How Can One Balance Time Between Seeking Knowledge and Managing Daily Life?


Answered by Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Abu Bakr Badhib

Question

How can one balance time between seeking knowledge and managing daily life?

Answer

In the name of Allah, and all praise is due to Allah, and blessings and peace be upon our master Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, his Family, his Companions, and those who follow him.

Time is life itself. As one of the early scholars said:

“Life is the most precious thing you can strive to preserve, yet it is also the easiest thing to lose.”

Another poet said:

“The beating of a person’s heart tells them that life is made up of minutes and seconds.”

Imam Ghazali (Allah have mercy on him) emphasized the value of time, saying: “Each breath is a priceless jewel.” [Ghazali, Ihya’]

Given this understanding, anyone who is mindful of the importance of time and fears wasting precious moments on unproductive things must organize their time based on priorities. This means not placing trivial tasks before important ones or delaying significant matters that need immediate attention for things that can be handled later.

Managing Time Through Religious Practice

Our religion encourages time management and has structured the day and night around performing prayers, both obligatory and voluntary. Those who maintain their prayers on time will find it easier to manage their lives and prioritize their tasks accordingly.

Imam Ghazali, in his beneficial book “Bidayat al-Hidaya” (The Beginning of Guidance), outlines a daily routine for Muslims who seek to organize their time from the moment they wake up until they go to bed. I encourage you and anyone seeking to manage their time effectively to study this valuable book.

Additionally, there are free lessons available on the SeekersGuidance platform that explain the content of this book in detail. Make sure to listen and benefit from these lessons.

May Allah grant us all success and guide us to the straight path.

[Shaykh] Dr. Muhammad Abu Bakr Badhib

Shaykh Dr Muhammad Abu Bakr Badhib is a prominent Islamic scholar from Yemen born in Shibam, Hadhramaut, in 1976. He received his degree in Shari‘a from Al-Ahqaf University, a master’s degree from the Islamic University of Beirut, and a PhD in Usul al-Din from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

He studied under great scholars such as Shaykh al-Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad, Shaykh Fadl Ba‘ fadl, Habib Salim al-Shatiri, Habib Ali Mashhur bin Hafeez, and others. He has served as the Director of Publications at Dar al-Fiqh, the former Deputy Director of Cultural Relations at Al-Ahqaf University, a former Assistant for Employee Affairs at Atiyah Iron Company, a researcher at the Sunna Center affiliated with the Dallah al-Baraka Foundation, and a researcher at Al-Furqan Foundation’s Makka al-Mukarrama and Madina al-Munawwara Encyclopedia branch.

Currently, he is a researcher at Al-Furqan Foundation’s Makka al-Mukarrama and Madina al-Munawwara Encyclopedia branch, teaches traditionally through the Ijaza system at Dar al-Fuqaha in Turkey, supervises the Arabic department at Nur al-Huda International Institute (SeekersGuidance), and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Manuscript House in Istanbul.

His works include “The Efforts of Hadhramaut Jurists in Serving the Shafi‘i School,” “Contributions of Hadhramaut Scholars in Spreading Islam and its Sciences in India,” “Hada’iq al-Na‘im in Shafi‘i Fiqh,” in addition to verifying several books in Fiqh, history, the art of biographies, and Asanid (chains of narration).