah. The ulema say that Sheikh Ashraf Ali Thanawi actually knew of this person's procrastination, and he wanted to get rid of it. This was one of the ways he could cure the person of this spiritual disease.

Some of the aslaf said: "Beware of procrastination, for it is one of Shaytan's strongest weapons." A person may have the longing for Hajj, but what makes him lose that reward is procrastinating — "Maybe I'll do it tomorrow." This high hope of seeing tomorrow leads us to procrastination. There is always a tomorrow — but how many of us have lost those precious years? How many of us have lost those precious days? If we had done those actions and not procrastinated, we would have been close to Allah.

So Shaytan puts us into this delusion by giving us high hopes: "You have a tomorrow, you can start from tomorrow." But that tomorrow never comes.

The Athar on Procrastination

As we look at the seerah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and of the anbiya (peace be upon them), Allah describes them as Ulul 'Azm — those who have determination, who have willpower. Some of the muhaddithin say that the following is not a hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) but rather an athar:

(Athar attributed to some of the Salaf; related narrations appear in various hadith collections)

The meaning being: procrastinating and delaying is good except in the actions of the Hereafter — which in other words means: if you have an opportunity of doing something good, do it fast, do it quick. But if you have an opportunity of doing something of no benefit, or an opportunity of sinning, indeed there has to be some procrastination. We have to delay it, think about the consequences and the outcome of that sin, of that evil action, and how far that action can lead us away from Allah.

So Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) is the one who says: "Hesitation in things is good, except in the actions of the Hereafter."

Seeking Refuge from Laziness

This is why the Prophet (peace be upon him) would often make du'a, asking Allah for steadfastness and determination. The Prophet (peace be upon him) would seek refuge from laziness:

"O Allah, I seek refuge in You from anxiety and grief, and I seek refuge in You from incapability and laziness." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6369)

If we are the Ummah of the greatest of creation — the Prophet (peace be upon him) — if we are the Ummah of the Sahaba who supported the Prophet (peace be upon him) in all times, in adversity and prosperity, in every situation — those are the people whom we claim to love. And one of the ways that we can truly be their followers is by bringing those attributes into ourselves that will take us closer to them, and that will actually befit our claim that we love them.

Du'a

May Allah give us the tawfiq to act upon what has been said. May Allah give us the willpower that we need in order to do good and stay away from sins. May Allah give us the tawfiq to do those actions that make us His beloved.

وَآخِرُ دَعْوَانَا أَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

Announcements

Please pass the donation boxes from left to right and donate generously.

Parking Notice: No curb parking. Do not park on the curbs behind the seminary building or the Swift Highway. Additional parking spaces are available in the used car lot. Please do not park in the condo's parking lot.

No Tech Retreat 2024 — Unplugged: Connecting with the Creator: Please save the date. The retreat runs from February 17th to 18th with Sheikh Zakariya Patel, Imam of Majlis Taqwa in Toronto.

Road to Ramadan — A Journey to Spiritual Preparation with Mawlana Ammar Ahmed: Today after Isha.

Tafheem Weekend Classes: Enrollment is now open for this semester. Classes are available online and onsite every weekend. On Saturdays: Fiqh of Salah Part 2, Seerah of the Makkan period, and the 40 Ahadith. On Sundays: Fiqh of Purification, Aqeedah Part 2, and Islamic Etiquettes. To enroll, visit the Majlis website.

Weekly Programs

Team Fajr continues tomorrow, Saturday. Fajr Iqama is at 6:15 AM. Tafseer of Surah Al-Qasas continues on Tuesday after Isha Salah; Iqama is at 7:30 PM. Weekly Salawat and Khatir every Thursday after Isha Salah.

Sisters' Programs

Online weekly Tafseer in Urdu on Thursdays from noon to 1:00 PM. Special program for sisters on Friday, January 26th from 2:30 to 4:30 PM by visiting scholar Ustada Shamira Ahmed from the Rahma Foundation, speaking on the topic of "Scholarship in Islam: Exceptional Women in Our Tradition." Monthly Dars on the first Sunday of every month followed by lunch from noon to 2:30 PM — the upcoming Dars is next month on the 4th.

Youth Girls Program

Kick-off event for girls ages 13 and up. Join us for a day of activities and Halaqa on Saturday, February 3rd, from 1:15 PM to 4:00 PM. Activities include an art workshop, games competition, and speeches from community youth.

Special Du'a Requests

Please make du'a for our brothers and sisters in Palestine. Please make du'a for shifa for brother Ratiq, who is unwell. And please make du'a for brother Ghazanfar Iqbal and his wife, who were involved in a car accident a few hours ago. May Allah grant shifa to all those who are sick. JazakAllah Khair.