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Islam and Time Management
An exam takes a few hours but if you pass that exam, then you hold a qualification for the rest of your life. A serious examinee tries to utilize every minute of the examination time to answer the questions to the best of his knowledge.
In Islam our short stay in this temporary world is just like an examination to qualify for an eternal heaven or an eternal hell. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Be in the world as though you were a stranger or a wayfarer". You are required to use this short time properly.
In another Hadith (saying) the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that a person is questioned on the Day of Judgement about how he spent his life and how he passed the years of his youth. He also said that you should benefit from five items: Your youth before becoming old, your health before becoming a sick man, your wealth before becoming poor, your leisure before becoming too busy and your life before you die.
The value of time is mentioned in many Ayat (verses) of the Holy Quran. For instance, "He has made subject to you the night and the day, the sun and the moon, and the stars are in subjection by His Command: Verily in this are signs for men who are wiser" (The Bee; 12).
A Muslim is required to pray five times a day. Normally this ought to be in a mosque. The times of the prayers are specified. The first prayer is at dawn and the last is at night with the others spread in between. The Noble Quran states: "Prayers are enjoined on believers at fixed hours" (Women, 103).
For a practicing Muslim these have several practical benefits besides their benefit as prayers. For one they train a person to be punctual. Another benefit is that they form a framework around which the whole day is sectioned. A person should find it easier to manage his time around this framework.
Prayer is the second article of faith in Islam, the first and most fundamental being the declaration that there is no deity but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. The three other articles of faith Zakat (or compulsory alms giving), Fasting and Haj (pilgrimage to Makkah) are again time related.
Islam is a religion of moderation. The Glorious Quran states "But seek with the wealth which Allah has bestowed on you the Home of the Hereafter and forget not your portion of this world" (Al-Qasas or The Stories, 77). Islam teaches that one should work for the Hereafter as if he was going to die the following day and to work for the present World as if he was going to live forever.
In Islam our short stay in this temporary world is just like an examination to qualify for an eternal heaven or an eternal hell. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Be in the world as though you were a stranger or a wayfarer". You are required to use this short time properly.
In another Hadith (saying) the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that a person is questioned on the Day of Judgement about how he spent his life and how he passed the years of his youth. He also said that you should benefit from five items: Your youth before becoming old, your health before becoming a sick man, your wealth before becoming poor, your leisure before becoming too busy and your life before you die.
The value of time is mentioned in many Ayat (verses) of the Holy Quran. For instance, "He has made subject to you the night and the day, the sun and the moon, and the stars are in subjection by His Command: Verily in this are signs for men who are wiser" (The Bee; 12).
A Muslim is required to pray five times a day. Normally this ought to be in a mosque. The times of the prayers are specified. The first prayer is at dawn and the last is at night with the others spread in between. The Noble Quran states: "Prayers are enjoined on believers at fixed hours" (Women, 103).
For a practicing Muslim these have several practical benefits besides their benefit as prayers. For one they train a person to be punctual. Another benefit is that they form a framework around which the whole day is sectioned. A person should find it easier to manage his time around this framework.
Prayer is the second article of faith in Islam, the first and most fundamental being the declaration that there is no deity but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. The three other articles of faith Zakat (or compulsory alms giving), Fasting and Haj (pilgrimage to Makkah) are again time related.
Islam is a religion of moderation. The Glorious Quran states "But seek with the wealth which Allah has bestowed on you the Home of the Hereafter and forget not your portion of this world" (Al-Qasas or The Stories, 77). Islam teaches that one should work for the Hereafter as if he was going to die the following day and to work for the present World as if he was going to live forever.
© 2026 Dr. Shihab Ghanem. All rights reserved.