Praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. May the peace and blessings of Allaah be upon Muhammad, His last Messenger, his household, his companions and all those who follow him till the Last Day.
New Year; New Resolutions?
Of the usual ways of welcoming a new year was to set new goals and resolutions for personal transformation and improvement. The process of setting goals and making resolutions is mostly about you. If you don't set your goals, you don't move forward. If you set them and don't follow through, you still don't move forward. Resolutions are the specific steps that propel your life forward toward your goals while still immersed in the daily chores of life; resolutions are about how your behaviour impacts other people's lives; More importantly, resolutions are about your relationship with your Creator and how you strengthen that relationship by living life in accordance to His guidance.
If you are not in the habit of setting resolutions and goals, you should review the direction of your life and assess how your actions are contributing to your betterment and to your loved ones in accordance with the teachings of your Creator? If you have a mere general idea on where you are heading simply because you are too busy to chart out a more directed course of action, you may not be fully harnessing your God gifted abilities.
Setting goals and resolutions therefore enable you to step away and analyze the clutter in your life; they let you rise above the daily chores that keep you busy and keep you from organizing. The process is therefore about prioritizing and highlighting what is more important to make your life more meaningful.
Proofs?
Setting resolutions and goals, of course, is a powerful tool for personal development, but there is no concept of "New Year Resolutions" within the teachings of Islam. Instead, Islaam requires us to constantly assess our lives, revise our goals and make correcting resolutions - daily, weekly or annually Proofs? The Rasul (sallaallahu alayhi wa sallam) said:
"The angels of the night and the day come to you in succession, and they meet at Fajr prayer and at Asr prayer then those who stayed among you ascend and their Lord asks them, although He knows best about them, 'How did you leave My slaves?' and they say. 'We left them when they were praying and we came to them when they were praying ... ' (Muslim)
Al-Imaam ibn Hajar (RAH) said: "This indicates that deeds are taken up at the end of the day. Whoever is in a state of obedience at that time will be blessed in his provision and his work, and Allaah knows best. Hence we can see the wisdom behind the command to perform these prayers (Fajr and Asr) regularly and pay attention to them".
More proofs?
The Sunnah indicates that deeds are also shown to Allaah twice each week and all at once in the month of Sha'baan. The Messenger of Allaah (sallaallahu alayhi wa sallam) said:
"People's deeds are shown [to Allaah] twice each week, on Monday and Thursday. and every believing slave is forgiven except a person between whom and his brother there is a dispute, and it is said, "Leave these two until they reconcile (Muslim)
Also, Usaarnah ibn Zayd (RA) said: I said: O Messenger of Allaah, I do not see you fasting as much in any month as you fast in Ramadaan. He said:
"That is a month concerning which the people are heedless, between Rajab and Ramadaan, but it is a month in which good deeds are taken up to the Lord of the Worlds, and Iwould like my deeds to be taken up when I am fasting.” (Saheeh al-jaami').
Ever - Present Resolution
These texts may be summed up by noting that people's deeds are shown to Allaah in three ways: daily (which happens twice a day), weekly (also happens twice, on Mondays and Thursdays) and annually (which happens once, during the month of Sha'baan). Then when a person's life comes to an end, all his life's deeds are taken up and the record of his deeds is closed. The ahaadeeth which indicate that deeds are shown to Allaah equally indicate that it is encouraged to do more deeds of obedience at the times when the deeds are being shown to Him. Going forward, if doing more deeds of obedience is not included in your goals, resolutions and actions; then you need a total review of your life. Come to think of it; as we start another year and the day passes; don't we all?
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited