Are Your Two Days Equal

Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “He whose two days are equal, is a loser.” [Daiylami]

A Mumin is racing towards Jannah. He/she is always trying to have their ‘today’ better than their yesterday. They want to keep increasing in piety and good deeds. They try to devote more time, energy, and resources with each passing day to win Allah’s pleasure. They want their inner self to be better today than it was yesterday and their tomorrow to be better than today. They don’t want to repeat their mistakes, they learn from their experiences, and try to purify their hearts and their intentions to make them better all the time. Thus, a Mumin’s two days are not equal.

A Mumin’s competition is with himself/herself because they know that as they get better they win more of Allah’s pleasure and thus higher and better places in Jannah. It is immaterial how good one is compared to others. However, when a believer sees another trying harder than oneself for Allah’s pleasure, it motivates them too. The Sahabah competed with each other, but not for the things of this world.  

In order to finance the expedition to Tabuk against the Romans, the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) made a public request for charity. Umar thought that this was his chance to outdo Abu Bakr (radi Allahu anhuma). It was almost impossible to outdo Abu Bakr in any good deed, so Umar (radi Allahu anhuma) brought half of his belongings and placed them before the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam). It turned out that Abu Bakr had brought everything that was in his house as sadaqah for Ghazwa Tabuk. When he was asked by the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) what he had left for his family, he replied, “Allah and His Messenger.”

We compete with each other so that we can have a nicer house than our friends and relatives, or a bigger car, or are more well-dressed, or are held in higher esteem due to our education or job titles. But the Sahabah competed for the Hereafter. They were always trying to outdo each other in good deeds and piety. Their motivation was not money or fame or social standing, but Allah’s Pleasure.

If each day you make only one tiny improvement; tell one less lie, do one additional act of sadaqah, learn one small hadith, think of how much you will improve over time. Are your two days equal in accomplishment?