*Note, All khutbahs are in ‘as-delivered format. Consequently, some things may be unclear or omitted in writing as it is written in a way that fits with my own style and prompting methods. Feel free to leave a comment below if any concerns arise.*

Delivered November 12th, 2022 @ The George Washington University

Script:

Part I:

As-Salamu alaikum warahmatullahi ta’ala wa barakatuhu, wa ghafartuhum,

ya ikhwatina fi deenillah, fi deenil haq, fi deenil Islam

Intro:

Contained in the first 26 verses of Surah al-Kahf, the cave, is the story of 7 youths who were saved by Allah in the most wondrous of means during what historians/scholars believe was the Roman Empire.

The emperor, who was thought to be the Roman Emperor Decius, was exceedingly arrogant,

Going to great excesses in his tyranny

Committing innumerable transgressions against his people

He would send his servants to peoples home, forcing them to conform to his belief in idols…. Lest they forfeit their lives.

Seven youths who feared Allah were approached by the emperor’s servants, and naturally presented with the same ultimatum.

With righteous defiance!  they proclaimed that “Our lord is the master of the heavens and the earth, and we will not call upon any other god other than him”

“Our people have taken Gods beside him, yet they do not bring forth authoritative or trustworthy proof. Who is more wrongful than he who invents a lie against Allah”

The emperor gave them time to reconsider… perhaps owing to their supposed noble status and youthful age.

The youths, however, decided to flee to a cave.

In the cave, they had their backs against the wall, and knew only death awaited them outside.

So they prayed to Allah:

Rabbana atina milladunkarahma, wahayyi’lana min amreena rashada.

“Our lord, bestow upon us mercy from Yourself, and facilitate for us our affair in the right way”

They then went to sleep, so Allah had this slumber continue for over 300 years…

mystic suspended animation or cryogenic sleep if you will.

When they woke up, they deliberated on how long they slept, but no one thought more than a day.

One of them dressed as a beggar, went into town. He tried to buy food, but when he presented the coin, the shopkeeper thought it was a joke, and mentioned this was a coin of many eras ago!

You have probably heard this story, but the question is why I told it?

The people of the cave were saved, by Allah’s mercy, through time.

Allah essentially froze their time, allowing them to live way beyond the threat of the tyrant Decius.

By now you can see the topic of this khutbah is Time.

Point 1 (what is time):

——

Wal Asr,

innal insana…

illalathina..

—–

In Classical Physics, time is a scalar quantity. It has no direction but is absolute.

Einstein’s special relativity challenged this notion, showing us that time is not absolutely absolute, but relatively absolute. Meaning that depending on your frame of reference, the time you experience can be different from that of another, but your time is still absolute, just localized to you. But this does not hold up, again, in the quantum realm, which views the flow of time as universal and absolute, similar to classical physics.

The question raised is then what time really is in a physical sense, and whether it truly is a real, distinct phenomenon. Why does it seem to flow in one direction when no known laws make it a requirement?

I don’t mean to make this a Khutbah on Physics.

If I did, perhaps I’d be quickly thrown out, haha.

What I wish to highlight here is that despite how advanced we are, we do not have an absolute explanation of what time is. The nature of a science is questioning, and the one thing we know is that there is always the be next question, so it’s impossible for us to know.

It may sound like I’m saying time doesn’t exist so life doesn’t matter, but quite the contrary actually.

As muslims we know that Allah is (badi-us-samawati wal ardh) the originator of the universe, Al-awwal-wal akhir, the beginningless and the endless, thus It follows that Allah created time.

So to understand time fully, we would need to fully decipher Allah. Who is so bold to say they can do it? Subhanallah.

Why time is important:        

About (2-3) minutes ago, I recited 3 verses, lets return to them.

Wal Asr,

innal insana…

illalathina..

There exists a bank with a peculiar policy. It lends you money only once, but only allows withdrawals, never deposits.

This bank, is the bank of Time

These verses that I’ve now repeated twice are the verses of Surah Asr, Chapter 103 of Quran.

It is the shortest surah apart from kawthar, though both have 3 verses, and arguably the easiest to memorize.

What do they mean?

(Wal Asr) Allah swears by Asr, Time in this context,

(Khusr) Verily, Man is in a state of loss

(Haq and sabr), Except the amilussalihat- those who enjoin good and are pious – and those who call to truth and encourage perseverance

Ibn Kathir relates that Imam Shafi, founder of the Shafi’I school of thought, once said that if God had only revealed this Surah, it would have been sufficient for the guidance of all Mankind.

The reminder in this surah is that our time in this earth is limited, we are in a constant state of disadvantage. We only lose time, not gain it, so it is precious.

To accentuate this point, Rasulullah (PBUH), once said, as narrated by Ibn Abbas,

“Take advantage of five before five:

your youth before your old age,

your health before your illness,

your riches before your poverty,

your free time before your work,

and your life before your death.”

– Shu’ab al-Iman by Al-bayhaqi

If you notice, the similarity in all these traits is their inherent fleeting nature. They all have an expiration date,

All is subject to change at the command of Allah.

The prophet is advising and warning us to not lose sight of the fleeting nature of time and its importance, and to use it well.

Marcus Aurelius, the last of the 5 good emperors of Rome, once said:

wherever life is possible

it is possible…. to live the right way.

Wa akulu-kawli hatha, wa’astaghifirhu, innahu huwal ghafurrurahim.

Part II:

Alhamdulillah wassaltu wassalamu ala rasulillah

Bismillah

Part 1: how to use our time

So how can we live the right way?

How… shall we use our time?

Just thinking about where we are, you probably know what im about to say.

Yes, Seek Knowledge.

The very first verse word ever revealed from Allah to the prophet was

“Iqra”

Read, read in the name of your lord and creator.

What more is there to say about knowledge’s importance in Islam?

Let us look at 3 hadiths.

Ibn Malik reported that the prophet said:

Seeking knowledge is obligatory on every Muslim (sahih-ibn majah)

“The virtue of the scholar over the worshiper is like the superiority of the moon over the stars.” (Abi Dawood- sahih)

“Whoever travels a path in search of knowledge, Allah will make easy for him a path to Paradise.” (Sahih Muslim)

From this we can see Allah values the worshipper who seeks knowledge above a regular believer who simply worships.

But let us ultimately return to the Quran, the final word:

Allah says in surah Baqarah verse22.

“Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses [i.e., laws] that you might use reason.”

We can only see and understand the message if we employ reason, seek knowledge. And if we don’t know where to find knowledge, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, we can seek the companions of knowledge, the rasikhoona fil ilm,

Ultimately Allah warns in surah Anfal, verse 22:

“the worst creatures in God’s eyes are those who are [wilfully] deaf and dumb, who do not reason.”

We are on a college campus for Godsake, our one job is to think, and we already squander our time thinking about ridiculous things that won’t actually change our life anyways. So let’s think about

 the right things.

Assuming there are 16 waking hours a day,

but lets be real, we don’t sleep 8 hours,

If we took just 1 hour or 6% of that time every day, 30 minutes in the morning, 30 minutes in the evening, 5 minutes here, 20 minutes there, we would be spending just 7 hours a week. A week has 112 waking hours, so that’s just 6.25% still anyways. Use your other

It has been reported that the prophet said “One hour of meditation is sometimes better that one year of praying” (Suyuti, Jamiu’s-Saghir, 2/127; Ajluni, I/310). This is a weak hadith, we don’t want people to just say they think and not pray, come on, afala taikiloon?

But it shows the importance

Let us use our time to Improve our knowledge of Allah, and our knowledge of the world, and we will certainly grow more faithful and successful. 93.75% of the other time we can do whatever we want, but lets try to start by commiting this time.

End:

Despite all our endless contemplations on time, its importance and Allah’s mercy

I can’t help but ask myself,

Why do we die?

But Perhaps….  It is so we may live.

Why are our exams timed?

If you had 120 minutes to finish a calculus exam, I doubt you would spend 90 minutes on Netflix, not like you could anyways.

Without a limit on our time, there would be no purpose in living a meaningful life, and there would be nothing to strive for, for there would be no end, no pressure, and no reckoning.

Allah has given us this time for a reason, so let us do what Is right.

If we say we are Muslim,

Let us strive to be Muslim

DUA