Punctuality

You know

for humans to be able to work together they have to learn

to be able to trust each other to do the things they have agreed.

They have to trust others to do what they say they will

if they are going to make any decent sort of team.

So doing what we say,

fulfilling our contracts,

being trustworthy

is part of our Deen.

Now making an appointment to meet at a certain time may not be much of a contract,

not like a major contract that needs to be written down and agreed on and signed by all parties.

But appointments are agreed

and are written down in diaries,

so isn't that some kind of contract?

An agreement to meet at a certain place and time?

An agreement to be Punctual.

Time is important to our Islam.

The sun moon and stars are appointed by God for us

to give order to our days,

and the changing daily prayer times keep us conscious

of what time it is throughout the day.

And the Adab of punctuality when making our Sala,

making the prayers at the appropriate times,

carries through into the Deen.

Being on time is important to both.

Being on time shows respect for the one you are to meet.

As any businessperson will tell you

“time is money and time wasted is money lost”.

People don't like waiting around

for someone who is late for an appointment,

and usually see it as a display of bad manners.

People don't like it done to them.

Think about it.

Do you like it done to you?

Punctuality is super efficient

if everyone arrives at the time agreed.

But it only takes one person

to break the agreement and arrive late

to mean that everyone else must wait

if they are to work together as a team.

And of course, to avoid the need to wait for others

there are always those

who are tempted to turn up late themselves

to save their own time being wasted.

And of course this only makes things worse,

with those making appointments getting into competition with each other

as to who can arrive the latest,

and soon mid-day meetings are being held at midnight.

And all this can come from forgetting about the Deen,

the way of life which is best for us,

being trustworthy, keeping agreements

and telling the truth.

It is better for us

if we ourselves

do things on time.

And as with so many things about the Deen,

the best Way of Life for us

means treating others

in a way that we would want to be treated ourselves.