Ali Albarghouthi – The New Year – Let Us Aspire to Be Better
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AI: Transcript ©
Muhammad insallallahu
alayhi wasallam.
We finished
the month of Dhul Hijjah
and started
that of Muharram.
And Muharram is the last month of the
3 consecutive
sacred months,
Dhul Qaida, Dhul Hijjah, and Muharram.
And it is also the start of the
new Hijri year.
And the passage of time,
especially
those noteworthy
moments
of transition.
When we start Ramadan and end it, when
you begin a'id
and celebrate it,
when you begin
a year
or concluded.
These are all opportunities
for the believer,
the insightful, the wise,
everyone
to take note of what is happening,
to reflect,
and to learn something from it.
And not let the passage of time
be
something that goes by without
some type of recognition,
some type of reminder, some type of
change. Allah
This is He who had made day and
night to alternate
so that those who wanna remember will remember
and those who wanna be thankful can be
thankful.
They alternate, but they don't just simply alternate
and they follow each other. They are very
different from each other so that you would
see Allah's power
during the night and not miss Allah's power
during the day.
And the difference
and the opposite qualities that they have enabled
you to see
and change
and deposit in each what is suitable to
them,
to be awakened by them. So when you
see, for instance, the alternation of winter and
summer,
you don't just simply witness
a change in temperature
and a change in weather,
but rather you realize something far beyond what
you see,
which is the creator that made this possible,
and then you will react to that change.
So when it is hot, you don't simply
just complain about the heat, but it reminds
you
on any
hot summer day
of the heat of hellfire.
That is if it is too hot for
you to be standing out side for 5
minutes under direct sunlight.
Imagine the scene on the day of judgment
when the sun would draw so near,
I'm
Imagine the scene in hellfire
and then ask yourself, if I cannot tolerate
or withstand the sun during the summer,
how do I propose
to tolerate
the heat of * fire?
So that
a physical reminder from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
which is sometimes
stronger and more potent than anything that you
will hear on the minbar
because this is something that your skin
feels, your body feels. You see, that's a
reminder from Allah, aasawajal.
I seek Allah's refuge from hellfire.
That's how you react to it. Not simply
just complain that it is hot, and you
rush, and you take shelter. But even as
you take shelter,
The prophet
when he would finish eating, he would say,
Alhamdulillah,
I thank the one who gave us food
and drink and shelter
and satisfied us.
How many
people
live without shelter and in deficiency?
So when you drink this water, you will
say,
that Allah gave this. And you get yourself
used to saying,
for every niyama that you receive because that
is the type of living
that is aware of what is happening,
not raflah
not raflah.
Allah
forbid raflah in attentiveness.
He said
Do not be among the inattentive,
the heedless,
the unaware,
those who go through life asleep.
They're awake when it comes to the duniya,
but found asleep when it comes to the
akhira.
Allah
said,
He says they know superficial
things about the dunya,
but they are unaware and inattentive
to the akhira and its affairs.
If you were to come to one of
them and ask them about the stock market,
they will tell you.
If you were to tell them about the
latest political happenings, they will tell you. If
you were to tell them, ask them about
the latest sale, the best deal, they will
tell you this is.
That is superficial knowledge.
You don't understand what is happening around you
and the deep impact
and the lessons that Allah wants from you.
But then when you ask them about the
akhira, they know less and less about it
and they are very ignorant.
So if Allah Azzawajal
asked us in the Quran
He says, do you believe that we have
created you for nothing,
for play,
uselessly,
with no purpose?
And that you that you shall not return
to us?
If we were to ask this to any
Muslim, what would they say verbally?
Did Allah create you without a purpose?
If you at least know some basics in
Islam, they'll say, no. Allah created us for
what?
For his
or
the Ibadity.
That's a verbal answer.
Now does your life reflect that answer?
That is if you were to answer this
through your life, not with what you have
memorized,
now that what would do, what you have
learned to repeat when you're asked questions.
But if your life were to be the
answer and Allah ask you,
did we create you for nothing,
for play?
That is did I create you
to collect money
and simply get married and have children and
grow your business? Did I create you to
shop
or to be entertained
or wander aimlessly without any purpose
and waste your life?
Did I create you for this?
What would your life say?
And of course, it's legitimate for you to
earn a living, and you should get married,
and you should have children.
But when that is your sole focus and
when you exaggerate the permissible
at the expense of the original reason why
Allah created
you. So you look at your day and
there is no remembrance of Allah. There's no
awareness of Him. There's no proximity to Him.
You don't thank Him. You don't seek Allah's
forgiveness.
You don't try to please him. You worry
about the dunya and mostly about the dunya,
not the akhira. And we're all are sound
asleep. And the time passes, and it keeps
passing, and then all of a sudden you
wake up and you say to yourself, where
did my twenties go? And where did my
thirties go? And how am I 40 now?
How am I 50 now? How am I
60 now?
And what are you gonna say to Allah
on the day of judgment?
Yeah, Allah. I was unaware. I didn't know.
And he tells you in the Quran
Because I've sent you these reminders and I've
told you about things so that you will
not say on the day of judgment, we
were not aware of this.
This is not gonna be an excuse before
him. Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And you don't wanna be a person who
when they wake up,
they wake up in the next life, not
here.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said,
He said, Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
and Jahannam will be brought
closer to them so they could see it.
It is on that day when a human
being will say,
I have I'm up I've awaken. I now
remember. Now I know.
It is on that day they will remember,
but that's not the time for them to
remember Allah said.
That's too late.
He will say then I wish I have
done something for this life of mine,
Invested something in the dunya for the sake
of the akhir. I wasted all of it.
You look at your day. How much of
your day is for Allah Azza wa Jal
and how much of your day is against
him?
Against him.
Then Allah said, on
that day no one will punish as much
as Allah will.
No one can
and no one will tie people up and
shackle them as much as Allah will.
He said,
and on the day of judgment there is
severe punishment that is waiting but also forgiveness
from Allah and pleasure but this life is
only the joy of the deluded
of people
who think that they will live forever.
So as this time passes, you say to
yourself,
what did I deposit
in my book of records
that will come to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala?
What was my last year like?
It's important to stop and pause like this.
What was my
last week like?
Was it a good week or a bad
week?
What was last month like? Was it a
good month or a bad month? And if
it is a bad month then you know
what to do.
You say to yourself, I'll ask Allah to
forgive me and you start doing that
and you try to find ways to overcome
those mistakes.
And if it was a good month, you
praise Allah for it and you say,
let me try to enhance it so that
I could be even closer to Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala but you have to stop and
pause and ask these questions.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala said,
Oh you who have iman, have taqwa of
Allah
and be aware of what you are doing
for tomorrow.
Consider what you are doing for tomorrow.
Think about it. Plan for
it. And then if you do that, you're
likely to change because of it.
And Umar ibn Khattab said,
He said, radiAllahu
Anhu, he said,
hold yourself accountable before you are being held
accountable
and weigh yourself,
meaning judge yourself before you're going to be
judged
and prepare yourself for the day of the
greatest presentation.
On that day you will be presented, nothing
hidden of yours will be
hidden anymore.
He said, Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, he says even
what is in your heart will be brought
up,
will be public.
Allah will hold you responsible for if it's
like that.
How do you imagine yourself surviving on that
day if you don't prepare for it right
now and each day that passes and each
month and each year that passes is an
opportunity for you to stop and review what
you have been doing so far.
And it's a good strategy to remember the
following hadith of the Prophet Alaihi Salatu Wasallam
when one of the Sahaba came and asked
him. He said, You Rasulullah
He said, O Messenger of Allah,
advise me. He says
He says, have taqah of Allah wherever you
may be.
He
said, O Messenger of Allah, give me more.
He
said He said follow a bad deed with
a good deed and it will erase it.
He said, oh messenger of Allah give me
another advice.
He says act with kindness
and with good character with 2 people.
That is a good strategy to keep in
mind
going forward.
If you are dissatisfied
with your life
and it's good for you to look at
2 things,
your early aspirations
and your goals as you think you are
departing this life.
When you were young, what did you want
to be?
Is this the kind of person, and I'm
not really much talking about worldly accomplishments, they
come and they go.
But are you happy with the person that
you are right now relative to what you
thought you were gonna be?
And if not, it is never too late.
Are you happy with the person that you
are compared to where you wanna be later
on?
When you are 60, when you are 70,
when you are 80 before your death, is
this the type of person that you wanna
be
to achieve that?
If not, then you ask yourself,
can I change?
And if you have an intent and you
rely on Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
adopt this
Masjid, outside the Masjid with family, away from
family. Allah is watching you
and Allah will guide you.
And because we know that we must fail,
he said
in the next advice and follow a bad
deed with a good deed and it will
erase it.
So it doesn't really matter
if you fail.
It doesn't really matter if you forget. What
matters is what do you do once you
remember?
What do you do once that sin is
over?
Don't just simply say Astaghfirullah
or from people even simply fail to say
Astaghfirullah.
No. Astaghfirullah
is important.
But then you do something good to counterbalance
the bad that you have done.
There are salah that you can pray, There
is salakah that you can give. There is
dua, there is tahajjud, there is helping people
but you move positively
as you have moved negatively.
You move closer to Allah as you had
moved further away from Him. So you follow
a bad with a good and it does
not stay bad anymore. It gets erased.
And if you continue to do this, you
will be a better Muslim, a better human
being.
But you have to be aware of what
is happening to you
and aware of the passage of time. And
then He said, Alaihi Salatu Wasallam,
and have good character.
Be kind.
Have sublime attitudes.
And I want you to imagine yourself as
you go through life
in dealing with people
as if you are representing
no one else but Muhammad alayhi salatu wa
sallam. When you're driving,
when you're driving
It doesn't matter how other people around you
misbehave.
Now, if Muhammad alaihi wasallam
is sitting in the passenger seat, how would
you drive?
Talking about character.
If somebody wrongs you,
how would you respond?
If somebody insults you, what would you say?
If you have a piece of trash in
your hand, would you throw it and litter
or would you keep it
and deposit it properly?
Character
as you leave the Masjid.
Our Ibadah is not just simply what you
do in the salah.
It's how you step outside, how you shove
or you don't shove people, how you are
patient with them though there are many reasons
for you not to be patient they are
rough
but you are patient with them.
How you are with your family,
how you are with your kids,
how you hold yourself to a standard and
say, I'm not going to stoop to people's
level, I'm going to raise them up with
me.
So plan for your next year.
We ask Allah
to make us of those who learn the
lessons of their past
and who have a better future
than what have they experienced before.
No one can improve except by first relying
on Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
2nd, by truly wishing that thing and having
intention to be better.
3rd, and that is an important one,
an intention or a wish will only remain
abstract until you
plan.
How is it that you want to be
better?
If you are distant from Allah's book
then plan to be closer but then plan
a daily regiment
not just simply Insha'Allah I'll read the Quran.
How is this gonna happen?
Is then you say to yourself every day
I will read this portion at this day
and by the end of the week, by
the end of the month that will be
that my final result
and then you hold yourself responsible,
accountable for your successes and failures and you
improve on that.
If you say yourself that I wanna be
give more tzedakah, how will you do that?
So you plan and say I'm gonna give
on these days this amount and then you
check with yourself to see what you have
done. I'm gonna do night prayer. I'm gonna
stay away from that sin. How are you
gonna stay away from that sin? How will
Allah help you with it? So you plan
and say I'm gonna stay away from these
people and from that location and from these
thoughts and I will do the opposite so
that I occupy my time.
And the gifts that Allah had given me
with what pleases Him not the opposite. So
plan for it and if you fail no
matter, it doesn't really matter,
you come back again
and you try harder
and you erase that sin with the good
that you are doing and as long as
you are striving Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will
count you among those who are in jihad.
And Allah promise to guide you if your
jihad is for Allah's sake.
So don't give up on yourself.
Don't be satisfied with your life.
Don't be, don't give up because of your
mistakes or your past life. It doesn't matter.
A person can accept
Allah Azzawal moments before his death and die
a righteous death and they end up in
heavens because of the choice they make.
And that could be our choice.
And some
are part of the things that we want
to embrace is
the fasting of the day of Ashura.
So the day of Ashura,
the prophet alaihis salatu wasallam used to fast
it, commanded or recommended
its fast
And he said that it will forgive the
sins of the past year.
So this is
a golden opportunity for us to seize
the sins of a past year.
You want to start new.
You want to feel refreshed.
You want to do something to combat all
the bad things that we accumulate. Here is
your opportunity
and you consider yourself like a soldier
in the army of Muhammad alaihis salatu wa
sallam waiting to hear the command of
come forward.
And when you hear that command you don't
hesitate
and that command is here is the day
of Ashura that is gonna come and you
respond. You say that is my time
and how beautiful
it would be when you see scores and
scores of Muslims. Whenever they hear about a
good deed they all rush and they do
it. All of us.
That's how we change
individually and collectively.
And you can fast the day of Ashura
on its own. Just the 10th day of
Muharram, that's it. You can add to it
the 9th also, that's part of the sunnah
of the prophet alaihi salatu wa sallam. But
if you miss the 9th, if you cannot
do the 9th, you can do the 10th
alone.
And when we do it,
we do it in gratitude to Allah azza
wa'l seeking his forgiveness and at the same
time aware of the bidaz
of Ashura,
the bida of making it
a day of sorrow
and the Bida'a of,
as some people do,
cooking special food or desserts on that day.
It's neither this nor that
but we do it or observe it or
we fasted the way that Muhammad Alaihi Salatu
Wasallam did. We don't do anything extra.
And we know that any exaggeration
is hateful to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
It's not a day of mourning
or hitting yourself
or injuring yourself and your family.
And we say this is a major sin.
This is a bidad that Allah azza wa
Jal punishes for.
We declare ourselves innocent
of that or anyone who follows that path
and we invite them all to go back
to the way that Muhammad alaihi sallahu alaihi
wasallam and the righteous Khalifa
and early Muslims
observed that day
and to let go of that innovation.
The best
are those who follow his example alayhi salatu
wassalam not who deviate from it.
So let the advent
of Muharram
be
a opportunity
for us to be better
and believe in Allah Azza wa Jal's power
to transform.
So as you transition into a different month
let us also transition into better Muslims and
better human beings.
We ask Allah
to give us
power against and over our sins.
We ask him
to forgive us all of our sins,
the major and the minor,
those that we remember and those that we
forgot about. We ask him Rubal Alameen
to renew Iman in our hearts.
You Allah increase Iman in our hearts. Make
us of those who are very close and
dear to you and protect us from the
evil of ourselves You Rabbal Alemeen and the
temptations of this world and the whispers of
the Shaytan.
Protect us from Ghafla in attentiveness
and make us of those who remember you
often day and night. You Allah we ask
you that you preserve our Iman and the
Iman of our spouses and the Iman of
our children and families and our community.
We ask you that you preserve the Ummah
of Muhammad alaihi salatu wasallam.
You Allah come to the aid of weak
Muslims throughout the world. You Allah defend them
against their enemies. You Allah feed them and
protect them and clothe them, accept the dead
among them as martyrs. You Allah heal their
sick. You Allah take care of their orphans
and widows. You Allah make them of those
who champion them and come to their rescue.