I begin with the Name of Allaah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
“And turn in repentance and in obedience with true Faith (Islamic Monotheism) to your Lord and submit to Him, (In Islam), before the torment comes upon you, then you will not be helped.” Qur’an 39:54
Whatever has a beginning is destined to have an end and each moment in a person’s life draws him closer to this inevitable end. The ticking away of time awakens him to the reality of what he is bargaining for. Either salvation or damnation, this will continue until all his moments are exhausted and he is then faced with the true certainty of death. As normal as it seems in a world dominated by carnage and massacres in an ever increasing manner, the end of man’s existence is nigh.
Everyday the sun rises to a new statistics of the number of people killed and it equally sets by witnessing yet another record offsetting the number of previous murder, carnage, bomb-blast and killings. Those caught up in the web of this cruelty from fellow human beings had ambitions, hopes and aspirations, little did they know that time was not on their side. Some perhaps, died after repenting while some died hoping to repent in a future time which they never saw. All these things are pointing to a bigger event which will soon overtake not only humanity but the entire creation.
Amazingly, the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (may peace be upon him) prophesied an era that ushers in the end of time, an era where blood will be shed in an unprecedented manner as indicated in the hadith on the strength of Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) in Sahih Al-Bukhari who said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The Hour will not begin until knowledge is taken away, earthquakes increase, time passes quickly, tribulations appear, and there is a lot of haraj, which is killing, killing, and until there will be a lot of wealth among you and it will become abundant.”
No regret hits harder than that done at the last moment when it will be of no avail, when a person recognizes his mistakes and understands the dire consequences that accompany those mistakes but the opportunity to repent has been lifted either through death or by the presence of certain negative factors listed by Prophet Muhammad (may peace be upon him) in an authentic narration by At-Tirmidhi viz-a-viz “There are three things which, when they appear, it will not benefit anyone to believe if he did not believe before: the Dajjaal, the beast and the rising of the sun from the west – or from the place where it sets.” This is simply when it will be too late for anyone to make right his wrongs.
The through test of a man’s intellect lies in his recognizing dangers and devising means of escape from them. If the events of recent times and past decades fit into the prophesies of the portent of the Last Hour, then wisdom dictates that man turn back to Allaah lest his regret becomes irreversible. For those whose goal is to attain salvation and success, righteousness and increased good deeds accompanied with sincere repentance become dear to them. Truth is almost accessible to one and all but the greatest challenge is in delaying its acceptance. However, he who understands the dynamics of life and how easily detachable the soul is from the body will never delay any righteous deed nor repentance from sins. Today, Qur’an is readily available yet most people have no business with it while a few use it as the manual for their existence, and an era is coming when Qur’an will be taken away both the written and what has been committed to the memory of people and the world will witness the absence of Qur’an. Ibn Mas’ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “This Qur’aan will most certainly be taken away from amongst you.” He was asked: “O Abu ‘Abd al-Rahmaan, how will it be taken away when it is so deeply rooted in our hearts and is written in our mus-hafs?” He said: “Something will come to it at night, then there will be nothing left of it in people’s hearts or in the mus-haf, and the next morning the people will be like animals.” Then he recited the aayah: “And if We willed, We could surely, take away that which We have revealed to you (i.e. this Qur’aan). Then you would find no protector for you against Us in that respect” [al-Israa’ 17:86]. Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani. Read the Qur’an now and act on it before it becomes too late when it will be taken away.
Allaah Exalted be He, desires ease and salvation for His creations and He constantly calls them to the path of salvation. He said: “And turn in repentance and in obedience with true Faith (Islamic Monotheism) to your Lord and submit to Him, (In Islam), before the torment comes upon you, then you will not be helped.” Qur’an 39:54 Again, Allaah said: “And follow the best of that which is sent to you from your Lord (i.e this Qur’an, do what it orders you to do and keep away from what it forbids), before the torment comes on you suddenly while you perceive not! Lest a person should say: “Alas, my grief that I was undutiful to Allah, and I was indeed among those who mocked.’ Or (lest) he should say: “If only Allah had guided me, I should indeed have been among those who have Taqwa. Or (lest) he should say when he sees the torment: “If only I had another chance, then I should indeed be among the doers of good. Yes! Verily, there came to you My Ayat and you denied them, and were proud and were among the disbelievers.” Qur’an 39:55-59
In conclusion, the words of the Prophet (may peace be upon him) should serve as a motivation before it is too late, he said: “Hasten to do good deeds before tribulations come like patches of dark night, when a man will wake up as a believer and by evening he will be a kaafir, or in the evening he will be a believer and by morning he will be a Kaafir, selling his religion for some worldly gains.”
Mr Abdul (Penabdul), an architect, teaches at the Baze University, Abuja. He is also the Chairman/CEO of Sustainable Project Works (SPW) Ltd. He can be reached on Twitter: @Penabdull and Instagram: @Penabdul
