We are at the end of the year and will be about to celebrate New Year. At this time, it is good to look back and reflect on the previous year and then look forward to seeing how we can improve ourselves.
As one year ends, so a new one begins, and it becomes a fresh start, based on previous experience. It is important that we learn from mistakes, so that we can keep improving ourselves. Whilst the Covid is still around, there is hope with the vaccines and boosters, that this virus will finally come under control and life can get back to normal, Insha’Allah (God willing). But as the restrictions have stopped, we must keep taking every precaution to stop it spreading.
May Allah always be your protector, Amen.
Whatever are our circumstances and difficulties, we must always keep in mind why we are here, why Allah has created us. Trials and tribulations are a part of life, as everyone faces ups and downs, but whatever our circumstances, we must always remember the worship of Allah, the One God. We need to keep striving to win Allah’s pleasure and ensure that we are firmly on the right path.
We can blame the difficulties we face, the hardships, the preventions etc., but nothing can stop us always following and acting upon the Holy Qur’an, following God’s teachings and being submissive servants to Allah or making the choices we make. For instance, if we are stopped from going to the Mosque, then Alhamdulillah (All praise is due to Allah), you can still pray at home. If we are stopped from going to work or school etc., then Alhamdulillah you can still be a good Muslim and strive to win Allah’s blessings. Nothing can stop you from this…only yourselves. Therefore, it is important that we keep reflecting over what we been doing and learn from our mistakes and then keep striving to improve ourselves.
Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the fifth successor of the Promised Messiah, may Allah always be his Helper, told his community that we need to keep reflecting of the past to help us prepare for the future.
He said:
We Ahmadis Muslims are very fortunate that Allah has given us the instruction of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah (may peace be upon him), who presented to us the summary of the teachings of Allah and his Holy Prophet (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and also showed us the high standards to evaluate our deeds and spirituality.
If this standard is kept in assessment, then we can surely achieve the standards of true believers. These are the conditions to rightly judge your standards of good deeds.
Every Ahmadi Muslim undertook the Bai’at (Pledge of allegiance) and thus through this the Promised Messiah (may peace be upon him) gave us the instructions to follow and thus also expected from every Ahmadi Muslim to self-evaluate themselves every day, every week, every month and every year.
This is a very important guidelines, that we should ensure that we are doing all the time. It is only through this process of self-evaluating can we ensure that we are keeping to the very high standard, that Allah wants us to be at.
This is the whole purpose of religion, to help and guide us to become a better person. But if we do not keep self-evaluating ourselves, then we can easily slip and allow some bad actions to overtake us. It is a process, that from a thought, if we allow that thought to overcome us, then it becomes an action. And if we allow that action to overcome us, it become part of our character.
This is why we have been guided to ‘cut at the root’ and do not allow these bad thoughts to overcome us. But it can easily happen, many times we don’t even realise it, hence the importance of self-reflection every day, to examine what we have been doing throughout the day and have we slipped and allowed a thought to become an action. If we don’t then that action can develop to become our character.
I think the best way to explain this is from a hadith (saying) of the Holy Prophet (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) who said:-
Truth guides to virtue and virtue to Paradise. A person persists in telling the truth till in the sight of Allah he is named Truthful. Lying leads to vice and vice leads to the Fire; a person goes on lying till in the sight of Allah he is named a liar
In this hadith, it shows us how doing an action can develop our character, define who we are.
Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the fifth successor of the Promised Messiah, may Allah always be his Helper, continued to say:
Our every step should be to gain the pleasure of Allah. Our every day should be reflective of the good model of the Holy Prophet (may peace and blessings of allah be upon him). Our days and nights should be spent in a way that help us fulfil our pledge to the Promised Messiah (may peace be upon him).
Whenever we do anything, we should think first, whether doing such a thing will please Allah or not? Would the Holy Prophet (may peace and blessings of Allah) have done it? If you feel that the answer is no, then you have your answer as to what to do next. These are our guides, which will define our actions, help us to become a better person. Hence why we must keep self-reflecting and thinking about why we did such a thing, were we after the praise of man, or seeking the pleasure of Allah?
Only through this process can we keep our feet firmly on the ground. Of course, it is important to sometimes do things in front of others, as it encourages others, this is why we are told to spend openly and secretly, as it is through spending opening or being seen doing good works, etc. that it will encourage others to do it as well. Likewise, it is also good to hear praise, as that encourages you to do more, knowing that it has been appreciated. But we must always remember that it is Allah who has given us the ability, health, position to do those things. Therefore, we should always be thankful to Allah and remain His humble servant.
Through self-reckoning and thinking about why we did something, then that will help us to remain humble, seeking Allah’s pleasure. For me, I always think that if I had the opportunity to do it again, would I do the same or change it? If I feel I need to change it, then that helps me to try to make better decisions in future.
One companion of the Holy Prophet (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) use to pray at this time of year
O Allah! Let this (year) bring for us security and faith and well being and peace and protection from Satan and pleasure and contentment from the Gracious God
We should be praying for the security and protection of God, but these days there is a fear for the security of everyone. It is very difficult and trying time, but the only way to find peace, real inner peace, is to develop your relationship with Allah.
Therefore, it is important to pray to Allah for security and the peace that comes from it, but also, there is a lack of faith in the world as mankind is moving away from Allah. Therefore, we should keep praying for Allah to help us remain strong in our faith and that we should be constantly striving to win Allah’s pleasure and nearness.
Through doing that, it will bring peace and contentment to us. Allah is Rahman – Gracious and it is through His Grace that He bestows these things upon us, so we should keep imploring His Grace and seek His pleasure.
The companions of the Holy Prophet (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) were always eager to sacrifice their wealth and their lives to prove their love and devotion to God. They would spend in the way of Allah both openly and in secret. As a result, Allah blessed them abundantly. Their lives are a testimony that they got what they strived for, and that Allah was pleased with them. That is the example for us which we should try to always follow. Therefore, we should all resolve to keep striving to make great sacrifices of time and wealth, seeking the pleasure and reward from Allah.
The Holy Qur’an relates:
And whatever good you may send on before you for your souls, you will find it with Allah. It will be better and greater in reward. And seek forgiveness of Allah. Surely, Allah is Most Forgiving, Merciful. (Chapter 73, verse 21)
We should keep striving to do good and help one another and keep seeking Allah’s forgiveness for any weaknesses we have and try to learn and benefit from those weaknesses to keep striving to purify ourselves.