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Time management

إدارة الوقت

Time management as Tareq al-Suwaidan teaches it: four generations — the to-do list of non-repeated tasks in columns, then the weekly schedule by periods not hours, then priority-ranking with three to five circles, then the ordering of all of life; his rule that discretionary tasks are distributed one day ahead only, since the average person accomplishes half of what he plans.

Depth

At a glance

Region
Global / Diaspora
Review

Politics, governance and authority

Summary

Tareq al-Suwaidan orders the history of time management into four generations: the to-do list, where organising began around the nineteen-twenties and which remains its basis today, then scheduling, then prioritising, then the ordering of all of life — see Life management and choosing one's field 1 2.

The to-do list

A task board in columns — general calls, work calls, family and home, study or work, culture and activities, financial matters, and the year's goals carried over from ordering one's life — with one essential condition: only non-repeated items are written; recurring routines such as work hours and meals are left out 3 4 5.

The schedule

The proposed unit of work is the week, not the day or the month, and the day is divided into periods, not hours — he suggests the periods bounded by the prayers — unless one has an effective secretary managing appointments, in which case hours may be used 6 7 8. Filling begins with appointments one does not control — those bound to other parties like courses and doctors' times — then, from the to-do list, only tomorrow's tasks are picked; distributing tasks over more than a day is proven to fail since a person on average accomplishes half of what he plans in a day, and if one day slips the whole plan is not wrecked 9 10 11. He faults the old mechanical method — 'do such-and-such at such-and-such an hour' — which strips life of joy without proving effective 12 13.

Ranking priorities

The third generation is simpler than people imagine: three to five tasks in the to-do list — no more — are circled as the most important; when filling tomorrow's schedule one starts with them if possible; finished items are crossed out and new ones circled; and he warns to circle tasks from the 'year's goals' column lest they be deferred until the year ends undone 14 15 16. On the whole method he notes that prayer before, during and after planning is among the causes of blessing in time, success and inspiration 16 17.

People and things also explored

Ahl al-Diwan (those paid from the state register of soldiers and officers, and the rules of their conditions and distribution)· Ahl al-Hall wa al-Aqd (those who loose and bind: the men of power whose choice confirms the imam)· Ahl al-Mahalla (the people of a quarter, their imam, call to prayer, and their part in the oath and blood money where a body is found)· Islamic management· Experience versus service, and self-development· The nominal group technique· Leadership and the leader's six roles· Situational leadership

Sources

  1. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 5, at 01:26:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  2. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 5, at 01:27:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  3. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 5, at 01:27:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  4. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 5, at 01:29:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  5. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 5, at 01:30:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  6. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 5, at 01:35:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  7. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 5, at 01:36:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  8. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 5, at 01:36:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  9. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 5, at 01:37:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  10. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 5, at 01:40:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  11. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 5, at 01:41:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  12. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 5, at 01:42:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  13. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 5, at 01:43:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  14. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 5, at 01:44:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  15. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 5, at 01:45:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  16. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 5, at 01:46:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  17. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 5, at 01:46:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Time management”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/idarat-al-waqt/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-26.

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Ideas

Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words. Related

Ahl al-Diwan (those paid from the state register of soldiers and officers, and the rules of their conditions and distribution)

Diwan is a Persian loan-word meaning a collection of sheets and writings, in which the army and those given grants were written; for the jurists it is the register in which the names of those in state service who receive a stipend from the public treasury are recorded, and the office that keeps it. Umar ibn al-Khattab was the first to set up the diwan, according to two accounts. The people of the diwan are of several kinds: soldiers, on conditions that are regulatory, such as puberty, freedom, Islam, health and fitness for fighting; holders of office, such as governors, judges, scholars, collectors, imams and muezzins; and the needy. The Companions differed on preference in distribution: Abu Bakr and Ali made it equal, while Umar and Uthman preferred by precedence in Islam, and Umar added kinship to the Prophet; Abu Hanifa and Ahmad followed the latter view.