Mufti Menk – Muharram & the New Year

			Al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil alameen
		

			wa sallahu wa Illa Allah volley mean What should I do Allah ilaha illallah wa de la sharika wa
shadow Mohammed Abu Hawa, Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi adjumani in my bed,
my beloved brothers and sisters, we have commenced the New Year 1442 We are in the month of Muharram
which is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is a month the name of which is very clear. It
has to do with something haram something prohibited. So, what is haram and why is this month called
Muharram? Let's take a look at what Allah subhanho wa Taala says in datashow de La Rochelle Raja fi
kita
		

			Yamaha La Paz
		

			Aruba, I'm in
		

			Rome, indeed the number of months in the eyes of Allah subhanho wa Taala is 12 the day that he
created the heavens and the earth. From Among them there are four that are Haram. haram meaning
prohibited. The Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him explains that the prohibition of commencing war,
the prohibition of killing things of causing harm, destruction, etc. These are sacred months. May
Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us protection. So if someone were to attack you during the months that
are known as an harem, and one might ask, Well, what are the other three Muharram is one of them.
Rajab is another one of them. And then you have vacated the anvil hedger, which are the two months
		

			preceding Muharram. So if someone were to attack you during those months, you're allowed to defend
yourself and to attack back, but you're not allowed to commence any form of disturbance or warfare.
Be alert and be awake more than other months. Make sure that you are at peace, not only with Allah
subhanho wa Taala but even with others, and make sure you go out of your way to achieve that. May
Allah subhanho wa Taala make it easy.
		

			Similarly, in this month, which is the first of the Islamic calendar, people generally look at
resolutions. And they ask themselves what should I be doing? It's the new year it's the end of the
previous year, etc. My brothers and sisters as Muslims were supposed to be making resolutions every
night, we're supposed to be renewing our vows to with Allah subhanho wa Taala every night, we're
supposed to be seeking forgiveness every night, we're taught to make sure when we go to bed, we make
peace with Allah subhanho wa Taala there is a supplication that you and I are supposed to be reading
before going to bed every night. And part of it is that Oh Allah, if you take my soul away in my
		

			sleep, then have mercy on it. And if you send it back, then meaning if you allow me to awaken in the
morning, then protect me in the same way that you protect the pious friends of yours or the pious
slaves of yours. From this supplication we do recognize and we should be recognizing that we have no
guarantee of waking up the following morning, we should be making peace with Allah subhanho wa Taala
every single day, seek forgiveness, promise Allah, you're going to be a better person. Never give
up. If you've fallen into sin again and again. You need to go back to Allah again and again and
again. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us a beautiful returning to him. So people sometimes only
		

			specify resolutions for the end of the year. That's not something that should be once a year. It
should be as I explained very often. Similarly, we also need to understand that the years are
clicking there or clicking away. They are ticking away. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us an
understanding we're becoming closer to the day we are going to be meeting with Allah subhanho wa
Taala.
		

			When we say 1442 Yes, we're excited that the years are passing, but we should also be
		

			equally concerned if not more about what we have done to present to Allah subhanho wa Taala the day
that he takes us away. What have I done? What have you done to present to Allah? Yeah, I you
		

			know,
		

			damnit Nevada, are you who believe be conscious of the Almighty develop the correct relationship
with Allah and each one of you should be looking into what you have prepared to hand in tomorrow
Subhan Allah tomorrow meaning when you meet with Allah, what are you going to give him all your
deeds you've done? Good news to those who are going to give a lot of esteem far or repentance or
Toba? Turning back to Allah seeking forgiveness from Allah. If you have a lot of that on your slate
and you're going to be presenting that to Allah. Good news to you. May Allah subhanho wa Taala
forgive us and grant us goodness, my brothers and sisters, the month of Muharram Yes, as much as it
		

			is the first month of the Islamic calendar, we need to realize it has a certain value.
		

			The Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam towards the end of his life used to fast a lot in
the month of Muharram. So while we do have the fasting of the 10 days of the ledger, which were the
first 10 days which we spoke about in the past, we do have the compulsory fasting of Ramadan. They
will hedger fasts are not compulsory, but they hold great value. The first of arafa holds great
value and the fasts of Muharram also hold great value with the 10th of Muharram being the peak of
these fasts Subhana Allah, so what exactly happened on the 10th of Muharram. When the Prophet
sallallahu Sallam came to Madina, munawwara he found that the Jewish community used to fast on the
		

			10th of Muharram. And when he inquired about it, he was told, this is the day that the Prophet Moses
May peace be upon him was saved from the Pharaoh, the day that Allah subhanho wa Taala caused the
pharaoh to die. If you take a look at that, my brothers and sisters,
		

			it was something very interesting. The Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him made a comment
immediately. He says, we should be following or we should be more happy about the saving of the
Prophet Moses May peace be upon him, then the Jews Subhana Allah, he's obviously a prophet of Islam.
And he's obviously one of the great five prophets that Allah subhanho wa Taala mentions in the
Koran. And he says we should be fasting as well. And in order to be slightly different, we're
encouraged to fast Today's the ninth and the 10th. So the 10th holds great value. The Prophet
Muhammad peace be upon him says, Whoever fasts on the 10th, perhaps their sins of this year would be
		

			forgiven, which means the previous year, the sins of the previous year would be forgiven here,
referring to the minus since they are forgiven. So let's try our best to fast on the 10th and to add
the ninth in order to be slightly different. So the 10th Yes, we should be fasting, the ninth we
should add it because that was the teaching of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him if for some
reason you can only fast the 10th It's fine. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us the ability to
fast both on the ninth and the 10th May Allah subhanho wa Taala make it easy for every single one of
us. However, this depicts the victory of the oppressed over the oppressor. It also depicts the
		

			defeat of the oppressor no matter how powerful he thinks he is. So we should be pondering for a
moment, and we should be thanking Allah and we should have hope in Allah. If someone has wronged
you. They've oppressed you. They've blackmailed you. They've done something they've usurped your
wealth they keep on harassing you, whatever else they may be doing. Remember, triumph will come.
Remember they will be defeated. Remember, Allah subhanho wa Taala is not oblivious of what is
happening. He knows and he is going to deal with the matter decisively.
		

			Musa alayhis salam, the Prophet Moses May peace be upon him and his people struggled for a long
time. But a day came when much to their disbelief. The Pharaoh was defeated, and he was defeated by
water Subhana Allah used water to drown him. And he was so strong, so powerful, yet he was defeated.
So those who are oppressed, don't worry. The day will come
		

			And it is coming and it's very near, when you will see victory by the will of Allah. Keep going,
don't give up. Don't lose hope in the mercy of Allah.
		

			Those who are oppressors. If you are harming others, you're not going to get away with it. You need
to seek forgiveness and make amends before a day comes similar to the day of around the day of car
on the day of Harmon and the day of obey even half. Those were the people who thought they would
never ever see any bad day, difficult day or a day of punishment, but they were punished in such a
way that there are examples are given to this day. So remember, they commence if you are doing wrong
to someone, whether it is in your family, whether it is your circle of friends, whether it is your
circle of acquaintances, or just a strange person, no matter what it is, if you are doing wrong,
		

			remember, you may get away for a little while. But Allah subhanho wa Taala is definitely not
oblivious of it. He is going to come and give triumph to those whom you have oppressed. May Allah
subhanahu wa taala grant us triumph over the oppressor may or may not defeat the oppressor. May
Allah subhanho wa Taala grant goodness to all those who are struggling across the globe. So it is
the season of triumph over the oppressor. Don't lose hope my brothers and sisters and let's fast in
order to celebrate in order to celebrate the successes, that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam
spoke about
		

			my brothers and sisters.
		

			There is another incident that occurred later on 50 years after the Prophet sallallahu alayhi
wasallam were in the grand son of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was martyred on this day
as well. And we are saddened by that. We do believe it was a disaster. It was something that should
never have happened. May Allah subhanho wa Taala May Allah subhanho wa Taala Have mercy on the
family of Rasulullah sallallahu sallam, every time we say his name, we actually say sallallahu
alayhi wa ala Lee May Allah subhanho wa Taala bless him and his entire family, his household his
companions, and we're including an Hussain Ali or the Allah one and Houma Actually, he is the son of
		

			one of the greatest of the Hollis, one of the four Abu Bakr Omar Osman ali ali Allahu anhu. May
Allah be pleased with them. So what do we learn from this? Firstly, we learn that sometimes
hypocrites make us fight amongst each other. And we're not supposed to be. People sometimes continue
to fight amongst each other as Muslims. Were saying the Shahada, we repeat a shadow Allah ilaha
illAllah, WA shadow, Mohammed and also law, but we fight each other. We're actually learning nothing
from what happened with Al Hussein, even the idea of the Allahu and Homer, we learned nothing about
from what happened on the 10th of Muharram. We learned nothing from what happened in our history,
		

			how the hypocrites made us fight and kill each other in the past. We should not do that my brothers
and sisters, if anything, the lesson is to make peace, to make peace, to be able to respect one
another, to be able to understand one another, to be able to teach one another with goodness, that
is a powerful lesson. So yes, we are saddened by what happened although
		

			the 10th of Muharram primarily is connected to what Allah subhanho wa Taala said to us, and what the
prophet muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said to us regarding the saving of the Prophet Moses
May peace be upon him, we do take less than by what happened thereafter. And we we do understand the
sadness that every one of us should be feeling. When we read the history of such incidents. May
Allah subhanho wa Taala never let them repeat. But my brothers and sisters The sad reality upon on
the globe today is we need a lot of correction, a lot of help in this regard. We really need to
understand each other better. We really need to know how to navigate through our differences of
		

			opinion. We need to know that difference of opinion does not necessarily mean that someone is your
enemy. We need to understand how to reach out to people with knowledge with education, and we need
to realize that guidance is in the hands of Allah subhanho wa Taala May Allah guide every one of us.
Some people believe that we're not allowed to get married in the month of Muharram because it is bad
luck. Unfortunately, that is totally baseless. Some people believe we're not allowed to wear any
good clothing, which is also baseless and some people believe the opposite, saying that we're
supposed to be
		

			Celebrating to the degree that we should be
		

			partying and so on on this day, that is also baseless. But rather it is more about the lesson. It is
more about the lessons that we should be learning. And yes, we are happy about the victory on one
hand of Musa alayhis salam. And at the same time, we should be learning lessons from what happened
like I said earlier, so my brothers and sisters, remember, when it comes to marriage, we should not
delay it. There is no month in the Islamic calendar wherein it is wrong or taboo to get married, or
there will be bad luck and so on. All those are actually statements of ignorance. May Allah subhanho
wa Taala grant us good guidance. So whether you marry in Muharram, or sofar, or a B and O and or
		

			Amazon, or we'll get the other ledger, my brothers and sisters, all those months are good for you to
get married in and for nikka to happen. Don't delay the nikka you don't know what tomorrow holds. So
fulfill that act of worship today or as soon as possible. Those who delay nikka unnecessarily are
responsible in the eyes of Allah subhanho wa Taala for encouraging that which is immoral, directly
or indirectly. May Allah subhanho wa Taala forgive us. So my brothers and sisters, some people don't
realize that in the month of Muharram, Allah subhanho wa Taala has ordained certain things. And
Allah subhanho wa Taala has chosen the month of Muharram for certain things. He calls it shahara
		

			Lai, and Mahara. In fact, it is called Chateau la Muharram. I cannot think of where Allah Himself
called each other light, but they say it is the month of Allah and Muharram Why do they say it's the
month of Allah? The best explanation is simple that it is the month from among the four that are
Haram. And I've explained that already, it is prohibited to commence warfare during these months.
And then there is another explanation that is probably not the most authentic, but it is there to
say the names of the months were all unchanged in Islam, except the month of Muharram. It had a
different name. According to some narrations. It used to be called suffer an hour. And the software
		

			that we know today was called suffer a Thani. And then when the months or when Islam came it gave it
the month moharram Subhana. Allah Mahara, so that could be also one of the reasons but it's very
interesting to note that all the other months were already named prior to Islam including Ramadan,
it was called Ramadan, and it was named after the severe heat, the intense heat will hit j was also
named will hate jab before Islam, because people used to make Hajj during that time, but a slightly
different type of hygiene. And later on, it became filled with paganism. May Allah subhanho wa
Taala, grant us protection and a good understanding. So my brothers and sisters, I encourage you to
		

			fast during this month, more so on the 10th of Muharram. Try not to miss that it's actually a very
powerful fast. It would expiate the sins, the minor Sins of the previous year. Remember to add to it
the ninth at least. And then we have the sooner of fasting every Monday and Thursday. And then we
have the sooner of fasting on the 13th 14th and 15th of the lunar calendar. And all that would bring
about a lot of goodness, and a lot of reward. I want to end by saying, my brothers and sisters.
Let's make resolutions on a daily basis. And let's look into the resolutions we've made and see how
best were practicing upon them. Let's see how best we're actually fulfilling them. Remember, if you
		

			have bad habits, this is the time to quit those bad habits, looking at the Coronavirus. Many people
said those who have not given up their habits of smoking. Be shisha Be it anything else. Those who
had habits stuff in a law that may have been totally haram such as alcohol and and consumption of
intoxicants and drugs and so on. They were more prone and are more prone to struggle and suffer more
with this disease. Many have actually lost their lives. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us the
ability to take our health seriously and not for granted. And we need to make resolutions the beauty
of these resolutions in Islam, the ones connected to your health, you would get a reward and at the
		

			same time you would earn good health. So if you're making a resolution, I'm going to take care of my
body this time. We'll llahi that body was given to you by others.
		

			And it's going to be taken away. So if you're looking after something Allah has entrusted you with
for a while you would be earning a reward for it. So let's go for it my brothers and sisters, may
Allah subhanho wa Taala bless every one of us. So we take that seriously, those of us who have bad
habits, we should be quitting them. Those of us who are weak in fulfilling our duties, be strong,
this could be your last year, you may not see the end of the year SubhanAllah. So let's be strong in
our obligations, what are the obligations? Well, primarily to worship Allah alone to follow in the
footsteps of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, we have the five daily prayers we need to be very
		

			strong with. We have the modesty in our dress, we need to keep improving. Don't go backwards, go
forward. Don't go backwards, go forward. If Allah has blessed you to be able to cover modestly cover
more modestly as time passes don't start covering in an in meaning, immodestly
		

			May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us a lesson. It's something we need to remind ourselves, we need
to remind each other about male and female. And then we have those who need to fulfill their duties
unto Allah, you know, fasting in the month of Ramadan, if you've been weak or law II that is a
serious one. We need to make sure we strengthen ourselves. Those who have not been paying their
soccer correctly. May Allah strengthen everyone. Those who haven't been for hygiene yet they can
afford the trip and they are supposed to be going. Make your intentions. Allah Subhana Allah to
Allah gather us in his obedience in this world, and may He gather us in the companionship of
		

			Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in the hereafter akula Kali hada or sallallahu wasallam Allah
wa barik ala nabina Muhammad