Honorable Muslims!
In the verse that I recited, the Almighty Allah (swt) declares that: “Every soul will taste death, and you will only be given your [full] compensation on the Day of Resurrection. So, he who is drawn away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise has attained [his desire]. And what is the life of this world except the enjoyment of delusion.”[i]
In the honorable hadith that I read Our Dear Prophet (s.a.w.) says: “The clever person is the one who subjugates his soul and works for what is after death. And the incapable is the one who follows his desires and merely hopes in Allah.”[ii]
Valuable Muslims!
The Almighty Allah (swt) in The Holy Qur’an, declares that, “Does man think that he will be left neglected?”[iii]. This verse warns us that all the blessings of Allah (swt), especially life, also require responsibility. So, we are responsible for where and for what we spend our life. In the words of Our Beloved Prophet (s.a.w.), there are two blessings which many people lose: (They are) Health and free time for doing good.[iv] Yet, the times spent with the awareness of responsibility towards Allah turn into earnings and save the owner from the frustration. Those lives are blessed which believing Allah and abiding by the Sunnah, the life of the Messenger of Allah. The lives adorned with goodness, beneficence, virtue and beautiful morality, flourishes.
Valuable Believers!
We are leaving behind another year of our life, where we are sent to develop a peaceful and just world that is appropriate to Allah’s (swt) contentment. Let us ask ourselves as we enter a new year based on Gregorian calendar: Are we able to place the faith and determination to win our contentment of Allah (swt) in the center of our lives? Or did we go after our desires? In our heart, have we included mercy, justice, humility and wisdom? Or have we succumbed to arrogance, stinginess, envy and showing off and pretending to do good actions, without having the real intention for doing it? Did we connect faithfully to the divine edict of Allah (swt)? “O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.”[v] Have we been able to protect the rights of our parents, our spouse, our children? When was the last time we caress an orphan’s head? Which elderly heart we conciliated? Which poor person’s need did we eliminate?
Valuable Muslims!
Let’s decide to equip our remaining life with good and beautiful deeds that will earn Allah’s (swt) contentment. Let us not forget the honorable responsibility of being a human, the weight of shouldering the trust of Allah and the proximity of the day of the judgement. Let’s give up our mistakes and errors. Let’s multiply our worship, good deeds and charity. Then every year of our life will become a true milestone for us, a real possibility and hope.
[i] Âl-i Imran, 3/185.
[ii] Tirmidhi, Description of the Day of Judgement, 25.
[iii] Kıyâme, 75/36.
[iv] Bukhari, To make the Heart Tender, 1.
[v] Mâide 5/90.
Friday Khutba of Tokyo Camii “LIVING A LIFE WITH THE AWARENESS OF RESPONSIBILITY”(PDF)