The Islamic New Year started a few days ago with the advent of the month of Muharram. I am not aware of any tradition of celebrating this; certainly until recently there didn't seem to be that much awareness of this annual milestone here.
My husband came back from a lecture this weekend at his local masjid that he really enjoyed. The speaker used the start of the new year to encourage people to refresh their iman:
Abu Hurairah (raa) narrates:
Prophet Muhammad (saws): Refresh your Iman.
Companions (raa): How can we refresh our Iman, O Messenger of Allah?
Prophet Muhammad (saws): Repeat the kalima, la ilaha illa allah, very frequently and abundantly.
The speaker focussed on the need for each of us to take care to refrain from sins, even if we are unable to undertake in great good deeds, we can try to prevent our sins from piling up. The other thing he mentioned was to ensure that we do not neglect our fardh (obligatory) responsibilities (salah, fasting etc) even if we can’t manage much more.
Alhamdulillah, a useful message I thought and as good a time as any to refresh our iman.
Salam alaikum, sister. Happy new islamic year to you too. Haven't heard from you for a long time:)
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