The Hijrī Year, A Year of Blessings

Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm

Today is a blessed day. It is the first day of our new year. It is the year 1447 of the Hijrī calendar. That much years have passed since the time of our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu alayhi wa sallam.

Those who have īmān know its value. Those who don’t have īmān, welcome the new year that is according to their own minds, and do all kinds of useless things. Some do little, some do much, some get really out of hand. But the second day there’s nothing.

They don’t understand why they were celebrating, why they were rejoicing. “We were so happy, what happened today?” They look back and see that everything is the same; nothing has changed. Who changes is mankind. He will be one year older then.

But the Hijrī year, shukr to Allāh ﷻ, is the year when one performs the worships of the previous year and has new duties again in the new year. And gradually, as the time passes, it passes by worshipping Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla, making shukr, praising and making du’ā’. And Allāh ﷻ will give him his reward and thawāb. They will have won. They won’t lose.

Therefore, our year is starting with goodness not evil. You enter this year by making du’ā’ for yourself, your family, your children, your homeland, your nation. You enter by asking for goodness, desiring true goodness, wanting the īmān of believers to increase, and asking guidance for people as goodness for them. You enter the year making du’ā asking that they also taste these beautiful days, these beautiful times. May they be granted that.

We don’t wish harm to anyone. We want the oppressors to stop their oppression. May Allāh ﷻ also reward the oppressed. His ﷻ rewards are endless, boundless. The reward for the patience of the oppressed is, “إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى الصَّابِرُونَ أَجْرَهُم بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ”, “Innamā Yuwaffá s-Sābirūna ‘Ajrahum Bighayri Ĥisāb”, “Indeed, the patient will be given their reward without account.” (Qur’ān 39:10).

Those who are patient will be given their rewards without account. Not only ten rewards, a hundred rewards, a thousand rewards, but unaccounted. There is no account anymore. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla gives from His ﷻ own treasures.

Therefore, this blessed day is the first of Muḥarram. May Allāh ﷻ make this blessed year of ours a means for goodness. All is good for a person who has īmān. What has changed is that another year has passed. The last worship of the past year, shukr to Allāh ﷻ, our worship, is ḥajj; which is for those who are able to perform it. The last duty is ḥajj. There is the duty of ḥajj for those who could not go yet. For those who went, may Allāh ﷻ accept it.

There were many who could not go. There were many who could not enter but only reached as far as the border of Makkah. They went there with their intentions and actual action. Allāh ﷻ will surely accept their ḥajj. Because the same happened with our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam.

Our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam was there for ḥajj but was banned. He ﷺ came out of iḥram, and sacrificed qurbān. And those who encountered that this year were more than those who went to ḥajj. They entered the borders of ḥajj, and visited the Ka’aba but could not go up to ‘Arafāt, but Allāh ﷻ will surely give them their thawāb and rewards. “إِنَّمَا الأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ”, “Īnnamā l-āmālu bi-n-niyyāt”, “Actions are but by intentions”.

Actions are according to intention. They both intended and went there, “How can we find a way to enter?” But it was given to them in the sense of destiny, in shā’a Llāh. May Allāh ﷻ accept it.

The last worship of the year is the duty of ḥajj. Then, we start again; anew. These are the blessed days of the month of Muḥarram, which is also one of the sacred months. In the past, fasts were performed in this month. After that, Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla changed it to Ramaḍān. It became obligatory in Ramaḍān. This was not obligatory, but it was fasted.

Now, fasting from the 1st to the 10th is also virtuous. But the most important [of days] starts with the day of ‘Āshūrā’. The first of the virtuous days is the day of ‘Āshūrā’. ‘Āshūrā’ is the tenth of Muḥarram. There is fasting and there are duties to be done on that day. Who does them receives his reward.

As we said, you can fast as it suits you: 9 and 10 or 10 and 11. Or you can fast the three days, or from one to ten. One can do as he wishes. They are a gift from Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla to the believers and Muslims.

After that, of course, is the blessed month of the birth of our Holy ‎Prophet ﷺ, in Rabī’u l-Awwal. It is also a blessed and great day. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla sent our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. Some ignorant people now say it is bid’ah. Whereas our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam used to fast every Monday.

When they asked our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, he ﷺ would say, “I was born on this day, that’s why I fast.” So our Prophet ﷺ celebrated his own birth day every week; since his ﷺ birth day is on a Monday. Is it too much if we celebrated it once a year?

Then, as we said, Rajab, Sha’ban, Ramaḍān, Eid ul-Adḥa, Laylatul Qadr, etc. All of them pass within a year; from one year to another. So this year is not in vain. Life is not in vain for a Muslim. Time is not in vain. They are all full. There is nothing empty. Nothing is empty in the universe. So how will Islām be empty? It is not empty at all.

The one who is empty, the one whose life is empty is who has no īmān. He is the empty one. Let him think he’s something as much as he wants. He’s an empty person. He runs after empty people. The people he thought were full are empty. There have nothing. The full ones, Allāh ﷻ willing, are the believers. Every minute for them is precious. Every minute is filled with Allāh’s ﷻ virtues and rewards, in shā’a Llāh.

May Allāh ﷻ make these days of ours blessed, in shā’a Llāh. May He ﷻ send the sāhib in this new year, in shā’a Llāh. This is what we are waiting for. It is approaching more and more day by day. In shā’a Llāh, may it be this year, in shā’a Llāh. This is our hope, in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.

Al-Fatiha.

• Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbaniق

26 June 2025/ 01 Muharram 1447

Lefke, Cyprus

English starts from [10:18]:

To learn more about the month of Muharram and the day of Ashura, please click here.

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