The Secret of Consistency

In a calm and beautiful neighbourhood lived two good friends, Abdullah and Khalid. They were in the same class at school, but their habits were completely different.

Abdullah was known for his consistency. He never delayed his work. Every day he finished all his school assignments, homework and daily jobs on time, and he regularly revised his earlier lessons too. He was used to doing each task at its set time, and he never put anything off until tomorrow.

Khalid was different. He often forgot his work, or put it off until tomorrow because he felt lazy. Whenever he got a new task, he thought, "I'll do this tomorrow." Little by little his work piled up like a mountain, and at the last minute he would be full of worry and panic.

One day, Khalid was sitting and staring worriedly at all his unfinished jobs and his big pile of homework when Abdullah came over.

Khalid asked sadly, "Abdullah, how are you so consistent? You never forget anything, and you get everything done on time. Tell me your secret too!"

Abdullah smiled, put a kind hand on his friend's shoulder and said, "Khalid, our Lord teaches us the biggest lesson about this through our daily worship: salah. Think about it. Allah has made five prayers a day obligatory, and He has given each one its own time. If we pray Fajr at Zuhr time, or Asr after Maghrib, have we prayed on time? Of course not. Allah has taught us that everything is best done at its own time."

Abdullah went on, "Salah teaches us a big lesson: in a Muslim's life, every task should have its time. Putting things off for no reason is like an illness. At first it feels comfortable, but in the long run it brings a lot of worry and stress."

Khalid listened carefully to his friend. Then he sighed and said, "You're absolutely right, Abdullah. But what can I do? Whenever I sit down to work, laziness takes over and I just don't feel like doing it. How do I cure this laziness?"

Abdullah answered confidently, "Brother, the only cure for laziness is to be quick and alert. Whenever your heart says, 'Let's do it tomorrow,' shake yourself right then, stand up and say, 'No, I'm doing this right now!' As soon as you push laziness aside and get moving, this habit will change for good."

Abdullah's words touched Khalid's heart. He promised his friend that from now on he would do things on time and never let laziness take over.