The Albaani Site

Shaikh Ali Hasan said, “The Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy upon him, called a carpenter to his house and requested that he change the side from which the door of his library opens from one side to the other!

So the carpenter responded, “From one side …” looking stunned, “… to the other?”  Trying to ascertain what use and benefit there would be in doing that.

So our Shaikh answered him saying, “When the door opens towards the left side then this increases the distance to my library by a number of steps!  And I go to the mosque [to pray] five times a day along with having to go out once or twice for household chores or for personal matters.  So how much of my time is wasted, when accumulated, as a result of all those extra steps which could be eliminated or reduced?

So when the opening of the door is changed from this side to that we can benefit from all of this lost time since it is so priceless and infinitely important.””

Su’aalaat of Ali Hasan al-Halabi, vol. 1, p. 38-39.