Ending the Year Strong | Shaykh Abdullah Waheed, Shaykh Mohamed Almasmari | Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed

Ending the Year Strong

May Allah make us among those who end their year upon repentance and, inshAllah, begin their year upon positive change. Wa min Allahi t-tawfiq, bi hurmati Muhammad al-Mustafa wa bi sirri Surah al-Fatihah. Alhamdulillah, we welcome you all to Ummah and we welcome our dear mashayikh.

By the way, to begin with Shaykh Abdullah on the right side — Shaykh Abdullah just finished teaching seerah for a whole week. How many hours a day, Shaykh? Like eight hours to nine hours — you know how hard that is? Shaykh does give talks, but nine hours a day for a whole week — I think that's a whole different level, it's a game changer. Alhamdulillah, there were hundreds of students, hundreds of people online. And when I asked Shaykh Abdullah, I said, can we have a Friday night live at the end of the year? It was one of the first times where Shaykh Abdullah stuttered. He's like, oh okay, it's hard, but okay, we'll make it happen. JazakAllah khair, Shaykh. Thank you for teaching the community seerah.

People that have listened to the seerah before also join Miftah this year — because I don't think people just go once. People that have listened to it a few times have participated a few times; they go to relive those moments and to remind themselves of things that they've forgotten, but also the environment — subhanAllah — just having that environment is a blessing. To know that we don't have to go too far. And inshAllah, soon we have a Miftah convention where we see 20,000 people — inshAllah say inshAllah everyone — where we don't have to go to other states. InshAllah everything happens here. May Allah bless you, Shaykh, we love you, thank you.

And Shaykh Abdul Wahab — right when I saw him, I told him, forgive me, I really thought he wasn't coming. I'll be honest with you all. I called him at 8:30, he didn't respond, so forgive me for thinking that of you. He's been planning behind the scenes, working. Shaykh Abdullah is on the stage teaching, and Shaykh Abdul Wahab is basically everywhere — planning for it and making sure that the seerah was what it was. May Allah reward you too, Shaykh, and may Allah reward you all for everything that you're doing.

Opening Remarks — Shaykh Abdullah Waheed

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. This is one of those evenings where I feel like Shaykh Masroori is in a really good mood today. These gatherings — I would do anything to be in them. I haven't sat with Mufti Abdul Wahab for more than an hour straight in the last four months — he's been in and out. So we're getting to see each other, with beautiful community members, and we're just going to have a conversation that we would typically have in our homes.

JazakumAllahu khair, and thank you all for coming this late. We ask Allah to accept your coming, your attending, and your focusing on how to end this year on a positive note. Many times we can start off on the wrong foot, but in the deen of Allah, it's innamal a'mālu bil-khawātīm — you could have made mistakes in the beginning of the year, in the middle of the year, throughout the year — and you're looking back saying, I have new year resolutions and goals, and I want to change, I want to better myself, I want 2024 to be better.

Ramadan is just two months away. We're looking at the end of the year — it's literally just around the corner. So what are we doing? If we now conclude the year on the right footing, we are hopefully not just coming into a new year with the right mindset, but we're going to approach Ramadan with a better mindset too. That is very important.

The Prophet ﷺ said — it doesn't matter how far you are from Allah — but if you can say la ilaha illallah before you die, you enter Jannah:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 3116; also reported in Mustadrak al-Hakim)

Just having the ability to say something — and typically those types of opportunities come to people who search for these opportunities, people who are fortunate enough to seek them.

The Description of Jannah in the Quran

In Jannah, when people will be drinking — Allah says:

Verily the righteous will be in bliss — inna al-abrā'a la-fī na'īm — reclining on couches, looking around — 'alā al-arā'iki yanẓurūn. And you look at these people reclining and relaxing, one of the things that is very apparent: they're very content, their faces are glowing — ta'rifu fī wujūhihim naḍrata al-na'īm. They will be given the wine that is sealed — yusqawna min raḥīqin makhtūm — because the longer the wine is kept, the more authentic it is, so the authenticity of the wine is mentioned in makhtūm.

Allah says: what is the level of excitement in the last sip? Because in the beginning, everybody's enjoying the party — but what is the level of excitement in the last sip? Khitāmuhu misk — and the last part of this is going to be like musk. It's going to have a great smell; you're going to enjoy this. Everything in Jannah, from the beginning to the end, has a beautiful experience — and the last is khitāmuhu misk.

Then Allah says something very interesting — after all this description, He says: wa fī dhālika fal-yatanāfasi al-mutanāfisūn — and this is what you're supposed to compete in. Try to seek to be in the highest levels of Jannah, where you can be the guest of Allah, and Allah will be entertaining you in Jannah.

Wa mizājuhū min tasnīm — and there's going to be a mixed flavor in this wine in Jannah, and it's going to be from the river of Tasneem. Tasneem is a river in Jannah that does not flow on the floor of Jannah or on the side — it literally floats in the middle of Jannah, elevated, without anything holding it on the bottom. It literally moves around Jannah in the middle of the air. Sinān is a hump — something elevated. So there's a river that literally moves around Jannah in the middle of the air. 'Aynan yashrabu bihā al-muqarrabūn — la ilaha illallah — a river in Jannah accessible only to people who are close to Allah.

So we want to end this year with this mentality — that we want to get to this Jannah, we want to be able to meet Allah. There's nothing wrong in making mistakes in the sense that if you eventually do tawbah, all your sins can be converted into good deeds. In settings like this, the angels make an announcement: know that your sins — sayyi'āt — will be replaced by ḥasanāt, that Allah converts your sins into good deeds.

So we are really looking forward to this journey — this 2023 to end. If it was done in a positive sense, we should say alhamdulillah. We lived another year. We're very fortunate. There are many people who were unable to live this long. There are many people who are not healthy at this time of year — who mentally, emotionally, physically are not available. What fortune do we have that at the end of the year we can say we're at the masjid — we're ending a year in the house of Allah — whereas typically someone will end the year doing something impermissible.

So there is a reason why we're ending our year here. The virtue goes to the organizers here: to collect the youth, collect the community, and revive this discussion. May Allah reward Shaykh Masroori and the whole ummah — the efforts of the community and the youth for bringing these conversations.

Endings and Beginnings — Shaykh Mohamed Almasmari

As-salamu alaykum. It's been a while since you came to Ummah.

For endings — there are tiers in regards to endings. You have, for example, in sports, the ending of a quarter, which matters, but no one wins the game simply by winning at the end of a quarter. You have the end of the half, which is a little more important — it's halftime, and now it matters a little bit more. And then you have the end of the game, which makes a big difference. But now you've won the game, and a person who thinks that the end of the game is the ultimate ending — they're not really an athlete — because there's an ending beyond this. What's beyond that ending? The ending of the season. And a person who is truly competitive — the team that has some value and worth — the first round and making it past the first round, that ending makes a difference for them.

The more valuable you are, and the more value you add in your own life, the different tiers of endings mean different things to you.

For us human beings, the ending of a day is equivalent to us like the ending of our life — because we live every single day of our life as if it's our last. We're not living every day as if it's quarter one, or quarter two, or halftime, or game over, or playoffs. Rather, we don't sit down and talk about the ending of the year simply because the whole world is doing it. We're doing it because every day of our life, at nighttime, we're taught to reflect upon how the day was spent and how the night will be spent and prepare for the next morning.

The Prophet ﷺ would speak about how people would begin their morning, because that was based upon how they would end their nights. When he would say:

A person only thinks about an answer based upon what they're involved in. So if someone here is deeply involved in fantasy football, they're thinking about a good ending based upon their fantasy football league. If a person is really focused on their career, when they talk about a good ending, a good ending for them means their fiscal year ended really well — their profit-loss margin was greater than they had expected and anticipated. Because the endings that truly motivate us are simply based upon what we care about.

A youngster who goes to university — their endings are based upon their grades. A believer's ending is based upon: where is my relationship with Allah today in comparison to where it was when the year began? Because that's what truly drives a believer.

The Story of Haritha — Proof of Iman

So when the Prophet ﷺ asked a young sahabi, he said kayfa aṣbaḥta? — like, you cannot have a more generic question than this. This is like small talk in our conversation: How was your morning? The person could respond, "oh it was cool, it was chill." Kayfa aṣbaḥta is not a deep question. But for these people, they understood the Prophet's ﷺ personality and his mentality to an extent that they knew the Prophet ﷺ wasn't asking about what side of the bed they woke up on. They understood the Prophet ﷺ is asking something that is not surface level.

He responded:

(Referenced in various collections of the narration of Haritha ibn Malik; cf. al-Tabarani, al-Mu'jam al-Kabir)

"I woke up with such strong belief in Allah." That's how my morning began. And my morning can only begin in this manner if my night ended in a manner in which I was also remembering Allah.

These are staple words that everyone uses for their own definitions — because every system and every ideology makes an attempt to rephrase and redefine words that fit their own agenda. So for someone, honor is this; for someone else, honor is something else — because everyone redefines words based upon their agendas.

The Prophet ﷺ asked him:

"For every statement there is a reality — what is the reality of your iman?" What is the proof of your statement that you woke up with strong iman? Because the Prophet ﷺ and the sahabas understood: ending our days, ending our nights, ending our year — regardless of where the ending was — it meant the same thing. There was no such thing as an end-of-the-year reflection in isolation. Every single day they were speaking about it. Every quarter for them was the end of the game — there was no such thing as an "end of the year" program, because every night they were reflecting upon whether or not they were going to wake up the next morning.

They were always thinking: the way you leave this world is the way you wake up in the morning and enter your hereafter.

So when the Prophet ﷺ asked him this question, the man didn't flinch — because when you have substance, you don't flinch. If you have a four-by-four car and it's snowing outside, you drive like you own the road. But if you have a sports car in the middle of the snow, you're just hoping you don't slip and crash. When a person's faith is strong, the turbulent waves will hit them from every corner — but when they have Allah on their side, it doesn't really matter.

When the world said no to Ya'qub, he said his prayer. When the world said no to Zakariyya, he called upon Allah. When the world said no to Yunus, he turned to Allah. Because they had Allah with them. When Musa ﷺ was stuck between an army and an ocean — they were always ready.

A'mal as the Metrics of Iman

So he said: Ya Rasulullah, you want to know how I believe, where my state of mind is right now? He said: "O Prophet of Allah — my nights are spent in worshiping Allah and my days are spent earning Allah's pleasure by fasting." So he always had a'māl — actions. A statement such as iman cannot be fortified without a'māl. A person cannot say that I am successful and then have no metrics to back it up. A person cannot say that I woke up as a believer, and when someone asks him how — just say "just because." Because "just because" doesn't work anywhere else in life.

"What's your GPA? Did you get accepted to your graduate program?" — "No I didn't, but I feel like I did." — "Well, feelings don't take anyone anywhere." Where are your metrics? And the metric of starting a year off correctly is that we have new a'māl in our portfolio. The only currency that shows progress in the eyes of Allah in a new beginning is not emotions alone — it is a'māl.

Imam Hussain — he speaks about this in his great book Iḥyā' 'Ulūm al-Dīn — does iman create a'māl, or do a'māl create iman? Is it my tahajjud that makes me a strong believer, or is it my faith that allows me to wake up for tahajjud? And he concludes that for long-term impact, it is a person's good deeds that give them emotion — and that is why in Hadith Jibreel, Islam comes before Iman — because our ability of doing good is what gives us new faith and what fortifies our faith.

So ya Rasulullah — I know I believe because I woke up praying in front of Allah. You wake up — how's your morning? — strong belief — you pray tahajjud? — no, I missed it — okay, the metrics aren't there. I can feel good, but I'm not necessarily in a good state.

And then he said: "It's as if I can see Jannah in front of me — people enjoying in Jannah — and I can see Jahannam in front of me — people being punished in Jahannam." In other words: I'm ready. It's like someone who prepared really well in the off-season, and when the season begins they're like, "Yo, when does the game start? I'm ready — I've been waiting for this the entire off-season." That's how the sahabas worked for the akhirah.

The only people who were not prepared to go forward and begin something new were the hypocrites. They had no FOMO — no fear of missing out — when it came to acts of goodness, because they never wanted to be a part of it anyway.

So the idea of the end of the year and the beginning of a new year — in every ending there's a beginning. And a year beginning means: how did I wake up? How do I continue to start my year off with iman? Our greatest metric of starting the year off correctly is a'māl. These are the metrics and this is what allows us to feel that we have strong iman.

There are many hadith about how a person wakes up and how a person goes to sleep. There's one hadith that is quite alarming where the Prophet ﷺ says: there are people who start their day as a believer but by evening they're already a disbeliever.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 118)

And then he says: whenever the Prophet ﷺ used the words yuṣbiḥ and yumsī, it also refers to young and old. A person in their youth is like a believer, but as they grow older in their careers they start compromising, compromising, compromising, until now they have very little belief left — because they had to "make it" in this thing we call life, and they forgot about making it in this thing we call the afterlife.

The opposite also happens — parents raise their kids in a way that they end their life as they do, but their kids end up somewhere else. So the Prophet ﷺ often spoke about how a person starts their day and how a person ends their day. For them, the day ending was like our year end — because every day ending was a new day beginning, a new opportunity of tawbah, a new opportunity of doing good deeds, a new opportunity of seeking Allah's reward.

For us we don't think about the day ending the same way we think about the year ending. We're like that basketball player that doesn't treat the quarter ending the same as the season ending. But for the Prophet ﷺ, every day ending was like the ending of the game, like the ending of the season — hence every day mattered more than anything else in their lives.

That is the concept — that is the mentality. For us: if the Prophet ﷺ came to us and asked us, "How did your year begin?" — what would our response be? And on top of that, if we say "We woke up as believers," if the Prophet ﷺ were to ask, "What is your proof? Where are your metrics?" — if we don't have metrics to back it up, we would flinch. We would have what we call a glitch. All the munafiqun had glitches when it came to goodness — they would glitch and start thinking twice about something good, and then get deceived by the people of the world.

So for us, the question is one that we want to be able to answer when this new year begins. We treat every day like the ending of the year — the way the Prophet ﷺ treated it.

Consistency and Accountability — Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed

My dear brothers and sisters — what made Ibrahim ﷺ unique? Even though there are many things that Ibrahim engaged in, a dawah that was performed — a long life of sacrifices — what made Ibrahim ﷺ unique and better than others is that he was able to arrive in the presence of Allah with a sound heart.

Even though he lived a life filled with sacrifices, he was consistent throughout the process — and when he arrived to Allah, he arrived with a sound heart. It's not only about forgiving someone. It's not only about performing one ibadah. Can we live our lives day after day, year after year, consistently — until we arrive to Allah in a state of worship? A full life of ibadah.

This is why the Prophet ﷺ was advised — and all of us were advised in the Quran — that worship Allah until death befalls you:

Every single day is a new day. You can't say "I worshipped Allah yesterday." I'm going to do tasbeeh until I die. I'm going to do dhikr until I die. I'm going to honor my parents until I die. I'm going to worship until I die. I'm going to seek different avenues of khair until I die. I'm not going to give up. Al-khawātīm is what matters.

Many people here are sincere. When Zayd responded to the Prophet ﷺ — when the Prophet asked him, "What is the reality of your faith?" — you can claim faith, you can say "I am a mu'min," you can say "these are my new year resolutions, these are my intentions" — and that is noble and truly honorable. But what is the true reality of one's intentions? What allows us to know that what you and I have intended is real, not fake? It's a'māl — they followed it with action. And Allah allows us to discover the sincerity of our intentions through our a'māl.

This is why the Prophet ﷺ says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6607)

Your actions are judged based upon their endings. How long can we last? How far can we go? Can we conquer our nafs throughout the process? Having the intention of performing an ibadah is easy. You and I may do it after listening to a lecture. But can we overcome our desires throughout the year to reach that goal, that objective? This is why the Prophet ﷺ reminds us that you and I are raised on the Day of Qiyamah on that which we die upon. How do we want to die? How do we want to depart to Allah?

All of these are questions that we have to ask ourselves. This is why the Prophet ﷺ speaks about the people who may claim something but are not willing to take action — execute that plan. A person may engage in the actions of the people of Jannah until between him and death is an arm's length — and then he or she engages in the actions of the people who earned Allah's wrath, and enters that wrath — because they were not able to last.

Identifying Obstacles — Muhasaba

If you and I want to question ourselves and the sincerity behind all the intentions that were made in the beginning of the year — were you and I able to accomplish all of our new year resolutions and the decisions we made? If someone wants to start an organization or start something new, one of the most effective ways is to understand worst practices. Sometimes people come in with so much optimism and excitement that really doesn't move the organization to the next level. People need to meet and ask themselves: can this be a negative? Let's be negative — what has led people to failure?

This is what we do at the end of the year. We can't just say "I'm going to do tawbah, inshAllah" — this is not the goal of tonight. What has prevented me from tawbah? What were the obstacles throughout the year? Why is Muhammad still weak at the end of 2023? Why have I not reached all my new year resolutions and accomplished everything I had in mind — especially when it comes to spiritual growth? Why am I the same person? I am getting older and my iman is getting weaker, my Islam is getting weaker, my family ties are even weaker than before. I am no longer giving what I want to give. I am no longer as productive. I am no longer as motivated. We ask ourselves these questions.

This is why Allah — even when it comes to tawbah — He says:

A person who decided to make a change — they believed in Allah, wa āmanū — and they followed those beliefs with actions. And actions, my dear brothers and sisters, have never been easy.

We need to know, when we talk about the end of the year, that we have to be uncomfortable. These are serious discussions. I am uncomfortable because I did not push myself to the max. I did not do what I planned to do. One of the most effective forms of ibadah that I feel we've neglected as an ummah is muḥāsaba — holding ourselves accountable. We can't plan for tomorrow if we failed our nights.

The sahabas were closer to Allah at the end of the day than they were in the morning. When the night approached, they were all in ibadah. The actions they engaged in during the morning with people prepared them for Allah in the evening, and their engagement with Allah in the evening prepared them for their engagements with people in the morning. It was a full cycle. This is why the Prophet ﷺ would walk the streets of Madinah and witness people reciting Quran.

When Umar رضي الله عنه was asked about his day, he said: "I split my day into two — half of it is for Allah and half of it is for the people." It was a full cycle. This is why muḥāsaba has to occur — you and I have to sit down and examine ourselves and question our failures: what did I do wrong, what prevented me from achieving my goals?

I end with this statement where Umar رضي الله عنه beautifully says:

(Attributed to Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه; recorded in Hilyat al-Awliya' by Abu Nu'aym)

Hold yourself accountable before you are held accountable. And then he ends by saying: beautify yourselves before you stand in the presence of Allah. Was this year beautiful or not? Are we proud of this year? Sins are very ugly. Disputes are very ugly. Fights are very ugly. Hatred is very ugly. Animosity is very ugly. Backbiting is very ugly. Is that how we will stand in the presence of Allah? Beautify yourselves — so that when we stand in the presence of Allah, we deserve to be in His presence.

So make sure that as this year comes to an end, we are trying to build that connection with Allah by beautifying ourselves — so that when we stand on the Day of Qiyamah in the presence of Allah, we are proud of our accomplishments. And the response we have on that day is — everyone: take a look at my book! We would never want to show people what we've done in the midst of darkness, in the absence of people's observance, where no one else was watching but Allah. So inshAllah — the intention behind all of this is that this night allows us to reflect on what has made us fail throughout the year, and then inshAllah we plan accordingly as we move on to the next year.

The Secret of Endings in Islam — Shaykh Masroori

From what I'm hearing from these two scholars who have really ignited something in me — everything that Allah has talked about that is a value and extreme virtue has something to do with endings.

The Prophet ﷺ — from all the books, Torah, the good scriptures, the final book — the best book. When it comes to prophets — Adam, Nuh, Sheeth, Idrees, Musa — the best prophet came last. When it comes to nations — Bani Isra'il, the nations prior — all these communities came, they were stronger, more powerful, more accomplished in many forms of the world. But you — you are the best nation because you're the final nation. So there's something hidden in the endings too. It's not just a beginning and an ending — there's something special in the endings.

The best of books. The best of prophets. The best of nations. And then you look even at the way Islam approaches some discussions. The best act through the pillars of Islam — one of the best acts at the end of the year — which is Hajj. Why do you think Hajj is one of the last months, Dhul Hijjah — ending the year strong? If you fast in Dhul Hijjah, catch the night of Arafah, if you end up going for Hajj in the last months — and the Prophet ﷺ — the last thing he did before he died, two months before his death, was Hajj. He made a point: before you meet your Lord, you should visit your Lord's house one more time, and then meet your Lord.

There's a possible secret in Hajj being the last pillar obligated to the Prophet ﷺ. Not just that — even in Ramadan, the secret codes of Ramadan are kept in the last ten nights. And in the last ten nights, some of the best nights of the month of Ramadan — many scholars say Laylat al-Qadr is the 27th night. So there is this reservation that is being promoted — because you have to earn it, you have to be ready for the ending. You can't just wake up on the 27th night with a heart that's lively and motivated to pray. You have to work on that heart — and when the 27th night comes, your arms are raised, your eyes are dripping, you're connected to Allah. There's a relationship that builds toward these endings.

The Secret Codes at the End of Surahs

Even when you look in the Quran — the secret of a surah is in the final verses of that surah. The entire surah — its secret code is in the ending. Look at Surah al-Baqarah: 286 verses, and as you're getting to the ending, the best of the verses start to come. The surah ends with some of the best verses in the entire Quran — and it ends in a way that every ending should end with, whether it's a year, whether it's a life, whether it's any form of accomplishment. You read the largest surah in the Quran with the attitude of asking Allah to forgive you.

Ghafar is a helmet — the Arabs would build armor, and ghafar is to protect. After being forgiven, warḥamnā — to be promoted. It's rahmah, because you can't do anything good without God's permission. So the surah ends:

Then in Surah Ali 'Imran — following the discussions of Badr and tawbah — Allah says, let me tell you how you're supposed to end this concept, the whole message, the secret of the whole surah, codified in the final verses:

That's the whole message — the secret of the whole surah is codified in that final verse.

You look at Surah Yusuf. You have the story — Yusuf ﷺ as a character, the father as a character, the brothers making mistakes. Allah says: aḥsan al-qaṣaṣ — the best story ever revealed from Allah. Where's the whole point of the story? It's in the last verse. These stories are not just to read to children — they're meant to be contemplated, focused upon.

Then you look at Surah al-Tawbah — difficulties, challenges, Tabuk — back and forth the conversation goes. The surah looks harsh in tone. But in the end, Allah reminds the community: everything He's asked you to do is because He loves you — the secret code of the surah is in the final verse:

He cares about you. There's going to be times where you can't handle situations — and when people turn their backs on you, that's a message of the surah. What better way to end? You can't find a better ending for a surah than this. We wait for the ending of a movie — I can't wait for the ending of a surah. Even though I know the ending, I can't wait to read it again.

With Surah al-Kahf — the four stories — and in the end Allah says: it all comes down to two things. If you really want to meet Allah, you've got to do two things: do good deeds and stay sincere.

Then Allah talks about Maryam, and ends Surah Maryam with: this human being is coming back to Allah. Then Allah in Surah Ta-Ha says: do you not see the nations that came before you? In the beginning the surah talks about hopelessness; at the end the surah talks about a time will come, there won't be a sound in the world, there will be no footsteps heard in the world. And the Quran goes like this.

It only befits the Book of Allah — so beautiful, so eloquent, so precise. Some of the best surahs that we like to recite are kept in the last portion of the Quran. For people who are learning the Quran — look at the ending of Surah al-Qamar — some of the most beautiful ending. And every ending is connected to the next one's beginning.

Allah says: verily the believers will be in paradise, where rivers are flowing, in a very noble location — near the Almighty Allah, the King who is powerful. But then who is this powerful King? You can't end the surah without beginning the next one — the Surah al-Rahman begins, and then you're reminded almost 31 times:

Which of the blessings of your Lord can you deny? But the surah ends — and reminds you to the discussion of the next surah. Surah al-Waqi'ah begins with the skeptic question: is there going to be an akhirah? It's going to happen — and there is no denying it. And in the end, the surah ends with three discussions — three questions — but ending in an interesting manner. And then the next surah, Surah al-Hadid, begins — Allah doesn't make you discover it yourself. He says: continue to remember your Lord. Just flip the page — I'll teach you how to do it.

The reality is: this can go on through the whole Quran. But the most beautiful thing I love about the Quran — it all ends by telling the human: "I love you." Allah says it at the beginning of 113 surahs — Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim — I've told you how much I love you. But never forget: you will never be able to survive in this earth without seeking constant protection from your enemy.

So when you finish the Quran — what is this teaching us? Sometimes even if you have a perfect year, a perfect life — in the end, Shaytan will try to ruin it again. You've been walking through life, but Shaytan will sit next to you and try to deviate you before you die.

Imam Ahmad رحمه الله is sitting on his deathbed. People are saying: say la ilaha illallah. He says "not yet, not yet" — and then finally says la ilaha illallah. This is a man who spent his whole life writing — 12,000 hadith in his Musnad, one of the largest compilations in the library of the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. He saw the Prophet ﷺ in his dream multiple times. His son sees him after he passes in a dream and says: "Dad, we were begging you to say la ilaha illallah and you kept saying no." He said: "O my son — Iblis was literally sitting in front of me, and he said to me: 'O Ahmad, I presented wealth to you — you escaped it. I presented fame in front of you — you dodged it. I presented all these traps — you said no to all of them.' And I said to Shaytan: 'The game isn't over yet. I still have a breath in my chest.'"

Till I die, I have no guarantee that I will die with iman — that's why he said "not yet, not yet." So you have to remember: throughout your life, in the last stages of a year, in the last stages of your career of life — Shaytan will come to ruin it. Don't let Shaytan mess up a beautiful marriage. Don't let Shaytan ruin your deen. You have this beautiful deen.

So the Quran — there are some secrets, some secret codes in endings. And that's why we are from the ummah that is the greatest ummah — the last ummah to come to this world. But here is the secret code — ready for this? We're the last to come — but the first to enter Jannah.

Three Points for the New Year — Shaykh Masroori (continued)

Point One: Lifestyle, Not Just Goals

They talk about this in all the leadership books — more important than writing down specific goals at the beginning of the year is identifying our lifestyle. What type of lifestyle do I want in 2024? If I want to have a healthy lifestyle, I will remove things from my diet and add things to my workout regimen. If I want to have an active lifestyle, I'm going to add this and remove that.

What the Prophet ﷺ was teaching — even through the ending of a night and the beginning of a day — is that my lifestyle is having Allah first. Man aṣbaḥa wa al-ākhiratu akbaru hammih — whosoever wakes up in the morning and the akhirah is their biggest concern. In every opportunity the Prophet ﷺ was reminding the companions: you begin your day, you begin your year, you end your night, you end your year — with Allah as the most important reference point.

It's not important to write down "I will work out one hour a day" — it's more important to say "I want to live a healthy lifestyle." I want to live a lifestyle that is conducive to my family and its growth, and then everything else falls under that category. The first thing we have to identify is: which lifestyle do we want to begin the year with?

It's not about just doing and not doing. It's important to change your lifestyle. The sahabas didn't become sahabas because they simply started praying. They became sahabas because their -ism was the akhirah. What defined the purpose of their life was the afterlife. So because of that, their lifestyle changed. The lens through which they perceived the dunya changed.

If you're a youngster sitting here — it's amazing that we come to these beautiful places, to a masjid. But equally important is that these are things we're thinking about when we're alone in a bedroom, when we're sitting in a classroom, when we're working in a workplace. The goal is for this lifestyle to be the new lifestyle — I'm always living a life where I'm cognizant of Allah's presence. This is a lifestyle change. We're not guaranteed our age — 25 years old could be the last day we live in this world. Our lifestyle needs to change.

The sahabas were able to create impact around the world not because they simply changed the optics of their life — they changed their life. Everyone's worried about optics. If I change the optics, I'll change the perception — that's true, but only for a little while. If people really want deep change, they have to change the reality of it.

So the first message from endings and beginnings is that we have to make an intention to create a lifestyle that brings Allah's pleasure — and in that lifestyle, children come, work comes, school comes, happiness and friends come. It all falls into that lifestyle prism. That's number one.

Point Two: Have a Destination

Brian Tracy says: "If you don't have a destination, any road will take you there." Meaning — if you don't know what you want to do in 2024 in regard to your spirituality, any road will take you there. By the end of the year, since you never had a destination, everyone screams that they're successful because you never really had a destination drawn out for yourself.

For us, we have a destination — and that destination is the akhirah. So now: how can I begin the year putting the akhirah in front of me? That is our destination. The journey has to lead there. It's not that any road can take me there — it's that this road can take me there, the one that Allah has given to His pious and virtuous servants. We want this same destination.

When Zayd ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه became shaheed in the Battle of Yamamah — he was the brother of Umar رضي الله عنه — after the battle, Umar was looking for his brother. He says that at the end of every battle he would look for his brother first — he was younger than him but became Muslim first. So he would search for him and hug him after each battle.

He's looking for his brother in this battle, and his brother had become shaheed. This was a battle where many great companions became shaheed — his brother was also a hafidh of the Quran. Umar held him, and the sahabas could see that this man was truly affected. He holds his younger brother and says: "O my dear younger brother — you beat me. You beat me twice. You beat me by becoming Muslim first, and you beat me by becoming shaheed first. You won."

Because that was their destination. And when that destination was clear to them — when something's a mirage, you're always squinting because you don't really know what it is. But the akhirah wasn't a mirage — the dunya was the mirage. The akhirah was real for them. So they weren't squinting looking at it. And this is the idea of knowing what your destination is — because sahabas cared about their endings. That's why they cared about every single day of their life.

Point Three: Endings Are Always Organic

Beginnings can be tampered with. They can be fake. They can be manipulated, created, crafted. How you first meet someone can be crafted. But endings are always organic. Organic endings are what every person in the world goes through. So we always gauge people based upon their endings — because that was organic. You met me very nicely; we left the gathering and you came up to me — that's how you really are. Because the way you leave is what people truly remember.

So how we leave this year — not just with ourselves. This is where I believe sometimes we get it wrong. We all live in a very capitalistic society that makes us very self-centric, and without God in our public square, all we have left is self-centrism. So it's important for us to remember that at the end of the year, how people think of us does matter. What my mother thinks about me matters. End the year off seeking forgiveness from people around you.

And the famous story — in the Mi'raj — the Prophet ﷺ, as he's being given the tour of Jannah by Jibreel ﷺ — the best tour guide in the world — showing him Jannah, the different palaces, the rivers and walkways. The Prophet ﷺ was walking and heard footsteps. He said: "Ya Jibreel — footsteps in Jannah? What are these footsteps?" He said: "These are the footsteps of Bilal." The Prophet ﷺ said: what — Bilal's footsteps are being heard in Jannah?

And this teaches us: yes — when our head is in sajdah, our heartbeat can be heard in the heavens. The same way we want to make our voices common and known in the streets, we want to make our voices known in the chambers of the akhirah — that when our voice goes up to Allah, Allah knows who we are, the angels know who we are.

The famous story of Abu Mihjan — he was a companion traveling as a merchant. A thief came to rob him, and the companion said: "Do you want my money? Take it." He said: "No, I want your life." The companion said: "Okay — can you do me a favor? Let me pray four raka'hs in front of Allah." He went and prayed his four raka'hs, and in his last sajdah he made du'a:

Before he knew it, a man covered — a rider — came and struck that person down. He looked at him and said: "Who are you?" He said: "I am an angel from the fourth heaven." The first time you called out, there was a very loud knocking sound heard in the heavens. The second time you said it, everything in the heavens was shaking. The third time you said it, I asked Allah: "Let me go." These people's voices were known to the people of the heavens.

And we want our voices to simply be heard by the people of this world? Only a fool knocks on the same door twice hoping it opens — but the door of Allah is always open. They say these doors are closed, Allah won't answer your du'a — who in the world has the audacity and the ability and the courage to say that a door of Allah is closed upon us? They have absolutely no right to make those statements.

It also matters what people think of us. So we end the year off seeking forgiveness. One narration mentions a righteous man who said: every single night I forgive everyone. One narration mentions: I pray tahajjud every single night. One narration has akhlaq, one has ibadah — so it is important that if I have siblings, my siblings love me; if I have parents that are alive, my parents love me; that my children respect me; that people around me care about me.

The Prophet ﷺ says: the best person is the one who can bring a smile to someone else's face. Now that is also a new year's resolution.

Writing One Resolution Per Category

The last thing — nobody here makes new year resolutions without writing them down, if they're truly honest with themselves. There are four categories. The western world says: number one, you should have one new year resolution for your health. Number two, one for financial goals. Number three, one for your social goals. For us, we should have these three — and a fourth: one new year resolution for our spiritual goal. Only write one thing for each category.

The Prophet ﷺ, whenever he would give advice with more than one point, he would never give more than three. There's a study that youngsters nowadays — sometimes we like to have multiple goals as a premeditated justification for failure. We have 25 goals on our list simply because if we fail at 24, we say "I had too many, that's why I failed." Premeditated soft landing for our failures. Instead, just have one for each category — and if we fail, we failed. The greatest justification in the path of Allah is the acceptance of weakness. But don't say we had too many. Have one — and be accountable for that one.

So everyone — take out your phone and write one thing down. Just one. Your one spiritual goal for the new year. Not more than one, inshAllah.

Closing Remarks — Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed

May Allah preserve you all. If I can end with a reminder for myself and everyone here — the word that we hear nowadays is jihad. And what the people of Gaza and Palestine are going through — this is jihad. We ask Allah to accept them as martyrs — those who have returned to Allah. It is very honorable to die as a shaheed. May Allah be with our brothers and sisters, may Allah give them victory, and inshAllah we continue to keep them in our du'as, in our sujood, in our qiyam. And maybe this is one of our spiritual new year resolutions — that we will keep our ummah in our hearts — and we have to revive within us that everything we do, in the end, pours into the overall growth of the ummah of the Prophet ﷺ — spiritually, financially, physically, and mentally. Whatever it is, everything pours into the service of others.

There is a hadith that I've mentioned a few times, but this is a reminder for myself and everyone here — the debate that our ulama have had: what is better, dying in the path of Allah or living in the path of Allah? Many people want to be shuhada, and may Allah accept us as martyrs. Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه made that du'a. But what led to this debate and the differences of opinion is one authentic hadith:

A companion passed away as a shaheed, and a year later his brother passed away in Madinah — not as a shaheed, but on his deathbed. One of the sahabas came after Fajr — which was a time when the community would engage with the Prophet ﷺ — and he said: Ya Rasulullah, I saw a very strange dream. The Prophet ﷺ said: what did you see? He said: I saw both brothers that had passed away in my dream. But what I noticed, Ya Rasulullah, is that the second brother — the one who died yesterday on his bed — passed his first brother to enter Jannah. He entered Jannah first. So the brother who died at home entered Jannah before the brother who died as a shaheed on the battlefield. The man was amazed: how can this be?

The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 2799; also referenced in Musnad Ahmad)

"Did he not pray after him so many more prayers, and fast one more Ramadan? Why are you surprised?" And this is where the ulema say: living in the path of Allah is far more difficult than dying in the path of Allah.

So you and I have to understand that everything we've spoken about tonight is jihad in the path of Allah. It's not easy — having one goal for each category, trying to change ourselves — this is an ongoing battle. And you and I have to act accordingly. We're always ready for that battle, and it never stops.

The end goal, in sha Allah — as Shaykh Abdullah mentioned — is that we have a final destination, which is to be next to the Prophet ﷺ. We want to stand in the presence of Allah knowing that we've engaged in jihad in our own way. So choose your way as a Muslim — whatever it is. Make sure that as people are sacrificing their lives, we are engaging by saying the haqq, writing the haqq, typing the truth, engaging with others, learning, growing — this is our contribution to the ummah.

InshAllah, this is a path where we are proud of our engagements and all our sacrifices. May Allah keep us sincere. May Allah be with our brothers and sisters in Palestine and around the world — those whom are suffering, that we normally neglect and don't even mention by name. May Allah give them victory wherever they may be. May Allah be with the elderly, the children, the women, the weak. May Allah give those who are defending the truth the power, the motivation, and the resistance. May Allah keep them strong and accept from us all.

May Allah take Shaykh Masroori and the entire group safely for Umrah, accept their du'as and ibadah, bring them back safely, and keep their families back home safe and happy. May Allah bless the community of Ummah for all their contribution and work, and may Allah give us many more evenings together.

Announcements

InshAllah, this activity will continue till Fajr. We have a short qiyam at 11:30, followed by a talk by Muhammad Sulaiman, then a break, then tahajjud, then tarawih at 6:00am, and we end with Fajr. After the sessions, we'll have space blocked off for people to rest — we're just trying our best to end our year strong. That was the whole goal behind this, inshAllah.

Ramadan is very near — it's almost Rajab. So just about two months left, inshAllah. We need to stay strong and do what we need to be doing.

A few announcements:

Winter Semester: We've already sent out our winter semester schedule. Alhamdulillah, we have around 80 registered for this semester. We begin on Monday with a light program. Shaykh Abdullah is going to be teaching Tafsir, and I am going to be teaching the fundamentals of Fiqh — usul al-fiqh. We also have our seerah class, Seerah Unveiled — the wisdoms behind the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ — continuing on Wednesdays. We've covered 14 sessions so far and are in the 10th year of nubuwwah.

Theology Class: On Fridays, Shaykh Abdul Karim Yahya will be covering an eight-session theology class from now until Ramadan. Many people on our surveys requested an aqeedah class, so please register for that as well.

Youth Programs: Tuesday programs for youngsters, Wednesday seerah class, Thursday class for elementary students, and Saturday we have the middle school program with Dr. Mukhari and Dr. Ayman al-Hadiri — and for the young girls, our dear sister Banan. Alhamdulillah, we are blessed with a beautiful lineup.

Miftah Programs: January 6th, a guest reciter is coming to our campus. The Associate Program is ongoing — if you didn't register for last semester, you may need to wait until the summer. Miftah Light is also available — in the Kenton community at MCWS, and in Hamtramck. Miftah Light is a program with the goal of completing three years (22 courses), but rather than jumping into the full three-year program right away, it segments you in with two courses every semester until you've completed around eight courses and are ready to join the main campus.

There is a lot going on. Please come to the events in your local communities. Be part of these beautiful things as much as you can, inshAllah.