*******
‘Undertake
good works before seven things happen: distracting poverty, corrupting wealth,
debilitating illness, befuddling senility, final death, the Dajjaal- and evil
is the invisible one who waits and watches- or the Final Hour, which is more
calamitous and more painful.’
*******
A man
came to the Holy Prophet (sa) and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, what charity has
the greatest reward?’
He said,
'When you give alms when you are in good health and reluctant to give,
fearing poverty and hoping for wealth.
‘And
do not wait until the last gasp when you say ‘so-and–so gets this, so-and-so
gets that’, for it already belongs to that so-and-so’.
*******
‘A
person will not move on (on the Day of Judgment) until he has been asked about
four things: his life and in what he spent it, his knowledge and what he did
with it, his wealth, from where he acquired it and on what he spent it, and his
body and how he wore it out.’
*******
‘O
you who have believed, let not your wealth and your children divert you from
remembrance of Allah. And whoever does that - then those are the losers. And
spend [in the way of Allah] from what We have provided you before death
approaches one of you and he says, "My Lord, if only You would delay me
for a brief term so I would give charity and be among the righteous." But
never will Allah delay a soul when its time has come. And Allah is Acquainted
with what you do.’ [Holy Qur'an, 63: 9-11]
****************
‘The
excuse of time being too short precedes every assignment and every request for
contribution and invitation to work. It is a cliché that is included at the
opening of all my speech when I met you all, and also during my conversation
with you.
But
those who are short of time can easily manage to find the time for several-hour
dinner party he gets invited to, and he is able to have various meetings with
friends and colleagues which have nothing in common other that they have no
purpose and no significant outcome.’
‘The
same person finds sufficient time to write a paper that will count in his
promotion, submit a thesis or a dissertation, or undertake an official
assignment which may require him to travel to far places for a long period of
time. I do not object to engagement in such fields, and I do not envy anyone
his income. What l am saying is that when one has the time for these things; he
can also have the time for others, if he is serious.’
‘A
serious person realizes the value of time and of devotion, and consequently, he
has a different attitude towards leisure time and vacations than other people,
who usually are negligent and unorganized in managing them.’
‘One
is amazed when one contemplates the depressing conditions of the Islamic Nation
and its need for the energy and efforts of all its members, whatever their
levels and abilities are; witnesses at the same time this type of people who
abstain from work and contribution on the pretext that they are not qualified.
The only answer to this puzzle, or explanation of this phenomenon, is absence
of seriousness.’