New year, new opportunities

The diaries are full and the calendars have changed,

A new year has begun; new pages have been turned.

Can we remember all the past years lessons which we’ve learned?

As the new year dawns, which part of our lives will be better arranged.

The time goes by so very fast,

And before we know it, this year will also be a thing of the past,

So we need to do as much as we can,

All we need to do is make a plan.

The time seems so short for all that needs to be done,

There’s so much to learn and so much to do,

Wasted days can never be undone,

We have to pray that we can make a difference too.

It’s sad to see that for some people thing stay the same,

Year in and year out, there is no change,

Relentless work and play seems like fair game,

When we don’t take the time to learn and grow.

The biggest question we need to ask is this:

Am I doing enough for the world to come?

Will my condition be good or will it bad?

Will I be left, alone, doomed and sad?

Our Creator is Indeed the Most Merciful,

He has given us more time to be dutiful,

To Him should we direct our efforts,

This is the only way in which we will gain benefits.

May Allah Almighty give each one of us a wonderful year ahead. A year filled with blessings, peace and contentment; where we learn the most important lessons in life and strive to do deeds that will earn us Allah’s pleasure. Time is going very fast these days, and before we know it, the year will be progressing until its December once more. It’s no use making resolutions at the beginning of the year only to let our goals fizzle out and die. We should be making resolutions throughout the year, and in fact, throughout our lives. We should be striving to be better in all respects so that one day, when the inevitable happens and we have to stand before our Lord, at least maybe we will have something to show for our short time in this world.

May Allah Almighty give us the best, May He fulfil our needs, help us in our affairs, assist us to achieve our goals, and make it easy for us to make the best of our time. Inshaa-Allah Ameen!

TO ALL OF YOU - ALL THE BEST FOR THE YEAR AHEAD!

Reflections of a year gone by

So it’s that time of the year when we look back and wonder where on earth the time went to. Seriously, I remember it being May just the other day (unintended rhyme:)) and now we’re a few days away from 2011. We are indeed living in the days when time flies. In any case I have to say that Alhamdullillah this has been a very good year for me. Surely it has also been a very busy year, but I suppose that anything you want to do takes work. While I’m thankful that the busyness has momentarily stopped and I can take a bit of a rest, I’m also sad for the days gone by. I know that I can never get the days that have passed back and I wonder if I have made the best of that time that I have being given.

I don’t believe in making “New Year’s Resolutions”. It doesn’t really make that much sense to me. I believe that we should be changing, growing and trying to do more valuable things with our time constantly, on an everyday basis. So yes, I would like to make more effort to better myself (on all levels), but this is something that I want to be doing continuously, not just when the new year begins and then as time goes by I forget all my resolutions and resort back to my old ways.

A new year beckons and I have to say that I am quite excited, (although not in the I have butterflies in my stomach and can’t sleep sort of way). I am eagerly anticipating what lies ahead for me in this coming year. With Allah’s will I pray that everything will be good and I am hopeful that whatever happens in my life in the next year will change me for the better. With each passing year we should look at ourselves and evaluate whether we have changed, learnt more, strengthened relationships, helped others, improved ourselves in different ways...but more importantly, we should look at whether we have strengthened our bond with our Creator and at the efforts we have made to reach closeness to Allah Almighty.

For me 2010 has been a year of learning, a year of growing, of eye openers, of building new relationships with new Muslim sisters, and strengthening old friendships. It has been a year of joy and some sadness; a year of stress, craziness, tight deadlines, sleepless nights, new experiences, and eventually peace and contentment. I am not that exact same person I was last year this time and I know that next year this time, I will not be the exact same person that I am now. I only pray that Almighty Allah never leaves me and continues to guide me, because without Allah (SWT) in my life I cannot achieve anything and my life would be absolutely futile.

Shukr Alhamdullillah for the days gone past, and In Shaa Allah the days to come will be even better.

May the Almighty Allah forgive us all, guide and protect us and help us to accept what He has willed for us so that our days on this Earth can be well spent. May Allah bring us closer to him and never leave us alone!

To everyone out there, I wish you all the best for the days to come.