Review, thank Allah, and set intentions
“The reality is there's no such thing as a small blessing.”
As the Hijri year 1447 closes and 1448 begins, believers should mark the transition with three practices, self-accountability paired with repentance, deliberate gratitude for all blessings great and subtle, and sincere intention-setting, so that they live well and are granted a good ending (husn khatima).
The khutbah in 7 steps
- No blessing is small: Allah is Ar-Rahman who gives great blessings and Ar-Rahim who gives subtle blessings
- Believers should keep time by the Hijri calendar; the end of 1447 and start of 1448 in sacred months is a moment for reflection
- How thoughts, the ego (nafs), and the intellect interact, and how the soul is trained like muscle memory
- Combating ostentation (riya) through knowledge of its harm, cultivated dislike, and refusal
- Death as transition: at the final moment the heart takes over, and we die according to how we lived
- Three year-end practices: self-accountability (muhasabah) with repentance, gratitude for blessings, and listing sincere intentions for the new year
- Closing counsel: make dua for husn khatima, because actions are judged by their endings
In the khateeb's words
“But the reality is there's no such thing as a small blessing. There's no such thing as a small blessing.”
“the more that we learn to take ourselves to account here in this world is that the lighter our reckoning will be in the hereafter”
“whoever makes a righteous intention Allah will open up 70 doors of tofiq enabling grace for him to achieve what he attended”
For the dinner table
This khutbah was about ending the Islamic year 1447 well and starting 1448 well. The shaykh taught that there is no such thing as a small blessing, Allah gives us great blessings and subtle ones, like blinking and breathing, and all of them deserve our thanks. He gave us three things to do before the new year: look back honestly at our own mistakes and repent, list our blessings and thank Allah for them one by one, and write down sincere intentions for the year ahead, because Allah opens doors for people who intend good. He also reminded us that life is short and that at the moment of death, the heart we built through our daily choices is what takes over. So we should live well, keep making dua for a good ending, and trust Allah with the rest.
- What is one 'small' blessing, like your fingernails or your eyelashes, that you never thought to thank Allah for before?
- If you wrote down one honest thing you could have done better this year, what would it be?
- What is one intention you want to make for the new Islamic year, and what first step would show you mean it?
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