How to Manage Time and Money as a Muslim Student
Do you ever tell yourself that you’re going to study in five minutes, but then suddenly check the time and realize three hours have passed? Do you ever check your bank account and realize you spent all your money on food? Of course, we’ve all experienced these moments, but somehow it keeps happening over and over…
Introduction
As one moves from high school into adulthood, there is a new found freedom in time and money. This combined with a lack of guidance nor a set rules can create a lot of uncertainty for university students. In the past, your teachers told you what to study and checked up on you if you were falling behind. But now, it is up to you to dictate your life.
The inspiration for this topic came from last year’s brothers' halaqah series called “Five Before Five.” Over the semester, we learned about the hadith in which it mentioned the five things that should be taken advantage of before they are gone. These are youth, health, wealth, free time and life. This semester SUMSA is continuing to host the Brothers’ Halaqah every Thursday at 5pm in the Musalla. I highly encourage all brothers to attend, as gatherings of knowledge are filled with mercy, sakinah, and the presence of angels.
Mastering the Use of Your Time
Starting off with managing time, I want to share some general tips that I have found of benefit. Unlike high school, in university you know the entire semester's schedule from day one. Your quizzes, assignments and course content are fixed. I recommend using some form of calendar, and noting these from the start. Try experimenting with Google Calendar, Notion, or a physical calendar, whichever you like best. Especially with semester 1 coinciding with Ramadan, you need to effectively get academic work out of the way and save more time for Ibadah. As of the publish date of this blog, you already know the dates of the last ten nights of Ramadan. I encourage you to check your unit outlines for upcoming tasks in those days and try to complete them earlier.
In university, you also get the choice of going to as many or as few classes as you want. The world is your oyster (unless you’re Hanafi). If you decide not to go to your lectures, because you think you can learn the content faster, or you have something else to do, make sure you actually plan a fixed hour to watch the recording. Don’t fall into the trap of ignoring lectures and then having to watch all of them a week before exams. The whole purpose of skipping the class was to make things easier for yourself. Use the time instead to do something beneficial, and set a weekly time, perhaps on a weekend to go through lecture recordings. If you prepare like this, you can have fun with friends or play board games at the musalla whilst staying on top of academics. I’ll be honest, I don’t regret getting HSP (Halal Snack Packs) with my friends instead of going to class. But, this is only possible with prior planning.
Time in these years is very precious. You have never been this free in your life before. And, the reality is that you will never have this freedom later in your life. Recently graduated brothers often say that they only have time to speak to two or three of their friends from SUMSA. Beyond this, the more life progresses, the busier it gets. When you have to look after children, you will have no time for yourself. Keeping this in mind, it is clear that these years are formative for the future. How you choose to spend your time developing new interests and skills will benefit you for the rest of your life.
The reality is that the years of uni go by really quickly. Most undergrad degrees are three to five years. Faces come and go by the musalla like the wind. After only two years you’re an “oldie” and after four years people call you “ancient one.” You have a short time surrounded by other young Muslims with different ambitions in different fields: business, law, medicine. Carefully invest this time with pious and beneficial friends. Choosing good friends is heavily emphasized in our religion. A man is upon the religion of his companion.
Among the most important things to spend time on in this age is learning the Quran and Arabic. When you are elderly, your mind won’t be able to acquire new information. This means that the cost of not learning your religion as a young person is greatest. Each hour you spend on Netflix or Youtube will add up over the next few years. Are you going to look back one day and say “Wow, I’m really good at watching TV shows?” Or would you prefer to acquire knowledge and be satisfied with how you spent your time in uni? The choice doesn’t have to be difficult. It’s possible to have fun and gain long term skills at the same time, it is not mutually exclusive. Find a learning style that you enjoy. Then, aim to eventually teach others, and through this you can gain the best sadaqah jariyah. Most importantly, remember that the people on the Day of Judgement will beg to be sent back for just a little time.
Managing Your Money
People often joke about how high school teaches you calculus and imaginary numbers but not real life things like how to do taxes or the difference between a debit card and credit card. Luckily for you, I’m not about to write a guide to the Australian Taxation Office and make you read through it. Instead, I will talk about the purpose of money in our religion and give some ideas on how to make use of it.
Often it is mentioned in the Quran, to spend from what Allah ta’ala has provided us. Remember that money is an amanah (trust) bestowed on you, and that it didn’t come from your hard work. Thus, obey what you have been commanded. Only spend on halal and obey your parents. You have obligations to those who are sick and poor, to those who have lost family, and to your community. You are going to be asked about everything you did with your wealth in this dunya.
However, viewing money as a test is rare today. Most people view money as the ultimate goal. For them, the dunya is a competition in wealth and boasting. The reality is that this dunya is nothing but play and amusement or the enjoyment of delusion. For the one obsessed with it, life is a zero sum game where only one person can get their dream job. Today, wealth is something that people show off to create envy and pride. It is common to take out loans for expensive cars and bags only for the sake of impressing others. For this reason, it is not surprising to hear that the average Australian household is $250 000 dollars in debt.
Humans are ungrateful by nature. Think about how you made Dua everyday in Year 12 or High School and just before receiving your results, but stopped giving thanks a few days after uni started. Or more likely, you stopped giving thanks a few days just after your HSC results were released. Then do you think that a desire for money can ever be quenched? People spend thirty thousand dollars on Birkin Bags and forget about it right after. It is mentioned that a love of wealth is more dangerous to Iman than a wolf roaming freely among a flock of sheep. On top of this, those who are wealthy will be the last to enter paradise.
Now before you go and do Zuhd (refuge) in the mountains, remember that there is still benefit in earning money for your Akhirah. For example, if you buy a car it makes it easier to pray Salat-ul Fajr and Ishaa in the mosque. As long as you don’t aim to buy an AMG, working towards a car can be a source of benefit. In fact, living in a world where people compete for the dunya, makes it easier to invest in your Akhirah. A house that is walking distance to mosques is less than half the price of a Waterfront mansion, yet which is more beneficial to your Akhirah in the eyes of Allah? With the correct priorities, life becomes much easier. The key takeaway is to have this dunya in your hand but not your heart.
This path is not an untrodden one. There are many elevated examples you should hasten to take as role models. Follow Sulayman AS who used his wealth for the sake of Allah ta’ala. Or follow the companions like Abu Bakr and Uthman RA who were known for their massive financial contributions to the Ummah. Also, there are many later Muslims like Sultan Harun al Rashid, Sultan Salahuddin Ayyubi and Sultan Mehmed Al Fatih who were born from royalty and wealth and used their resources to fund Madrasas for Islamic Sciences, to sponsor facilities for Hajj, and to spend on charities for the poor. The key similarity between these pious role models is that they were people of Tawakkul (reliance upon Allah alone) and used money for the right intentions. Perhaps you will have the chance to do the same insha Allah, maybe you will be able to use money to fund your childrens’ Islamic and academic education, to give zakat and sadaqah, or to pay for Hajj and Umrah.
Closing words
My last and most important advice is don’t view uni as a reward for your hard work in highschool, but as an opportunity to work harder. If you have this mindset, you will use time and money intelligently.
I ask Allah ta’ala to not let us rely on ourselves nor any of his creation for even the blink of an eye and I ask that this blog will be a means of sadaqah jariyah.
