Sikander Hashmi – Welcoming the New Year KMA Friday Message
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Jahannah. May Allah
protect us all.
And when we think about heat,
we think especially about our brothers and sisters
in faith, in humanity, in places where forest
fires are raging
has happened and is happening here in Canada,
in Ontario, British Columbia, other provinces,
also in Turkey, Algeria,
and many other parts of the world. So
we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
to make those fires cool as He made
the fire cool for Sayyidina Ibrahim alayhis salam.
Bardhanu wa salam. Cold and peaceful. May Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala
take away the harm that may be caused
from these fires and that is being caused.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
protect our brothers and sisters and grant them
peace and safety, Ameen You Rabbani.
Now, brothers and sisters, we find ourselves today
on the 4th day of
the new Islamic year,
the new Islamic Hijri year which is the
year
14/43.
And one homework I'm going to give you
for today,
insha'Allah,
for this week
is to
research and find out what your Islamic birthday
is.
I'm sure you know your date of birth.
It is on your driver's license. It is
on your passport. It is on your health
card. It is all over the place.
But what is your Islamic birthday?
This is something that many of us are
not aware of,
may not be aware of, or may not
remember. So there's actually tools that you can
use
that will help you find the dates. So
if you put in your
month, day, and year of birth,
they will tell you what the Islamic date
was on that day. And this is something
important for us to know, especially for children,
right, when they're growing up and there are
questions about when they reach the age,
of maturity from an Islamic point of view
and for other
times when we need to know a person's
age from an Islamic perspective,
then it is important that we are able
to calculate it as well.
14/43 means that it has been 1443
years
since the Hijrah of the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam and the believers
from Makkatul Muqarama
to Yasserib which of course was renamed as
Al Madinatul Munawwara
which led to the creation of the 1st
Islamic Society
and the 1st home base for Islam.
Until then, there was no home base for
Islam.
But in Madinah, that was the first
Islamic society, the first home base
where Islam was able to
grow from
in the Ummah of the Prophet
Now the new year
the Islamic New Year begins with
with January, does it?
Islamic New Year starts with January?
No. It doesn't start with January. Islamic New
Year starts with the month of
Muharram.
Right? Muharram is
the first
month of the Islamic lunar calendar.
And the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam First of
all, the Muslims, the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
would determine the beginning of the year. How?
By looking at the moon because it's the
lunar calendar. The lunar calendar goes through all
the seasons. That's the beauty of the lunar
calendar.
Otherwise, perhaps some people would have been stuck
fasting in August, in the summer.
Some people would be stuck fasting in
December.
Right?
Or rather, some people may have been stuck
fasting in the summer
while others were stuck fasting in the winter
because we know that in some parts of
the world,
right now, August is summer, but in other
places,
it is winter at this time, right, in
the southern hemisphere.
So
it is from the wisdom of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala that with the lunar calendar
that Ramadan
goes through all the different seasons.
So no one is disadvantaged. No part of
the world is totally disadvantaged in terms of
having to fast in the summer or having
very long days
and not having
short days. So it is balanced out.
So the Islamic lunar calendar goes through
the year, and it is based on the
moon, of course,
goes through all the seasons. It is based
on the the moon, and the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam and the sahaba radiAllahu anhu
would begin the month
by sighting the moon. And when the moon
was sighted,
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would recite this
dua,
And in some narrations,
That, O Allah,
let this moon,
meaning this month, pass over us with blessings,
with iman,
with safety,
and the belief in Islam.
O Allah, grant us the ability to act
on the actions that You love
and the actions
that please You.
O moon, my Lord and your Lord is
Allah.
Abdullah ibn Hisham radiAllahu anhu reports that the
sahaba radiAllahu anhu would learn the following dua
for when the new month
or the new year would begin.
Allah And it's very similar.
Oh Allah, bring this month or year upon
us with security,
with iman,
safety,
Islam,
your pleasure and protection
from shaitan.
Now my brothers and sisters, it's very interesting
to note
that this was the practice
that when the new year would come
The new year would come,
would they have fireworks?
No. There was no fireworks.
Were they dancing? No. There was no dancing.
Were there celebrations
and greetings? No.
But rather, this was the method of
welcoming the new year by making du'a to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And what's notable
And by by the way, that's not to
say that in Islam we can't have fun.
We can absolutely have fun, and the Prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and his companions
would joke and they would have humor and
they would have times when they would enjoy
themselves and relax themselves. So that's not to
say that everything
has to be always dry and boring as
Muslims.
That's not the case.
But when an important occasion comes such as
the beginning of a year,
the main thing to do And when celebrations
happen, the main thing to do is remember
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and to make dua
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because when we
enter this new phase, we don't know what
is coming next.
We don't know what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
has written for us. So we use every
opportunity
to thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
and we use every opportunity,
every reminder,
every opportunity that reminds us to make du'a
to Allah
Now what's interesting is what the du'a is
being made for. Because a lot of times,
you're like, okay. We don't know what to
make du'a for. We say make du'a, and
we're like, okay. We don't know what to
ask. So like, you Allah, you know, I
want a really nice car, or I wanna
go on this trip,
you Allah, I want a lot of money,
or Allah, I want this video game, or
Allah, I want these clothes. I want to
succeed in my test. I wanna have a
successful school year, which is all fine. We
should ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for all
of our
needs. For all of our needs. It is
said that the companions of the Prophet salallahu
alaihi wa sallam will make dua' even for
something
as minor as or seemingly minor as a
shoelace.
Right? So for all of our needs, we
should make du'a'a to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So there's nothing wrong with making du'a to
Allah for our worldly needs. And in fact,
we should
ask Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala. Right? But our attention in our dua
should not only be focused on our worldly
needs,
not only on the things that we want
in this dunya, but we should broaden the
scope. So here we learn some of the
things that we should be making du'a for.
So first of all,
blessings,
Seeking
blessings of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala. And this tells us that there is
a thing.
There is a thing about being blessed.
A person who is blessed, a family that
is blessed, a home that is blessed is
not the same as one who is not
blessed.
A person whose time, whose health, whose wealth
is blessed by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
cannot be the same, or the person who
is not blessed in these things cannot be
the same as the one who is blessed
by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And what is the means? What are the
means of attracting the blessings of Allah subhanahu
wa
So first of all, to obey
and to value the guidance of Allah
To try our best to follow the guidance
of Allah and His Messenger sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam, and see them as being valuable.
And if we just try to to follow
to the best of our ability,
automatically the teachings
will bring barakah into our lives, will bring
blessings into our lives because they are optimized,
they are optimal, they are the most efficient.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala likes it and
blesses people who follow His guidance and follow
the way of His Messenger salallahu alayhi wa
sallam.
Similarly,
being grateful,
doing shukr of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
and following the etiquettes
that Rasulullah
has taught, something as simple as saying bismillah
before eating,
something as simple as saying bismillah before eating,
saying Alhamdulillah
after a morsel of food or a drink
of water,
right, leaving the home with the left foot,
coming into the masjid with the right foot.
You know, little things, little teachings.
Right? But these are things that can help
attract the mercy and the blessings of Allah
Subhanahu wa
ta'ala. Engaging
in reflection
or rather engaging in charity,
giving salaqa regularly. Masha'Allah. There are people who
give charity daily even if it's a few
cents, even if it's a few dollars. They
are constantly spending every day
in spending
to please Allah
So these, my brothers and sisters, are some
of the ways of attracting
the blessings of Allah.
The blessings from Allah
The other thing that is being asked for
is iman.
So how do we
keep our iman alive,
our faith alive?
So a few things we can all do
is to refresh our faith with
the recitation of Quran,
with the listening of Quran,
with reflection upon the words of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala. So when you're feeling like you
need an iman rush,
yes, you may listen to an inspirational lecture,
which is great, which reminds you of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala But first and foremost, connect
with the book of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
and reflect upon what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is saying. Listen to some beautiful recitation of
the Quran,
particularly of a party of a reciter
who is weeping and is crying and has
touched, you know, the recitation of the words
of Allah is touching his heart. And when
you listen to it, hopefully, it will do
the same for you as well.
The zikr of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the
remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala whenever we
can, which is the easiest thing to do
in terms of worship of Allah
and listening to good inspirational words that refresh
our iman, which give us an iman rush,
which make us feel something in our hearts.
Then the dua was for safety,
asking for safety.
So avoiding dangers,
being careful.
This is something from
the practice of a believer,
to be careful in terms of our conduct,
to be careful in terms of the things
that we engage ourselves in. It doesn't have
to mean that we are afraid,
but just being cautious, being careful,
being aware of risks,
and thinking about what we are doing before
we get into something. This is
a good thing. It doesn't mean we can
avoid every single danger. It doesn't mean that,
you know, nothing bad is gonna ever happen
to us. Things can happen. But
in the way we
we we behave
and we deal with those around us and
things around us, we take a cautious
approach,
especially when it comes to forbidden and
discouraged things. The things which are forbidden, of
course, we avoid because we know they will
be harmful for us.
Drugs are forbidden. It's going to be harmful
for you.
Smoking is prohibited. It's going to be harmful
for you.
Gambling is prohibited. It's going to be harmful
for you.
Eating haram, you may not realize what the
harm is, but it is going to be
harmful for you because it's haram. If it's
haram, it means it's harmful. Right? So avoiding
things which are prohibited and even those that
are discouraged
will help us attain safety. We ask Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala for these things, but we
have to make an effort as well.
We make an effort and we ask Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
We've heard the concept of tying your camels,
so we take the steps.
The reasonable measures and means, we are supposed
to take those,
and we place our trust in Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala, tawakkull in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
To take the means
is not against the tawakkull of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala. Rather, it is a part of
having proper tawakkull of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
to take the reasonable permissible means
and then to place your trust in Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. This is the way that
the Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam has showed
us. This is how the pious predecessors have
showed us. And this is even how today
our scholars are showing us. Those that are
experienced scholars, those that are mature
and are connected with their previous teachers,
their masha'ikh, their teachers,
their their their their their,
mentors,
they are not people who do not take
the means. They take the means and they
place their trust in Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
The dua is also made for Islam.
Right? Which means that we are submitters to
the will and the guidance of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala, and we are followers of His
religion,
of His guidance. And this requires, my brothers
and sisters, constant mujahahala.
What does it require?
Constant struggle
to not slack off, to keep reminding yourself,
and keep connecting with the things that remind
you
of
Islam, that remind you of submitting to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala, that remind you to follow.
It needs active effort. If we are going
to be passive about our Islam,
if we are going to be passive about
our Islam, then it's going to start declining
because it needs constant effort because everything or
many most things around us are actually tempting
us the other way. So we have to
be constantly engaged in that struggle
to obey the commandments of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala, to be submitters
to the guidance of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
and the will of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And tawfiq. Right? This is the one thing
that comes from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala alone.
But we need to have the desire. So
if we have the desire, we want to
do good, we want to please Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala and we want Allah azza wa
jal to be pleased with with us,
we have that desire,
then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala makes the execution
easy.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala makes the execution easy.
As the saying goes, where there is a
will, there is a way. But if there
is no will, it's going to be very
difficult to find a way. So having that
desire to do good, to be loved by
Allah, to get better, and to get closer
and closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, if
we seriously have that desire and we ask
for tawfiq from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, inshallah.
Allah will make it easy for us. And
finally my brothers and sisters,
protection from shaitan
is also being asked for. So we have
to be alert
that shaitan will constantly be trying to draw
us in. And when He draws us in,
it means we get further away from Allah
So be alert for the traps of shaitan.
Be alert for the traps
of shaitan.
Recite the tawood. Say,
When you feel that you are being tempted,
recite al ma'aw with attain Suratul Falak and
Suratul Nas in the morning, in the evening.
Ayatul Kursi, the last verses of Suratul Baqarah,
be connected
with the the spiritual protection
against shaitan because
he will try everything
to take us
towards
immorality,
to take us away from Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala. And if he feels that he cannot
do it at once, he will start peeling
layers gradually,
one after the other after the other. So
you don't realize, you don't notice
that you're actually getting becoming more distant from
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and falling into the
trap of shaitan because
he knows that if he comes directly,
then you're gonna say, no. You're gonna say,
So he knows the ways, the tricks of
trying to get to people. So be very
careful
of the traps of shaitan. My brothers and
sisters, the month of muharram is here, and
this is the month in which the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam encouraged a fasting. First
of all, it's a sacred month.
Sacred month, the blessings and the rewards are
multiplied in this month as they are in
the other 3 sacred months,
and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
or the Prophet has
associated this month with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
Right? Allah's month. Uharram.
And this is to signify its sanctity
and its importance and it contains
a very, blessed day which is the 10th
day of Muharram, the day of Ashura.
It is a month to fast in. Fasting
is highly recommended, encouraged
in the month of Muharram.
And, the 10th day of Muharram is the
day of Ashura when fasting is, especially recommended
and the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said that
fasting on that day, insha'Allah,
will lead to,
will will be a means of yukafirasanatilmaguyyah.
That it will be a means of forgiveness
of the sins of the previous year. May
Allah
grant us forgiveness. It is the day when
Saydah Musa 'alayhi salaam and Ubani Israel
were protected,
were saved from firaun and his army.
It is also happens to be the the
day when the grandson of the Prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam,
Saydna Hussain ibn Ali radiAllahu anhu was martyred
which was a great tragedy for this ummah.
But
severe mourning is something which is not permissible
because the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said, He
is not one of us who strikes his
cheeks,
rents his garments, or cries with the cry
of the jahiliyyah.
And finally, there is a narration from the
Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam that,
That one who generously spends
on his family on the day of Ashura,
Allah will increase his provision for the whole
year.
There is some discussion regarding
the this hadith in terms of the chain
of narration.
Imam al Bayhafi has said that when all
the chains of these narrations are gathered, they
assume sufficient strength, and the 4 schools of
jurisprudence have agreed that it is recommended
it's not,
you know, obligatory,
but it is recommended to provide generously for
one's family according to one's
capacity
on the day of Ashura. May Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala bless us all. May Allah subhanahu
wa grant us all much goodness and greater
iman and health and peace and love and
closeness to Him and for all of our
brothers and sisters and all the inhabitants of
the world. Ameen You Rabbara'lamineel.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to cure
all of our brothers and sisters who are
ill, especially our elder sister who is dealing
with,
much weakness and illness, our brothers and sisters
suffering from long term pain and injuries, all
of our relatives, loved ones who are who
and friends who are battling cancer and other
serious terminal illnesses,
all of those who are ill, who are
at risk of becoming ill, may Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala cure them all. You Rabbala Alemeen.
You are the protector, the healer. You Shafi'i.
Oh, Allah. Grant them a speedy recovery and
protect them from all illnesses and pain and
suffering.
Please grant relief to all of those who
are in pain and grief and stress and
anxiety.
Please replace it with happiness and peace and
joy.