In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
As it is a good business practice to take a year-end inventory and review the business, now it is a good time to take a year-end spiritual inventory and review our relationship with Allah. It gives you the opportunity to rule off the past year and start afresh. But do not fall into the trap of rushing through the inventory and review; make sure you learn lessons from it, avoid making the same mistakes and persist with successful ways to reach your ultimate goal, which is Allah Himself and the eternal bliss of the next life.
لِّلَّـهِ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۗ وَإِن تُبْدُوا۟ مَا فِىٓ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَوْ تُخْفُوهُ يُحَاسِبْكُم بِهِ ٱللَّـهُ ۖ فَيَغْفِرُ لِمَن يَشَآءُ وَيُعَذِّبُ مَن يَشَآءُ ۗ وَٱللَّـهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ ﴿٢٨٤[Qur'an Al-Baqarah 2:284]
To Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth. Whether you show what is within yourselves or conceal it, Allah will bring you to account for it. Then He will forgive whom He wills and punish whom He wills, and Allah is over all things competent. (284)
Repent.
إِنَّ ٱللَّـهَ سَرِيعُ ٱلْحِسَابِ ﴿١٩٩[Qur'an AleImran 4:199]
Indeed, Allah is swift in account. (199)
And now ask yourself these tough questions.
Time
How did I spend my time this year?
How did I divide my time--by week, month, year?
How many hours did I spend this year in watching and talking about sports, politics or celebrity news with people? --- Did our Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, or his Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, spend even a minute on these?
Free up some time to learn sacred knowledge. If you tend to spend a lot of time visiting relatives/friends or entertaining people, remember there is only one number that you are working on in a week-- 168 hours. If you don't account for it carefully, you will not have time to learn anything beyond your childhood years. Also, be mindful that there is a direct correlation between time and relatives and friends -- the more time you spend with them, the more arguments/more gossip. You have to do some accounting of your time so that you can make the most out of your time.
Prayers and Fasting
Where am I with my prayers? (obligatory and sunnah)
Where am I with my fasting? (Ramadhan and sunnah)
Of course, I know many of the commands of Allah Almighty and the sunnah of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, but how many of these am I following?
My Money and Wealth
How did I spend my money?
Am I dealing in interest?
How much have I spent on electronics, clothing, jewelry, buildings, automobiles, entertainment, vacations?
How much did I spend on my children’s secular school, university, marriages?
How much did I spend in charity/zakat and feeding the poor?
How much did I spend on my children's religious education?
How much did I spend to support students of knowledge and religious teacher volunteer?
Why didn't I go to hajj this year (if you haven't performed hajj)?
How many Islamic libraries can I buy for others, with my present income?
What do I have to leave for my children’s future? Will my children have the knowledge and resource for the propagation and teaching of Islam?
Qur'an and Sunnah
Have I read the entire Qur'an (properly) at least once this year?
Can I correctly translate the first Surah— Al-Fatiha? and the rest of the Qur'an?
Qur'an has 6,326 verses. If you can translate 63 verses, then you know only one percent of the Qur'an. The Quran teaches us, step by step, how to live our day to day lives, but many of us don’t even know even one percent of Qur'an. Understanding the Qur'an is an urgent necessity. Why? Because knowing where you stand will help you continue learning.
What legacy of the Prophet (ﷺ) are you carrying and going to leave behind? When you are with someone, you are traveling with him -- it means when they are on a mission/task, you are on a mission/task with them. Believing in someone does not mean you are with them. Identify at least one legacy that you are going to help, to serve Allah's Deen and out of your loyalty to the Messenger (ﷺ), which you are going to give your life to it. Once you find it and what Allah has made you capable of, you give yourself to it. Maybe they are other people who are doing something along the lines you are thinking, so you help them.
The Purpose of Life
Do I know the purpose of my own life?
Do I know what will happen on the last day of my life?
What benefit am I giving to my religion, Islam?
Is my field of study going to benefit my hereafter?
Conveying the Message (Da'wah)
Is my work helping people come close to Allah Almighty?
Can I make my balance sheet for 2013, the last 5, 10, 20, 40 years?
Allah has blessed us with so much. We are a complete fool if we are not investing these blessings for our future life in the Hereafter (akhirah).
Allah Almighty says,
هَـٰٓأَنتُمْ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ تُدْعَوْنَ لِتُنفِقُوا۟ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّـهِ فَمِنكُم مَّن يَبْخَلُ ۖ وَمَن يَبْخَلْ فَإِنَّمَا يَبْخَلُ عَن نَّفْسِهِۦ ۚ وَٱللَّـهُ ٱلْغَنِىُّ وَأَنتُمُ ٱلْفُقَرَآءُ ۚ وَإِن تَتَوَلَّوْا۟ يَسْتَبْدِلْ قَوْمًا غَيْرَكُمْ ثُمَّ لَا يَكُونُوٓا۟ أَمْثَـٰلَكُم ﴿٣٨[Qur'an, Muhammad 47:38]
Here you are - those invited to spend in the cause of Allah - but among you are those who withhold [out of greed]. And whoever withholds only withholds [benefit] from himself; and Allah is the Free of need, while you are the needy. And if you turn away, He will replace you with another people; then they will not be the likes of you. (38)
Return to the way of the Companions. The Companions were very concern with their akhirah. They rushed to good deeds.
Umar ibn al-khattab said, "The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) ordred us to give Sadaqah and I thought that today I will out-do Abu Bakr if I ever had to out-do him and thus brought half of my wealth. Rasulullah asked ‘What have you left for your family?’ I replied that I have left half of my wealth. Then Abu Bakr came with everything that he had and Rasulullah (ﷺ) asked ‘What have you left for your family? Abu Bakr replied, 'I have left Allah and His Messenger.'” Umar ibn al-khattab said: “I realized that I will never ever outdo him in anything.”
The early generations of Muslims were avid learners and they had great desire for knowledge. They would travel to distant lands to seek even a single Prophetic hadith. We should become avid learners of this religion; about what pleases Allah and what displeases Him and take that seriously. This observation and learning will enable us to learn new truths that can help us condition our states and hearts to inculcate the required Taqwa (piety, righteousness, humbleness, fear, God consciousness, etc) in our hearts.
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱصْبِرُوا۟ وَصَابِرُوا۟ وَرَابِطُوا۟ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّـهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ﴿٢٠٠[Qur'an, AleImran 4:200]
O you who have believed, persevere and endure and remain stationed and fear Allah that you may be successful. (200)
May Allah protect us from heedlessness and disobedience, and grant us true wisdom and nearness to Him. Ameen
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
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