I would like to first start by praising and thanking Allaah subhaanahu wa ta’ala for

honouring and favouring me with this opportunity to speak here today and I don’t
take it lightly. I would also like to thank respected Imam sahib for inviting me here,
may Allaah subhaanahu wa ta’ala protect him and bless him and his family and
continue to give him the ability to serve this community for many years to come
inshaAllaah Aameen.

Also, all praise is due to Allaah Subhaanahu wa ta’ala for honouring us and blessing
us with the taufeeq, the ability, to be here. To be able to pray our Maghrib salaah in
Jama’ah and to be present in this gathering of ilmud deen where the knowledge of
deen is being imparted. Our intention by being here is that we should be hoping to
learn more about Islam in order to become better Muslims and gain the pleasure of
Allaah subhaanahu wa ta’aala InshaAllaah, or at least this should be our main focus
and not on what refreshments will be served at the end. There is resfreshments
right?!....so you are covered….Alhamdulillah

Firstly we should understand that we honoured and chosen people by Allaah

subhaanahu wa ta’ala Himself as we are believers Alhamdulillaah because just by a
person being a believer he now has to potential to be successful in the hereafter, our
eternal abode. How is this so,….since once a person dies in a state of Iman, that is
with correct belief in Allaah subhaanahu wa ta’ala, his eventual abode will be
Jannah, even if this person’s Iman is so inconspicuous that it can only be recognized
by Allaah subhaanahu wa ta’ala. So then as a person with iman, his taqwa increases,
his peity increases, then he becomes more honorable and closer to Allaah
subhaanahu wa ta’ala.

We are also honoured by being given the ability to be present in this gathering of
ilmud deen where the knowledge of deen is being imparted, we are currently
engaged in one of the best actions a person can do. So we should acknowledge the
honour and blessing that Allaah Subhaanahu wa ta’ala has given us for number 1-
having iman, and number 2- to be here seeking His ta’ala knowledge, the knowledge
of Deen, by being grateful. It is very important to be grateful to Allaah ta’ala for
being able to sit in a gathering of knowledge and learn about Islam, why, because in
order to do something correctly you need to learn how to do it first. And being
grateful to Allaah subhaanahu wa ta’ala is a duty upon us, so we need to first seek
the knowledge and learn how to be grateful to Allaah subhaanahu wa ta’ala in order
to be grateful to Him ta’ala in the correct manner. A person may want to show
gratefulness to Allaah subhaanahu wa ta’ala by praying salaah, but they they decided
to pray during sunrise, the reality is that person is not being grateful because they
are doing something prohibited in Islam. We will discuss this point seeking
knowledge in more detail later on InshaAllaah. Therefore in reality what we would
be doing is being grateful to Allaah subhaanahu wa ta’ala for giving us the abilty to
learn how to be grateful to Him ta’ala. SubhanAllaah …what an amazing
understanding that the scholars say that we should be grateful even for the ability to
gain the knowledge of how to be grateful to Allaah subhaanahu wa ta’ala.

So there are two main ways that we can show gratitude to Allaah subhaanahu wa
ta’ala …the first is verbally….as mentioned in a sahih hadith in Tirmidhi shareef
reported by Hazrat Abdullah ibn Umar (radiyAllaahu anhumaa) to the effect that the
Messenger of Allaah ta’ala (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) taught them to say
Alhamdulillaah a’la kulli haal…..to say Alhamdulillaah in all conditions or
situations………be grateful all the time by saying Alhamdulillaah….. and the other
method is through a’mal …….action…….another hadith narrated in both Bukhari
shareef and Muslim shareef to the effect that the Messenger of Allaah ta’ala
(sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) would pray until his feet would become swollen. When
he was asked, why are you doing this when Allah ta’ala has forgiven your past and
future sins? He said: A Fa Laa A Kuu nu A’b dan Sha kuu raa “Should
I not be a grateful slave?” we will relate back to this topic of being grateful later on
InshaAllaah.

Before getting into the topic of the Importance of the Islamic new year we will need
to explore a bit of Islamic history in order to understand what is going to be spoken
about InshaAllaah. If we were to look at the history of Islam we would see it is filled
with details of great historical figures like those from the ottoman empire all the way
back to the time of Rasulullaahu (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) and many world
changing events and stories. Especially in this day and age, learning about history of
Islam is important to strengthen love and value for Islam and of how it has come to
us and also, as to those who we should look up to as role models. The best and most
important Islamic history wherein there is great rewards in learning about it itself is
the seerah (life) of Rasulullaahu (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam).

So in continuing, according to the ayat I had the honour of mentioning at the

beginning, Allaah subhaanahu wa ta’ala mentions in the translation

Surely, the number of months according to Allah (subhaanahu wa ta’ala) is twelve (as
written) in the Book of Allah ta’ala on the day He ta’ala created the heavens and the Earth,
of which there are Four Sacred Months…..to the end of the ayat (tawbah : 36)

So the mentioning about the year being twelve months and about the lunar calendar
system which is referred to in different parts of the Holy Qur’aan implies that this is
a sign from amongst the signs of Allaah subhaanahu wa ta’ala and gives importance
to the changing of the lunar year, or what we know as the Islamic new year, as a sign
for us to reflect and remember the Greatness and Dominion of Allaah subhaanahu
wa ta’ala over everything. So as Muslims we should put more emphasis in honouring
our own calender system than we do with the gregorian calender which the majority
of the world uses as their timeline. In fact this gregorian calendar is based a lot on
the traditions and history of the mushrikeen, the polytheists. Our scholars have
mentioned it is although it is permissible the use the gregorian calender we as
Muslims should place greater emphasis on our Islamic calendar and date. Just as we
know today is the 1st of September, we should also know what the Islamic date is
today. I guess I should at least tell you what today’s Islamic date is and not leave
you in suspense. Well now would be the night of the of 21st of Dhul Hijjah and
tomorrow InshaAllaah the day of the 21st of Dhul Hijjah the year 1439 Hijri, which
is almost over since Dhul Hijjah is the last month of the Islamic year. Also the four
sacred months mention in the ayah refer to Rajab, Dhul Qa’dah, Dhul Hijjah and
Muharram.

Going back to the ayat, if we were to examine a brief tafsir of this ayat, in the days
of the pagan Arabs even before the time of Rasulullaah (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam)
they used have a lot of differences, disputes, fights and even wars amongst
themselves, their tribes etc. Since the Arabs of Makkah al-Mukarramah are the
progeny of Sayyidna Ibrahim (alaihis salaatu wa salaam) they all professed belief in
Sayyidna Ibrahim(alaihis salaatu wa salaam) as a prophet and messenger of Allah
subhaanahu wa ta’ala and claimed to follow his Shari'ah. However, as fighting,
killing and hunting was also prohibited during these four sacred months among the
followers of the Ibrahimi community, the people of the Arab age of ignorance found
the implementation of this law extremely hard. The reason was that, as mentioned
before, they fought amongst each other a lot, therefore, to make this restriction
somewhat easy on them, they created a system in which they could follow their own
desires, that is, to be able to fight each other whenever they wanted while still
maintaining four sacred months. Whenever they needed to fight during one of the
sacred months, or whenever a sacred month approached while they were already
fighting, then, they would say: This year, this month is not sacred. The next month
will be the sacred one. For example, when Muharram arrived, they would say that
'this year, the month of Muharram is not sacred, instead of that, the month of Safar
will be sacred'.

They would somehow complete the count of four sacred months for one year but
would not bother to retain the order and signification of what was divinely
determined. If another emergency came, for example, when they would remain
engaged in fighting for a period as long as ten months leaving only two months to
the year, then, on this occasion, they would increase the number of months in a year
saying, 'this year will be of fourteen months.' In this way, they would make the
remaining four months the sacred months. In short, they did show their reverence
for the Ibrahimi faith at least by doing it during four months of the year when they
would abstain from fighting and killing. But, they did not observe the order of the
months in a year according to which four of them were fixed as the sacred months.
This was what they juggled with seeking interpretations to suit their needs or fancies.

One point to note here that Imam Abu Bakr al-Jassas rahimahullaah in his famous
Ahkam ul-Qur’an, has said: The hint given here is that these blessed months have
an exclusive characteristic of their own. Whoever devotes to 'Ibadah during these is
awarded with the ability and encouragement to engage in it during the rest of the
months. Similarly, a person who makes the necessary effort to stay safe from sins
and other bad deeds during these months finds that remaining safe from these evils
during the rest of the months of a year has become easier on him. Therefore, not
making the best out of these months is a terrible loss and we are currently in one of
these months, Dhul Hijjah and soon we will be entering another one, Muharram
InshaAllaah.

So how did the whole Hijri system of the Islamic calendar come about and what was
its purpose? To understand this we have to go all the back to the time of the second
Khalifah, Hazrat Umar ibnul Khattab radiyAllaahu anhu. During his reign Islam had
spread far and wide and there were different dating systems that existed across the
world at that time. So, in an attempt to rationalize the various and at times
conflicting, dating systems used during his time he needed introduced a system that
the Muslims could use for themselves. Hazrat Umar radiyAllaahu anhu consulted
with his advisors from amongst the companions of Rasulullah sallallaahu alaihi wa
sallam radiyAllaahu anhum on the starting date of the new Muslim calendar. There
were many views presented as to what moment or event should be the reference
point of this new calendar. It was finally agreed that the most appropriate reference
point for the Islamic calendar was the Hijrah the incident of the immigration of the
Muslims from Makkah to Madinah. Why was’t the date of the birth of Rasulullaah
(sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) chosen or the date of prophethood or the date of the
victory at Badr or any other significant historical date in Islam, it is because the Hijah
is a central historical event of early Islam that led to the foundation of the first
Muslim city-state, a turning point in Islamic and world history.
The key fact here is turning point, it was the epitome of submission of the Muslims,
where they left everything behind to go to place where they did not know what would
be awaiting them.
So from the part of the ayat that was explained we learn that as the Islamic new year
comes around, it is important that we reflect on this sign of Allaah Subhaanahu wa
ta’ala It should bring about a yearning in us to become complete submissive to
Allaah subhaanahu wa ta’ala unlike the pagan Arabs who made and sought
interpretations to suit their needs or fancies. We should want to be just like those
Muslims who submitted when they made Hijrah. So like that the new Hijri year
should also be a moment for us to make Hijrah as well. It should be a turning point
for our lives as well, a time to resolve to be better Muslims. Moving away from all
the bad habits and disobediences and also trying to perfect what good actions we
already consistent with.

But in order to become a truly submissive slave of Allaah subhaanahu wa ta’ala’s

and perfect our actions we first need to learn how to do this. This why, in the hadith
I mention at the beginning, Rasulullaah said to the effect that ‘the seeking of
knowledge is compulsory upon every Muslim’. There is great reward for just the
seeking of this knowledge, Alhamdulillaah by us being here for just this short time
we fall under the category of ‘Taalibul I’lm, students of knowledge. All the benefits
and rewards of being a student of knowledge will be upon us as long as we are in
this state.

The Ahadith mentions many virtues of that that person who seeks this knowledge,
for example it mention to the effect that he who follows a path in quest of knowledge,
Allah ta’ala will make the path of Jannah easy to him. The angels lower their wings
over the seeker of knowledge, being pleased with what he does. The inhabitants of
the heavens and the earth and even the fish in the depth of the oceans seek
forgiveness for him.
Statement of Imam Shafi’I raheemahullaah
“After the obligatory deeds, nothing is more beloved to Allah than studying
knowledge.”

One incident from the pious about Qutub Al-Irshad Hazrat Gangohi rahmatullah
alaihi who was a scholar from India about 100 years ago. Once during an outdoor
teaching session, a sudden burst of rain caused panic among the students to run for
shelter. Everyone hurried indoors with books and tripods, while Maulana collected
everybody’s shoes. Most students were red faced and highly embarrassed. Some
were even overcome emotionally. Maulana modestly remarked, “It says in the
Hadith that, ‘Ants in their holes and fishes in water pray for students, angels spread
their wings under their feet.’ Serving such people I have achieved good fortune, why
do you deprive me of such felicity.”

So there is great virtue in seeking this knowledge, but we need to do so from the
right sources.

The Grammarians of the Arabic language have stated that the pronoun ‫[ ُھو‬he] is
hidden in the verb ‫ب‬
َ ‫ضر‬
َ [hit]. This means that the pronoun is not stated in the words,
but it is implied. One student, however, understood it to mean that the pronoun ‫ُھو‬
[he] is ‘hiding’ inside . ‫ب‬
َ ‫ضر‬
َ He thus started to scrape the word until the reverse
side of the page became visible. Coincidentally on the other side, at that spot, ‫ ُھو‬was
written. The student became elated at seeing for himself what the Ustaad had said;
that ‫ ُھو‬is hidden in it. “Scraping ‫ب‬ َ has revealed ‫ ُھو‬,” he said to himself and ran
َ ‫ضر‬
to show his discovery to the Ustaad. “Look! I scraped ‫ب‬ َ and ‫ ُھو‬came out,” he
َ ‫ضر‬
said to the Ustaad. The Ustaad had a chuckle, and then explained to him again the
purport of ‫ ُھو‬being ‘hidden’ in . ‫ب‬
َ ‫ضر‬.
َ

We are coming to the end of yet another Islamic year in a few days InshaAllaah.
Alhamdulillaahu Allaah subhaanahu wa ta’ala has still continues to honour us and
bless us with this gift of Iman………even with all our deficiencies throughout this
past year….in fact throughout our entire lives but, think about it, He ta’ala has still
chosen to keep us with Iman……should we not be grateful…we are commanded to
enter into Islam wholeheartedly ….is it not time for us to submit totally to the will
of the Master subhaanahu wa ta’ala.

I end inshaAllaah with the story of a great saint and friend of Allaah ta’ala

Al-Fudayl bin Iyaad raheemahullah was famous for his piety and worship, but he
was not always a practicing Muslim. In his early years, al-Fudayl was an infamous
highway robber; he would prowl in the night for victims on the road from Abiward
to Sarakhs. Between these two cities was a small village in which lived a girl that al-
Fudayl was in love with. One night, out of desperation to be with her, al-Fudayl
climbed the wall of her home. As he was climbing over it, he heard a voice recite
verse 16 of surah Hadeed which means

Has not the time come for the hearts of those who believe to be affected by Allah’s
Reminder?

At that moment, al-Fudayl answered, “O my Lord, the time has indeed come.” He
returned from where he came and sought refuge near a travelling party on the main
road. They were busy engaging in a serious discussion. al-Fudayl heard one of them
say, “Let us continue our journey now.” Another answered, “No, not until the
morning, for al-Fudayl is lurking on the road somewhere out there, just waiting to
rob us.”

Having heard the entire conversation, al-Fudayl thought to himself, “I go around in

the night to sin, while a group of Muslims remain here because they fear me. Indeed
I feel that Allah has brought me here to them only so that I can reform my character.
O Allah, I indeed repent to you..”