Self-Forgetfulness and God-Forgetfulness
People celebrate the joys of the New Year's arrival with great fanfare, but when we reflect, this time is more of sorrow than joy. This moment is not one of celebration and happiness, but rather a moment of lesson and exhortation, because with the passage of days, age does not increase, but rather the span of life narrows, and the allotted lifespan decreases. Therefore, the arrival of the New Year is a trumpet of warning for heedless natures and an alarm of awakening for dormant minds, not a message of intoxication and pleasure-seeking. This is the time for a believer's forehead to bow at God's threshold, saying, "You have taken away many of my peers and honored me with Your respite, so I offer feelings of gratitude and thankfulness in Your exalted court." This is the time for hands of supplication and entreaty to be raised before God, saying, "O God, make my future better than my past, replace my failures with successes, and my lowliness with heights." Especially at this time, Muslims are receiving the punishment for heedlessness of God and love of the world and its possessions throughout the world. In this context, the entire Ummah should pray for the protection of the Islamic world and the holy places. But alas, a hundred pities and a thousand regrets! That we have turned this hour of taking lessons and being admonished into an hour of pleasure-seeking, self-forgetfulness, and God-forgetfulness.