In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
A year that has passed by only means that we have lost a year of opportunity to do much good and to do that extra good deed that we had procrastinated, and we are that much closer to our own death and our eternal homes.
If one dies with Faith in the Oneness of Allah (a believer), his abode will eventually be Paradise. He might be punished for a time in Hellfire for his sins but he will eventually get to Paradise. If one dies without Iman (a disbeliever), his abode will be Hellfire till eternity.
So run to Allah, repent for all our slips.
... "Seek the forgiveness of your Lord, and turn to Him in repentance, that He may grant you good enjoyment, for a term appointed, and bestow His abounding Grace to every owner of grace (i.e. the one who helps and serves needy and deserving, physically and with his wealth, and even with good words). But if you turn away, then I fear for you the torment of a Great Day (i.e. the Day of Resurrection). To Allah is your return, and He is Able to do all things.[Qur'an Hud 11:3-4]
Then start working on our character. Our character is the way that we are. The nature of character is second nature. If you are a generous person, you don't have to stop and think before you give or before you help people. You immediately reach into your pocket when you see a beggar. When someone visits you, you serve what you have in your fridge even if you are saving them for your husband or you children. When you heard someone is sick or stricken with a calamity, you immediately make du'a for the person. You don't stop to think because your character beats your mind to it.
The weightiest thing that one can bring to the Day of Judgment is not something he did but the way that he was--his character.
Our beloved Messenger sallallahu alayhi wassallam said,
Verily, of the most beloved to you to me and the closest of you to me in the seating of Judgment Day, are the most excellent of you in character.(Tirmidhi)
So, the best good deed you can do in this sacred month is to pick one trait of yours that Allah doesn't like and change it--ingratitude into gratitude, harsh/hateful/mean into compassionate/merciful, arrogance into humility, impatience into patience, greed into charity, pride into humility, anger into calmness, heedless of Allah into mindful of Allah, and so on. This is the thing you are going to bring back to Allah. It is the weightiest thing you can busy yourself with--your character.
You can make this drastic change through taqwa (Godfearingness) and repentance. Through them change takes place. Taqwa is the fuel to make one wants to change and repentance keeps the flame going. If there is no taqwa, there is no impetus for change, and when repentance dies the flame slowly dies with it. You make this change for the sake of Allah. That is why it makes it a great form of worship. You intend to transform your bad character traits for good and better traits for the sake of Allah. You resolve to please Allah and avoid His anger and repenting from your slips. The whole process is for the sake of Allah. As you get closer to this transformed character, the more natural it becomes. Your great reward is the fact that you acquired that character.
إِنَّ ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ فِى جَنَّـٰتٍ وَنَهَرٍ ﴿٥٤﴾ فِى مَقْعَدِ صِدْقٍ عِندَ مَلِيكٍ مُّقْتَدِرٍۭ ﴿٥٥[Qur'an Qamar 54:54-55]
Surely those of taqwa shall be in in the Gardens and Rivers, in an Assembly of Truth, in the Presence of a Sovereign Omnipotent.
وَسِيقَ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّقَوْا۟ رَبَّهُمْ إِلَى ٱلْجَنَّةِ زُمَرًا ۖ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا جَآءُوهَا وَفُتِحَتْ أَبْوَٰبُهَا وَقَالَ لَهُمْ خَزَنَتُهَا سَلَـٰمٌ عَلَيْكُمْ طِبْتُمْ فَٱدْخُلُوهَا خَـٰلِدِينَ ﴿٧٣[Qur'an Az-Zumar 39:73]
And those who feared their Lord will be led to the Garden in crowds: until behold, they arrive there; its gates will be opened; and its keepers will say: "Peace be upon you! well have you done![enter you here, to dwell therein.
لَـٰكِنِ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّقَوْا۟ رَبَّهُمْ لَهُمْ جَنَّـٰتٌ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا نُزُلًا مِّنْ عِندِ ٱللَّـهِ ۗ وَمَا عِندَ ٱللَّـهِ خَيْرٌ لِّلْأَبْرَارِ ﴿١٩٨[Qur'an AleImran 3:198]
But those who feared their Lord will have gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding eternally therein, as accommodation from Allah. And that which is with Allah is best for the righteous. (198)
"What most enters people into the Garden? Taqwa of Allah and good character." (Ahmad)
O Allah, to You belongs all Praise. You are the Light of the heavens and the earth and all those in them; to You belongs all Praise. You are the Maintainer of the heavens and the earth and all those in them; [to You belongs all Praise. You are the King of the heavens and the earth and all those in them] to You belongs all Praise. You are the Haqq (Truth); Your promise is haqq; Your saying is haqq; meeting You is haqq; Paradise is haqq; the Fire is haqq; the Hour is haqq; the Prophets are haqq; Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) is haqq. O Allah! to You I have submitted; in You I have placed my trust; in You I have believed; to You I have turned; for Your sake I have fought; to You I have referred for judgment; [You are our Lord and to You is the end of all journeys: so forgive me my earlier and later sins, what I have concealed and what I have showed] [and whatever else You know about more than I.] You are the Bringer- Forward and You are the Delayer; [You are my deity;] and none has the right to worshipped but You. [and there is no might nor power except with You].
O Allah, guide us to the best of characters and the best of actions, no one to which can guide except You, and save us from the evil characters and actions, from which no one except You can save (others) except You.
May Allah increase our Iman and grant us noble character.
Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
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