SABOTAGE Q7:23

I am ashamed to admit that I am one of those people who are often late. It’s not that I do not care about keeping others waiting. Far from that! I could use the excuse that it’s a cultural thing i.e. Nigerian timing which is often an hour or more beyond the scheduled time; or I could admit that I often shoot myself in the foot.

When I become tired of being late and decide to amend my ways, something always comes up. Seriously! Like I could decide to wake an hour earlier then prolong supplications after my Fajr salaah, iron extra clothes because it looks like I’ll be too early, then cook a complex breakfast, do the dishes, tidy the house, wake the littelets and play with them as I bathe them because I am no longer tense that I am running late…then, suddenly, am late! Again!

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The few times we manage to be ready on time, the car refuses to star or we end up stuck in lousy traffic. Granted that the extra minutes help us to reach our destination at the usual time we often do, the fact that I made an effort to be punctual is lost on everyone! *petulant pout*

I often console myself that it is predestined that I am a late-comer but sometimes, I admit that I simply sabotage myself. If only I would stop packing in last minute extra duties because it looks like I’ll be early, I will make it on time but then, talk is cheap. I need to make serious and consistent du’a to stop undermining myself and so should we all.

We know that sinning will make our prayers harder to be answered but we sin and wonder why our requests go unanswered. We know that the best hours to communicate with Allah are at the last third of the night but we grab our blankets tighter when the alarm goes off. We are aware that the first deed we will be asked to account for is salaah but we skip it anyway. Being conscious of the fact that we will account for those/things entrusted to us doesn’t stop us from being negligent of them. Acknowledging that the world will continue to evade us as long as we chase it doesn’t seem to stop us from pursuing it tirelessly.

After messing up so bad, we still hope for Allah’s forgiveness and admission into Al-Jannah at the end of our lives. Funny, isn’t it? It’s kinda like skipping the exam and expecting to be promoted to the next class.

May Allah save us from ourselves because we often wrong ourselves by acting very foolishly, as our own stumbling blocks.