The New Year in Islam - Sheikh Aqeel Mahmood

The Origin of the Islamic Calendar

In the time of the leadership of Umar, two men came to him disputing over a contract that they had between one another. And one of them said to the leader of the Muslims at the time that he owes me money in the month of Sha'ban. And so Umar looked at the paperwork and he asked this individual, he said, which Sha'ban did you mean? Which Sha'ban were you referring to? Is it the Sha'ban of this year? Is it the Sha'ban of last year? Is it the Sha'ban of the following year, of next year? And so there was confusion with regards to when the time came for this individual to pay the other with regards to the wealth that he owed, the money that he owed.

Another narration mentions that the leader of the Muslim army at the time, Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, he sent a letter to Umar and he was complaining, he was saying, O leader of the believers, we're receiving letters from you, but we don't know which letters have come first. There's no date on them. We can't tell, we can't differentiate. Some messengers come early, some messengers come after. So we're not sure which ones came before, which ones came after. Therefore, we don't know what orders to act upon.

So Umar, seeing these problems arising amongst the Ummah, he gathered the senior companions, just like he would do with any type of issue which concerned the Ummah and the community as a whole. So he gathered the senior companions, the senior scholars, and he discussed this issue of confusion with regards to contracts, with regards to letters that are being sent, also with regards to wealth which was distributed. How do we know when the wealth is going to be distributed and when the next time wealth comes in, who we give it to and who we don't give it to, depending on the last time we gave to those individuals.

And so he said, we need some type of dating system. We need some type of system where we know by certain years or by certain months or days when certain things happen, when certain things took place. And so they were discussing this and some of the companions, they suggested, for example, following the calendar of the Byzantines, the Romans. Other companions, they suggested following the calendar of the Persians. Ali suggested that Umar make a new calendar, initiate a new calendar which would start with the Hijrah of the Messenger of Allah.

And this is where, brothers and sisters, the Hijrah calendar was formed and this was when it was established. And there were other suggestions with regards to which month specifically the calendar should start from. They started from the year of the Hijrah as opposed to, for example, the birth of the Messenger of Allah, that year specifically, or for example, the year in which the revelation came or any other year — because of that period and monumental moment in history when the landscape of the world, in fact, changed from the Hijrah and migration of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, from Mecca to Medina. They started to discuss the month in which the year should start with.

Some of them mentioned the month of the Quran, the month of Ramadan, the month in which the Quran itself was revealed. Others mentioned other months. Some of them mentioned the month of Muharram, and eventually Umar agreed that the year should start with the month of Muharram.

And the scholars, they talk about why the month of Muharram was chosen. And from the benefits of the month of Muharram being chosen as the first month of the Islamic calendar is because the month prior, the month before Muharram, is the month of Dhul-Hijjah. And in the month of Dhul-Hijjah, people perform the pilgrimage. And when they perform the pilgrimage and when it's accepted by Allah, they go back home, they go back to their lands as if they were newly born. They're turning over a new leaf. So the month of Muharram is like an encouragement for the person to be better after he's performed the pilgrimage in the month before.

Every Day Is a Blessing — and an Opportunity

Brothers and sisters, when it comes to the Islamic calendar and the Islamic new year, this is something which started months ago. And it's something which we don't realize, we don't recognize — because in Islam, every single day is a blessing from Allah. Whether it's the beginning of the year, whether it's the middle of the year, whether it's the end of the year, every single day is a blessing from Allah. Every single day is an opportunity for us to be able to gain closeness to Allah, to do more good deeds, to improve on the days which have already gone by.

Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, he said that if he never performed more good deeds on a day than the day which came before, then he would feel as if he had wasted the whole of that day. Meaning if he wasn't improving on a day-to-day basis, every single day, if he wasn't improving with regards to his worship of Allah, if he wasn't improving with regards to his Islam, then he would feel like that particular day was wasted.

And considering we're in the Western New Year and we've started this New Year, many of us tend to reflect. In fact, we tend to think long-term sometimes. When we're younger, we tend to think: where am I going to be in two years, five years, ten years time? Am I going to be married? Will I still be living here? Will I be living in the same city or the same country? What type of job will I have? How many children will I have? People have these questions and they think about where they're going to be many years in the future. And when this New Year starts, sometimes we reflect and we think about what we've done in the previous year, what we've achieved. And when the New Year comes, we tend to think about sometimes what we're going to do that's going to be different to the years before, and whether we had accomplished those goals which maybe we had for the years which were prior.

And many of these goals that we tend to set are goals which are to do with family, goals to do with wealth and money and careers, or other types of goals that we have with our family members or with regards to work or whatever it may be. Yet how many of us, brothers and sisters, tend to think about and prioritize and have goals when it comes to our ibadah and our acts of worship? And what things we can do in order to improve our connection and relationship with Allah? Because at the end of the day, brothers and sisters, Allah says that you're striving, you're laboring towards your Lord — meaning every single day that passes by is just a day which is closer to meeting our Lord, a day closer to meeting Allah.

Any holidays we go on, any types of jobs we have, the amount of money we make — all of these things are just temporary. Allah says everything you have is temporary, it's going to go away. Whatever is with Allah is there forever. It's not going to go away, it's going to be there forever, permanently. So we have to question, we have to think about what we're going to do differently, how we're going to improve our relationship with Allah, and more importantly, how that's going to be implemented.

Lessons from Surah Al-Asr: Four Keys to Success

And this is the first thing I want to mention with regards to things that we can do to make the rest of our lives — not just these days or these months or these years, whatever amount of time we have left, whether it's a year, whether it's a few months, whether it's a few years, because Allah knows best how long we're going to be around. But an individual, not only should he be thinking about how he can improve his relationship, but he should also be acting upon the things which he intends to do. Maybe we've had resolutions in the past, promises we've made to ourselves, goals which we've had, priorities, and as the years go by, each year we have the same goal because we never accomplished that goal in the year which came prior.

Allah mentions and talks about some basic things we can do when it comes to implementing certain goals we have in our lives. And from those goals, as I mentioned, should be the worship of Allah. Allah mentions in Surah al-Asr:

By time, verily, mankind is at a loss. Man is at a loss — except for those who believe and they do righteous deeds.

1. Sincerity of Intention

One of the first things we can do is the act of believing in Allah. And not only belief, but also knowledge. And from the primary things when it comes to knowledge is the intentions we have behind the goals that we have. Why are we doing the things that we're doing? What's our reason for doing them? Why do we come for Jumu'ah? What's the reason we come for the Jumu'ah prayer? Is it because we have some time off from work during that period that we're able to come? Otherwise we wouldn't come. Do we pray because other people pray so we pray along with them? Do we fast the Sunnah days or the month of Ramadan or other days of the year because it's something which is good for the body? A person wants to lose weight so he decides to fast. We have to start to question and ask ourselves why we do the acts of worship that we do.

Because when our goals have worldly intentions, when our sincerity isn't completely and purely towards Allah, then we're not going to make the effort that we would make if it was for Allah. If our goal for fasting was to lose weight, once we've lost that weight we're not going to fast anymore. Because the goal has been achieved, the goal has been accomplished. When you worship Allah, when you fast and you pray for Allah, then this is something — the sky is the limit. A person will continue to worship Allah, he'll continue to fast, he'll continue to recite Quran. The goal isn't to memorize the Quran. The goal isn't to lead the Salah or be an Imam. But the goal is to please Allah through reciting the book of Allah. And so when that's the goal, the person will continue to recite the Quran even once he's memorized the whole Quran or he's memorized a portion of it.

So the primary aspect when it comes to knowledge, brothers and sisters, is our intention. Why do we do the things that we do? What's our reasoning and our intention behind the acts of worship that we want to do or we intend to do in the future?

2. Acting Upon Our Goals

And on top of this Allah mentions: إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ — except for those who believe and they do righteous deeds. Meaning belief is something which isn't adequate, it's not sufficient, it's not enough. A person has to do acts of worship. He has to physically do things. We can all have certain goals, priorities, objectives, things that we want to aspire to or accomplish in our lives in the new year which has come. But if a person doesn't act upon that, if he doesn't physically do something, if he doesn't go about physically doing things himself to achieve those goals, then it's just simply writing on a piece of paper. It's just simply something which is a mental note in his head which is going to be put at the back of his head when other responsibilities and other things tend to preoccupy him as time goes on.

3. Consistency in Worship

Another thing, brothers and sisters, that we can do — on top of sincerity, on top of knowledge and also acting upon the goals and objectives that we have in our lives — is the importance of consistency. The importance of being consistent when it comes to our acts of worship. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

The most beloved acts to Allah are those which are consistent, even if they're small. Meaning it's better for an individual to recite maybe one page of the Quran on a regular basis every single day — which would only take one or two minutes — as opposed to him reciting one juz for a week and then stopping. Because there's barakah and there's blessing in consistency. Because when a person continues to do the worship of Allah on a regular basis and it becomes a habit, naturally and automatically he's going to increase in that ibadah. He's going to increase in that worship because he's just become so used to it. Whereas when someone's on a high and decides to recite Quran, no doubt he'll be rewarded for that. But a Muslim, an individual, has to think long term.

We all have to think long term when it comes to our acts of worship — just like we think long term when it comes to our family, when it comes to our careers, when it comes to work, when it comes to other things. We have a plan, we think ahead, we think a year or two ahead. Likewise, when it comes to our acts of worship, brothers and sisters, we need to think ahead. We need to plan, because this is in fact the only thing which is going to guarantee us something permanent — something which isn't ever going to go away — and that's the reward of Allah and the highest stations of paradise.

So consistency, brothers and sisters, is something which is important. Because when you do something consistently, it becomes a habit. And when your acts of worship become a habit, then this is a blessing from Allah. Think about those things that you do on a regular basis, those things that you do every day. Automatically — and I'm guilty of this — automatically at some times during some periods of our day, we take our phone out when we're in the car, before we go to sleep. It almost becomes a ritual. We take our phones out, we have to check certain things — Facebook and this and that. It becomes something which is automated. Without thinking, a person has his phone out, he doesn't even know. And so it becomes something which he does as a means of habit, something that he does so regularly that he doesn't even think about doing it anymore. And when we do acts of worship, we need to be the same with our ibadah. Our ibadah needs to be a habit.

One of the du'as mentioned is that whenever he would take his phone out, before he would do anything else, he would open the mushaf and read some Quran before he would do anything else on the phone. And this is a good habit. Because you're gaining good deeds by doing a simple act of worship — simply taking out your phone now becomes an opportunity for you to increase in your good deeds.

4. Making Du'a to Allah

Another thing, brothers and sisters, when it comes to doing more with the days that we have left — no matter whether it's a number of days or a number of months or weeks or years — is making du'a and supplicating to Allah with regards to the goals that we want to accomplish. And from the reasons why du'a is so important, brothers and sisters, is because du'a in and of itself is a form of worship. You're worshipping Allah through your supplication. Because instead of asking another human being, you're asking Allah for whatever it is that you need, for whatever it is that you want. And you know Allah is listening — otherwise you wouldn't make du'a in the first place. You wouldn't raise your hands and ask Allah in the first place if you didn't think Allah would respond to you. And so this act of worship, brothers and sisters, is a beautiful act of worship an individual can do anywhere and at any time.

And when we reflect and we look at, for example, the supplications which are mentioned in the Quran, we look at the supplications of the prophets and the messengers of Allah. And one of the lessons that we should take from the supplications of the messengers and prophets, brothers and sisters, is the method in which they would supplicate to Allah. How they would supplicate to Allah. When they would make du'a, how would they make du'a? Because the supplications of the prophets were answered. Any time the prophets of Allah would make du'a in the Quran, their supplications would be answered. Allah talks about the du'a of Musa, peace be upon him. The du'a of Isa, peace be upon him — "O Allah, send down a table spread of food from the heavens." And Allah sent down the table spread of food. And so we have to think about how did these people make du'a? What would they say? How would they word their supplications? What did they do in their supplications as a result of which Allah answered their du'a — whereas when we supplicate to Allah, when we ask Allah for something, we feel we're not responded to?

The Du'a of Zakariya — A Lesson in Supplication

One of those supplications, brothers and sisters — and the one I want to focus on today — is the supplication of Zakariya, peace be upon him. And Zakariya, peace be upon him, was the one who was responsible for taking care of Maryam, peace be upon her, the mother of Isa, peace be upon him. And Zakariya himself was of a very old age and he never had any children. And in Surah Maryam, Allah mentions the story of Zakariya.

Allah says:

This is a mention of the story of Zakariya. And this is a mercy from your Lord to you. Meaning whatever happened to Zakariya, whatever we're going to mention about Zakariya, it's a mercy from Allah — whatever took place, whatever happened to him. And it's a mercy for us to be able to listen and take lessons from this story. And Allah, when he says this, he calls Zakariya, even though he's a prophet of Allah, he calls him a slave — عَبْدَهُ زَكَرِيَّا — "his slave Zakariya."

And Allah, when he calls people a slave in the Quran, it's not a derogatory term. In fact, it's the most noble status an individual could have. Because an individual isn't being ascribed to being a slave of anything else. When you're a slave of Allah, you're liberated. You're free from being a slave to society, from being a slave to money, from being a slave to anything else from the worldly things. You're a slave of Allah.

Praise be to the One who took his slave from Masjid al-Haram to Masjid al-Aqsa. And so Allah raises people's ranks by calling them and giving them the title of slave.

Then Allah says:

When Zakariya called out to his Lord, when he supplicated, when he made du'a to his Lord, khafiyyan — in secrecy, quietly, without anybody watching. And from the sincerity and from the purity of one's acts of worship, brothers and sisters, is what you do in private, not what you do in public. An individual, when he's between himself and Allah, the things he does when he's on his own, only when Allah is watching — these are the things which he's defined by before Allah. Because his true character, his true colors come out at that moment in time. How are you when you're in private? How do you behave with your family members, for example? How do you behave with the people closest to you? Are you known to be from those who have the best of manners? Sometimes we behave differently when we're out in public as opposed to when we're in private. But they say that a person's character is best when he has the best character to his family first and foremost. Because if he has the best character to his family that he sees on a day-to-day basis, then naturally he's going to behave the same way when he's with other individuals, when he's with other people.

Zakariya makes du'a in secrecy, in private, in privacy. And he says to Allah:

"Verily my bones have become weak, and my head has become full of white — meaning I've got white hairs, I'm an old man now. And I haven't stopped making du'a to you, O my Lord; I've continued to make du'a. And my wife is barren — she can't have children anymore. But bless me from Yourself with offspring, with a child, who will inherit from me and inherit from the family of Ya'qub, so that this honorable lineage of prophets and messengers can continue. And so that he can be someone, my Lord, who's going to be pleasing to You — he'll do good deeds and You'll be pleased with him."

Notice how Zakariya is still making du'a, despite his bones becoming weak, despite his hair turning white, despite his wife being barren. None of these things made him stop supplicating to Allah. Meaning he was someone who wasn't just making du'a there and then, but he was continuously making du'a. He says: وَلَمْ أَكُن بِدُعَائِكَ رَبِّ شَقِيًّا — "I haven't stopped making du'a to You, O my Lord. I've continued to make du'a."

Etiquettes of Du'a from the Story of Zakariya

Brothers and sisters, when we think about the future, when we think about things we want to do and we supplicate for these things, from the sunnah of du'a and supplication is to mention not only what we want, but to mention our weakness in front of Allah — just like Zakariya was making du'a to Allah. Complaining about his weakness. Complaining about his weakness in his health, in his body, in his old age, and how he has no children. And also from the etiquettes of du'a is to talk about why you want the things that you want. And again, this goes back to an individual thinking long term about what he wants from his life, what he intends from the acts of worship that he wants to do. And it increases an individual's sincerity when it comes to those acts of worship.

And when we look at the other supplications in the Quran, brothers and sisters, I advise each and every single one of you to reflect and read these passages of the Quran — Surah Maryam, this du'a of Zakariya, peace be upon him — and the lessons we can learn from them. And the lessons we can learn from the other supplications of the prophets of Allah in the Quran.