Week Eight: Five Before Five
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Take advantage of five before five: Your youth before your old age, your health before your sickness, your wealth before your poverty, your free time before you are preoccupied, and your life before your death”
- Source: Shu’ab Al-Iman
This hadith is telling us about the five before five rule we need to follow in our lives. I call it a rule because these five things are the most important five things we need to truly take advantage of. I'm going to go into some more detail about what each of the points is talking about.
"Your youth before your old age"
The first point is telling us to take advantage of our youth before our old age. This is because once we reach old age in our lives, we start to lose the ability to do daily life things. For example, as we grow older, our bones start to become weaker making it hard for us to walk or pick up heavy objects. But as a youth, we can do these things so easily. We have strong bones and muscles.
"Your health before your sickness"
Now, obviously, we can't tell when we will get sick. So how can we avoid being sick? We need to take care of ourselves. Watch what you are eating. Exercise. Complete daily physical activities. Drink lots of water. Get good sleep, take your vitamins, etc. Nowadays we see people taking advantage of their health by eating the most unhealthy foods out there. Don't fall into those fast food traps!
"Your wealth before your poverty"
This point is telling us to take care of our wealth before poverty hits us. We can do this by watching what we spend our money on. Don't go buying unnecessary things you don't even need. Think about those who are actually struggling with poverty. What do they have? They barely have food to eat let alone nice clothing to wear. Be grateful for what you have and spend your money wisely. Spend it on things that will help you in the hereafter. Charity, helping the needy, providing for orphans, etc.
"Your free time before you're preoccupied"
Wasting our free time on idle things isn't recommended in Islam. Yes, you can have fun when you have free time but also think about using your time wisely. We should fill our free time with being productive.
"Your life before your death"
We are all going to die. It's inevitable. The way we spend our life in this Dunya will show what life we will live in the hereafter. Do you want a lovely, happy life in Jannah? Use your time wisely in this life by repenting to Allah and remembering Allah always.
May Allah grant us all Jannah and forgive all of our sins.