Part One
Praise be to Allah. We praise Him, seek His help, and ask Him for forgiveness
and guidance. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils within ourselves and from our
wrong deeds. He whom Allah guides, none can misguide, and he whom Allah sends
astray, none can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, Who has no
partners, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger. O Allah!
Bestow Your prayers, peace, and blessings upon him and upon his family and
Companions.
O you who believe! Fear Allah (by doing all that He has
ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden)
as He should be feared. [Obey Him, be thankful to Him,
and remember Him always], and die not except in a state
of Islam [as Muslims (with complete submission to
Allah)]. (Al ‘Imran: 102)
O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from
a single person (Adam), and from him (Adam) He created
his wife [Hawwa’ (Eve)], and from them both He created
many men and women; and fear Allah through Whom you
demand (your mutual rights), and (do not cut the relations
of) the wombs (kinship). Surely, Allah is Ever an All-
Watcher over you. (An-Nisa’: 1)
O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allah and fear Him,
and speak (always) the truth. He will direct you to do
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righteous good deeds and will forgive you your sins. And
whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger (peace and
blessings be upon him), he has indeed achieved a great
achievement (i.e. he will be saved from the Hell-fire and
will be admitted to Paradise). (Al-Ahzab: 70-71)
Servants of Allah!
A successful believer is the one who regards occasions of change and new
beginnings as opportunities for reflection, meditation, and drawing lessons. He seizes
such opportunities to bring himself to account, evaluate his state, and set himself on the
right course. A man’s heart dies if he neglects self-reckoning and follows his evil desires
and whims. As we are bidding farewell to a departing year and receiving a new one (may
Allah make it a blessed, happy year for us all), we should bring ourselves to account. As
Caliph Umar ibn Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “Bring yourselves to
account before you are called to account, and weigh your deeds before they are weighed
for you (i.e. on the Day of Resurrection).”
A believer knows quite well that the present life was only created to be filled with
acts of obedience to Allah, Majesty and Glory be to Him, to establish true monotheism,
and to worship none but Allah. Our Lord, Majesty and Glory be to Him, says:
And I (Allah) created not the jinns and humans except
they should worship Me (Alone). (Adh-Dhariyat: 56)
Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, said, “The Messenger
of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, took hold of my shoulder and said, “Be in
this world as though you were a stranger or a wayfarer.” Abdullah ibn Umar, may
Allah be pleased with him and his father, often said, “In the morning do not expect to live
until the evening, and in the evening do not expect to live until the morning. Take
advantage of your health before times of sickness, and take advantage of your life before
your death” (Reported by Al-Bukhari).
As the years pass by, fellow Muslims, we should perform more acts of obedience
to our Lord, do more good deeds, and fill up these years with righteousness in order to
draw nearer to the Creator. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The
best people are those whose life is long and whose deeds are good.”
O Fellow Muslims!
A sign of evident self-wronging and manifest loss is to insist on showing
disobedience to Allah when He has blessed you with long life. Our Lord, Majesty and
Glory be to Him, says:
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Verily, the number of months with Allah is twelve months
(in a year), so was it ordained by Allah on the Day when
He created the heavens and the earth; of them four are
Sacred, (i.e. the 1st, the 7th, the 11th and the 12th months
of the Islamic calendar). That is the right religion, so
wrong not yourselves therein. (At-Tawbah: 36)
It is a great loss for a Muslim to witness a passing year and a coming one while he
is wasting these years in idleness and losing every opportunity to make use of his time.
Our Lord, Majesty and Glory be to Him, says:
... Did We not give you lives long enough, so that
whosoever would receive admonition could receive it? And
the warner came to you ... (Fatir: 37)
One of the interpretations of this verse was given by Abdullah ibn Abbas, may Allah be
pleased with him and his father, who said that it means, “Have We not let you live until
you reached the age of sixty?” Our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said,
“Allah has given enough excuse to a person whom He has let live until the age of
sixty.”
True success in this life lies in filling it with good deeds and hastening to perform
righteous acts. Allah says:
And march forth in the way (which leads to) forgiveness
from your Lord, and for Paradise as wide as are the
heavens and the earth, prepared for Al-Muttaqun (the
pious). (Al ‘Imran: 133)
Therefore, O Muslim, equip yourself in this life with obedience to your Creator and be
happy because of fearing your Lord so that you may realise the greatest gains and achieve
abundant good. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
“Take advantage of five [states] before [you get into] five [others]:
your youth before your old age, your health before your sickness,
your wealth before your poverty, your free time before your being
busy, and your life before your death. For after departing this world,
there is no opportunity for making amends, nor is there any abode
after this world except Paradise or Hellfire.” (Classified as an
authenticated hadith (sahih) by Ibn Hajar)
Your life span, fellow Muslim, is a trust that you can fulfil only when you show
obedience to your Creator, adhere to His commands, abstain from what He has forbidden,
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and spend your time in accordance with the purposes, goals, and objectives of this
religion, namely, bringing benefits in this world as well as in the hereafter. Allah says:
And say (O Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon
him) “Do deeds! Allah will see your deeds, and (so will) His
Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) ... (At-
Tawbah: 105)
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The feet of a son of Adam shall
not move [from before his Lord] on the Day of Judgement until he is asked about
four things: about his life, what he spent it on; about his youth, what he wore it
out in; about his wealth, how he earned it and what spent it on; and about his
knowledge, what he did with it” (Reported with different authenticate narrations).
Make provision for the hereafter, may Allah have mercy on you, by performing
all the righteous acts that you can. Our Lord, Majesty and Glory be to Him, says:
So whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom
(or a small ant), shall see it. And whosoever does evil
equal to the weight of an atom (or a small ant), shall see
it. (Az-Zalzalah: 7-8)
May Allah bless you and me with the Qur’an and the Sunnah. I have said what
you have heard, and I ask forgiveness of Allah for myself, for you, and for all Muslims,
for any sin we have committed. Ask Allah for forgiveness. He is the Oft-Forgiving, the
Most Merciful.
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Part Two
Much praise full of bounties and blessings be to Allah. I bear witness that there is
no god but Allah alone, Who has no partners, and I bear witness that our prophet,
Muhammad, is his servant and messenger. O Allah! Bestow Your prayers, peace, and
blessings upon him and upon his family and Companions.
Now then,
I advise you and advise myself to fear Allah, Majesty and Glory be to Him, for
Allah protects those who fear Him, grants them happiness, and never makes them
miserable.
O Muslims!
This year has come to an end while the state of so many Muslims is saddening to
any morally fair person. Some of them suffer heart-breaking atrocities, with their blood
being shed, their honour abused, and their wealth plundered, in such shocking tragedies
that one is left speechless before them. To Allah alone do we complain. There is no
power nor might except by Allah, the Most High, the Most Great.
Muslims are required to fear Allah, Majesty and Glory be to Him, regarding their
attitude towards their Ummah, their religion, and their societies, by returning to the
fundamentals of the Islamic Shari‘ah, which requires us to achieve unity and concord,
give precedence to benefits, and fulfil the necessary objectives of Islam, consisting in
preserving religion, life, property, and honour. Allah, Majesty and Glory be to Him, does
not like mischief.
Allah has ordered His servants to set things right in this world and establish peace
and security so that people may live peacefully, worshipping their Lord, fulfilling their
duties, and filling up their life with all sorts of useful and beneficial acts. Allah, Majesty
and Glory be to Him, says:
And do not do mischief on the earth, after it has been set in order. ...
(Al-A‘raf: 56)
Therefore, fear Allah, O Muslims, regarding this Ummah. Fear Allah, Majesty
and Glory be to Him, by obeying His commands. Fear Allah, Majesty and Glory be to
Him, by acting upon the commandments of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon
him, in his last khutbah to his Ummah, which he gave on ‘Arafat during the Farewell
Pilgrimage.
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Servants of Allah!
The month of Muharram is one of the sacred months. The Prophet, peace and
blessings be upon him, said, “The best month for fasting after Ramadan is Allah’s
sacred month (Muharram).” It is commendable, according to the Sunnah of Allah’s
Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, to fast on the tenth day of this month. It is
also desirable to couple this with fasting on the ninth day, as the Prophet, peace and
blessings be upon him, said he would do that if he had lived to the following year.
Increase your good deeds and hasten to perform various acts of obedience to
Allah. Allah, Majesty and Glory be to Him, says in the holy hadith:
“O My servants! It is but your deeds that I reckon up for you and
then recompense you for, so let him who finds good (in the
hereafter) praise Allah and let him who finds otherwise blame none
but himself.”
Allah, Majesty and Glory be to Him, has commanded us to do a glorious deed,
namely, to invoke His peace and blessings upon the Noble Prophet.
O Allah! Bestow Your prayers, peace, and blessings upon our prophet, our
master, and our example that we follow, Muhammad, and be pleased with the Rightly-
Guided Caliphs and with all the Prophet’s family and Companions, and also be pleased
with us together with them, by Your benevolence and generosity, O Most Generous of all
the generous!
O Allah! Let this be a happy new year. O Allah! Let it be full of joys, happiness,
blessings, peace and security, O Owner of Majesty and Honour! O Allah! Replace the
state of Muslims with a better one, O Owner of Majesty and Honour! O Allah! Relieve
their distress in the new year. O Allah! Alleviate their sufferings. O Allah! Remove all
the calamities that have afflicted them, O Owner of Majesty and Honour!
O Allah! Remove the adversities, hardships, and crises that have afflicted
Muslims and replace them with relief, security, safety, and unity, O Owner of Majesty
and Honour!
O Allah! Guide our ruler to what You love and accept.
O Allah! Forgive us all our sins. O Allah! Forgive us all our sins. O Allah!
Forgive the sins of all believers, men and women. O Allah! Forgive the sins of all
Muslims, men and women, the living and the dead.
O Allah, give us in this world that which is good and in the hereafter that which is
good, and save us from the torment of the Fire.
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O Allah! Help all the pilgrims who have performed hajj or umrah return safe and
sound to their homes, fully rewarded and blessed with Your bounties and good pleasure,
O Owner of Majesty and Honour!
O Allah! Unify our hearts around your love and the love of Your Messenger,
peace and blessings be upon him. O Allah! Unify Muslims around the Qur’an and the
Sunnah. O Allah! Unify Muslims around the Qur’an and the Sunnah, O All-Mighty! O
Most Strong! O Most Gracious, O Most-Merciful! O Ever-Living, O Self-subsisting!
O Allah! Guide our ruler to what You love and accept. O Allah! Guide all Muslim
rulers to what You love and accept for us, O Owner of Majesty and Honour!
O Allah! Let the rulers of Muslims be from among those who fear You and obey
You, O Owner of Majesty and Honour!
Servants of Allah!
Remember Allah much and glorify Him morning and evening.
