My Love/Hate relationship with TV

It really does seem to me that the TV is the easiest way to lose your imaan without you even noticing.

I don't have a satellite so I don't have Arabic or Islam channels on my TV, just the standard fare of comedy and drama channels. The problem is - once it goes on, it's difficult to turn off.  Drama series' are designed to make us want to tune in again and again.  If I switch it on, it generally stays on for the night. It's such a complete waste of time, and yet I love certain shows as much as the next person. I often think back to what culture must have been like when there was no TV. Perhaps that's why previous generations had more interest in their religion and in each other.

How much TV is too much TV? I don't know but I do know it shouldn't be the primary activity during free time.

If someone was to say 'I don't watch TV', they'd generally be met with stares of disbelief. Yet it's all too often we hear 'I don't read the Quran' and we could probably believe this easier. Isn't it a sad state of affairs?

I know in my own heart and soul from my experience, that the best way to Imaan is through the Quran, reading and learning - I can't read Arabic, so I read the English translation or the Tajweed version of the Arabic in Roman letters.  And yet all too often even my own Quran is left sitting on the coffee table while the TV remote is shiny from use. I know that on my dying day I will wish I had spent all the hours of watching TV doing something for my imaan and doing deeds that I'll be glad to hear about on the Day of Judgement.

Every minute the clock ticks by is a minute I'll never get back. And I have no idea how many minutes are left for me.

So here's to turning off the TV and opening the Quran.