Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
1- In the West as well as in the East, Muslims should train themselves to better manage their time as we are all responsible before Allah for wasting our time.
2- It is particularly important during the summer holidays that the Muslim utilizes his time well.
3- Naturally, if a Muslim does not busy himself with useful activities, he is prone to waste his time in trivial matters that divert him from the straight path.
In his response to the question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic Scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
Summer is a great opportunity for Muslims of all ages and both sexes to do all sorts of beneficial activities: physical, intellectual, and spiritual.
Remember, Islam wants us to develop our bodies, minds, and souls. One of the best ways of using the summer is to organize more outdoor dawah activities and educational camps where we integrate a three-fold program geared towards building strong Islamic personality. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said: “A strong believer is superior to a weak believer, even though there is some good in everyone.” (Muslim)
Let me list a few activities that we may pursue during summer:
1- Organize outdoor camps for the youth where they will be exposed to activities that will foster their bodies, minds, and spirits.
2- Organize voluntary activities in the community regardless of religion or race.
3- Take the initiative to organize open houses in mosques and Islamic centers in order to expose our non-Muslim neighbors to the positive sides of Islam.
4- Families should use the opportunity to foster their family bonds by organizing family rituals such as eating together, or going for a walk or hiking, et cetera.
5- Last but not least, make use of summer to organize accelerated courses to learn about Islam from different aspects, including the Shari`ah, ethics and Islamic intellectual traditions.
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.