Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Take advantage of five before five: 1-your youth before your old age, 2-your health before your illness, 3-your wealth before your poverty, 4-your free time before your work, 5-and your life before your death. (Al-Hakim and Al-Bayhaqi, sound narration). These five blessings apply to every single one of us. We all have these or had them at sometime, if not all of them, almost all of them. We have variations of this narration, but the essential part of the message is we should utilise what we have been given and benefit from what Allah Almighty gave us. 1-Youth We may not all be young now, but it is a good reminder. When Allah talked about the people of the cave, he said: We relate to you their story in truth. They were youths who believed in their Lord, and We increased them in guidance. (18:13) نَّحْنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ نَبَأَهُم بِالْحَقِّ ۚ إِنَّهُمْ فِتْيَةٌ آمَنُوا بِرَبِّهِمْ وَزِدْنَاهُمْ هُدًى Allah Almighty is talking about the importance of youth in the Quran and the Prophet (peace be on him) was encouraging young people to use their time and their life to please Allah Almighty. The shade of the throne In the hadith narrated by Muslim, there are seven categories who have the shade of the throne of Allah on the Day of Judgement and one of these is youths brought up in the worship of Allah Almighty, boys and girls who will get VIP treatment in the akhirah. This will be REAL VIP treatment. Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: Seven are (the persons) whom Allah will give protection with His Shade on the … Continue reading Taking advantage of 5 before its too late