Time is arguably the most important part of life, it is everywhere and unavoidable. Learning to manage that time and use it well, will lead to a fulfilled life. Both the Quran and the Sunnah emphasize the importance of time in the life of a Muslim. 

It was narrated from Ibn Mas’ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“The feet of the son of Adam shall not move from before his Lord on the Day of Judgement, until he is asked about five things: about his life and what he did with it, about his youth and what he wore it out in, about his wealth and how he earned it and spent it upon, and what he did with what he knew.”

(Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2422; classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi, 1969) 

When relating to time, if we do not use it wisely and create good deeds out of that time, that time will be used for destructive force, which will destroy our reward and our lives. For example, if you do not praise and mention Allah, you will be saying something else, perhaps backbiting or talking about your children, your work, your neighbours, your friends or your enemies.

Time must be used wisely, and holding yourself accountable for your actions at the end of each day will allow you to look back on your actions and figure out: Were they bad? What did I do today that was bad? When recognizing that you have done something wrong, repent for those actions and change them permanently for the next day. For the good deeds that you have done, be determined to do them again, probably more often, and do them in a better way.

Our lives are judged according to what we did, and not according to how many years we lived. Life is very short. Death awaits us. We do not know when we are going to die, so we have to make sure that we do as many good deeds as possible before we pass into the next life. Once dead, we are unable to return to this life to repent from our bad deeds, or to do more good deeds. Time passes very quickly as Allah Says:

“The Day they see it, (it will be) as if they had not tarried (in this world) except an afternoon and a morning.” [Quran 79:46]

Using the time to waste, or not doing deeds for the sake of others is considered denying the favours of Allah. Time must be used wisely, it is precious and should be preserved, and these favours that Allah gives us health and free time, must be considered precious and be well used. The Prophet said:

“There are two blessings concerning which many people are cheated: health and free time.” [Al-Bukhari]

At the end of our lives, we will not be able to go back and live our lives over again. We will not be given more time to do good deeds and try to make up for the time we wasted.

So, we must organize our time wisely, being very careful about what we use it for. We must consider the free time that we have, in which we could do good deeds, as a precious resource, guarding it against waste or misuse.