HOW TO EXTEND YOUR AGE BY MAKING IT PRODUCTIVE (PART I)

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim.  Wasalallahu 'ala nabiyyul Karim

HOW TO EXTEND YOUR AGE BY MAKING IT PRODUCTIVE
(A book review)


The Prophet SAW said, “The ages of my Ummah is between sixty and seventy
only very little who will pass this”.   If  one is blessed to even live this
long, he or she has only about twenty out of these years for Ibadah and the
reason for this is as explained below.

In average, man will live for sixty years.  One third of that (20 years)
will be spent in sleeping, since most people sleep for at least eight hours,
daily, (eight hours being one-third of twenty-four hours)  forty years left
goes for other things and out of this fifteen years (15) is spent in
childhood, mostly, this will go without any use.  What is left is twenty
five years (25), out of which two years will be spent in  acts of eating,
drinking, going to the toilet, etc; and about twenty years  (23) is left for
Ibadah and that is one-third of his age.  If one does not make GOOD USE of
this twenty- three years, which is left, it shall be wasted. (Subhanallah)

The Nabiyy SAW also advised thus; “Do not wish to die.  If you are really in
need of this pray: “Oh Allah give me life if You know that life is better
for me.  And give me death if You know that death is better for me.”

Age is therefore a precious thing, and it is not allowed for anyone to wish
for death because of any harm that might have befallen him, or hardship or
difficulty he is facing.  One should instead have patience and expect reward
from Allah SWT for whatever he is going through and continue to hope for
ease and relief from The Most High.  For the Prophet SAW says “ Know that
victory comes with patience, relief with distress and ease with hardship.

The Prophet SAW also said: “If you want your Rizq to be more and also to
extend your age, do Silat-Rahim, i.e., give the rights of family ties.
There are three opinions regarding how to extend one’s age;

i. Baraka, i.e., Allah will make him successful to do a lot of Ibadah i.e.,
Amal Saliha hence the extention of his age.  He will be able to do what
someone with a longer life span will do. ( for example someone that lived
for twenty years will be able to achieve what another person spent forty
years of his life to achieve of good works)
ii. Knowledge of the Angels.   Allah SWT tells the Angels, this person is
forty years, but if he does Silat rahim add twenty more years for him.
(Although the real age is known to Allah SWT from the beginning i.e.,
whether he is going to live for forty or sixty years ).
iii. Dhikru Jamil- People still remember him (by mentioning his good deeds,
saying he is a good man etc) as if he is still living with them.

Although i  & ii are more common.

What to do to extend one’s age
i. Be good in morals. and practise certain behaviours.  The Nabiyy SAW said,
“If you perform Silat Rahim (rights of relatives), Husni Khuluq, (have good
character  or good morals) Husni Jiwar (being good to your neighbours), your
house will be blessed and your age will be extended.
ii. Practising good deeds which has it’s ajar (i.e., reward) being
multiplied.  These include the following


Praying in Masjid Al Haram in Makkah or Masjid Nabawi (the Prophet’s
Mosque).  Ten Raka’ats of Nawafil in Masjid Al Haram will take one about
20minutes, but the reward is enormous

1Raka’at in the Haram in Makkah =100,000 Raka’ats of prayer said in any
other mosque (meaning the reward is multiplied one hundred thousand times)
therefore, 10 Raka’ats of prayer in Haram = 1000,000 Raka’ats of prayer in
another mosque, (meaning your reward is multiplied a hundred thousand times,
[10x100,000])

(For women, to pray in your houses in Makkah is better than praying in the
Masjid, and to pray in your room is better and still to pray in a small
corner of your room is better than this also) Hadith

Masjid Quba- Perform ablution in your house and pray two raka’at nafila in
masjid Quba (first masjid built in Islam) earns one the reward of one who
performs Umrah
*Praying with the Jam’i is 27 times better than praying by oneself.  It is
better for men to always join the congregrational prayers so as to benefit
from the reward associated with doing this.  (as for women it is better
still to follow the above, i.e.,it is better for her to pray in her house)

Nawaafil for men- To pray the nawaafil (sunnah prayers) at home is 25 times
better than in the mosque.

· Ikhlas- If one is sincere in his good works, his  reward (ajar) will be
more.
· Salatu Jum’ah- It is good to have a shower and go early.  It is better to
walk than to go in a car, (if it is convenient).  The nearer one gets to the
imam, the more the reward or ajar.
· If a woman encourages her husband to go to the masjid or to do any other
good work, she gets the same ajar.
· Two Raka’ats before Fajr – Performing the raka’ataen fajr is better than
all the treasures of the world.  Even when one misses this nafila one can
still make it up. It is also important  not leave this even in travel .The
prophet SAW did not leave any of these sunnah prayers (i.e., Salat Duha,
Witr, and the two raka’ats before fajr prayer) even when he traveled.
However, it is sunnah to leave the sunnah of Dhuhur, Magrib and Isha (Sunnan
al-ruatib) when one travels.
· Salatu Duha- Every person has 360 joints and one has to give charity for
all daily.  This can be attained by performing two raka’ats of Duha.  Giving
out sadaqa, removing things from the road etc may be too much for some
people, but all this can be got by perfoming Duha.
· Salatu Ishraq- two raka’ats after sunrise and its reward is like that of a
person who has performed Hajj and Umrah. (Note; this is not a substitute for
Hajj)

· Hajj- You can perfom hajj once and give the money to others to perform
Hajj also.  The same reward (ajar) will be recorded for you. (i.e., as
though you actually performed the Hajj)
· Hajj and Umrah- Hajj and Umrah from time to time prevents poverty and
cleanses bad deeds
· Helping those going for Hajj and Umrah by providing them with means of
transportation, accommodation etc are good acts.  Abdullah Ibn Mubarak use
to collect his friends, (gong for Hajj)  gets their money , rents for them
the nicest place and looks after them all the way.  He asks them what their
families ask them to get for them in Madinah and buys it for them.  He asks
them for  same in Makkah and gives them the best of all things.  He takes
them back home and renovates their houses.  He prepares a walimah for all
after three days of their arrival and then returns their money back to them.
· Performing Umrah in the month of Ramadhan has a reward equal to that of
the person who performed Hajj

· Attending Islamic circles in the mosques etc have the reward equal to one
who performed Hajj.
· Saying the Adhan- The person who calls the Adhan has a reward for all the
trees, stones, people and all that repeats after him.  The Prophet SAW said
that the muadhin (one who call to prayer) will be forgiven as much as his
voice will reach and every dry and fresh thing will agree with him and he
will get the same ajar (reward) as all those who pray in the masjid he gives
the adhan in.
· Repeating after the Muadhin- If one says as the Muadhin is saying one
deserves the interceding of the Prophet SAW Yaum Al Qiyam]

· Fasting- Fasting six days of Shawwal has the reward as if one has fasted
the whole year.
-Fasting three days of every month is also as if one has fasted the whole
year.
-If one feeds one who is fasting, one gets the same reward as the one who
has fasted and the reward of the fasting person is not reduced in anyway by
this.
-Yaum Arafat- Fasting on the Day of Arafat (non pilgrims) erases the sins
for two years, (i.e., the sins of the  previous and next year)
· Qiyam Lailatul Qadr.  Worship during the night of Lailatul Qadr is
equivalent to the ibadah of one thousand month
· The first ten days of Dhul Hijjah are best days for doing good deeds,as
Allah SWT likes the good deeds best to be done in the first ten days of Dhul
Hijjah.

· Repeating the recitation of some Surahs, e.g., Surah ikhlas which is equal
to one-third of the Qur’an, Surah Kafirun, which is equal to one-fourth of
the Qur’an , Surah kahf, light between two Jum’ah, etc
-One of the sahabas always recited surah al Ikhlas (after Fatiha) then
another surah in prayer and complaints were reported to the Prophet.  The
Prophet SAW asked the sahaba why he used to recite surah ikhlas always in
his salat and he replied ‘because I love the surah.  The Prophet Saw then
told him, because you love this surah, you will go to Jannah
(i.e.,Paradise).

· Tasbih
-Some Dhikr have a lot of ajar (reward)  An example is saying Subahana llah
wa bihamdihi adada khalqiHi, warida a nafsiHi, wazinata Arshi Hi,wamidada
kalimatiHi  (How perfect Allah is and I praise Him by the number of His
creation and His pleaseure, and by the weight of His Throne and the ink of
His words) three times.  The Prophet SAW said to his wife Juwariya about
this Tasbih when one morning the prophet SAW went to the mosque to pray and
when he came back met her saying her Dhikr.  The Prophet Saw said to her, ‘I
said three words after you and it is more than all the Dhikr you have been
saying.  (ie., the Prophet recited Subahana llah wa bihamdihi adada
khalqiHi, warida a nafsiHi, wazinata Arshi Hi,wamidada kalimatiHi  , three
times) When the Prophet SAW was asked how comes, he Saw said, this is Rahmah
from Allah and it is up to Allah SWT to chose the reward for Dhikr.  The
prophet went on to explain the content of the Dhikr by saying the seven
skies in comparison to the Kursi is like seven coins being thrown in the
shield and the shield is like the throne.  Kursiy is not the Arsh, The Kursi
compared to The Throne is like a ring thrown in the desert and Allah SWt is
far bigger than all these, and MashaAllah beyond comprehension,  hence there
is a lot of reward associated with reciting this Dhikr.

-Kafaratul majlis-This is the supplication for the expiation of sins said at
the conclusion of a sitting or gathering, etc.  The supplication is as
follows: ‘Subhanaka Allahumma wabihamdika ashadu an La ilaha illa anta
astagfiruka wa atubu ilaika (How perfect You are O Allah, and I bear witness
that None has the right to be worshipped except You. I seek Your forgiveness
and turn to You in repentance)  Aaisha RA relates that she said to the
Prophet SAW: O Messenger of Allah SAW I have noticed that whenever you
betake a seat, read the Qur’an or pray, you always concluded it with these
words.  He said yes, whoever speaks good, it (i.e., the supplication) will
be a seal for that goodness ( he will be rewarded) and whoever speaks ill,
it will be an atonement for him
-Tasbih in the night-

· Helping the people- Help your brothers and sisters always and even in
difficulties. The Prophet Saw said “to help my brother is better for me than
to make Ihtikaf in my masjid for one month”.  If you happen to be in a
position where you can help, make very good use of the opportunity.
Examples from the lives of Sahaba include the following;
o Abubakar Sadiq Ra used to take milk for old women but when he was made a
khalif they said, ‘he is too busy so he can’t help us again but he (Abubakar
RA) said he will continue.
o Umar Ra used to go to women who lost their husbands in the night.  After
Umar left,Talha out of suspicion went to ask her’what did this man come for.
She said, he comes to help me in my cooking and other household work.  Talha
felt bad for being suspicious of umar RA
o Ali Bn Hussain (the prophet’s grandson) had marks on his body as a result
of water which he used to fetch for old women
o Zubaid bn Harid used to go to houses to ask, “do you need this or that?
When it is raining he asks, Is your roof leaking so that I can fix it for
you? etc
o Aaisha RA killed a sheep and gave all for sadaqa except part of shoulder
which she left for her family.  When she told the Prophet about what she had
left, he told her,’ the reward for all is there but this is left’, i.e, the
shoulder she left  to be eaten. (meaning she will get the reward for all
that she gave out except for the part she left)
· ‘Do you wish to have one thousand million hasanat?  If your answer is yes,
then it is simple, follow the Prophet’s advice as stated in the following
hadith.  The Prophet Saw said,to the Sahabas  “Make Istigfar for Mu’min and
muminat and Allah SWT will write for you hasanat for every mumin and muminat
that you prayed for”  If you pray for your absent muslim brother, the Angels
will say amin, same for you.  It is very important and a nice habit to
always remember our brothers and sisters in prayers for we do not know, may
be it would give relieve to some far away muslim, wallahu ‘alam.

· Sadaqatuj Jariya-  We should actively participate in sadaqatu Jariya and
help the poor and needy more.  Instead of building several big and beautiful
mosques on the same street, we should help construct mosques in countries or
towns that do not have any mosque at all.  If you feel people are more in
need of a means of drinking water,(i.e., digging of wells or bore hole or
contructing taps), it is better that you help solve this problem first
before constructing a mosque.  (This is not to say that it is not important
to help build mosques, LA!  (no!))

· Ilm yantafahu bihi-This is knowledge that is beneficial to the ummah and
it could be Islamic knowledge or any other type of knowledge i.e., useful
knowledge.  This may take the form of either teaching or imparting knowledge
to others or writing books, sponsoring people to learn ,building Islamic
schools etc.

· Waladun Saliha- Bringing up righteous children that would always remember
one in prayers.  Train your children well to know the Islamic values.  May
Allah bless us all with righteous children, amin.

The Prophet SAW said one of you doing a lot of good deeds but all these
mountain of hasanat (good deeds) equals zero (i.e., becomes nil)
because…………………(Part II)
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M.L. Ghandi