✨Striving during Virtuous Timesheet

From among the worst ailments that afflicts a person and hinders his immediate and future interests is the disease of laziness. For if a person stops working for his hereafter, his loss will be greater than losing the entire world. And it is the disease with which the hypocrites are afflicted. For they are lazy in performing righteous deeds due to not having the intention of worshipping Allah the Most High.

An Nisa (4) 142:Indeed, the hypocrites [think to] deceive Allāh, but He is deceiving them. And when they stand for prayer, they stand lazily, showing [themselves to] the people and not remembering Allāh except a little,

They are sluggish because they do not hope for the reward for performing acts of obedience and they do not fear punishment for abandoning them. And Allah Almighty warned the believers against laziness in performing acts of obedience and said:
At Tawbah (9) 38: O you who have believed, what is [the matter] with you that, when you are told to go forth in the cause of Allāh, you adhere heavily to the earth? Are you satisfied with the life of this world rather than the Hereafter? But what is the enjoyment of worldly life compared to the Hereafter except a [very] little.

Meaning, laziness and inclination to the worldly life and complacency and stagnation. And Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:
When one of you goes to sleep the devil ties three knots at the back of his head, sealing every knot with saying, You have a long night, so sleep. So if one awakes and mentions Allah a knot will be loosened, if he performs ablution a knot will be loosened, and if he prays a knot will be loosened, and in the morning he will be active and in good spirits; otherwise he will be in bad spirits and sluggish in the morning. [Al Bukhari 1142, Muslim 776]

The Prophet ﷺ sought refuge in Allah Almighty from laziness. As Anas bin Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the Prophet ﷺ used to say:
O Allah, I seek refuge with You from incapacity, laziness, cowardice and old age. And I seek refuge with You from the trials of life and death. And I seek refuge with You from the punishment of the grave. [Al Bukhari 6369, Muslim 2706a]

And in a narration in Al Bukhari, Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
I served the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, if he stopped (on his journey), I often heard him say: O Allah, I seek refuge in you from grief and sadness, from incapacity and from laziness, from miserliness and from cowardice, from being overcome by debt and overpowered by men (i.e. others). [Al Bukhari 2893]

And in narration in An Nisa’i:
The Prophet ﷺ had supplications that he would not leave, he would say, O Allah, I seek refuge in you from grief and sadness, from incapacity and from laziness, from miserliness and from cowardice, from being overcome by debt and overpowered by men (i.e. others). [Sunan an-Nasa’i 5449]

Also, it came in the hadith in An Nisa’i narrated by Zayd bin Arqam, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet ﷺ used to teach them seeking refuge in Allah from incapacity and laziness. And in a hadith narrated by Ibn Masood, may Allah be pleased with him, that seeking refuge from laziness was a supplication that the Prophet ﷺ recited each evening.

These textual evidences should motivate the believer to beware of laziness. Because it is an ailment that hinders a person from their interests in the worldly life and hereafter. Rather, if one is lazy regarding his livelihood and worldly interests in the name of zuhd (detachment from this worldly life), he would be blameworthy. So how about the one who is lazy in the righteous deeds ?! Ibn Taymiyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said, if the person in name of zuhd (detachment from this worldly life) is idle, he commits the greatest corruption, for he does not build the worldly life or the hereafter. As AbdAllah bin Masood said, I hate to see a man idle, neither engaged in a matter of this world nor in a matter of the hereafter… So whoever leaves an ordained good deed because of his zuhd (detachment from the worldly life), then what he left is better than his zuhd (detachment from the worldly life). Or if he performed misdeeds or is lazy and idle, then he is among the greatest losers in respect to his deeds:
Al Kahf (18) 104: [They are] those whose effort is lost in worldly life, while they think that they are doing well in work.

And Ibn Al Qayim, may Allah have mercy on him, said, and incapacity and laziness go together. If one does not pursue the means of goodness and prosperity, due to his inability, then it is incapacity, and if it is due to his lack of will, then it is laziness.

And satan grows the disease of laziness within a person in performing acts of obedience. For he starts with him in laziness in performing the voluntary worships and then the person falls short in offering them and is not consistent in performing them. Until satan weighs him down from performing them, then the person does not perform them at all. Rather he suffices with the obligatory with the excuse that the voluntary worships are not mandatory. And the voluntary worships are the fence and shield of the obligatory. So whoever obeys satan in laziness in performing voluntary worships, will deteriorate to laziness in performing the obligations. So he will delay them and if he offers them, he does not give them their due. Perhaps his laziness leads him to abandoning them or performing them outside of their prescribed time. Like the one who delays the prayer from its proper time, or combines prayers without a valid reason. For they have no ailment other than lethargy and laziness.

And from the approaches of curing laziness in acts of obedience is for a person to safeguard the fence of voluntary worships to protect the obligatory. So if he becomes sluggish or lethargic he reduces the voluntary but does not cut it off. And this is the approach taken by the Prophet ﷺ himself. As AbdAllah bin Abee Qais narrated that Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said to him:
Do not leave the night prayer, for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would not leave it. And if he fell ill or was lethargic, he would offer it sitting. [Abu Dawood 1307]

And the Prophet ﷺ directed his nation and said:
Oh people, Take from the deeds what you can handle. For Allah does not get tired (of giving reward) until you get tired. And the most beloved of deeds to Allah are those that are continuous, even if they are few. [Al Bukhari 1151, Muslim 782a]

And if the person remembers that the reward for good deeds is continuous bliss in the grave then in the hereafter and an eternity in a Garden which is as wide as the heavens and the earth, this energizes him in performing good deeds. Also, if he looks with his heart at his eternal future and longs for what Allah Almighty has prepared for the believers in Paradise. So his soul is eased before the essence of Allah Almighty and he dispatches his limbs to all kinds of acts of obedience. He enjoys it more than the people of diversions enjoy their amusements. Imam Ibn Al Mubarak, may Allah have mercy on him, said, the people of this worldly life left this world without tasting the best of what is in it. He was asked, and what is the best in it? He replied, Knowing Allah, the Mighty and Sublime.

Allah Almighty said:
Al Imran (3) 15-17: (15) For those who fear Allāh will be gardens in the presence of their Lord beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally, and purified spouses and approval from Allāh. And Allāh is Seeing [i.e., aware] of [His] servants – (16) Those who say, “Our Lord, indeed we have believed, so forgive us our sins and protect us from the punishment of the Fire,” (17) The patient, the true, the obedient, those who spend [in the way of Allāh], and those who seek forgiveness before dawn.

Oh Muslims: From the greatest losses is being lazy in worship during virtuous times when the reward is multiplied, such as Friday, Ramadan, the last ten nights of Ramadan, the sacred months and the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah, the Day of Arafah and the Day of Ashurah. For the wise person is the one who dedicates himself and is diligent and strives within them. And makes a plan of righteous deeds that he will accomplish. And makes sure that of all his time is in obedience to attain the virtue of the period. For they are a great opportunity and whoever misses out in performing good deeds in them has been deprived of much good.

So let us devote ourselves and be diligent during these virtuous times. Let us strive, hasten and compete in performing good deeds. For Allah Almighty has commanded the believers to hasten and compete in performing good deeds:
Al Imran (3) 133: And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a garden as wide as the heavens and earth, prepared for the righteous

And Allah said:
Al Hadid (57) 21: Race [i.e., compete] toward forgiveness from your Lord and a Garden whose width is like the width of the heavens and earthWe seek refuge in Allah from apathy, lethargy and laziness. And we ask Allah to give us success in hastening and competing in performing good deeds. Indeed, Allah is All Hearing, Answering.

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