⚖️ Is Your Time Heavy or Light?

25th Jumada-II 1447H

Assalamu'alaikum,

It's been a while since my last newsletter. I was traveling for Umrah and work over the past couple of weeks and took a break,

During my time in Madinah, I found myself reflecting on the different pieces I've written about time: The Tyranny of the Mechanical Clock, Why the Islamic Calendar Matters More Than You Think, and the idea that we should center our lives around Salah.

I kept asking myself: how do these connect? What's the thread that ties them together?

And there, in the Prophet's ﷺ city, Allah opened a door of understanding for me.

The Weight of Time

Let me explain.

Our view of time has been hijacked by the modern world.

In my article "The Tyranny of the Mechanical Clock", I argue that measuring our time by the clock has turned time into a currency; something to be spent, saved, and maximized for economic output.

When we believe time is money, we start measuring our days by productivity and output instead of what's meaningful.

If you pause to pray, that's 10 minutes you could be working. If you sit with your mother over tea, that's an hour with no ROI. If you decide to block time to recite the Quran, you'll question if it was 'productive'.

Everything sacred starts to feel like a waste of time. And everything that feeds the machine (more meetings, more output, more hustle) feels like time well spent. Even at the expense of your health, your relationships, and your soul.

This explains why we're addicted to hustle culture and never seem to be able to shift to Barakah culture.

Consider two people:

A poor man, walking toward the masjid in the midday heat for Dhuhr prayer, will be considered 'unproductive' by the world's measurement of time.

A professional in an air-conditioned office, skipping prayer because he has a meeting that is too important to interrupt, is considered efficient and productive.

But who is making better use of their time?

The Scale That Matters

Islam gives us a different way to measure the value of time.

In the Quran, Allah (SWT) does not speak of time as currency to be maximized. He speaks of time as something that will be weighed. In Surat Al-Qari'ah, Allah describes a Day when every soul will stand before a scale, a mizan that will weigh each person's good deeds vs. bad deeds.

"So as for those whose scale is heavy ˹with good deeds˺, they will be in a life of bliss. And as for those whose scale is light, their home will be the abyss." (Quran 101:6-9)

But where do deeds happen? They happen in the limited time we have on this earth.

Therefore, every moment can be heavy with remembrance or light with heedlessness, heavy with obedience in the scale of good deeds or heavy with sin in the scale of bad deeds.

The moment takes on the weight of what we place inside it. This means time has weight. Not intrinsic weight, but carried weight, the weight of the deeds, intentions, and choices we pour into it.

So, how do we make our time heavy?

Here's what I've realized: it's not about doing more. And it's not about accomplishment. The mizan weighs something deeper than output.

I want to propose seven dimensions through which we can measure and increase the weight of our time. Think of these as seven scales nested within each other, from the smallest unit of time to the largest: the moment, the hour, the day, the week, the month, the year, and the lifetime.

I've written a full article exploring all seven weights and what actually makes them heavy. Click below to access the article and I would love your feedback and thoughts once you’ve read it.

When you see time as weight, everything shifts. Every day becomes a chance to add to your scale insha’Allah.

May Allah make our scales heavy on the Day we meet Him.

Sincerely,