Indeed, all praises and thanks are due to Allah. We praise Him, we seek His Help and and we seek His Forgiveness. And we take refuge in Allah from the evils of ourselves and from the bad of our actions. Whomever Allah guides, none can misguide. And whomever Allah misguides, none can guide. And I testify that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah. And I testify that Muḥammad is His slave and messenger. May blessings and peace be upon him, and upon his family and companions.
To proceed:
O Slaves of Allah! First and foremost, I advise you to fear Allah. Fear Allah, your Lord, and know that He does not break His promises. The Day on which all will stand to be judged for their actions, the day on which the human being will be in a state of regret over his actions during his worldly life, a day of horror and dread 50,000 years in length: this Day has been promised by Allah, so it will definitely come.
Brothers and sisters! Know that there are very few things in life that we can say are 100% certain to occur. One of these very few things is death. It is an undisputed fact of life: every human being will one day meet his death. Everyone will die, and there's no running away from this. And as Muslims, we believe that the entire life of a human being is nothing but a preparation for this inevitable event. We as Muslims are supposed to fill our lives with actions that will benefit us after our deaths. For after we die, nothing that we had in this life will accompany us – whether wealth, family, friends, status – nothing will accompany us except the actions we performed.
So it makes perfect sense then that we must busy the time we have in this world with actions Allah approves of and keep away from those Allah does not approve of. We must remember that death can befall us at any time. Don't forget that every day, many, many people die at such young ages, at ages people least expect them to die. Death can find you at any time, any place. Do not let death find you disobeying Allah.
What I am informing you now of is a serious matter. Don't take it lightly. Don't let your whims and desires get the better of you when it comes to disobeying your Lord. Don't say, "Oh, but I'm only going to do it just once," or, "I just wanna go for one night, I swear, then I won't go again," or, "Let me do it just for now; I promise I'll stop soon," or, "I can't perform this religious obligation now, but in shā’ Allāh I'll do tawbah and start doing it later, when I'm older." No, no, no... My dear Muslim brother/sister, death can hit at any time! What if death befalls you whilst you're doing "that one thing"? What if death befalls you whilst you're at "that one-time-only event"? What if death befalls you before you get a chance to repent? What a bad situation to breathe your last breaths in: disobedience of Allah. What an unfortunate situation. How sad would that be.
Let me pose a question: if the police caught you stealing something and your excuse to them was, "I was only going to do it once," do you think that'd be a good enough excuse for you with the police? So what about with Allah, the Incomparable? Would you even have the courage to say such a statement like, "I was only going to do it once," on the Day of Judgement?
Subḥān Allāh, it's a reality of life: death may befall you at any second. You just don't know when. If you knew that today would be your last day on Earth, how would you spend that day? How would you spend those precious breaths? How many seconds would elapse without you remembering Allah? How cautious would you be as to your words and actions? So this is advice firstly for myself then for you: work for the Hereafter as though you will die tomorrow. I'm not saying that you should now throw away your future aspirations and plans and goals, and stop thinking about what you'd like to do when you grow up. Rather, plan and work for this world as though you'll live a long life, but plan and work for the Hereafter as though today is your last day.
I will end with a statement Ibn ‘Umar (raḍiya Llāhu ‘anhumā) used to say:
“When you reach the evening do not expect [to live until] the morning, and when you reach the morning do not expect [to live until] the evening. And take [advantage of] your health before times of sickness, and [take advantage of] your life before your death.” (Narrated by al-Bukhārī)
To proceed:
O Slaves of Allah! First and foremost, I advise you to fear Allah. Fear Allah, your Lord, and know that He does not break His promises. The Day on which all will stand to be judged for their actions, the day on which the human being will be in a state of regret over his actions during his worldly life, a day of horror and dread 50,000 years in length: this Day has been promised by Allah, so it will definitely come.
Brothers and sisters! Know that there are very few things in life that we can say are 100% certain to occur. One of these very few things is death. It is an undisputed fact of life: every human being will one day meet his death. Everyone will die, and there's no running away from this. And as Muslims, we believe that the entire life of a human being is nothing but a preparation for this inevitable event. We as Muslims are supposed to fill our lives with actions that will benefit us after our deaths. For after we die, nothing that we had in this life will accompany us – whether wealth, family, friends, status – nothing will accompany us except the actions we performed.
So it makes perfect sense then that we must busy the time we have in this world with actions Allah approves of and keep away from those Allah does not approve of. We must remember that death can befall us at any time. Don't forget that every day, many, many people die at such young ages, at ages people least expect them to die. Death can find you at any time, any place. Do not let death find you disobeying Allah.
What I am informing you now of is a serious matter. Don't take it lightly. Don't let your whims and desires get the better of you when it comes to disobeying your Lord. Don't say, "Oh, but I'm only going to do it just once," or, "I just wanna go for one night, I swear, then I won't go again," or, "Let me do it just for now; I promise I'll stop soon," or, "I can't perform this religious obligation now, but in shā’ Allāh I'll do tawbah and start doing it later, when I'm older." No, no, no... My dear Muslim brother/sister, death can hit at any time! What if death befalls you whilst you're doing "that one thing"? What if death befalls you whilst you're at "that one-time-only event"? What if death befalls you before you get a chance to repent? What a bad situation to breathe your last breaths in: disobedience of Allah. What an unfortunate situation. How sad would that be.
Let me pose a question: if the police caught you stealing something and your excuse to them was, "I was only going to do it once," do you think that'd be a good enough excuse for you with the police? So what about with Allah, the Incomparable? Would you even have the courage to say such a statement like, "I was only going to do it once," on the Day of Judgement?
Subḥān Allāh, it's a reality of life: death may befall you at any second. You just don't know when. If you knew that today would be your last day on Earth, how would you spend that day? How would you spend those precious breaths? How many seconds would elapse without you remembering Allah? How cautious would you be as to your words and actions? So this is advice firstly for myself then for you: work for the Hereafter as though you will die tomorrow. I'm not saying that you should now throw away your future aspirations and plans and goals, and stop thinking about what you'd like to do when you grow up. Rather, plan and work for this world as though you'll live a long life, but plan and work for the Hereafter as though today is your last day.
I will end with a statement Ibn ‘Umar (raḍiya Llāhu ‘anhumā) used to say:
إذَا أَمْسَيْتَ فَلَا تَنْتَظِرْ الصَّبَاحَ، وَإِذَا أَصْبَحْتَ فَلَا تَنْتَظِرْ الْمَسَاءَ، وَخُذْ مِنْ صِحَّتِك لِمَرَضِك، وَمِنْ حَيَاتِك لِمَوْتِك
