By Rose of Madinah

Anas ibn Malik reported:

The Prophet ﷺ drew some lines in the sand and he said,

“This one is the worldly hopes of man and the other is his lifespan. A man will continue like this until the other line overtakes him.”
Bukhārī

As the new Hijri 1445H year has dawned upon us, it is time we took a moment to seriously reflect on the direction of our lives with some oft-forgotten necessary questions that are deeply related to our existence:

Where did we come from? What are we supposed to be doing during our contracted lives here on earth? Where are we headed?

Muharram 1445H. A full 355 lunar days from 1444H have skipped past us within the blink of an eye. Never to return again. Not a day nor a second.

Time waits for no man, they say. Yet, false longing keeps us blinded from the reality of the moment many have drugged themselves to forget: Death. And the drugs come in numerous forms. Career, wealth, status, fame, entertainment, sports, amusements, fantasies, and passion. The list goes on, though its purpose remains the same: to numb oneself from the thought of Death and to sever the consciousness of our Creator and the place of our Final Return. To deceive us into thinking that we live almost an immortal life and that we have a long way to go. To enchain us to desks and factories and to make us believe that the highest priority of our existence is to become proficient in gathering abundant provisions for this world and to compete on who does it best. To hoard and to proclaim that the vast world will never be enough for us all.

Nay, the termination of our worldly existence comes unannounced and how many were the ones who assumed they had another day only to face the brutal bitterness of the severance of their temporal attachments. But when the above are done with a connection to Allah ﷻ, the very same worldly activities become Divine and eternally beneficial. And we have to quickly learn how to transform the material into divine experiences. Seek the wise ones and re-learn from these real divine scientists how to view and understand the world.

The wise ones understand the reality of the numbered days that we have on Earth and realise that there is a critical purpose that they need to achieve with a sense of urgency. To get acquainted with The Lord who brought all of these into existence, to deepen the relationship with Him, to serve Him, and to be accepted by Him. May our Lord increase us with His Light to differentiate the temporal from The Permanent, the darkness from The Luminance, from the shallow to the depth, from the false to The Truth.

Abu Huraira reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

“Remember often the destroyer of pleasures: death.”
Tirmidhī

Muharram 1445H. Another day, month or year may be ahead of us.

Everyday is a lifebuoy: not to drown in the deceptions of worldly empty promises but to climb up the ranks of gratitude (Shukr) and God-consciousness (Taqwa). To remember that the world is a means and to let it remain a means for us to reach God. To use the world and not let the world use us, as our Master Prophet Muhammad ﷺ has perfectly demonstrated for us. To embrace the highest honour of existing to know Him as He wanted us to know Him. He desired for us to know Him. He desired us. Let us desire Him.

Let us make resolutions this Muharram and ask Him to create for us a renewed zeal to know Him, to pursue Him and to reach Him. To Live for The One Who grants us life to live. To breathe for The One Who makes us breathe. To know The One Who teaches us knowledge to know. To will for The One Who allowed us to choose. To move for The One Who gifted us power to move. To hear The One Who bestowed us hearing to listen. To witness The One Who gave us sight to see. To speak about The One Who gave us tongues to speak.

Virtues of Muharram and Ashura

The best prayer after the prescribed prayers is a prayer offered in the middle of the night. The best fast after the month of Ramadan is fasting in the month of Allah ﷻ; Muharram.
Muslim

If you want to fast a month after Ramadan, then fast Muharram, for it has a day in which Allah forgave an entire people, and He turns to others in repentance in.”
Muslim

It is mentioned in Bukhari and Muslim from Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with him and his father) that he was asked about fasting on the Day of `Ashura [10th of Muharram]. He said,

“I did not see the Messenger of Allah ﷺ fast a day while more avid to seek its virtue than this day,”

[meaning the Day of `Ashura].
Bukhari and Muslim

“For fasting the day of `Ashura, I hope that Allah will accept it as expiation for the year that went before.”
Muslim

It has been reported in both Bukhari and Muslim from Ibn Abbas , that, When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ reached Medina, he found the Jews fasting the Day of `Ashura, so he asked them,

“What is this day you are fasting?” They said, “This is a tremendous day. Allah saved Musa and his people on this day and drowned Pharaoh and his people. Musa fasted it out of thanks, so we fast it too.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “And we are more deserving of Musa than you are.” So he fasted this day, and ordered that it be fasted.
Bukhari and Muslim

“Fast on the day before and the day after Ashura.”
Musnad Ahmad

It has been reported from Abd Allah ibn `Amr ibn al-`As , that “Whoever fasts `Ashura, it is as if he has fasted the entire year. And whoever gives charity this day it is like the charity of an entire year.”

Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim mentioned that there are three levels of fasting on Ashura, the first one being ‘the best’ and most complete, followed by the other degrees accordingly: