Passing Months and Years and Our Society

The journey of time is continuing with extreme speed. Once again, the solar calendar is about to change, and another year of our mortal life and the cycle of day and night is decreasing. This is the principle of life that the more it increases, the more it decreases. This life, spent in the crowd of sorrow and happiness, sunshine and shadow, has to pass, and it passes. But the greatest precious gift of this borrowed life is ending on faith and the salvation of the hereafter.

The Hadith of Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) comes to mind when time passes so quickly, in which Sarwar-e-Kainat Hazrat Rasulullah (peace be upon him) said, "La taqum as-sa'atu hatta yataqaraba az-zaman fatakuna as-sanatu kash-shahr" etc. That is, the Day of Judgment will not come until the distance of time becomes near, so that the year will be equal to a month, the month will be equal to a week, the week will be equal to a day, and the day will be equal to an hour, and the hour will be like a flame of fire that flares up and goes out (Jami' al-Tirmidhi).

In the meanings of the above-mentioned Hadith, the Muhaddithin have explained the meaning of "taqarub zaman" as the lack of blessing in time, and that is that the people of the earlier era who used to do work in one hour, the people of the later era will not be able to do that work even in several hours. Hafiz Ibn Hajar says that this situation has happened in our time (Muzakara Ahadees Arbaeen p/42). The end of blessing from our lives is clear because every Muslim is worried about the bitterness of life. On one hand, there is a mountain of personal life problems, and on the other hand, clouds of unspeakable global conditions are hovering, and on the third hand, the above-mentioned sign of Qayamat of Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) is being proven.

Anyway, the change of year, whether solar or lunar, forces all of us to think about how we spent the year that is ending, what we gained and what we lost? From a religious point of view, what change and progress has happened within us? Which of our engagements were against the will and pleasure of Allah Almighty, and which engagements were in accordance with Sharia? What have we set as the purpose of our life?

If we look at the Muslim society keeping these questions in mind, then we realize that the wheel of time is turning as usual, but we are at the same destination of our journey where we were before. The condition of Muslims has become like a flower that has no fragrance and like a fruit that has no seed. We are living life, but drowning in a deep ocean of aimlessness and carelessness. It is a great tragedy for us that our Muslim society has become like a drowning man grasping at a straw. This verse is fully applicable to our condition.

Neither anyone cares about the destination nor anyone knows the path

These are strange caravans that are moving aimlessly

Therefore, for the change of circumstances, in these turbulent and unspeakable conditions, every Muslim should review their past and gird up their loins to brighten the present and future. We all should personally set the purpose of our life that what is the purpose of the life that Allah has given me. We all should hold ourselves accountable for how we spent our personal, social, and transactional life this year. If we have spent it according to the principles of Sharia, then we should thank the Lord of the Universe for it, and if we have spent it against Sharia, then we should plan to mold ourselves and our family members according to the requirements of Sharia and be prepared for the betterment of circumstances and affairs.

Remember! Life is a blessing from Allah, do not waste it by spending it aimlessly because every condition of it is not without reward for human beings. Gratitude for the joys of life is its reward, and patience for the bitterness of life is also its reward. Therefore, save your life from being wasted like this and make some plans while thinking about the future, otherwise our condition

:will be something like this

Morning is happening, evening is happening

Life is ending like this

In the same way, at the end of the year, we should also know that the speed at which the world is progressing, at the same speed, how much our Muslim society, especially our youth, is suffering from religious decline and degradation. To estimate this, it is enough that how many of us are such young people who do not even know the names of the Islamic months, they do not remember the Dua-e-Qunoot recited in the Witr prayer, they do not even know which month the Islamic year starts with and which month it ends with, but it has to be said with great pain that they definitely know how to celebrate Happy New Year, Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary and Valentine's Day, and a large number of Muslims are wasting their precious wealth in such festivals.

Therefore, there is a need to make the Muslim nation believe that the message of the New Year is not to have fun and celebrate, but to take stock of the past days and prepare a plan of action for the rest of life and to make their life purposeful, and to make them realize that a Muslim can never trade Islamic teachings because of the modern age, nothing is more important to him than the example of the Prophet, so the person who prepares some plan for the redress of his past and remains concerned in this regard, then success will always be waiting for him, and if he wastes his precious life in laziness, carelessness, and negligence, and does not equip himself with the qualities and abilities that are needed to change the course of life, then the dark clouds of decline and degradation will overshadow us, and our precious life will be wasted.

May Allah Almighty grant us all the ability to make our life precious and may Allah Almighty end us all on faith. Amen, O Lord of the Worlds.