for this reason the All-Wise Lawgiver has urged consultation. Allah, Exalted is He, says, “Their affairs are conducted by mutual consultation among them” (al-Shura 38), and He says, “Consult them in the matter” (Al ʿImran 159). He also prescribed the Prayer of Seeking Guidance (salat al-istikhara) and its supplication so that a Muslim may combine seeking Allah’s counsel in his affairs with consulting people and benefiting from the advice and guidance they offer.
- There are matters whose features are clear and whose paths are obvious; one should not delay in them, lest time slip away and the opportunity be lost.
Foremost among these are obedience to Allah and hastening toward acts of goodness and worship. Allah the Exalted says, “And race toward forgiveness from your Lord and a Garden whose breadth is the heavens and the earth” (Al ʿImran 33), and He says, “So vie with one another in good deeds” (al-Baqarah 148), and He says, “They hasten to do good deeds, and they are foremost in performing them” (al-Muʾminun 61). Al-Bukhari (1419) and Muslim (1032) relate from Abu Hurayrah that a man came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked, “Which charity carries the greatest reward?” He replied, “That you give charity while you are healthy and covetous, fearing poverty and hoping for long life. Do not delay until your soul reaches your throat and then say, ‘Give this to so-and-so and that to so-and-so,’ for by then it already belongs to so-and-so.” There are many other texts to this effect.
We ask Allah, exalted is He, to grant us such readiness.