Ramaḍān - Day 18

Be not hasty and rushed for things that have yet to come to pass. Do you think it is wise to pick fruits before they become ripe? Tomorrow is non-existent, having no reality today, so why should you busy yourself with it? Why should you have apprehensions about future disasters? Why should you be engrossed by their thoughts, especially since you do not know whether you will even see tomorrow?

The important thing to know is that tomorrow is from the world of the unseen, a bridge that we do not cross until it comes. Who knows, perhaps we might never reach the bridge, or the bridge might collapse before we reach it, or we may actually reach it and cross safely.

For us to be engrossed in expectations about the future is looked down upon in our religion since it leads to our having a long-term attachment to this world, an attachment that the good believer shuns. Many people of this world are unduly fearful of future poverty, hunger, disease, and disaster: such thinking is inspired by the devil.
الشَّيْطَانُ يَعِدُكُمُ الْفَقْرَ وَ يَأْمُرُكُم بِالْفَحْشَاءِ ۖ و اللهُ يَعِدُكُم مَّغْفِرَةً مِّنْهُ وَ فَضْلًا ۗ و اللهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ
Satan threatens you with poverty and orders you to immorality, while Allāh promises you forgiveness from Him and bounty. And Allāh is all-Encompassing and Knowing.
[Qur’ān, Sūrah Baqarah (2), verse 268]

Many are those who cry because they see themselves starving tomorrow, falling sick after a month, or because they fear that the world will come to an end after a year. Someone who has no clue as to when he will die (which is all of us) should not busy himself with such thoughts.

Since you are absorbed in the toils of today, leave tomorrow until it comes. Beware of becoming unduly attached to future prospects in this world.

[Don’t be Sad, Dr. ʿĀ’iḍ al-Qarnī, Page 40-41]

Moulana Huzaifa Saleh