Life's Strive

In the Qur’an there is a short Surah with title “al-‘Asr”. If we translate “al-‘asr” with “the time” then we could translate the Surah as follows: “By the time! Indeed mankind is in loss, except those who attain to faith, and do good works, and enjoin on each other truth, and enjoin on each other to be steadfast” (Qur’an 103:1-3).

But I was stunned when reading the explanation of Dr. Salah Al-Khalidy about the word “al’asr”. Indeed, “the time” is one of the meanings, but there is another possibility to use the word for “the act of bringing out something with special effort”, as for example ‘asr al-laimoon = squeezing out juice from a lemon.

So in that surah we can use both meanings. The surah is talking about mankind who lives his life in a given time. This time given to him by the Creator is meant for a purpose. God has gifted each person with a certain skill, for which one should strive his whole life, with accentuated effort. When that limited time comes to an end, then he will be questioned by the Creator: what have you done with all the facilities and options given to you in that limited time?

The surah explains that everyone is bound to loose himself unless he or she be of those who have achieved these four guidelines:

1.   To attain faith in God, the Creator.

2.   To do good works, according to the guidance.

3.   To enjoin one another to truth.

4.   To enjoin one another to endurance.

All those elements need vigilance and special effort. Any person, who wants to avoid the loss, should draw out most of his skills and capacities in achieving fruitful deeds for humanity, as much as possible.

This clear God’s decree (in Surah Al-‘Asr) may also be considered as an explanation of the declaration in another surah of the Qur’an, surah “At-Tin”, in which God says:

Certainly We created man in the best conformation. Then We rendered him to the lowest of the low. Except those who attained to faith and have done the good deeds, so they shall have a reward never be cut off” (95:4-6).

And as you can observe, “the good deeds” in this surah had been explained and included in Surah Al-‘Asr “enjoining one another to truth” and “enjoining one another to endurance”, because, in fact, although the work of individuals is essential, yet the cooperation is necessary to bring out good results.

Good Intention and Sincerity

For a faithful believer all actions he does are aimed to satisfy the society he lives in, and to be accepted by the Almighty God. Umar bin al-Khattab said: I have heard the Prophet (God’s blessings upon him) was saying: “Actions are to be judged only by intentions, and a man will have only what he intended. Thus he whose emigration was for the sake of God and His messenger, his emigration shall be counted for the sake of God and His messenger; and he whose emigration intended to achieve some worldly gain or for a woman he intended to marry, then his emigration will end to which he emigrated for” (Reported by Muslim, An-Nasai and Abu Dawud).

A person has to do his actions as excellently as possible and with sincerity. Shaddad bin Aws said about the slaughter of animals:

Two things I remember the messenger of God (God’s blessings upon him) having said: “Verily, God has enjoined excellence on doing everything; so when you kill, kill in a good way; when you slaughter, do it nicely, by sharpening the knife, so to let the slaughtered animal die comfortably” (Reported by Muslim in his Collection of Hadith).

Surely this would be no easy task, as the life of human being in this world is full of toil and misery. Consciously or not every person will meet sorrow, worry and pain, with the rare moments of true happiness and satisfaction. This human condition is described by God in the Qur’an as follows: “O mankind! Surely you must strive (to attain) to your Lord, a hard striving until you meet Him” (84:6).

Practically all people strive, work hard, but most of them do not know for what purpose. The Qur’an guides people to make sense of their life.

It says: “Or has he not been informed of what is in the scriptures of Moses and (of) Abraham who fulfilled (the commandments): that no bearer of burden shall bear the burden of another; and that human being shall have nothing but what he strives for; and that his striving shall soon be seen, then shall he be rewarded for it with the fullest reward, and that to your Lord is the goal” (53:36-42).

“So, he who has done an atom’s weight of good shall see it. And he who has done an atom’s weight of evil shall see it”

(99:7-8).

The last Messenger of God used to encourage his followers to work as hard as they can. Anas bin Malik (one of his companions) reported that the Prophet (God’s blessings upon him) said: “If the Final Hour comes while you have a palm sprout in your hand and it is possible to plant it before the Hour starts, you should plant it” (Al-Adab al-Mufrad by Al-Bukhari).

“And say: Act, for God will surely see your action, and (so will) His messenger and the believers; and you will be returned to the Knower of the unseen and the visible, and He will tell you what you used to do” (9:105).