Zinaid Abu Naser

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Alhmadulillaah,

Fellow Muslims! Never lose hope that what you have done is too much, and that you can not turn over a new leaf and become a better person now, today and tomorrow. Intention and sincerity are the best friends of one another.

There are indeed blessings in the movement of days and nights. Allah says,

“And He has made the sun and the moon, both constantly pursuing their courses, to be of service to you; and He has made the night and the day, to be of service to you. And He gave you of all that you asked for, and if you count the Blessings of Allah, never will you be able to count them. Verily! Man is indeed an extreme wrong-doer, a disbeliever (an extreme ingrate).” (Surah Ibrahim 14:33-34)

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

“There are two blessings about which many people are deceived: good health and free time.”

Fellow Muslims! We have bidden farewell to another year of our lives in which we have done many deeds that will be shown to us on the Day or Resurrection. Many days have passed and many loved ones have died. Many sins we have committed day and night. The Prophet said,

“People wake up in the morning and they bargain with their souls. There are among them those who buy freedom for their souls and there are others who sell theirs unto destruction.”

Brethren in faith! In life, pains turn to happiness and prosperity turns to misery. Days and nights move but it is only the wise who derives lessons from that. Allah says,

“Allah causes the night and the day to succeed each other (i.e. if the day is gone, the night comes, and if the night is gone, the day comes, and so on). Truly, in these things is indeed a lesson for those who have insight.” (Surah Al Nur 24:44)

The old year has now gone with the deeds of men and these deeds will be shown to them on the Day of Resurrection. Allah says,

“On that Day man will be informed of what he sent forward (of his evil or good deeds), and what he left behind (of his good or evil traditions).” (Surah Al Qiyamah 75:13)

Dear brother! Take an investigating look at your past days: What have you provided for your Hereafter in them? Examine yourself stringently for this. Maymun bin Mihran said, “The man cannot become pious until he holds himself accountable as he would his business partner.”

The rightly guided person is therefore the one who examines and blames himself for his shortcomings and then mends his ways. Lack of self-examination is not a good thing for a Muslim. For the disbelievers caused perdition to themselves because they never thought that there was someone watching them. Allah says,

“For truly, they used not to expect any reckoning.” (Surah Al Naba’ 78:27)

Seeing one’s faults prevents one from going astray. And knowing that one’s end is the grave makes one become humble to Allah and prevents ostentation. Abu Darda said:

“The Muslim cannot have proper understanding of Islam until he criticizes people for the sake of Allah and criticizes himself more.”

Dear brother! When you sit with people, admonish yourself. People watch your outward deeds but Allah watches your inner deeds. Whoever reforms his inward traits through self-examination and sincerity, Allah will adorn his outward deeds with success.

Constant remembrance of Allah’s right upon man and His great blessings makes man bows his head for Allah as it makes him recognise his weaknesses. It also let him know that there is no salvation except by obeying Allah and that He should be obeyed and thanked. A scholar said,

“The first step in self-examination is to compare Allah’s blessings to your sins. Then it will be clear to you that you can never escape from His punishment except by His mercy only.”

Malik bin Dinar said,

“May Allah bless a man who tells his soul: ‘Are you not the perpetrator of so and so sins?’ And he then reproaches his soul and forces it to abide by the Book of Allah.”

The most harmful thing that a legally responsible Muslim can do to himself is to abandon self-examination and to indulge in lusts until he perishes. This is actually the situation with those who are deceived by the beauties of this world and depend on Allah’s forgiveness without making any repentance or abandoning the sins. Allah says,

“O man! What has made you careless about your Lord, the Most Generous?” (Surah Al Infitar 82:6)

Al-Hasan Al-Basri said,

“A believer should admonish himself and say: ‘What do I intend by the word I utter? What do I intend by the food I eat?’ As for a disbeliever, he does never admonish himself. But the Muslim should always be a watcher over himself.”

Allah says,

“Verily, those who are the pious, when an evil thought comes to them from Satan, they remember (Allah), and (indeed) they then see (aright).” (Surah Al A‘raf 7:201)

Whoever calls himself to account in this world will have easier reckoning on the Day of Resurrection and whoever does not call himself to account in this world will have a difficult reckoning in the Hereafter.

Beware of falling into sins, for keeping away from sins is easier than seeking for forgiveness. Days of this world are few and you do not know when you will die.

Ask yourself about what you have done in the previous year and ask yourself about what you have provided for the coming year.

‘Umar (RA) said: “Call yourselves to reckoning before you are called to reckoning.”

May Allah allow us to become the people we wish our children to be. We ask Allah for the best in the dunya and theAkhira.

والله تعالى أعلم

وصلى اللهم وسلم وبارك على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه والتابعين

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