Your Eyes, Your Time, Your Mind: All on Record

DAILYREFLECTION

Imagine a company giving you every tool to succeed: a laptop, resources, mentorship, and a mission. You’d expect to be held accountable for how you used them, right?

But what if the One who provided wasn’t a company, but the Creator?
What if the tools weren’t temporary perks, but eyes that see, ears that hear, and a mind that can discern right from wrong?

We didn’t apply for this position. We were appointed  as vicegerenst on earth. And with that appointment came the greatest resources imaginable:
vision, intellect, emotions, time, health, and choice. Gifts so powerful that no paycheck, no title, no empire could ever match them.

You can give two people the same resources, the same health, intelligence, and opportunity, and one uses them to create value, to build, to uplift, while the other wastes them on vanity and distraction.

Our faculties are far more powerful than any worldly tool; their capacity for knowledge, for goodness, for transformation is nearly limitless. So maximizing these gifts isn’t optional. It’s a duty.

On the Day of Judgment, those same gifts will speak. When we misuse what belongs to an employer, we expect consequences. Yet how often do we misuse what belongs to Allah, our sight, our speech, our time, and feel no urgency to make amends?

The reality is: these gifts are not ours to own.
They are amānah, trusts.
And one day, every trust will speak its truth. So before your limbs bear witness against you, let them bear witness for you.

Use your eyes to reflect, not just consume.
Use your tongue to heal, not harm.
Use your hands to give, not take.
Use your mind to remember the Giver, not the gift.

Because everything you have today, the very body you call “mine”, is already preparing its testimony.

And when the hearing begins,
may every part of you say,
“He used me in the service of the One who made me.”

REFLECT ON THIS:

Which faculty of yours, sight, speech, hands, or mind, needs the most conscious realignment toward Allah today?

^{Share your reflections in the poll at the end of the email.}

WATERMELONWATCH

• Israeli airstrikes kill 25 Palestinians in Gaza in four separate strikes, including in Gaza City’s Zeitoun suburb, Shejaia and Khan Younis. The attacks came amid the fragile ceasefire, with no Israeli casualties reported.

• Gaza storms bring flooding and sewage misery to tent camps as heavy rain destroyed tens of thousands of tents and ruined food and medicines; still, many displaced families are sharing what little shelter and resources they have, showing resilience despite severe conditions.

• Humanitarian aid scales up across the enclave: on 17 November over 1.4 million meals were delivered, thousands of tents and relief items were distributed, and over 3,600 pallets of aid crossed into Gaza, illustrating strong logistic efforts even as needs remain vast.

• The UN Security Council adopted a U.S.-draft resolution endorsing the post-war Gaza plan that includes an international stabilization force, while Israeli leadership called for the expulsion of Hamas from the region, a sharp sign the diplomatic phase is accelerating though many Palestinians remain deeply sceptical.

• Water services resume after staff release in a positive step: the desalination-plant company serving over 1 million people recommenced operations once a detained staff member was released, boosting access to clean water amid infrastructure collapse.

QURANCORNER

Each day, you’ll be introduced to one of the 300 most common Qur’anic words. The Qur’an has about 77,430 words in total, all built on just 2,000 root words. By learning these frequently recurring ones, you’ll recognize 70–80% of the Qur’an’s vocabulary and begin connecting more deeply as you read.

Hiya (هِيَ) — She / It

Hiya may be soft on the tongue, but in the Qur’an, it points to realities that are anything but small. Hiya al-jannah, it is Paradise. Hiya al-ḥayāt ad-dunya, this worldly life. Whether it refers to something fleeting or eternal, hiya draws attention, invites reflection, and calls us to ask: what is “she”? and what truly lasts?