Sikander Hashmi – Optimism & The Passage of Time KMA Friday Message
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Mohammad.
Respected elders,
dear brothers and sisters, my young friends,
I hope that you are all doing well
by the mercy of Allah
and I ask Allah
to keep you all safe
and to grant a speedy recovery to all
of our brothers and sisters
who are currently ill.
My brothers and sisters,
a week ago tonight,
the world
welcomed
the Gregorian year 2022
with a lot of fanfare.
So if you saw the coverage
around the world now, you know, even Muslim
countries,
is, you know, a lot of fanfare. Right?
A lot of lights,
fireworks,
and partying, all types of stuff that happens.
Now as we know my brothers and sisters,
celebrating the passage of time
is something that is not from the way
of the prophet
and our pious predecessors.
Simply celebrating the passage of time
that some time has passed,
that is this is not something that we
find
from the way of
and nor from the way of our pious
predecessors.
Because the passage of time
and the new years
are simply a reminder
for us
that our clock
is ticking.
Our clock
is
ticking
towards
0 hour.
Our clocks are ticking towards 0 hour. And
what is 0 hour?
For us, when we return to Allah
It is taking towards that every single set
second that passes
is bringing us one second closer to that
time that Allah
has written.
And 0 hour for this duniya.
And actually for this entire universe,
which is when it is going to expire
where when Allah
has determined has has set that it is
to expire.
Now, of course, that doesn't mean that we
never celebrate or that we don't have any
moments of happiness. We do.
But they're meant to be more meaningful
than just the changing of a digit
in the current year,
which is a system that human beings have
developed to keep track of years.
Now the 12 months of the year, they
have been ordained by Allah
The 12 Islamic months,
in So the 12 months of the year
have been ordained by Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
But the system to keep track of the
years this has been devised by human beings.
Whether it is the Hegirae year or whether
it is the Gregorian year or whether it
is the Chinese year or the Hebrew year,
these have been developed by human beings simply
to keep track of
years.
In the Islamic calendar, we have just entered
into
or
which
means that next is Rajab
and then and then Ramadan.
So there are less than 90 days remaining
until we welcome the month of Ramadan.
And
it is likely to coincide with the month
of April. So if you need to book
time off, if you need to look at
your schedule and the timings for iftar and
for suhoor and all of those things, this
is the time to do it because we
have less than 3 months to go until
the month of Ramadan.
Now going back to the new Gregorian year,
we find
sentiments
that express anger or displeasure
towards 2020
and 2021
for being bad years
because of the pandemic.
And people express hopes
that 2022
will bring goodness.
My brothers and sisters, it is important to
remember
that a period of time
or time itself
has no bearing
on good or harm.
Abu Huraira radiAllahu anhu says,
that I heard messenger of
Allah
say,
That
the
child
of Adam
curses or bad mouths the
which
is the time,
whereas I am
a since in my hand are the day
and the night. Now, Imam Anaw
and that is reported by my Muslim
Imam
Anau
he says He explains that the Arabs used
to curse time.
The Arabs
used to curse time when death
When disasters such as death, or old age
or loss of money and so on happened.
What would they do? They would curse time.
They would say,
that woe be to time.
Woe to time. And other phrases,
cursing or conveying against time.
So the prophet
said,
that do not curse or complain against time
because Allah
is time, meaning do not invade against the
one who brings about these disasters
for that will be directed towards Allah
because time in and of itself has no
control or power over these things. So if
you are complaining or if you are cursing
against time
because of these hardships that have come, indirectly,
you're actually doing that to Allah For
he is the one who causes them to
happen.
Now time,
means
Time, which cannot do anything in and of
itself for it is just one of the
things that have been created
by Allah
The fact that 2022
has started off with yet
another period
of COVID restrictions
doesn't mean that 2022
has brought hardship
and difficulty
or that it is a bad sign
of a difficult year to come.
Said the messenger of Allah
said
that
superstitious belief in omens
is
a form of shirk.
It is shirk, meaning ascribing partners to Allah
The word because the prophet said, a to
shirk. So
is derived from
which refers to
superstition about anything,
whether it is something that is seen or
heard or a time or a place.
You know, people many people have different types
of superstitions, and we've talked about that before.
Right? Something happens, certain time comes. It's Friday
13th
or, you know, a black cat passes in
front of them or something happens. There's different
different things. Right? Somebody's toes big toe is
shorter than his his second toe.
So now he's gonna have bad luck in
his marriage. Like, you know, they come up
with these weird things,
you know. So people have various types of
superstitious beliefs. So the prophet
has told us
that to have superstitious
beliefs and omens
is shirk.
And this is derived from the which is
referring to
any type of
superstition about something bad that is seen or
heard or a time or a place. And
Imam Anawi also says
that tatayor
belief in bad omens
is
pessimism.
It is negative. It is pessimism
and is based on something disliked, be it
a word or action or something seen. Now
the prophet
on the other hand, my brothers and sisters,
was optimistic.
He taught us
that it is permissible
to take good omens,
meaning
to become optimistic
and hopeful from good names or from good
words or good signs, but not the opposite.
So if there is something positive that inspires
us
and increases
our positivity and our optimism
and
our faith in Allah
in expecting good from Allah
then there is nothing wrong with that. But
the opposite is not true.
So we cannot take something and take it
as a bad sign.
Right?
Something which is unrelated.
Right? That doesn't have cause and effect and
say that, oh, this is a sign that
this is going to be bad.
Right? Now, of course, if something,
you know, is, is related,
has cause and effect relationship, then it's different.
Right? You start off with a new job
and then, of course, you know, your boss
is bothering you for the 1st week and
you have stress and you have headaches and
you're in a bad mood the whole time,
and then you're worried about how this job
is gonna go. Okay. That's different because there's
cause and effect. It's related.
Right? But here, there's no cause and effect.
You see, okay. Something happened in the beginning
of the year, so now it means that
the whole year is going to be bad.
So this is not
from the way of the Muslims. This is
not the way of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
The prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was optimistic. He
was positive. And at the sight of the
new moon as an example of the lunar
month, of course, the prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
used to make dua. Dua.
And there's actually many different narrations, different wordings
that have been narrated from the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasallam.
In this particular one, he's making dua, oh,
Allah.
Let this moon appear on us with security
and iman,
with safety and Islam. And then he addresses
the moon, and he says, oh, moon, your
rub and mine is Allah. Your rub and
my rub is Allah. Your lord and my
lord is Allah, and then he makes the
dua that may this moon be bringing guidance
and good. So the prophet
is making dua to Allah
using it as an opportunity
to return to Allah and ask for goodness.
And Abu
Dhabi Al Hasham
reports
that
the would learn
the following dua for the new month or
when the new hijri year would begin, they
would say
That, oh, Allah,
grant us enter
allow us to enter into this year with
safety,
with iman,
with,
with with security, with safety, with iman,
and the pleasure
of the ar Rahman, with the pleasure of
Allah.
Right? And seeking protection against
Shaitan, seeking distance
from Shaitan. So
these are duas that we should ask Allah
regularly. Right? There's, of course, and duas for
the morning and the evening as well, asking
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for goodness of whatever
he has written in this day and protection
against whatever he has written bad for us
in this day and similarly seeking goodness of
the night, whatever he has written in that
night and seeking protection against
whatever harm he has written for us in
the night. May Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, forgive
us and protect us and grant us strength,
safety, and happiness with perfect iman on each
day and each month and each year of
our
lives. My brothers and sisters, a couple of
weeks ago, we received the sad news of
the passing of our dear elder, brother Abdul
Hafiz Chaudhry,
who just lived very, nearby, and he was,
an ardent supporter
of our, and lover of our community and
of our project,
and he would try to come whenever he
would be able to come.
So he has returned to Allah
sadly, so let us make dua for him
and all of those who have passed away.