Happy New Muharram =)

Allah has created everything with movement. The galaxy is programmed to move and expand. The sun is designed to travel at fast speeds across the universe. The earth is made to spin on its axis. The moon is destined to run its cycle.  Darkness is told give way to light.  The seasons are instructed to shift and change. The winds are guided to blow on their course. The rain is brought down. Even continents rise, slide and sink.

The month of Muharram is a reminder that humans must make the conscious decision to move. Muharram marks the migration of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) from Makkah to Madina. This month captures the story of the epic journey undertaken by the first Muslims, 1437 years ago. This journey was made on principle, to preserve the purity of faith. This journey was made for the sake of Tawheed – Allah alone.  This journey is called Hijrah.  It is obligatory upon every Muslim to make Hijrah. It is our duty to emotionally travel away from sin; to physically distance ourselves from the disobedience of Allah and migrate to actions which Allah loves.

Just as we say good bye to the last year, let us say good bye to all our bad habits and sins. Time is an unfathomable asset. It is more precious than money, more valuable than people. We can always earn back the money we have lost. People constantly come in and go out of our lives. But time never returns; time can never be earned. The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said, “People wake up in the morning and they bargain with their souls. Some – buy freedom and forever happiness and eternal success with their souls and others sell their souls in destruction, to perpetual pain and suffering.”

Let us ask ourselves this very moment, what am I buying with my soul? What am I doing with my time?

Allah made day and night for His worship. There are certain good deeds which are prescribed during the day and certain good deeds which are performed at night. Time itself is a tool, it is an instrument to draw close to Allah. The month of Ramadan motivated us to leave everything and focus on Qur’an. The month of Dhil Hijjah encouraged us to put our sins up for slaughter. Now in the blessed month of Muharram, we are given the chance to turn the page and start over, to rewrite our spiritual narrative with a fresh beginning.

When the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) came to Madeenah in Muharram, he saw the Jews fasting on the day of ‘Ashura’ – the 10^th of Muharram. He asked, “What is this?” The Jews said, “This is a good day, this is the day when Allah saved the Children of Israel from their enemy Pharaoh and Musa fasted on this day.” Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said, “We are closer to Musa than you.” So he (s.a.w) fasted on this day and told the people to fast so people can worship Allah and reflect upon Allah’s decisions.

Today is the 10^th of Muharram. It is very humbly to note that Allah saved the first Muslims from the Ummah of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) and, before us, Allah saved the Ummah of Musa (a.s) from tyranny and oppression in this month, on this very day.

Again Muslims around the world are desperately in need of Allah’s rescue and deliverance. The whole Ummah  is pleading and imploring for safety and security. This is really the time to get down on our knees, on our face and beg Allah to change the course of history.

In this article inshaAllah, I will share some lessons from the life of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) and Musa (a.s) to help us shape a new year and a new Islamic era.

1.      We definitely live in an age of stereotypes and paranoia. Everyday there are new reports of racial attacks on Muslims and new laws are passed which systematically target Muslims. 10^th of Muharram teaches us a lesson of hope and optimism.

The voices against Allah will drown one day. Even if there are 1000s of channels and100s of  laws that depress you, try to weaken your resolve, tell yourself what Musa (a.s) said to himself when he stood at the edge of the Red sea... He was surrounded by a confused, disunited nation who mocked his religious sentiment and leadership. Behind him was the most fiercest army in the world, with the incredibly advanced torture weapons. Despite all the rejection and threats that he received, Musa (a.s) did not give up hope and optimism in Allah. He said, “verily, with me is my Lord, He will guide me.”

His certainty in Allah saved an entire nation. Through his courage and unshakable faith, the Muslims found their promised land. 

His sincerity to Allah, evoked a miracle. Pharaoh and his entire military – all the fear mongerers, war makers and propagandists were massacred right before their eyes.

2.      This brings me to the next point – when Musa (a.s) asked the Jews to migrate to the promised land – they said, ‘you and your Lord go fight for it, we are sitting right here.’ They refused to move an inch. We can’t ask Allah to change history when we do not want to change ourselves. Change also begins with an individual and if every person just worked hard to change themselves, the entire nation will change by itself.

We had elections this week. We were all at the edge of our seats but many of us did not get up to vote. When Allah calls us and invites us to success, (hayya al salah hayya al falah) but we wait for the last possible to respond. We complain about tyrannical governments overseas but we are bullies ourselves at home, on the road and at work.

Let’s be the change we want to see in the world. If we want the world to understand Islam, let’s learn about our religion. If we want the world to like Muslims, let’s be the best practicing Muslims that we can ever be. If we want oppression to end, let’s stop fighting amongst ourselves our families. If we want Allah to answer our duaas quickly, let’s hurry to Salah.