New Year’s Is Shayṭān’s Deceit

Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm

يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُبَيِّنَ لَكُمْ وَيَهْدِيَكُمْ

‘Yurīdu Allāhu Liyubayyina LakumWa Yahdiyakum’

(Qur’ān 04:26)

‘Allāh wishes to make clear (what is lawful and what is unlawful) to you, and to show you the way.’ Sadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.

Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla says, “He desires to guide you, He desires to bestow goodness upon you.” Shayṭān, on the other hand, wants to give you evil and make you do evil things, says Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. Of course, this is one of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla’s wisdoms and secrets.

We don’t know how it happens, but mankind can still control their egos. They can enter the way of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. It’s possible to enter that way without following one’s ego. Of course, the ego pushes more. It loves what is ḥarām more, it’s easier for it to do it. However, on the other side, all kinds of goodness and beauty are on the way commanded by Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla.

Now, the same thing is said and done every year, but there is benefit in repeating it a thousand times. By repeating again and again, people remember what they have forgotten. We are in blessed days, blessed months. On the other hand, there is ḥarām, all kinds of evil. What is that? New Year’s Eve. What they call the New Year’s is shayṭān deceiving people.

They prepare for unnecessary things, “We will rejoice and celebrate.” We don’t understand why you’re so happy. Those smart, grown-up people, who are a thousand times more educated than us, who have gone to university, who have done all sorts of things, those “well-dressed, dignified” people, they prepare for this for a month in advance, saying they’ll do this and that, decorating their houses, decorating the streets.

What’s the benefit from that? Nothing; nothing but harm. They are doing things that Allah ﷻ doesn’t like, things that Allah ﷻ absolutely disapproves of, things He ﷻ says not to do.

Therefore, nothing but darkness and evil comes from it. The world becomes filled with evil, not goodness from that. Every year, all over the world, they rejoice because the new year is coming. As Mawlānā Shaykh Nāẓim said, in these days, each day is worse than the last. It gets worse and worse, not better. So they rejoice, thinking the new year will be better, that they’ll do better things, “Let’s enter this year happily.”

But they don’t rejoice; they wake up in the morning with their heads throbbing like drums from all that poison they drank. They say, “It’s over, it’s gone, but now it’s started again.” May Allāh ﷻ protect us from that. Don’t do things that Allāh ﷻ dislikes. Do things that Allāh ﷻ loves. Do what Allāh ﷻ wants.

There’s the New Year’s. But they’ve also made quite a few holidays for other days now. There’s the lovers’ day, the spoons’ day, the donkeys’ day, the animals’ day – quite a few holidays. They’re just trying to fleece people and take their money. And they laugh so hard at the people who celebrate, saying, “What are these fools doing? Look, we’re making so much money, and these people are following the way we tell them to.”

Every year they come up with something different. Every year they come up with another bad custom. And people follow like sheep, saying, “It would be shameful if we didn’t do this. It would be very bad. We have to do so.” They make people do these things by instilling shame in them.

They say, “We are modern people, if we don’t do this, they’ll shame us. We are refined people, we do this, we’re not vulgar or backward peasants.” Even a “backward peasant” is a thousand times better than you; at least they know what they’re doing.

May Allāh ﷻ protect us. May Allāh ﷻ grant people mind and understanding; we will say no more. May Allāh ﷻ not separate us from the ocean of reason. Amin. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.

Al-Fatiha.

•⁠ ⁠Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbaniق

27 December 2025/ 7 Rajab 1447

Fajr Prayer – Akbaba Dergah, Istanbul

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