Dear Brothers and Sisters!  

As of Sunday, we will have reached the year 1446 in the Hijri calendar, which is the calendar of us Muslims. We pray to the Allah (swt) that the Islamic New Year brings goodness to the entire Muslim world and humanity, and that we witness days when the oppressed and suffering regions attain peace.

In the tradition of Muslims, New Year celebrations have not been marked by entertainments that are not pleasing to Allah (swt). Instead, a reckoning of the past year has been made, and prayers and dua for the future have been offered in a manner befitting the honour of a Muslim. Believers have expressed gratitude to Allah (swt) for the blessing of life. We should also give thanks and, knowing the value of time, use our time productively. Following the Islamic principle that “A person whose two days are equal is in loss,” we should enrich our spiritual world with each passing day.

Dear Brothers and Sisters!      

Allah (swt), emphasising the importance of time, swears by it in Surah Al-Asr: “By time, indeed, mankind is in loss. Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience.” This Surah informs us that those who live their lives ignoring Allah’s commands and prohibitions are in loss. Those who value their time and act as Allah has commanded are the ones who are successful. May Allah (swt) make us among those who constantly self-reflect and enrich their spiritual world. May He make us believers who truly believe in and live according to Islam, which is not restricted to a specific time period.

Dear Jama’ah!  

The event of the migration of the Prophet (saw) from Mecca to Medina was accepted as the beginning of the Islamic calendar during the caliphate of Umar (ra). This shows us that the Hijra carried out by the Messenger of Allah (saw) and his companions holds great importance in Islamic history. As stated in the verse: “Those who have believed and those who have emigrated and fought in the cause of Allah with their wealth and their lives, they have the highest rank in the sight of Allah. And it is those who are the successful.” The word “Hijra” is often used in the sense of “leaving one place and migrating to another.” However, the true meaning of the word is “for a person to physically, verbally, or spiritually distance themselves from something.”

When we consider Hijra from a spiritual perspective, the migration of believers is a continuous process. Migration from evil to good, from ugliness to beauty, and from harm to benefit should be endless in every phase of our lives. Fulfilling Allah’s commands and abandoning the prohibitions is a journey of Hijra that will continue until the Day of Judgment. The Messenger of Allah (saw) said, “The Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hand the people are safe, and the believer is the one from whom the people’s lives and wealth are safe.”.

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

July 11 marks the 29th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, a genocidal massacre that occurred in the heart of Europe. We pray to Allah (swt) for mercy on our Bosnian brothers and sisters who were martyred in this massacre, a great stain in human history. Our dua is for humanity to reach a civilised level, to be adorned with compassion and mercy, and for these oppressions to come to an end. Today, we also pray for the end of oppression and suffering in all oppressed regions like Gaza and East Turkestan. May Allah (swt) accept our prayers. Ameen!

¹ Surah Al-Asr, 103:1-3

² Surah At-Tawbah, 9:20

³ Buhârî, Îmân, 4

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