I often asked myself what the Prophet Muhammad meant when he said: 'Haste is from the Devil.' (Sunan at-Tirmidhi, narration: 2012)
While reading the book: ‘In Praise of Slow’ by Carl Honoré, I understood that the meaning of this hadith is manifested in our lives, in a generation that adheres to a cult: The cult of speed.
We all have the feeling that time is getting away. This feeling was described in 1982 by physician Larrey Dossey as time-sickness. He said that it is the belief that time is getting away, that there isn’t enough of it and that we must pedal faster and faster to keep up. We are moving away from a world where the big ‘eat’ the small towards a global village where the fast ‘eat’ the slow. And we know that evolution works on the principle of survival of the fittest, not the fastest.
So here we are, all together counting our seconds and pressing the last drop out of time as if we were white-collar stockbrokers in Wall Street. We sleep 90 minutes less than people one hundred years ago because we want to keep up with everything. The latest tweets, the latest fashion, the current news, the newest dishes, the latest gossip, after-class, tutoring, sports, WhatsApp, television series, movies, apps, online gaming, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube video’s (do I have to carry on?)
We are uploading our brain until we go to bed. This disturbs our sleep. Sleep was supposed to be a garment: 'And we made the night like a garment.' (Quran: Ch. 78, V.10). Some scholars said this refers to the way one looks before going to bed. He or she looks tired, has eye bags, is sleep drunk and doesn’t control his movements the way he usually does. But when he wakes up, there he/she is bright and shining, like a new person.
But nowadays people don’t seem to be waking up like this. They are tired when they wake up. Not only the reduced hours of sleep, speed-sleeping lies at the base of this matter, but our sleep is not sufficient to erase all impressions we had during the day. It is overworking, overdoing it. Sleep should be a clear stop to everything: 'And we made your sleep for rest.' (Quran, Ch.78, V.8)
In a recent Gallup poll 11/100 of British drivers admitted to falling asleep at the wheel. While a study by the US National Commission on Sleep Disorders blamed half of the accidents on the road on tiredness.
Muhammad (s) said that, Allah loves perfection (at-Tabarâni in al-Mu’jam)
This means in everything we do, speed doesn’t allow perfection. It means a superficial world, skimming the surface and failing to make connection with the real world. It means replacing real time by virtual time. I can’t visit you when you are sick, so I’ll send you a card, no time to write, I’ll send you a virtual one. No time to cook, I’ll put it in the microwave, or you know what, I’ll just order some food or eat out. I have no time to wait until I lose that belly, liposuction is an option!
We are not machines, we can’t live up to their speed, we just can’t. But because we seem to be doing nothing else than to live with machines, from our coffee machine, to the payments in Tesco, or paying the Parking, pressing on a button to ask for a red traffic light, tap my Debit card or my Oyster, or paying council taxes over the phone, or a virtual sports coach on Wii, or my SMARTPHONE, we started ourselves expecting all the world to be a machine.
We see it in the way that we behave, in our lack of patience when waiting for something to be uploaded, or when the parking-machine doesn’t give the card back as quickly as we would have wanted to. Or when someone doesn’t pick up the phone and forgets to call us back. We become angry when people don’t get what we mean from the very first time.
In brief: The cult of speed made us believe that it is possible to achieve great things in the blink of an eye. It made us passive, because everything does it for us … but our brains suffer, they are overloaded, and stressed and all its symptoms seems to be taking over the world. Diabetes, heart disease, insomnia, indigestion, irritability and depression are but a few of these symptoms.
The lack of sleep can impair motor coordination, speech, reflexes and judgment. It made our children grow up faster than ever before. They are as busy as their parents, juggling diaries packed with everything from after school tutoring to piano lessons and sports. Yes, children as young as five are suffering to from upset stomachs, insomnia depression and eating disorders and teenage suicides are on the rise.
We have forgotten how to look forward to things and how to enjoy the moment when they arrive. We are multi tasking to gain time, while it only results in being less present in both of the things you are doing: 'Allah hasn’t placed two hearts in any persons chest.' (Quran, Ch.33, V.4)
Now I understand more than ever the words of Muhammad (s):
'Clemency is from God, while haste is from Satan.' (Sunan at-Tirmidzi, narration: 2012)
And all praise is due to God Almighty,
Sulayman Van Ael
Read: In Praise of Slow; how a worldwide movement is challenging the cult of speed, by Carl Honoré, Vintage Canada Edition, 2004, ISBN: 0-676-97573-9.
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