As the day of Ashura (10th of Muharram) is fast approaching I am writing this public appeal to ask anyone that I may have offended to forgive me.

If, in any way, I have offended you, said something wrong about you, defamed you, insulted or oppressed you, please, with all due sincerity and humility, I ask you to forgive me.

May Allah, subhana wa ta’ala, be merciful to us all.  And, insha’Allah, may the coming year be filled with promise and blessings for us all.

As-salamu Alaykum wa-Rahmatullahi wa-Barakatuhu.

To all of my brothers and sisters world wide I would like to say Happy New Year. Today is the first day of the Islamic calender, the year 1431.

What are your resolutions for the new year? What will you do to become a better Muslim? These are my goals for the coming year, in no particular order:

• Memorize more Quran (with proper tajweed).
• Continue to improve my Arabic.
• Memorize more hadith, particularly al-Nawawi.
• Fast more often, particularly on Mondays and Thursdays.
• Continue my formal education in Islamic Studies and begin looking at universities in Saudi, particularly Imam University in Medinah.
• More Da’wah.
• Spend more time at the masjid.

Just a few of my goals.  Again, a very happy new year to you all.

This year, the Day of Arafat falls on Thanksgiving, the 26th of November in the United States.  Traditionally Muslims will spend the day fasting from sunrise to sunset, and falling on Thanksgiving will make the normal fast even more challenging, and rewarding, for many Muslim-Americans.

From Wikipedia:

The Day of Arafat is an Islamic Holy Day, in which it is said that the religion had been perfected. The original day was on a Friday, but now the Day falls on the 9th day of Dhul Hijja (ذو الحجة) of the lunar Islamic Calendar. This happens to be approximately 70 days after the end of the month of Ramadan. It is the second day of the Hajj pilgrimage and the day after it is the major Islamic Holiday of Eid ul-Adha. At dawn of this day, Muslim pilgrims will make their way from Mina to a nearby hillside and plain called Mount Arafat and the Plain of Arafat. It was from this site that Muhammad gave his famous Farewell Sermon in his final year of life.

It is said that a believer who fasts on this day expiates for the past year’s sins and the sins for the year coming. It is thus a day of forgiveness from sins, similar to the Jewish day of Yom Kippur.

The Day of Arafat, the 9th day of Dhul Hija, is also the second day of Hajj.  On this day all of the pilgrims will travel about nine miles  from Mecca to to a desert location called Arafat, or Arafah, where they will spend the day praying for forgiveness and repenting of their sins.  On this day, Muslims worldwide celebrate the Day of Arafat, asking for forgiveness, repenting of sins, and fasting.  Arafat is sometimes refered to as  the day of remembrance, as it commemorates the final sermon of the Prophet Mohammad, Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam.  This is important because the final sermon marks the completion of the message of Islam.  Unfortunately, so many people who are quick to condemn Islam and Muslims, have never read, or are unfamiliar with what is often called the Islamic Charter of Humanity.

The farewell address of God’s final messenger to mankind:

O people, hear me well: I explain to you. For I do not know; I may well not meet you again in this place where I now stand, after this year of mine.

O people: your lives and your property, until the very day you meet your Lord, are as inviolable to each other as the inviolability of this day you are now in, and the month you are now in. Have I given the message? — O Allah, be my witness. So let whoever has been given something for safekeeping give it back to him who gave him it.

Truly, the usury of the Era of Ignorance has been laid aside forever, and the first usury I begin with is that which is due to my father’s brother ‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib. And truly the blood-vengeance of the Era of Ignorance has been laid aside forever, and the first blood-vengeance we shall start with is that which is due for the blood of [my kinsman] ‘Amir ibn Rabi‘a ibn Harith ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib. Truly, the hereditary distinctions that were pretensions to respect in the Era of Ignorance have been laid aside forever, except for the custodianship of the Kaaba [by Bani ‘Abd al-Dar] and the giving of drink to pilgrims [by al-‘Abbas].

A deliberate murder is subject to retaliation in kind. An accidental death from a deliberate injury means a death resulting from [something not usually used or intended as a deadly weapon such as] a stick or a rock, for which the indemnity is one hundred camels: whoever asks for more is a person of the Era of Ignorance.

O people: the Devil has despaired of ever being worshipped in this land of yours, though he is content to be obeyed in other works of yours, that you deem to be of little importance.

O people: postponing the inviolability of a sacred month [claiming to postpone the prohibition of killing in it to a subsequent month, so as to continue warring despite the sacred month’s having arrived] is a surfeit of unbelief, by which those who disbelieve are led astray, making it lawful one year and unlawful in another, in order to match the number [of months] Allah has made inviolable. Time has verily come full turn, to how it was the day Allah created the heavens and the earth. Four months there are which are inviolable, three in a row and forth by itself: Dhul Qa‘da, Dhul Hijja, and Muharram; and Rajab, which lies between Jumada and Sha‘ban. Have I given the message? — O Allah, be my witness.

O people: verily you owe your women their rights, and they owe you yours. They may not lay with another men in your beds, let anyone into your houses you do not want without your permission, or commit indecency. If they do, Allah has given you leave to debar them, send them from your beds, or [finally] strike them in a way that does no harm. But if they desist, and obey you, then you must provide for them and clothe them fittingly. The women who live with you are like captives, unable to manage for themselves: you took them as a trust from Allah, and enjoyed their sex as lawful through a word [legal ruling] from Allah. So fear Allah in respect to women, and concern yourselves with their welfare. Have I given the message? — O Allah, be my witness.

O people, believers are but brothers. No one may take his brother’s property without his full consent. Have I given the message? — O Allah, be my witness. Never go back to being unbelievers, smiting each other’s necks, for verily, I have left among you that which if you take it, you will never stray after me: the Book of Allah. Have I given the message? — O Allah, be my witness.

O people, your Lord is One, and your father is one: all of you are from Adam, and Adam was from the ground. The noblest of you in Allah’s sight is the most godfearing: Arab has no merit over non-Arab other than godfearingness. Have I given the message? — O Allah, be my witness.

– At this, they said yes.

He said, Then let whomever is present tell whomever is absent.

O people:, Allah has apportioned to every deserving heir his share of the estate, and no deserving heir may accept a special bequest, and no special bequest may exceed a third of the estate. A child’s lineage is that of the [husband who owns the] bed, and adulterers shall be stoned. Whoever claims to be the son of someone besides his father or a bondsman who claims to belong to other than his masters shall bear the curse of Allah and the angels and all men: no deflecting of it or ransom for it shall be accepted from him. And peace be upon all of you, and the mercy of Allah.

Translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller