A YEAR HAS PASSED, WHAT HAVE WE DONE?
by Shaykh Salaah Al-Budayr
All praise is due to Allah. May peace and blessings of Allah be
upon the Messenger, his household and companions.
Fear Allah and adhere to the path of the righteous
predecessors. Thank Allah for His Bounties over you and reduce
your yearning for the pleasure of this world. Get prepared for
suddenness of death, for none has yearning for the pleasures of
this world except that he indulges in evil deeds.
"O you who believe! Fear Allah and keep your duty to Him. And
let every person look to what he has sent forth for the morrow,
and fear Allah. Verily, Allah is All-Aware of what you do."
(Al-Hashr 59:18)
Fellow Muslims! Know that months and years, days and nights are
but periods of work and spans of life that eventually end. Days
and nights succeed each other; they bring near that which is
far, wear out every new things and bring man to his appointment
of the Day of Resurrection. The wise man does not deceive
himself nor does he let himself be deceived by the covetousness
over this world. Many a man have started a day but not
witnessed its end and many a man have wished to see the morrow
but died before his wish would be materialised. Allah says,
"And Allah grants respite to none when his appointed time
(death) comes. And Allah is All-Aware of what you do." (Al-Munaafiqoon
63:11)
A year has now gone from your lives which gives you a signal
that this world is not a permanent home and that there is after
it either Paradise or Hell. So, beware of this life and its
illusions, for it has deceived many and destroyed many of those
who sought it. Ibn 'Umar narrated: The Messenger of Allah took
hold of my shoulders and said, "Live in this world as if you
are a stranger or a passer-by." And Ibn 'Umar used to say,
"When you are in the evening, do not expect to live till the
morning and when you are in the morning, do not expect to live
till the evening. Make a provision for the time when you will
be sick while you are still healthy and make a provision for
the time of your death while you are still living" (Al-Bukhari)
Dear Muslims! A year of yours has now gone as a witness for or
against you. So, make enough provision, do a lot of good deeds
rectify all your mistakes and seize the opportunity of time
before it becomes too late. Jaabir said: I heard the Messenger
of Allah while he was admonishing a man, saying, "Seize the
opportunity of five things before five things come to you: your
youth before your old age; your health before your illness;
your wealth before your poverty; your free time before you are
occupied and your life before your death. There is no one to
rebuke and correct you after life and there is no other abode
after death but Paradise or Hell." (Al-Haakim)
O the one who has only a few more moments to live in this world
and does
not know his departure time! Amend your ways and save yourself
from destruction. The Messenger of Allah said, "Every one wakes
up in the morning while there are among them those who are
buying freedom for their selves and those who are enslaving or
destroying their own selves" (Muslim)
As for you who have been weakened by sins, and have wasted many
years in pastime and slumber, shunned many sincere advice
neglected many prayers, committed many sins and spread many
evil. Have you forgotten the dying hour when it would be
difficult for you to move your tongue and your hands and when
your family and neighbours will be weeping? Have you forgotten
what happens to the dying person when his soul is being pulled
out, when his hardship becomes severe, his colour changes and
his forehead perspires? Even the Prophet who is the most
beloved to Allah of all His slaves, when he was dying dipped
his hand in water and wiped his face with that saying, "Laa
ilaaha illa Allah, death indeed, has agony." (Al-Bukhari)
Fellow Muslims! Where are those whom we have lived with for a
long time and loved? How many are our loved ones whom we have
closed their eyes and buried! Has death had mercy on a sick
relative of us because of his weakness? Has he spared a
breadwinner for his children and dependants? Where are those
who were with us in the past years? The spoiler of enjoyment
and pleasures has taken them away from meeting places and
mosques to the graves where they cannot avail themselves of any
benefit or protect themselves from any harm. They are now
expecting a day that they will be assembled in front of their
Lord; a day in which people will be seized with violent fear,
their eyes will shed hot tears, and their hearts will shiver
because of the severity of reckoning!
O you who spend all his days and nights in heedlessness and
sins, tell me: when are you going to repent? Are you delaying
your repentance till the next year? You do not know when you
will die. So, hasten to repent now and do not hesitate. Correct
what has been damaged, expect your death and make use of your
lifetime to provide for your Hereafter. Run away from the leper
as you would from the lion, for your end is near and your life
is a trust which you will account for on the Day of
Resurrection. The Messenger of Allah said, "A slave will not be
allowed to leave on the Day of Resurrection until he is asked
of five things: of his life as to how he spent it; of his youth
as to how he used it; of his wealth as to how he got it and how
he spent it and of his knowledge as to how he made use of it."
(At-Tirmidhi)
Ibn Masood said, "I have never regretted on anything more than
my regret over the day which passed and in which my life is
reduced and I do not have increase in good deeds." Brethren in
Faith! Would you not grieve over the missed good deeds? Would
you not weep over your misdeeds? Would you not prepare for the
Day of Reckoning? Turn to your Lord in repentance before a day
when you will be taken out of this world. Make good use of days
and nights and let everyone of you call himself to account for
the fortunate is the one who examines himself and rebukes his
own soul for its shortcomings.
Come unto an abode in which its inhabitants will never die and
which never falls. The Messenger of Allah said, "Whoever enters
Paradise will have everlasting enjoyment, his garments will
never wear out and he will be in everlasting youthfulness."
(Muslim)
Dear Muslim! Make up for what you have missed in your life,
leave pastime aside, rise up in the middle of the night to pray
and repent to your Lord sincerely. The Messenger of Allah said,
"Allah stretches out His Hand in the night, so that the sinner
during the day may repent and stretches His Hand in the day in
order that the sinner of the night may repent. So He does,
until the sun rises from the west." (Muslim)
Make good use of the remaining part of your life, you will be
forgiven and if you continue sinning, you will be held
responsible for your past and present sins. Allaah says, "O
man! Verily, you are returning towards your Lord with your
deeds and actions, a sure returning and you will meet (the
results of your deeds). Then as for him who will be given his
record in his right hand, he surely will receive an easy
reckoning and will return to his family in joy! But whoever is
given his record behind his back, he will invoke (for his)
destruction and he shall enter a blazing fire and made to taste
its burning. Verily, he was among his people in joy. Verily, he
thought that he would never come back (to Us). Yes! Verily, his
Lord has been ever beholding him." (Al-Inshiqaaq 84:6-15)
Brethren in Faith! Fear Allaah and be conscious of Him, "O you
who believe! Fear Allah and be with those who are true (in
words and deeds)." (At-Tawbah 9:119)
Fellow Muslims! Days of this world will come to an end and
bodies will become worn out. The fortunate is therefore, the
one who lives long and acts righteously and the unfortunate is
the one who lives long and acts unrighteously. A man asked the
Prophet, "Who are the best of people?" The Prophet replied, "He
who lives long and does righteous deeds." He then asked, "Who
are the worst people?" He replied, "He who lives long but does
evil deeds." (At-Tirmidhi)
Therefore, be among the seekers after the hereafter and do not
be among the seekers of this world, for today is for deeds and
tomorrow is for reckoning only; and deeds are judged according
to its ends. Man dies on what he lives on and he will be
resurrected on what he dies on. The Prophet said, "Man will be
resurrected on the act he used to do while he is alive." Fellow
Muslims! The doors of repentance are now open. So hasten to a
sincere repentance before death comes knocking. "O you who
believe! Turn to Allah with sincere repentance." (At-Tahreem
66:8)
"And all of you beg Allaah to forgive
you, O elievers, that you may be successful." (An-Noor 24:31)