What does Islam say about wasting time?
Time is the substance of life — what the Qur'an swears by and what the scholars called the most precious thing the believer has. Wasting it is wasting the self.
10 passages from 6 books in the library
Islam treats time as the very substance of life, so wasting it is a kind of wasting of the self. Al-Ghazali's writings — across The Book of Knowledge and Disciplining the Soul — repeatedly warn against laziness and idleness: how the soul "becomes accustomed to laziness, abandoning learning, and losing the virtue of jurisprudence," and how those dominated by idleness find striving and discipline burdensome. He even records the prophetic supplication seeking refuge "from laziness, miserliness, cowardice" — naming sloth as a spiritual ailment to be actively resisted through worship and effort.
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 6 books by Imam al-Ghazali — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"generosity does not entail laziness in earning wealth, while presuming that it implies laziness"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"for the obligatory acts of worship, making it appear to observers as idleness, laziness,"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"the soul becomes accustomed to laziness, abandoning learning, and losing the virtue of jurisprudence."
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"such as sailing in stormy seas. Indian worshipers address laziness in worship by standing all night"
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"in a single posture. Some sheikhs, inclined to laziness in prayer, would stand on their heads"
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"Some people, dominated by idleness, find striving and discipline burdensome, along with the"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Congregation encourages enthusiasm as opposed to individual prayer which may lead to laziness."
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"The idea is that prayer is better than neglect due to laziness, and sincerity is better than"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"are disliked due to laziness, such as prayer, while others are disliked due to stinginess,"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"for it is a wicked advisor, and from laziness, miserliness, cowardice, senility, and from"
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