Suaramuslim.net – Would you believe me if I said that every human being, regardless of whether they're good or bad, will experience regret? You might ask, how do good people experience regret? And for what do they regret?
For those who are Muslim, of course they are very familiar with the following short letter, QS Al 'Ashr (time):
" For the sake of time. Indeed, humans are in loss, except those who believe and do good deeds and advise each other to truth and advise each other to patience. " (QS Al 'Ashr: 1-3)
Surah Al-Ashr discusses a vital asset in life, freely provided by God for us to manage. This asset is possessed by every living creature, but not all living creatures are capable of managing it. That asset is time.
Humans and jinn are given the ability to manage these assets. Anyone who fails to manage them will experience regret. Surah Al-Asr also informs us that all humans will experience loss and regret, even those who have done good deeds will regret not doing more good. This can be seen in the following (peace and blessings be upon him
A friend named Sha'ban (may Allah be pleased with him) died. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) paid his condolences at his house. At that time, Sha'ban's wife (may Allah be pleased with him) asked, "O Messenger of Allah, there is something that is a question for all of us. Before his death, he screamed three times, each accompanied by a sentence. We all do not understand what he meant."
"What words did he say?" asked the Prophet.
“With each scream, he uttered the words, ‘Oh, why not more! Oh, why not new! Oh, why not all! ’ ” replied Sha’ban’s wife.
Rasulullah saw . also recited the verses contained in the QS . Qaaf: 22, "Indeed, you were in a state of heedlessness from this (thing), so We removed from you the hijab (which covered) your eyes, so your sight on that day was very sharp."
"What Sha'ban (ra) saw (and the dying person) cannot be seen by anyone else. In his sharp vision, Sha'ban (ra) saw a scene in which he daily went back and forth to the mosque to pray five times a day in congregation. The journey took about three hours on foot, certainly not a short distance. In that scene, Sha'ban (ra) was also shown the reward he earned from his steps to the mosque," said the Prophet.
He saw what the heaven promised as his reward looked like. When he saw it, he said: "Oh, why isn't it further away?" Sya'ban ra., regretted why his house wasn't further away so that the reward he would get would be more beautiful. In the next sentence, Sha'ban ra. saw when he was leaving for congregational prayers in winter. When he opened the door, a bone-chilling cold wind blew in. He went into his house and took another shirt to wear. He wore two clothes, Sya'ban wore the good (new) clothes on the inside and the ugly (worn) ones on the outside.
He thought that if he got dusty, only his outer garments would get affected, and that when he arrived at the mosque, he could take off his outer garments and pray in better clothes. On his way to the mosque, he found someone lying there, freezing in a miserable condition. Sha'ban (may Allah be pleased with him) felt compassion and immediately took off his outer garments and put them on him. He then helped him to the mosque so they could perform the dawn prayer together.
The man was saved from freezing to death and even managed to perform congregational prayer. Sha'ban, may Allah be pleased with him, then saw the beauty of Paradise and, in return, dressed the man in his old clothes.
Then he shouted again, "Oh my God! Why not a new one?" Regret arose again in Sha'ban's mind. If even a worn-out shirt could earn him such a great reward, surely he would have earned a more beautiful paradise if he had given away a new one.
Next, Sha'ban ra. saw another scene. When he was about to have breakfast with bread that was eaten by dipping it first into a glass of milk. For those who have been to the holy land, of course, know the size of Arabic bread (about three times the average size of Indonesian bread). When he was just about to start breakfast, a beggar appeared in front of the door asking for a little bread because his stomach had not been filled with food for three days. Seeing this, Sha'ban ra. felt pity. He then divided the two loaves of bread into equal sizes and divided the milk into two glasses with equal volumes, then they ate together. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then showed Sha'ban ra. with a beautiful paradise. When he saw it, Sha'ban ra. shouted again, "Oh, why not all!!" Sha'ban ra. regretted again. If he had given all the bread to the beggar, then he would have gotten a more beautiful paradise. Masyaallah, Sha'ban did not regret his actions , but regretted why it was not optimal.
Judging by this beautiful story, it's almost certain that you and I will be among those who will regret our actions in the end. This is because we haven't been able to manage our assets optimally to do more good. What we can do now is try to minimize our regrets.
Author: Dr. Gancar C. Premananto*
*Coordinator of the Master of Management Study Program, FEB, Universitas Airlangga Surabaya
Source: https://suaramuslim.net/filosofi-hidup-setiap-kita-akan-menyesal/