The bounty of youth will be questioned in the Hereafter
The apostle of Allah, (PBUH) who warns all humanity with his life-giving words, strongly emphasized the issue of “using the given bounties properly”.
As a matter of fact, he says the following regarding the issue in one of his hadiths:
“A man shall not leave the presence of his Lord before being asked concerning five things on the Day of Resurrection: concerning his life, how he spent it; concerning his youth, how he grew old; concerning his wealth, whence he acquired it, and in what way he spent it; and what was it that he did with the knowledge that he had.” (Tirmidhi, Sifatul Qiyama: 1)
As it is seen from the hadith given above, the five bounties which interest people of any age shall be asked about.
In a sense, the question of where the life was spent is related to where the time was spent. Since the life and time are given by Allah to man, this bounty should be used according to His consent and orders.
Our glorious Prophet (PBUH) said the following in a hadith narrated by Ibn Abbas, “There are two bounties about which the majority of humans are deceived: Health and leisure time” (Tirmidhi, Zuhd: 2405) By saying this, he emphasized one of our important weakness. Unfortunately, most of the young people who have plenty of opportunities in terms of health and time are deceived about this issue.
The question where “the youth grew old” is directly related with young people. This questioning shows that “the youth is not given for living in joy, spending time nicely and entertainment with laughter”. Since the youth is a period which is full of positive elements in terms of Allah’s bounties, one can thank for it by using it according to the consent of Allah. If the bounties of the youth such as “power, strength, health and welfare” are not used as means of getting more rewards, they may become troubles both in this world and hereafter.
The question “from where the wealth is acquired and spent” is a kind of alarm warning all humanity. For, with this statement, people are asked to earn and to spend through halal (legitimate) ways. It is necessary to earn money by halal ways in which Allah has consent and to use it properly according to His consent and to avoid wasting in our worldly expenses.
The question "what he did with the knowledge he had" shows that what matters is not to learn but to practice what one learns. In the Quran, our Lord likens those who do not practice what they learn to "a donkey carrying books" because neither of them benefits from what they carry. The following hadith of the Prophet (pbuh) should make us shiver and be more careful: "All people are destroyed except scholars; all scholars are destroyed except the ones who practice what they know. All scholars who practice what they know are destroyed except the ones who practice them sincerely; and those who practice them sincerely are in great danger."
Along with the explanations above, the hadith includes an answer to an important question:
The hadith shows that the young people who say, "we will worship when we get old" make a big mistake. Thus, people are warned that they will be held responsible for what they did not only when they were old but also when they were young.
As a matter of fact, the following is stated in the chapter of az-Zilzal in the Quran: "Then shall anyone who has done an atom's weight of good, see it! And anyone who has done an atom's weight of evil, shall see it." Thus, it is stated that man will be held responsible for all of his life.
It is necessary to heed the following warnings in the hadith below, which complements the hadith above:
"Take advantage of five matters before five other matters:
1.Your life, before your death,
2. your health, before you fall sick,
3. your free time before you become busy,
4. your youth, before you become old,
5. and your richness, before you become poor." (Hakim: Mustadrak)
May my Lord make all of us those who spend their "lives, helath, time, youth and wealth" for Allah's sake and consent.
0 comments :
Post a Comment