New resolution and fresh accountability

This year is coming to its end and many people will be looking for inspiration in forming their new year resolutions which, whilst they may have a purpose for some, for many they have become a fashionable chore intended only to impress others. We should understand that any change in life style means a change of heart and mind and any change of direction always implies a realisation of destiny and the purpose for which we have undertaken that journey. When I seek a resolution to live by it always seems, to me, to be singularly straightforward. The Quran teaches us one in its very first Surah, Al-Fatiha or the Opening Surah, saying: ‘You alone do we worship and You alone do we turn to for help. Show us the Straight Path’.

Allah also shows us another beautiful resolution in the Surah al-An`am, saying: ‘Whoever come to Allah with a good deed shall have ten times as much, and whoever come to Allah with an evil deed shall be requited with no more than the like of it. They shall not be wronged. Say: as for me, my Lord has guided me on to a Straight Path, a right religion, the way of Abraham who adopted it in exclusive devotion to Allah, and he was not of those who associated others with Allah in His Divinity. Say: surely my Prayer (Salaah), all my acts of worship (in Hajj) and my living and my dying are only for Allah, the Lord of the whole universe. He has no associate. Thus have I been bidden and I am the foremost of those who submit themselves (to Allah)’.  Surah 6 and verses 160-163

The ‘Straight Path’ leads to God and connects man with Him. We cannot create our own type of ‘spirituality’ and ‘connecting routes’ to God unless they lie within the framework of Allah’s guidance and fulfil the required terms and conditions. However, with all the measures that we take to satisfy our own kind of perception or conception of this ‘Path’ that leads to God, we often end up leading ourselves away from this ‘Straight Path’.

What is a resolution for? And why do we need one at the beginning of a new year? We should remember that accountability for oneself is a good thing and a helpful practice in steadying us on the Straight Path. The need that many of us feel for a resolution may be an indication of a desire in our sub-consciousness that is urging us to commit to the act of self-accountability.

In a hadith narrated from our Prophet Mohammad, peace and mercy of Allah be upon him, it is said: ‘A clever person is one who brings himself to account and works for the life after death. And a feckless person is one who follows his vain desires and expects wishful outcomes from Allah’.

This contains a guidance for making a resolution that can change the lifestyle and future of a person, as we all know that ‘good reviews’ and ‘feedback’ help to improve a product or the work pattern of a person in their workplace. We all want to live well in this life and attain the best material support possible. While there is nothing wrong with this, we should remember that Allah has granted us this life so that He can see from our actions ‘who is better in good deeds’.

The Quran clearly states that ‘Has he not been informed of what is in the Scrolls of Moses? And of Abraham who lived up to the trust? That no bearer of a burden shall bear the burden of another; and that man shall have nothing but what he has striven for’; and that the result of his striving shall soon be seen’. S53 V36-40.

This requires from us a very conscious approach in all our ‘striving’ in this life and a constant analysis of all our actions and deeds that we are depositing in our accounts of this life. Indeed, it reminds me a verse in the Surah al-Tawbah (Repentance) that reads as follows: ‘do they not see that they are tried every year once or twice? Yet they neither repent nor take heed’. S9 V126

So resolutions and accountability are part and parcel of our need to reflect on changing the course of our lives.  Any desire to correct our path, and find the best one that can connect us with our destiny, must embrace the ‘Straight Path’ which every committed praying Muslim asks for in their daily Salaah.

Further, in another hadith, our Prophet Mohammad, peace and mercy of Allah be upon him, directs us and the rest of humanity towards the path of achievement and successful outcomes in our lives by saying: ‘A stronger believer is better and beloved to Allah than a weaker believer, even though in both there is goodness. Commit yourself to what is beneficial to you, seek help from Allah and do not get stifled, and if you are afflicted by something, do not say: I wish I had done differently so the outcomes were such and such, but say: what Allah had stored for me and what He willed was done. Because the word ‘if’ opens the door of Satan’.

The Quran and the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad contain all the resolutions people could ever need and which will surely connect them to the right causes and bring benefits.

In today’s world words seem to have lost both their value and purpose. The more media outlets and social media channels that spring up the more we seem to stray away from the ‘Straight Path’ which connects our souls with Allah, the Almighty. We enjoy structuring beautiful sentences and love the sounds of inspiring words but while all appears fine on the surface, living in reality has become a tough task for many people.

With the blatant violations of human rights and the chaotic situations in many parts of the world and with money dominating the consciousness of most people, one resolution, in my opinion, becomes the most relevant;   to be a truthful human companion, accepting our own accountability and feeling shame for our wrongdoing.

The people of this world will receive only what they deserve in this life and in the next. We must not take that which is not ours, even if it appears to be under our control. We leave everything behind us when our time on earth is done. What remains, in the memory of others, is the good we have accomplished for God and for other people. But, never forget, many of us are now living in a dream world, very elusive and very deceitful.