صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم! Please advise me.”

The Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم  replied: “The one whose two days are the same—meaning today passes in the same manner as yesterday; who performed five virtuous deeds yesterday and performs only the same five today without any increase; or who spent yesterday in sins and today also passes in sins without repentance—such a person is deceived. The one whose present day is worse than his previous is accursed.”^[1]

A Beloved Attribute of the Ṣiddīqīn

The noble scholars رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـهُ state that the Ṣiddīqīn (saints of exceptionally lofty rank) felt a sense of shame if the current day passed in the same manner as the previous one (i.e., they ensured an increase in their good deeds with every passing day).^[2]

If only we learn and act upon this advice, and adopt concern for the Hereafter. Another year of our lives has come to an end. In this year, make an intention to transform yourselves, improve your character and habits, and strive to spend this year in a better manner, avoiding sins and devoting yourselves to good deeds.

Hold Yourself Accountable

Since we have entered the new year, we should carefully review our previous year:

1. Calculate how many obligatory prayers were missed last year; begin making up for them today and repent for this negligence too.

2. Reflect on how many fasts of Ramadan were missed and make them up as soon as possible.

3. Assess how much deficiency there was in Quranic recitation and recite more this year.