Take account of your days before death
“Take account of yourself before Allah takes account of you.”
As the Hijri year ends, Muslims must reckon with how they spent their days, repent for what passed, and prioritize salah, tahajjud, and nightly self-accounting before death arrives.
The khutbah in 8 steps
- Opening khutbah formulae and seating instructions
- The Hijri calendar: its origin in the Prophet's migration and the duty to teach it to our families
- The year as 354 days of chances for good deeds, salah, tahajjud, and Quran, not mere passing time
- Reflection on losses and changes over the year, and the question of how many days remain
- The hadith of five before five: youth, health, wealth, free time, and life before their opposites
- A hundred years from now none of us will be remembered unless we leave goodness behind
- Umar's call to take account of yourself before Allah takes account of you, and Ibn Mas'ud's regret over a day without added deeds
- Practical close: fix salah first, intend tahajjud before sleeping, say istighfar and Qul Huwa Allahu Ahad nightly, and do nightly muhasabah
In the khateeb's words
“oh, son of Adam, you are nothing but a number of days. Every time a day passes, a part of you is gone.”
“Take account of yourself before Allah takes account of you. Before Allah takes account of you.”
“Whatever has passed, do tawbah, fix yourself. Go ahead in life. Don't repeat those mistakes.”
“As-salā is the top priority of a Muslim. If that is fixed, every other thing will be fixed.”
For the dinner table
Today the imam reminded us that the Islamic year is ending, and that its 354 days were not just time passing, they were 354 chances to pray, seek forgiveness, and do good. He shared the hadith about using five things before five others take them away: youth before old age, health before sickness, wealth before poverty, free time before busyness, and life before death. He warned that a hundred years from now none of us will be remembered unless we left goodness behind. The good news is that Allah forgives whatever has passed if we repent and change. His advice was simple: fix your five daily prayers first, intend to wake for night prayer before you sleep, say istighfar, and review your day each night the way the early Muslims did.
- If you could keep one good habit every day of this coming year, what would it be?
- What is something you can do now, while young and healthy, that might be harder later?
- What would you write in your 'good deeds' list if you reviewed today like the early Muslims did?
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