بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ
As we mark the start of the new Gregorian year, I have made certain
resolutions. Some of you would have already
received them via email but I would like to remind firstly myself and you about
them.
Firstly; I have realized that another year has come to an end. This means that I have one year less to live as the day of departure is fixed by the Lord. Therefore I must make proper and constructive usage of the time I have left.
1.
I will try to increase my love for my Lord.
Allah
says but those of
faith are overflowing in their love for Allah (2:165). Everyday try to love your Lord more and
more. As Muslims we must always aspire
to please Allah as much
as possible.
2.
I will try to meet and greet Him more regularly.
How can we meet and greet Allah? Through the institution of salaat. In salaat we meet Him, greet Him and talk to
Him. So the greater your desire to get closer
to Him the more optional prayer you should offer. You won’t look only at the compulsory but those
optional ones that are mentioned in the Qur’an and found in the Sunnah of
Prophet Muhammad (pboh).
3.
I will try not to displease Him in any way.
If you are in the presence of someone honorable
and respectable, would you want to misbehave?
Of course not! And at all the
times we are in the presence of the Merciful Lord. In other worlds; try to become more God
conscious. Always keep in mind that
Allah is
looking at you; and if something displeases you don’t react negatively or in a
manner that Allah won’t
like.
4.
I will practice loving who He loves dearly - the
Prophet (pboh) and the pious ones.
If I want to be close to Allah then it would be prudent to love that which He loves. And Allah
loves
Prophet Muhammad (pboh) and His sincerely pious servants.
5.
I will avoid what He does not like.
If I wish to gain closeness to Allah then I
should abstain from those things that would take me further away from Him.
6.
I will help my brethren as much as possible.
Allah says; except such As have Faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join
together) in the mutual teaching of truth, and of patience and constancy (103:3). Help others,
regardless of race or religion, all for the pleasure of Allah.
7.
I will try to maximize the use of my time through
proper time management.
I understand that my time here is fixed;
therefore I must make best usage of it if I want to return to and have a
pleasant meeting with my Lord.
8.
I shall try to increase my dependency on Him, and
less on human beings.
Allah sent us
here and provided for us; therefore we must to turn to Him. If we rely on Him, He will never let us down. We must then work hard to develop a stronger
bond with Him.
9.
I shall promote the philosophy of Ihsaan in
all matters.
What is the philosophy of Ihsaan? Not to curse, nor degrade, nor backbite. To love for another what you’d love for
yourself. To conduct yourself in a
refined, exemplary manner.
We will all try our best to manage our time, to do righteousness, to
please Him, to get close to Him, to demonstrate supreme love for Him.
Don’t love this world more than Him.
One day we will have to separate from it. We know that our Lord is All Wise, so
whatever He is allowing to happen to us there is wisdom and reason behind
it. Always remember the story if Joseph
(as). All the trials and difficulties he
underwent were stepping stones for the achievement of his purpose and mission.
The real basis for successful living is to have total faith in Allah. The manifestation of success is to put Allah
first in all matters.
So as we begin this New Year let us try to increase our faith and dependency on Allah. Communicate, with Him more, thank Him more and praise Him abundantly. May Allah bless us and guide us all, insha Allah.
