– Hello grandma, how is everything?

– Oh, my dear Seyma, is that you? Since you are calling all the way from America I will not waste much. I am doing well, take good care of yourself and never forget to put aside your charity before Friday prayer every week.

– Sure, grandma, is there anything you ask of me?

– Tell me, if I were to come to collect donations for the orphans in my town, would President Clinton give me any?

– My dearest grandma, you ask this all the time; I am in America, but I really do not meet with President Clinton at all. I am an ordinary college student and he does not roam around the streets.

I then wondered and chuckled, “the audacity to ask the President of the States when you live far away in a rural part of Anatolia!”

***

All of our cousins, aunts, and uncles would gather in her large but simple 4-bedroom home every Eid. Sugar-loaded grandkids would look for trouble and would find money at every corner of the giant hand-woven rug, to which she anxiously warned: “This sac of money belongs to the fridge project for Ms. Aisha; the right corner belongs to the school supplies for Ms. Khadija’s daughters; and the red sack has the money for Ms. Fatima’s house project. Do not even touch, my dears, as these are sacred.”

She built dozens of houses with the funds that she collected bit by bit, day by day, cent by cent and would store it under the rug. She would never let a family go without fulfilling all of their needs and finding a sustainable source of income. A couple days a week, she would take the needy families down to the marketplace to visit businessmen and ask for help. Some of them knew of her sincere intentions while others complained when she arrived. However, she certainly did not care what others would think of her. She would be helping a family or two and they would sit around the table with all of us every Eid dinner. My uncles and aunts were the “elites” of the town, and so this notion was not something we were used to in our normal lives. I then grunted for her absurdness for squeezing us all with strangers.

***

She used to sit down on her old velvet couch with her green thousand-count prayer beads in her hands as she looked out the window and lamented why the municipality would turn on the light at 5:30 pm when it gets dark only slightly later. If she saw an unnecessarily lit area, no matter how tired she was and what time of the day it was, she would hastily run to turn them off despite her old age and swollen legs.

The most striking part of the story used to come when she turned the lights off when my grandfather was in the bathroom. It was typical in most houses to have light switches outside of the room. When he screamed for her to turn the light back on, she, with a great sense of humor and seriousness, shouted back “Get done and come out quickly, there is nothing to see there anyhow!”

The most memorable quote from her was the Qur’anic verse, “…eat and drink, but waste not by excess, for God does not love wasters” (7:31).

I thought she was exaggerating this a bit much.

***

– Granny, I have exams this week. Can you please pray for me?

– Oh, my sweetie, may God help all those in need including you. I will pray for everyone, God willing.

– No grandma, that is NOT what I want. I want you to pray for ME!

With a smile, she would embrace and kiss me on the head.

I was then heart-broken thinking that I wasn’t special to her.

***

Her first name was Ihsaniye, which means “the bestowed.” She met with her Beloved God on a Feb 14^th after a long battle with a heinous cancer. The whole town cried – and, I thought I even heard the sky cry – with chants of her nickname, “the Mother of Orphans.”

Now, I have your hand-woven blue-beige medallion-style wool rug, which was the container of your little sacks, maroon-ruby wedding ring, and your green thousand-count prayer beads in my hands to cherish your beautiful heart and soul, the giant heart to fit all of humanity, the soul that cared for the earth…

As I sip my dark and warm coffee in this light and spacious hall, in one of the country’s most sustainable buildings, Kroon Hall in New Haven, listening to professors, NGOs, and private sectors presenting their vision, solutions, and efforts on Climate Change, Sustainability, and Economic Empowerment, I sigh deeply, and remember the Mother of Orphans, my dearest grandmother.

He was few minutes late for the meeting, but not so late as to be unacceptable. After the meeting was over, Adam went to his office. He had a lot of things to do: a report was due in two weeks, there was to be a presentation for a project he had just finished, a proposal for a new project, and a bunch of minor office tasks. However, he did not feel like doing any of them at the moment; moreover, they all could wait a few minutes. He was curious about the up-coming election, so he decided to read the news online. Then he felt the need to look up on the latest technology news. Without noticing, he spent nearly an hour reading the news.

Adam then felt compelled to start preparing his presentation. He was intelligent and the project was innovative; now was the time to prepare the best possible presentation. He outlined the presentation in his mind and started working on the first slide. He spent quite a bit of time on the first slide, but he could not get it right; every time he tried something, he saw that it was not perfect and started again from scratch. Finally, he exhausted his energy and motivation and decided that preparing the presentation for this project was too difficult and postponed working on it later that day.

He decided to move to the report task, but first he needed a break. It was around 1 p.m. and it was time for the noon prayer, but this was not urgent, he thought; he could do it later. He decided to take a break and check his emails. He quickly checked his three email accounts to see if he had any unread messages-there was a message in one of the accounts. It was from his high school friend asking how he was doing. He was busy right now, and decided that he did not have the time to answer; he signed out. Finally, he started writing something for the report. Even though he had planned to work on the report last week, he had not been able to do it, not because he did not have enough time, but because it had not been due and he decided that it could wait. He started working on the report, but he noticed that the software he was using to write the report was notifying him of a feature update. Because he did not feel like working on the report, he went ahead and downloaded the update. Installing it took some time. Even though it was completely unnecessary at that moment, he convinced himself that it was worthwhile, at least for the future.

He jotted down some notes for the report. While he was working on it, his friend from the next office came and asked him if he could join them to play basketball at the weekend. He told him that even though he would very much like to join them, he was very busy and had no time nowadays. The time for the noon prayer was nearly over. He hurried up and performed the obligatory part of the prayer quickly. As for the voluntary prayers, he had no time for them right now.

After the prayer he remembered that he still needed to write the proposal for next week. He was planning to work on it this week, but, because he had not worked on the report last week, he had to work on that now instead of the proposal.

Without having realized it, it was nearly 6 p.m. already. He was married, so he did not want to stay in the office. After all, he could work on the report at home, he thought. He went back home, had dinner with his wife; his wife mentioned that it had been a long time since they had seen a movie together and wondered if they could go and see one. He told his wife that even though he would very much like to, he was too busy this week; perhaps they could go next week. He remembered that he said the same thing last week; he had worked well last week so he would have time this week. He knew that he was not working very efficiently, and he was not able to do so, even though he wanted to. He condemned himself of being lazy and not a very good husband.

Weeks passed. Adam continued the same style of lethargic life; he was carrying out all his duties (his job, volunteering tasks, duties as a husband, etc.) at the bare minimum; he was neither satisfied nor completely unhappy. However, his wife was not happy with the whole process; every time she asked something from Adam, he would promise to do it later; however this would almost always be delayed indefinitely. Once at the weekend she asked Adam whether they could go out. Adam said that he was very busy; perhaps they could go out later that day or next week. This time, his wife told Adam that she no longer had confidence in him. He was shocked; he had not expected such a response. He tried to explain himself to his wife by saying that every promise he had made was with sincere intentions, but his wife did not believe even this explanation. He said he was sorry, but his wife did not accept his apology as this was the hundredth time he had apologized. Adam felt that the most important thing between a husband and a wife was trust; losing this meant losing everything. He felt terrible; he tried to explain everything, but nothing pleased his wife. He felt exhausted; he blamed his wife not being more understanding and left.

Adam spent hours thinking about what had gone wrong. Indeed, his wife was right; every time she asked for something, he would promise to do it and even though he was sincere in his promise, he would put it off indefinitely. He felt awful about the whole situation, but he was not able to rectify it. Then he thought about all the promises that he had made to God, almost all of which he had broken. Then, he shivered with the thought of “what if God also says that He does not trust me anymore?” And what if God told him that He had given Adam enough chances and that he had used them all up, that he had none left and therefore, there is no need for him to be alive any longer? That would be a horrible end indeed.

It was time for the afternoon prayer. After the prayer, he made the following supplication over and over again: “Should He not know what He created? And He is the Subtle, the Aware” (Mulk 67:14). Thus, he asked for help from the One Who is aware of everything, Who is the All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful, and the All-Powerful.

This time, he was determined to solve the lethargy problem. First, he contemplated about what were the causes of being lethargic.

Indeed, Adam was very lethargic and there were many reasons for it. It was not that he wanted to be a lazy person; on the contrary, he wanted to succeed; he could be smart and successful when he put his energy into a task. However, he was very disorganized; because he did not assign tasks to different time slots, he could easily spend those times on tasks that seemed necessary but actually were unnecessary, such as spending long minutes or even hours reading the news, installing feature updates, etc. He was a perfectionist; he wanted to make the final product (report, presentation, etc.) perfect; this is a good habit to have. However, being a perfectionist made him overcritical of himself, and this dampened his desire to work. He procrastinated; procrastination made his tasks pile higher and deeper; delaying one task caused delays to others. The constant thought of piled-up tasks constantly preoccupied him and as a result he had no time to reply to his emails, no time for the optional prayers, no time for sports, no time for entertainment, and no time to read books, etc. However, had he set aside some time to do sports; however to support hard work he would have to have a healthier body and mind, he needed to set aside an hour for relaxation, and not spend long hours on the web surfing while thinking “I should not be doing this right now” at the back of his mind, yet at the same time he had to be able to relax and start the next day with a fresh mind.

To solve these problems, he would have to eliminate the causes; however, most importantly, he needed energy and determination. He had neither. Then, he remembered: “My Lord would not care for you were it not for your prayer” (Furqan 25:77). Indeed, he was too weak to depend on himself alone, but he had learned that if he depended on God he could be the most powerful person in the world. He remembered all the things he had read and learned… The importance of “In the Name of God,” the need to put his trust in God, the fact that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, had a prayer for almost every occasion, that it is very important not to sleep at dawn, that one should perform their daily prayers as early as one can, that one should eat, sleep and talk less, and that eating much meant sleeping much, that our Prophet used to go to bed after the night prayer, the importance of lawful earning and legitimate food, that the work between two prayers is counted as worship, that he should not leave today’s task for tomorrow, that he should know the value of free time before he became too busy, and so on. He felt that he could not do all of these; but once again, he remembered the verse above. However, he did not know where to start. Then, he recited: “Should He not know what He created? And He is the Subtle, the Aware” (Mulk 67:14) and while making the prayer, he knew that God knew everything about him and that Adam had to extricate himself from this problem but he was not successful. He asked for help; he asked for solutions to all his problems, dilemmas, troubles and obstacles.

He thought of starting a new life-style tomorrow morning, but then he remembered that it was Satan who was whispering him to start “tomorrow”; he needed to put an end to this miserable life right now. He went back home; dinner was waiting. He thought “what a patient wife I have; we had a quarrel, yet she still prepared dinner for me.” The food was very good, but he did not eat much. First of all, he was not feeling well, but he also wanted to practice the “eat less” principle. When it was time for the night prayer, he immediately rushed to his prayer rug; he knew that if he does not pray now, he will delay it at least two hours. After the prayer, he went to bed.

He woke up early in the morning; he was able to wake up early because he had not slept with a full stomach, and he had gone to bed early. He made the supplication “All praise belongs to God; He gave me life after my death; we shall return to Him. There is no god but God. O God; increase my knowledge. Do not let me go astray after you have guided me to the straight path. Grant me mercy. Indeed You are the Bestower.” He thanked God for giving him another chance.

He performed the morning prayer and he thought about some of the wisdoms inherent in the morning prayer: By nature man is extremely weak, yet everything touches him, saddens and grieves him. Also, he is utterly lacking in power, yet the calamities and enemies that afflict him are extremely numerous. Also, he is extremely wanting, yet his needs are indeed many. Also, he is lazy and incapable, yet the responsibilities of life are most burdensome. Also, his humanity has connected him to the rest of the universe, yet the decline and disappearance of the things he loves and with which he is familiar continually pains him. Also, his reason shows him exalted aims and lasting fruits, yet his reach is short, his life brief, his power slight, and his patience little. Thus, it can be clearly understood how essential it is for a spirit in this state to have recourse to and present a petition to the Court of an All-Powerful One of Glory, an All-Compassionate All-Beauteous One at the time of prayer in the early morning through prayer and supplication, to seek success and help from Him; this is an essential support so that one can face the things that will happen to them in the coming day and bear the duties that will be loaded on them. He then sought refuge in God from laziness. He was feeling energetic, but still very deep in thoughts of all the things that had happened yesterday.

He felt very sleepy, but he resisted going to bed; in order to wake himself up, he took a shower. After the shower, he recited a few pages from the Qur’an. He was feeling very ashamed every moment he felt he was in the presence of God, but interestingly, he was also feeling very close to God.

After having a light breakfast, Adam left for the office. It was pretty early in the morning. When he arrived at work, he made a list of the things he needed to do. Then, he divided his day into five, according to the five daily prayers; he put the prayers down on his list first. He was determined to perform them as early as he could. Then, he arranged the other tasks between the prayers.

Now, it was the time to start the first task. It was a new project and it was always difficult to take the first step. He pushed himself to start the task, but he could not start. He was about to give up; then, he remembered the power and the treasures hidden inside “bismillah” (in the name of God).” He recited it and he also recited “O God, make it easy for me, not difficult. O God, finish it with a good and beneficial end.” Adam felt a little better; he recited the words a few more times. He was able to take the first step and the rest just followed.

When he tired of one task, he said “All Praise belongs to God, Alhamdulillah” for each task, and he moved onto the next with bismillah. But, after about two hours, he felt very tired. He was inclined to read the news, to relax; but he resisted. He asked himself “What purpose does reading the news serve right now? Relaxation? I don’t remember ever being relaxed after reading news. Being up to date about current events? Well, I’ll do that towards the end of the day when my mind is more tired.” He then went outside to get some fresh air. After a 10-minute break, he returned and realized that he could complete one more task before the prayer. He started the task with bismillah and before he knew it, it was time for the prayer and the task had been complete.

Now it was time for the noon prayer. This was the moment he had been waiting for. Adam thought about some of the wisdom of the noon prayer: the time of noon prayer, just past midday is the time of the day’s zenith and the start of its decline; the time when daily labors approach their achievement, the time of a short rest from the pressure of work, when the spirit needs a pause from the heedlessness and insensibility caused by toil, and a time when Divine bounties are manifest. Everyone can then understand how fine and agreeable, how necessary and appropriate it is to perform the midday prayer for the human spirit, as it is a means to be released from the pressure, to shake off the heedlessness, and leave behind those meaningless, transient things, clasping one’s hands at the Court of the True Bestower of Bounties, the Eternally Self-Subsistent One, offering praise and thanks for all His gifts, and seeking help from Him; through bowing one display one’s impotence before His Glory and Tremendousness, and prostrates and proclaims one’s wonder, love, and humility. He performed his prayer with great humility and submission. He was able to refresh himself with the prayer; he reminded himself of the source of the power and he reminded himself that the work between two prayers counted as a type of worship. While praying, Adam forgot all about work and his mind was rested. He made a supplication at the end of the prayer, thanking God for all the things He had given him and thanking Him for the work he had been able to complete in the morning; he also asked for help for the rest of the day and the rest of his life.

After the noon prayer, Adam continued his tasks that had not been finished in the morning. When he became tired, he took a book out of his bag and spent some time reading it as a break and then he returned back to work. When it was time for the final task on his list for that day, he remembered that the task was not due for another week, so he thought about delaying it. However, he remembered that he should not leave today’s tasks for tomorrow.

The day passed. It was a very productive day; he felt that time had expanded. Maybe, it had expanded because he had recited prayers in the morning, maybe it had expanded because he had not remained asleep at dawn, or perhaps there was some other reason. Whatever the reason was, it was a bounty from God and he thanked Him for it. Adam once again felt a great humility in front of God.

A few days passed like this. Adam would perform the night prayer on time and he would go to bed after the prayer, making supplications when he woke up; he would not sleep after the morning prayer, but rather recited supplications before he left for work. He was very happy throughout this time, but it was not easy. He felt that he did not have the same motivation or energy that he had had at the beginning. He was about to lapse again. He knew that to remain on this track would not be easy. From all his experience he knew that every time he made a resolution to adopt a new style of life, it would only last a few days. But, this time, Adam was more determined than ever. First of all, he was sick of being lethargic and all the results of this lethargy. It was destroying his life; his time was passing unused and he was not fulfilling his promises to his wife or those to God. He really wanted to put an end to all of this and he was successful for a few days. Adam was now afraid that he would revert to his former life-style. Then, he prayed: “Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate now after You have guided us, but grant us mercy from You; for You are the Grantor of bounties without measure.”

He finally decided to talk to his wife about the situation. He explained things to her, he discussed the lethargy and that he had constantly been fighting it for so long, but that he had not been successful. It was the cause behind all the broken promises. But, this time, he was very determined; he was constantly praying and he was also looking for different sources of information to solve the problem. He also told his wife that solving this problem would not be easy and it was possible that he would revert to his old habits on occasion, more frequently in the beginning than towards the end. He asked for her help in the entire process; he asked for her encouragement and he asked her to support him lest he stumbled. His wife felt the great pain that her husband was experiencing and she also felt the great determination he had. Additionally, she had witnessed very positive changes within the last few days. She said she would always be with him. Adam also talked about the process that he was going through with his best friend and he asked for help from him as well.

Things got better with every passing day; he was stumbling every now and then, but the frequency of such events was decreasing. He was very happy about all the goodness that had emerged from the “good work and determination” and he was very grateful to God for this blessing.

Finally, this manner of life became the norm, and his earlier life-style now seemed quite unnatural. In fact, Adam started wondering why he had led such a life. He repented all those lost days and hours. He decided to help his friends who were struggling with the same problem.

He knew that merely relating his journey to his friends would not help them much. They needed to find the causes, they need to be determined, etc., but most importantly of all, they needed to take action. However, he also knew from experience that taking action and continuing it for a long time was the most difficult part and that his friends might be too weak to do so. Well, they were human beings and this is the way things are; they were meant to feel weak without the help of God, for what value is anything if we do not have prayer?

And, as a first step in helping his friends, Adam changed the tone of his prayers; the “me” was replaced with “us” and he felt his friends’ pain in his supplications. He then remembered “O you who believe! If you will help (the cause of) God, He will aid you, and plant your feet firmly.” (Muhammad 47:7).

Management of time and work is one major area where many of us perform very poorly. Being hardworking and self-sacrificing is fine and believers should strive to be as such, but for some reason, many of us are indifferent to organization of our lives and live in a disorderly way. In addition to their lack of penchant for scheduling their work, they cannot systematize the idea of doing service to humankind as the primary purpose of their lives despite the fact that they already make so many sacrifices. A person should refrain from allocating only a small or limited part of his or her time to the mission of doing services in the path of God, but try to make their mission permeate to every fragment of time during a day, keeping his/her purposes or goals in sight, and leading a well-scheduled life.

There are some points that must be discussed in this context. First, a person will make the idea of doing service to God part of his or her life if s/he has sincere faith in it and is prepared to suffer to this end. If a person is painfully diligent for service, s/he will be equally meticulous about managing his or her time. S/he will make slices out of his or her day based on the prayer times such that there will be a time slice between the dawn prayer and the mid-day prayer, another between the mid-day prayer and the afternoon prayer and the sunset prayer, another between the sunset prayer and the night prayer, and s/he will say, “If I fail to labor for the sake of my mission for service during any of these time slices, then all the time slices of my life will be deemed as wasted.” Indeed, time is relative and it has no real body.

The thing that gives value, vitality and liveliness to time is what is done within that period or, in other words, its contents. When we refer to the Age of Happiness, we hail not a certain age or period of time, ipso facto, but the people who lived during that span of time as well as the deeds they performed therein. Time only takes on color in relation to what happens then and it becomes a rainbow. A moment of time lived fully in this way is worth centuries of other time. Therefore, giving real essence and value to time or putting it to good use is directly proportional to what one can do during the passage of that time.

Secondly, we have a capital of twenty-four hours. If we remember the possibility that these twenty-four hours may be the last twenty-four hours of our life and if we schedule this period of time according to our daily prayers and if we try to perform good deeds during every time slice separated by prayers, then we will attain the true value of time and our life will start to flow in a luminous manner and in a way that will fully deserve eternity.

If a person can put his/her time to good use in this way, then this means that s/he really appreciates the importance of time and the points raised in the question are automatically dealt with. Thus, the idea of doing service to humankind will be visible not only throughout our day, but also throughout our week. And these will combine to form a luminous month and an illustrious year consisting of these enlightened months.

If only our people as a whole knew how to organize time and use it to their advantage! However, doing this fully is dependent on their fully believing in our philosophy of service to others. Indeed, without this dedication, nothing can be done or ensured through compulsion. Repetitive acts of servanthood toward God faith becomes a second nature. The same applies to our case.

When time management becomes a second nature in our consciences, then we will concentrate on it and try to decorate every part of it with the wealth of our spiritual world and we will not allow any flat moment to pass. Actually, by inserting precious stretches of time such as prayer times into a day of twenty-four hours, God intends to spread the luminosity of these moments to the entire time and make sure that we can feel the passage of time as we live through it. God illuminates the week with Friday which contains in it the propitious moment. If during that sacred and most esteemed moment, people can raise their hands in supplication and turn toward God girded ready for worship, they will witness so many surprises in their lives.

Similarly, Almighty God illuminates a month with four Fridays, and a year of 365 days with Ramadan. There are sources of light scattered by God over time such as these and one can find them not only within a day or a week or a month, but also within a year or during one’s own life. In doing so, God intends to teach us how to make an efficient time management. By taking advantage of these small pieces of time, from the past to the present, people with common sense have been successful in living their whole lives in light.

Almighty God has so many favors over us and the gracious favors of our Lord are like clouds hanging overheard. But, whether we reach out and pick these favors or walk in the shade of them is up to us as we are free to use our will to do so.

May God help us succeed in using our free will to manage our time and put our time to good us!

Can we control time?

Some people say yes, we do, some say possibly, but the reality is we do not and we cannot! Time flows without interruption or interception. We grow, we change, we suffer; time laughs at us. And then comes our end, but time never ends… Controlling time could be possible if we were the creator of time. We make watches, clocks, and bell towers to keep track of time, but none of us is capable of stopping it for a second. Time is beyond our dimensions.

Time management methods

Currently there exist several methods to manage time. Everybody, including Dale Carnegie, suggests several different ways of planning for the best agenda.1-3 One of them¹ is to start with a “personal time survey,” and this helps you with a “study-hour formula,” asking you to prepare a daily schedule on a poster board, or some other surface, while suggesting practicing critical behavior:

“Don’t be a perfectionist”

“Learn to say no”

“Learn to prioritize”

“Combine several activities”

And here we give a “personal time survey” which has been presented as a means to oversee your current usage on an hourly basis:

1. The number of hours of sleep each night

________ X 7 = _______

2. The number of grooming hours per day

________ X 7 = _______

3. The number of hours for meals/snacks per day – including preparation time

________ X 7 = _______

4a. The total travel time, weekdays

________ X 5 = _______

4b. The total travel time, weekends

________

5. The number of hours per week for regularly scheduled functions (clubs, worship, get-togethers, etc.) ________

6. The number of hours per day for chores, errands, extra grooming, etc.

________ X 7 = _______

7. The number of hours of work per week

________

8. The number of hours in class per week

________

9. The number of average hours per week socializing.

Be honest! ________

Now add up the totals: ________

Subtract the above number from

168 – ________ =________ 1

What’s wrong with these systems?

Dale Carnegie passed away tragically. Something was missing in his life, leading him to commit suicide, despite being one of the time management experts for a better life. So, what was really important and what was it that he failed to notice?

The most valid explanation is that the spiritual nature of human beings was not taken into account. Such experts seem to think that if we put things in order externally, our lives will be organized and consequently we will be happy. But evidently, we cannot progress without spiritual satisfaction.

Below are the key concepts in perfect time management:

• Priorities

• Careful organization

• Spiritual needs

Priorities

Since time is immutable, we have to adjust ourselves to the speed of time. We have to list what is important for us and categorize them to see if there are possible combinations for extra time savings. It is truly important in such a concept to know our short term and long term goals, without excluding our needs and any dependants. The first priorities list may not work properly, but sooner or later, we will arrive at the optimum schedule.

Careful organization: A successful agenda

Regardless of our professional lives, every one of us needs sufficient time to relax. Thus, a cleverly organized day is what we should work towards first. Most studies show that a morning-afternoon-evening type division is insufficient to prevent the tediousness of long working hours. Counting every minute is the other extreme, if one desires to be fully organized. There should be some other way to divide up the day in the best way to ensure full-capacity performance.

So glorify God when you reach evening and when you rise in the morning; for all praise is His in the heavens and on earth, and towards the end of the day and when you have reached noon. (Rum 30:17-18).

This succinct daily plan mentioned in the Qur’anic verse above would be a good program if it can be applied (it is important to note here that this verse is not concerned with time management per se).

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, in his 9th Word,⁴ talks about the meaning of this verse, including how to glorify God. And also he mentions the parts of the day and their corresponding meaning with spiritual insight. He basically divides the day into five parts. A day starts with “early morning,” continues with “just past midday,” “afternoon” follows, and “sunset” leads you onto “nightfall.” By dividing one’s day into spiritual sections, it is possible to review the day and the progress between these parts.

Spiritual needs

Human beings are not animals. They feel, they choose, they live as they want. And they are free to go in any direction. They have a soul that guides their way of living. There are plenty of stories that have unhappy endings solely due to an ignorance of a spiritual life. Time management, of course, is directly related to the spiritual life of the individual; the choices people make are formed in their souls. They desire, they plan, and they implement. Thus, people also need time for their desires, and due to the large number of wishes people have to manage their time. An individual sets their priorities to achieve their goals. But due to the external effects (mostly other people) the schedule of this person changes to the best-suited model. Some people like such changes, but the majority do not. This is actually not very surprising, as human beings have different personalities and characters arising from their spiritual background. Therefore, anything that has an impact on spiritual life has to be important in managing our time.

To have the ability to control our life and to manage our time, we have to look within ourselves and discover what is in our hearts. For example one of my close friends told me that he had been able to experience a highly-ordered daily life when he left home after having read some verses from the Qur’an. He added that in a busy day, with tons of work, he still manages to handle all of it if he reads from the Qur’an at the beginning of the day. But if he doesn’t do this he loses control and everything becomes confused, and his mind jams. What is happening here is that perhaps he is able to clarify his mind by taking a spiritual shower that gives him strong support throughout the whole day.

Once we get into a spiritual flow we will be able to realize that everything has a harmonic rhythm that will help to build our schedule on the path we have anticipated. The key concept is, then, keeping our spiritual life balanced in a way that does not let anything interfere. My friend found the perfect key; this should also be possible for every one of us.

Action plan

Knowing that priorities, careful organization, and spiritual needs are key concepts in time management, one should find the best way for them to succeed. Below is a possible to-do list:

1. Identification of priorities: What is really important for me?

2. Planning the time: How do I like to do things?

3. Feeding your spiritual self: What can help my mind to be perfectly clear?

4. Reviewing the status: Where I am?

To start or give feedback if you have been carrying out a feasible plan you must be able to observe your present course. Prof. Rustu Kalyoncu suggests a plan with 15 MINUTES slices at this point: “Write down what you’ve done for every 15 MINUTES (for a couple days) and criticize how efficient you have been. I promise you’ll find lots of free time waiting for you…”

Notes

1. www.gmu.edu/gmu/personal/time.html
2. www.see.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/Management/art2.html
3. www.tsuccess.dircon.co.uk/timemanagementtips.htm
4. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, The Words, (translated by Sukran Vahide), Sozler Publications, 1998.

I started early, as I was offered wine with family dinners, and I watched my parents consume three to five drinks of alcohol every week day-more on weekends. A large bottle of alcohol lasted two or three days in my home-less if friends dropped by. In fact, the Canadian national average age for trying alcohol is 12 years of age, and about 73% of Canadians over age 12 drink alcohol. Only 3-4% are visibly dependent; the rest are “normal” people-going to jobs and coming home to their families. However, they just can’t function for any length of time without alcohol. They “miss” a drink if they don’t have it-and they make every effort to plan weekly routines around it. They talk about brands, plan visits to bars, clubs, and parties, and may even make their own. They don’t feel “right” until they’ve had a drink-and if they can’t get any, they become depressed or aggressive. Over the months and years, they tend to use it like prayer to meditate on the best and worse moments of their lives.

My family was very typical of Canadian families. On average, Canadians consume 7.6 liters of alcohol per person per year. The industry itself reports sales in 2001 of over 14.5 billion cases (12 X 750 ml bottles). Every single one-every one-of my relations drinks alcohol, and I sadly have several close relatives who have crashed cars, lost their jobs or families, or embarrassed themselves in public-all under the influence of alcohol. Did you know that in a typical year in Canada, more than 6,500 people die in alcohol-related accidents, and more than 81,000 people are hospitalized? Among all injured drivers in Canada, over 77% have alcohol in their bloodstream.

What is the big attraction anyhow? Alcohol doesn’t taste as good as people say it does. It’s often too spicy, sweet, dry, or bitter-depending on what kind of alcohol-and it can burn your throat when it goes down. Most people actually “mix” it with soft drinks or juice to hide the taste. It makes you gain weight through useless calories and lethargy. Drink a lot and you will vomit, sometimes for two or three days. Drink even more, and you may go blind or die. And once you start, it’s hard to stop. People who drink know all of these things, but still they drink. My Muslim friends often ask me, “Why do people drink if they know that there are all these dangers and problems with it?” This question bothered me enough in the past to make me stop drinking for years at a time. My family’s response was no big surprise-they accused me then, like now, of “not being very much fun.” This concept of “fun,” in fact, is at the very heart of the issue.

First, “fun” is what you do to “let go” of “the stresses of the week.” For drinkers of any caliber, life is divided into work days and non-work days. On work days, drinking must be limited-drink too much and your breath and skin smell tart in the morning, detectable to any other drinker, such as an employer. But on weekends, drinking is unlimited. This leads to the birth of a national phenomenon-the race to weekends. People will talk about the coming weekend beginning on Wednesdays. Then, on Mondays and Tuesdays, they talk about the previous weekend. And so, the life of the average Canadian quickly becomes a monotony of alternating days, five plus two, five plus two. The only concept of “future” and “hope” is the hope for what will happen during future weekends. The main bond between members becomes the alcohol itself, as discussions of which beer is better, which bar is better, and which party was the best fill lives quickly and easily and the weeks pass by. Horrible jobs with little meaning are tolerated because “it’s almost Friday,” and it isn’t important anymore to think about how time in this life should really be spent. Any occasion is cause for an alcohol-driven celebration, and many capable people who have the potential to really benefit this world are “dulled” into submission by the monotony of this pointless social and economic cycle.

Second, fun is what happens when you “don’t take life too seriously.” I personally can’t count the number of times I have been told to just “relax.” It seems that not taking life seriously is a fervent goal of the majority of people. They believe that life is meant for pleasure; some will actually tell you that “God gave them the gift of this life strictly for their enjoyment.” In fact, if you begin to think too deeply about the meaning of life, you quickly become a social outcast in this culture. Dare to suggest that someone should slow down their drinking and you will find yourself socially adrift. You may think that’s alright-after all, who needs friends who drink alcohol all the time? However, the reality is that you will have almost an impossible time finding friends who don’t drink alcohol in this culture. Only 12% of all Canadians over age 12 report that they abstain from alcohol, and many of these are from among the younger and older generations. As an adult, you will have to content yourself with being alone, and without a strong faith it is almost impossible to bear the loneliness. Sadly, eventually, one submits to the culture instead of God.

Third, “fun” means acting without due care of the consequences. Every week, all over this country, people apologize to loved ones for inexcusable behaviors they committed when they were drunk-fornication, domestic violence, gambling and financial recklessness, dangerous driving, immoral business practices-and so on. It’s a “perfect excuse” because other drinkers understand, so you are likely to be forgiven. Ultimately, acting carefully becomes quite unimportant. More than 60% of Canadians report problems from their own or someone else’s drinking, and alcohol abuse costs Canada over 2.7% of its gross domestic product annually. That’s over 18.5 billion dollars a year-money that certainly could be better spent. Beyond the inexcusable acts committed under the influence of alcohol, there are the unforgettable ones-telling loved ones hurtful things, divulging long-held family secrets, becoming sexually explicit, acting in embarrassing way with employers, and so on. The reason is that alcohol brings a sense of slowness and confusion-a lot like what you feel just as you wake up in the morning and are still half dreaming. Typically, problem behaviors happen often over a lifetime until life feels “out of control” so that it becomes easier to continue drinking to “numb” the spiritual pain. And so, many give up the power of their will, given to them by God, and begin to believe in what is sometimes called “the Gospel of now”; having no faith in the hereafter and little faith in their ability to control and change their lives for the better, they live only for today.

As believers, we hold the biggest truth of all-belief in the afterlife. Without it, time, pleasure, and reward are measured completely differently. If time is defined only by what is on the calendar this week, why should I care about my spiritual condition at the time of my death? If community is counted only as whoever will accept me in this life, why do I need to care if my life is acceptable to my Maker? If now is all that matters, what is the point of improving myself? Clearly, alcohol creates a powerful distortion-subtle yet persistent throughout the user’s life-that the meaning of life is negotiated here and now on this earth alone. Alcohol users suffer what researchers call “reward deficiency syndrome” –they want instant gratification at all times. So how can they be expected to believe in-or even understand-the afterlife? Thus, alcohol robs users of the belief which is the key to understanding the purpose of our lives. And in shielding believers from alcohol, God protects our faith.

Many times I have walked away from a party by myself on a cold night, disgusted with people’s behavior there, feeling pity for them, staring up at the night sky, feeling completely alone. Thanks to God for the angels that kept me safe through a difficult, dangerous life. Truthfully, I wish I had known then that somewhere throughout the world, in thousands of vibrant communities, over a billion people abstained from alcohol deliberately. Muslims have a duty to tell everyone that they don’t drink because of their faith. Someone, somewhere, some day will hear the message as the voice of his own soul, and perhaps change for the better. We all come from God at the start. God willing, we will all be with Him in the end.

The availability of embryonic stem (ES) cells isolated from human blastocysts may open novel avenues for medical treatment of otherwise incurable diseases.⁵ ES cells are pluripotent, apparently able to make any cell, except placental cells, and are also immortal.⁶ However, the generation of human ES cells requires the destruction of early human embryos. This raises the same ethical questions and conflicts that are often heard when the ethics of abortion are discussed: Most people in the pro-life movement regard an embryo to be a full human person with a soul. It has all of the rights of any citizen-including the right to life. Thus any procedure that injures or kills an embryo is seen as murder. However, most people in the pro-choice movement regard the beginning of human personhood to occur much later in pregnancy. Thus, killing a recently fertilized embryo is not seen as the murder of a human person.⁷ What is the status of the embryo when it is several days old? Is the embryo alive? Yes, from its beginning the embryo is cellular and it is alive; no one questions this. But, is the embryo human? If we could catch the embryo before it reaches a stage where it is judged as human, we would be able to take the ES cells without any concern. In an earlier paper⁸ it was argued that human life begins when the newly formed body systems begin to function as a whole, towards the end of the embryonic stage. Seeing that twinning can occur as late as day 14 after conception and that such identical twinning will produce two individuals with different lives, this could be proposed as a pre-embryonic stage, i.e. the stage where the single individual person has not yet been determined. In this respect, The Ethics Committee of the American Fertility Society defines an embryo as distinct from a pre-embryo, based on medical science and legal precedents. According to that report and the Warnock Report, which lay behind the 1990 Human Fertilization and Embryology Act, the pre-embryo stage is considered to last until 14 days after fertilization,⁴ and the pre-embryo is to be respected, but not accorded absolute protection. Today, on the basis of these reports and subsequent legislation, embryo research is allowed up to 14 days of development, up until the formation of the so-called primitive streak, or the beginning of the nervous system, after which the splitting and the forming of twins is no longer possible.

The Christian tradition on this subject is interesting, but can be read in two ways. In that tradition, abortion at any stage has always been regarded as gravely sinful. However, for many centuries the termination of a pregnancy at an early stage carried lesser penalties than a later one. This was related to the view that the human soul did not enter the embryo until 40 days or so after conception, an understanding that was taken over from Aristotle.⁹ Thus, most Christians make a distinction between the moral status of the unformed and the formed embryo, and think of the human person in the full sense, coming only with a delayed ensoulment. For other Christians, however, fertilization is the point at which human life begins. 

Human Life (Personhood) May Begin at around the 9th Week of Development

While we were searching for the time of the beginning of a human individual life, we encountered a statement from God about the time of ensoulment (the infusion of a human soul in biological matter) in His last book.¹⁰ God says in His book (the Qur’an) that, We made out of the “embryo” bones, and clothed the bones in “muscles’” (23:14). This statement indicates that in the embryonic stage, first bones and then muscles form. This is in accordance with embryological development. First the bones form as cartilage models at the 7th week, and then the muscles develop around them from the somatic mesoderm at the 8th week of development. Then We developed out of it another creature. This next part of the statement (23:14) implies that the bones and muscles result in the formation of “another creature.” This may refer to beginning of the personhood (ensoulment) after the end of the eighth week. At this stage, the embryo has distinctive human characteristics and possesses the primordia of all the internal and external organs and parts, and after the eighth week, the human embryo is called a fetus. After He gave it (the embryo) the most appropriate shape, He gave it a soul and then He gave you hearing and sight. This statement (32:9) supports the statement mentioned above (23:14) in that after the embryo takes shape, the soul is infused into the fetus. This statement also indicates that the special senses of hearing and seeing develop in this order, i.e. after the ensoulment; this too which is consistent with embryological knowledge. The formation of the internal ears occurs before the beginning of the eyes, at about the 10th and 11th weeks of development, respectively. Moreover, it is very meaningful that God calls the fetus “you” after the beginning of personhood (ensoulment) (32:9), while the embryo before ensoulment is called “it” (23:14; 32:9) indicating the status of the embryo as only a “thing” or a cell cluster. 10

We suggest therefore that the beginning of a human person as an individual living organism is when the embryo develops into fetus at around the 9th week of development (after the 57th day) after the bones and muscles form, but before the development of hearing and sight. Only at this point do we have a multicellular organism and not merely a mass of living cells stuck together. The soul requires that there is an individuated matter present and prior to this period, that there did not previously exist an individual human organism. A sperm or ovum that exists independently of the other only has a potentiality for human personhood. An embryo which is merely biological material that contains human DNA also has only a potentiality for being human personhood, which implies that it is not yet an actual person.¹¹ Two things may both have only a potentiality to be something else, but one of the two may be closer to actualizing that potentiality than the other. Thus, it could be contended that the embryo is closer to being an actual human person than the sperm or ovum is.¹¹ Therefore, we can say that the informational capacity of the zygote and the early embryo is not sufficient to direct the development of anything personal, and is not sufficient to constitute a genetically stable subject as a human being.

Josef Seifert treats the human body and the soul as two incomplete substances (dualism) that are each completed in human beings as a compositum.¹² This position seems to require that the immortal soul only is infused into material committed to being a human individual, and indeed into a fetus with sufficient cortical development to allow cognitive functions. This view is consistent with our suggestion that the soul is added to the already-existing physical body when the newly formed body parts and systems begin to function as a whole. If the soul takes effect when the biological processes have produced a new human life, neither earlier nor later, then it would follow that ensoulment must occur at the end of the embryonic stage when, with the newly-formed brain acting as the central information-exchange point, the commencement of the functioning of the whole produces a new level of life and enables the processes that lead to personhood to begin. This alternative is compatible not only with the facts of modern medicine but also with the traditional understanding of ensoulment as defended by many Roman Catholic moral theologians, which has its roots in Aristotle. These moral theologians argue that the peculiarly human soul is not incarnated until there is an appropriately organized matter.¹³ However, some Christians believe that Jesus was a human being from the moment of conception and therefore that every human being must come into existence at the moment of conception.⁹ But some others believe that the conception of Jesus is an exception. It is believed that the events which occurred during the conception and development of Jesus will be explained by Jesus himself when he returns.

That the embryo cannot be considered an individual human being has implications for debates concerning the morality of the various uses to which embryos can be put; such as morning-after pills, intrauterine devices which are abortifacient by stopping implantation, the disposal of excess embryos formed in the process of invitro fertilization, and embryo research.¹⁴ Both in the religious context and without it, abortion is difficult to justify at any stage after conception.⁸ But where the question of the possible use of surplus laboratory embryos is concerned, the time of ensoulment does matter, and if this does not occur until late in the embryonic stage of development, there seems no reason why the opportunity of using the embryos may not be taken, provided-as also seems to be the ethical conclusion even before the religious aspect is considered⁸-it is for no purpose less than the relief of human suffering which can not be relieved in any other way.¹⁵ If “ensoulment” does not occur, as we have suggested, until the new organism functions as a whole, then a decision not to make use of laboratory embryos for medical purposes would be a grave responsibility.

The Soul May Have an Etheric Body

Science postulates that all matter is composed of atoms; atoms, however, are composed of protons, neutrons, and electrons, and those in turn are composed of still finer components, until we attain ether.¹⁶ This ether is a universal connecting medium, filling all space to the furthest limits, penetrating the interstices of the atoms without a break in its continuity. So completely does it fill space that it is sometimes identified with space itself, and the universe is built up in this fluid and moves through a sea of ether.¹⁶ The atom, the electrons, and the protons of which it is composed all move in a sea of ether, the very air we breathe, the very bodies we inhabit, all things likewise are moving in this sea of ether, the parent element from which all manifestation has been derived. By a kind of instinct, one feels it to be the home of spiritual existence, and to be the vehicle of both matter and spirit.¹⁶ No experimental data can be sufficient to bring us to the recognition of a soul, but there must be a substance that is the basis of personal identity, for without space-occupying substance, there would be no way to account for the soul’s ability to move the body,¹⁷ and the idea of personality or a soul after bodily death would be inconceivable.¹⁸ It seems possible that the substance of the soul could be ether. The modern concept of science is that ether is the primary form of all substance and that all other forms of matter are merely differentiations of ether; it then seems that the substance of the soul which in this life is linked organically with the body is identical with ether. The etheric (astral) body seems to be a supersensible element in humanity that primarily lives and acts in time, but also works into the dynamics of the life processes in the physical body.¹⁶ The soul is likely to work into the physical body of the human directly via only that etheric body.16

The Limbic System Seems to Be Primarily Related to the Soul in the Brain

Humans have always contemplated the question of the anatomical location of the soul. The early concept that the cerebral ventricles harbor the soul began to break down only in the Renaissance.19 During the Renaissance, the controversy crystallized into those individuals who supported the heart (cardiocentric soul) and others who supported the brain (cephalocentric soul) as the abode for this elusive entity.²⁰ The brain seems to be the organ that harbors the soul, since the function of the brain is fundamentally linked to being human. The brain controls almost all the functions of the body and determines its psychological makeup, such as intellect and, in a theological sense, the soul.²¹ Without the brain, such functioning is not possible, since brain death means the end of human life. Children born with anencephaly can never experience a human life. Human identity, personality, and worth are associated with the functioning of the brain.²¹ Considering the role of the brain in the maintenance of the dynamic equilibrium of the organism, there are compelling reasons for defining the brain as the organ which harbors the soul.

The limbic system is intimately concerned with emotional expression and with the genesis of emotions. The term “limbic system” is applied to the part of the brain that consists of a rim of cortical tissue around the hilus of the cerebral hemisphere and a group of associated deep structures-the amygdala, the hippocampus, and the septal nuclei.²² One characteristic of the limbic system is the paucity of the connections between it and the neocortex (the cortical tissue of the remaining nonlimbic portions of the hemisphere). It is stated that “the neocortex sits astride the limbic system like a rider on a horse without reins.”²² In fact, one of the characteristics of emotions is that they cannot be turned on and off at will. Since the limbic system is intimately concerned with the genesis of emotions and is critically involved in neuropsychiatric disorders,²³ we can attribute the role to the limbic system of being a seat from which the soul can work in the physical body.

The Vomeronasal Organ Seems to Be the Point of Entry for the Soul and the Etheric Body

We thought that while the soul has an etheric component (substance), there must be an open window to the brain for the entrance of the soul with the etheric body. In this respect, the vomeronasal organ (VNO), which is found in the nasal cavity and which has connections with the brain only between the 6th and 13th weeks of human development-a period including the suggested time of ensoulment at the 9th week-seems to be the most appropriate window through which the soul and the etheric body can enter the brain. This suggestion is consistent with statements in the Old Testament (Torah) (Genesis-Bereishith 2:7, 7:22), which state that the life (soul) is infused into the human being through the nose. Actually, the VNO is said to be the place in the body where the nervous system is closest to the external world.²² Axons of VNO cells pass through the tiny foramina in the cribriform plates of the ethmoid bone to enter the brain,²⁴ and to make close connections with the amygdala and limbic system,²⁵,²⁷ the seat of emotional, hormonal, and autonomic control; in short, the seat of the soul.

The vomeronasal organ is a fluid-filled, tubular structure located at the base of the nasal septum that opens into the nasal cavity via a duct at its anterior end.²⁸ It is a chemoreceptive structure with direct axonal connections to the accessory olfactory bulbs in many terrestrial vertebrates.²⁹ Pheromones presumably bind to the vomeronasal organ and exert behavioral or physiologic responses, thereby allowing chemical communication between animals of the same species.²⁹,³⁰ The effects of pheromones are thought to be mediated by signals from the main and accessory olfactory bulbs to the amygdala and hypothalamus.²⁸ The vomeronasal system, which is well developed and functional in adult animals, begins to function before or after birth in these animals.³¹ The human VNO however, seems to be different from that of animals in that it becomes rudimental before birth.³² The VNO in the human embryo contains bipolar cells similar to the developing vomeronasal sensory neurons of other species, but the structure becomes more simplified later in development,³³,³⁹ having no obvious way of communication with the brain. The first appearance of the tubular VNO is in the 6th week of human development.⁴⁰,⁴¹ This is when the human VNO resembles that of primates with functional VNOs.⁴² An examination of the VNO and adjacent tissues suggested that the VNO may lose receptor cells and corresponding vomeronasal nerves and become a ciliated, pseudostratified epithelium at approximately the 13th week.⁴²,⁴³ These observations indicate that¹) all embryonic humans develop a functional vomeronasal organ which is homologous with the VNOs of other mammals between the 6th and 13th weeks of age (a period including the time of ensoulment which occurs at around the 9th week of development),²) the human vomeronasal organ does not degenerate prenatally, but very likely loses the functional components of the vomeronasal complex of other mammals; and³) the remnant of the human VNO persists until birth and beyond.³⁶,⁴²,⁴⁴ These observations strongly support our hypothesis in that the VNO seems to have its main function only during the intrauterine period in humans, especially during the period of ensoulment. The VNO becomes rudimental before birth in humans while it begins to function before or after birth in animals. This difference seems to be very significant, since animals do not harbor any soul, unlike humans, and their VNO is important only after birth, when it allows them to communicate chemically with other animals of the same species. Although no anatomical connection has been demonstrated in humans, Monti-Bloch et al. deduce a physiological connection with the brain, because stimulus delivery to the VNO pit elicited several systemic responses⁴⁵,⁴⁷ such as changes in blood pressure and heart rate, small but significant changes in hormonal levels⁴⁷ and some changes in mood.⁴⁸ Functional brain imaging studies also revealed consistent activation of the hypothalamus, amygdala, and cingulate gyrus-related structures during adult human VNO stimulation.⁴⁵ These findings also support our view in that the VNO is strongly related with the emotional centers that harbor the soul, even in the absence of anatomical connections.

Conclusion

The above considerations make it seem likely that human life (personhood) may begin at around the 9th week of development with a delayed ensoulment, and that the soul has an etheric component. The limbic system seems to be a primary center for the soul, while the soul may enter the brain with an etheric body, possibly through the window of vomeronasal organ, which is functional and has connections with the brain only during the suggested time of ensoulment. Therefore lawmakers, philosophers, scientists and any-one in a related field may consider the beginning of human life in their decisions and procedures as being from the 9th week (after the 57th day) of human development. Before this period, the embryo must be regarded as a cell cluster which is to be respected, but not accorded absolute protection. Our second conclusion is that embryonic stem cells have an enormous promise to benefit mankind-to save lives and cure or treat diseases which generate a very strong moral imperative to explore their potential. Almost all spare embryos in fertility clinics will eventually die, due to operator error or equipment malfunction. Spare embryos are routinely destroyed, by flushing them down a drain, by incinerating them, or by thawing them out and allowing them to die. They might as well have their stem cells extracted so that they can be of some use to humanity. If the above thesis is true, then there is no loss of human persons. What is destroyed in this process is human biological material that has not been infused with a soul. We can therefore explore the potential use of embryos and help people who are now burdened by debilitating diseases. So let us enter into the processes of nature and apply the knowledge so derived to help others, to alleviate pain, and to enhance human well-being.

Footnotes 

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The governor explained the reason why he came to his office late in the morning:

It is not proper to explain it, but since you want me to, I consent to do it: I do not have any servants and my wife is ill. I knead the dough myself and make the bread, and only after doing other work at home am I able to leave for my office.

In answer to the second complaint of the people, the governor said:

Although it is not proper to explain this either, I will explain it since you want me to. I spend all my day among them to attend to their work and needs. When it is night, shall I not worship my Lord and accuse myself before Him for what I did during the long day?

The third complaint of the people was that Sa’id ibn ‘Amir stayed at home one day a week and did not come out among the people. The governor answered that complaint:

As I said before, I do not have any servants and my wife is ill. I have only one suit of clothes and wash it on that day. That is why I cannot go out among them one day in the week.

The last complaint was that the governor sometimes lost his senses and almost went mad. The explanation was as follows:

When Hubayb was martyred by the Makkan polytheists I had not yet become a Muslim and was present on the scene. [Hubayb was among the deputation the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, sent to the tribes of Adal and al-Qarah to teach them the Qur’an upon their request. However, when the deputation halted to have a rest in the area where the Hudayl tribe lived, and while sleeping, they were all at once attacked by the Hudayli unbelievers. Three of the deputation were martyred, the rest, among whom were Hubayb and Zayd ibn Dasina were submitted to the Makkans. The Makkans kept Hubayb and Zayd as prisoners for some time and then took them out of the city to kill them.] When Hubayb was about to be killed, Abu Sufyan stepped forward and said to him:

I adjure you by God, Hubayb, don’t you wish that Muhammad was with us now in your place so that we might cut off his head, and that you were with your family?’

‘By God,’ said Hubayb, ‘let alone wishing that Muhammad were here in my place so that I were with my family, I do not wish that even a thorn should hurt his foot in Madina.’

Abu Sufyan was astonished by this answer. He turned to those present, and said:

‘By God, I swear I have never seen a man who was so loved as Muhammad’s Companions love him.’

I could have helped Hubayb then, but since I was then among those who associated partners with God, I did not. So, whenever I remember this event, thinking that God will never forgive me, I lose my senses and go almost mad.

‘Umar, may God be pleased with him, was content with his governor’s conduct and gave him one thousand gold pieces to meet his needs. However, the pious, righteous governor turned to his wife and said: ‘Let us spend this for a day when we will need it more than at any other time. Let us distribute it among those poorer than us.’

The governor handed the gold pieces to one among his family to distribute them among the poor, which he did.

Almost all the governors of Caliph ‘Umar were of a like quality in belief, conduct and understanding of administration. God-fearing, piety and righteousness were the lights by which they made their decisions and conducted their lives. It was the golden age in human history, or ‘the Happy Time’ as it is called in Islamic tradition.