بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Today is not like any other Friday -- this is the last Friday of the Islamic year 1437 AH. Make it a goal to recite Surah al-Kahf every Friday and learn Surah al-Kahf today. In it there are many lessons to help us in our personal transformation and achieving a successful new year, inshaa Allah.
Other than reciting it, we should take the opportunity today to really understand Surah al-Kahf by first, know what you read in terms of the meaning, and find a good tafsir and commit to finish reading it today. (I don't recommend video watching or audio listening at this time). This may take a few hours of your time today, but it is well worth your time. Don't put this off for procrastination is one of the potent tricks of Shaytan to prevent us from achieving success in this life and the next.
As Muslims we should constantly be assessing our lives and setting goals and making resolutions, rather than waiting for special days during the year to perform the exercise. This is the attitude of successful people.
We don't need to dig far to know this. We see a powerful example in the life of Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and grant him peace) whose endless efforts and perseverance with the help of Allah, brought guidance to humanity at large and as a result of which we see more than a billion Muslims on this planet today. He was committed to Allah's religion, and through his wisdom, hard work, commitment, perseverance, and Allah’s will, he achieved what he had set out to achieve.
In the stories of Surah Al-Kahf, we can see more great examples:
The young companions of the cave were committed to Allah's religion that they were willing to leave the comfort of their "homes" and retreated to a cave. Allah complimented them and increased them in guidance.
The neighbor of the man with the two splendid gardens was committed to the religion of Allah that he, despite the man's arrogance and his put downs towards him, he patiently remained with the man to help him repent to Allah. He was successful, by the help of Allah.
Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) was committed to seek knowledge that he was willing to travel a long and difficult journey to find the teacher who Allah says is more knowledgeable than him. He was successful in finding him and learned valuable lessons.
Zulkarnain was committed to a mission and so he traveled east and west and established good and justice.
The question you need to ask yourself is where do you stand in your commitment to the religion of Allah and what are you doing to achieve it?
You can start thinking about it now and set some goals and resolutions. If you don’t set your goals, you don’t move forward. If you set them and don’t follow through, you still don’t move forward. Goals are the specific steps that propel your life forward toward your goals while still immersed in the daily chores of life; resolutions are about how your behavior impacts other people’s lives; More importantly, resolutions are about your relationship with your Creator and how you strengthen that relationship by living life in accordance to His guidance.
If you are not in the habit of setting goals and resolutions, you should review the direction of your life and assess how your actions are contributing to your betterment and to your family and loved ones in accordance with the teachings of your Creator?
If you have a mere general idea on where you are heading simply because you are too busy to chart out a more directed course of action, you may not be fully harnessing your God gifted abilities.
Setting goals and resolutions therefore enable you to step away and analyze the clutter in your life; they let you rise above the daily chores that keep you busy and keep you from organizing. The process is therefore about prioritizing and highlighting what is more important to make your life more meaningful.
It is about “actions” and execution – Setting a resolution is much more than dreaming, thinking and planning about what you want to change. It is about real execution – about doing something – about undertaking a course of action that actually starts bringing you closer to what you want to achieve. Many a people, organizations and countries fail in their lives and in their pursuits simply because of lack of execution. They plan but then can’t follow through; they talk but they can’t perform.
Even in the religion of Islam that emphasizes asking your Creator and Sustainer about your needs, there is an equal and parallel importance of your personal actions and deeds. Once 'Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) got very angry with youth who were simply spending time in the masjid and told them: “Go out and seek sustenance, for the sky does not send down rain of gold or silver.” Confucious, a famous philosopher once said: “The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.” Florence Nightingale who had a lasting contribution in founding the modern nursing profession once said: “You ask me why I do not write something...I think one’s feelings waste themselves in words, they ought all to be distilled into actions and into actions which bring results.”
How many times have you planned but failed to execute? Isn’t it time to actually get on with a sustained course of action?
It is about using time wisely – Setting resolutions helps us maximize our time in life instead of squandering the valuable moments away. We all know how time flies but unfortunately many times we do not make full use of our time and life in general. Mu`adh ibn Jabal reported the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) as saying: “A servant of Allah will remain standing on the Day of Resurrection until he is asked about four things: his life and how he spent it, his youth and how he used it up, his property and how he acquired and managed it and his knowledge and how he utilized it.”
We should therefore remind ourselves that we too have an end that is approaching. So, why squander our time away on nonessential pursuits?
It is about focused actions and tasks – Resolutions and goals help you focus on the right actions and tasks. Think about when you are about to take a long trip away from home. Our productivity in the number of tasks we complete before we take a trip is phenomenal simply because we have a deadline to meet and our energies are extremely focused. The closer you get to your time of travel, the more you ensure that you utilize each and every second available to you.
Can you imagine how much you will be able to accomplish daily only if you became half that productive and efficient?
It is about behavioral change – Setting goals and resolutions involves completely stepping away from behaviors you want to change – In Islam, this parallels the concept of “Repentance” or “Taubah” because the psychological, spiritual and physical dynamics is almost the same. Repentance in Islam entails stopping bad behavior, regretting past indulgence in that behavior, understanding the need to shy away from the bad behavior, making a strong intention not to return to the old behavior and finally substituting bad with good behaviors (better deeds).
Why not then apply the same dynamics to change any of your undesirable behaviors and habits, and embark on a major journey of personal progress?
It is about clarity of vision – Setting goals requires that you are clear about who you are and what you want to achieve. A confused mind can not set meaningful goals. A person not confident about his beliefs and values is rarely successful in charting out a meaningful course of action. This is why Sahaba (companions of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) were able to unilaterally commit to the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) and his cause. They clearly understood their role in this life. Once when in Madinah, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) had to send a group to Yemen for teaching new Muslims there about Islam. The Prophet picked Mu’adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) as their leader (even though Muadh was very young – perhaps in his early twenties). The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said, “The most knowledgeable of my ummah [community] in matters of Halal [permitted, allowed, lawful or legal] and Haram [forbidden] is Mu’adh bin Jabal.”
If Muadh was able to get that clarity at such a young age where he was chosen by the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) to lead a group of mentors and teachers to a foreign land, why can’t we get clearer on who we are?
رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً وَهَيِّئْ لَنَا مِنْ أَمْرِنَا رَشَدًا
Our Lord, grant us from Yourself mercy and prepare for us from our affair right guidance.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam.
And Allah knows best and is Most Wise, and He alone grants success, and to Him is the final return of all.
Wassalaam
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