By Shaykh Naeem Abdulwali

As the Gregorian New Year comes upon in this waxing Hijra year the majority of Americans, non-Muslim, will in varying degrees make resolutions.  They will make a fixed intent to resolve to make a change in their lives. 

An Ottoman Shaykh, Ismet Garībullāh in his divan wrote

Ūlū himmet ol, kalma fatūra da, ki Allāh rahmet edip gark ede nūr da

Have resolve, be not lethargic!  For Allah has engulfed His servant in light

Resolve and aspiration are keys to spiritual success, let alone worldly.  Had I not made the choice and then had resolute resolve to leave America in 1991, I would not have gone to Medina.  Had I not had the resolve, I would not have gotten on that bus with only a hundred dollars in my pocket for a two-day trek to Istanbul to be able to sit at the feet of one near to God Most High.

Every moment the believer lives is an ‘ān’ of resolve and resolution.

There has never been a time, an era, in the histories of Muslim peoples except that himma was an ever-present need.  Sometimes the community was in need of one person to assist others to show that resolve, such as when Sayydinā Umar was transformed and resolved, due to his conversion experience, to publicly worship Allah Most High at the Kaaba.

At the age of eighteen the Mujaddid of India Ahmad Sirhindi (1624) a lineal descendent of Sayydina Umar , wrote his Arabic language Ithbāt l’Nabūwa when Shah Akbar ruled.  In the court the emperor had established his “heavenly religion” and had declared that the prophetic period of Muhammad had come to an end, that a new era had dawned.  Sirhindi,  in his Ithbāt, defended the Sunni orthodox position of the truthfulness and universal finality of Muhammad’s prophetic office.  This was a bold move; Sirhindi had resolve and his move to secure Sunni orthodoxy and orthopraxy left its indelible marks on the Muslim peoples of South Asia and beyond.  Without conviction and resolve, a himma, founded upon and looking up to Muhammad this would not have been possible.

Abd l’Wahhāb al-Sh’arānī (973) in his Kitāb Tanbīh l’Mughtarīn, The Book of  Admonition to the Deceived, set out to reiterate and remind would-be Sufis that the true spiritual path required not simply mere affiliation and a change of wardrobe, but a change of character. He described each section with “and of their character was their lack of...”, “and of their character was their resolve in...” and so on.  Page after page in this beautiful book, he laid out the true value of having resolute resolve, and the fruits inherent in it.

He wrote:

And of their character was the lack of being deceived  in relation to God by being merely concerned with the forgiving nature of God and setting aside right action, but instead they were excessive in making effort in acts of worship, firmly certain of the forgiving nature of God, not on their own deeds, and being certain of the [truth of the prophetic statement] “The clever one puts low his soul and works for that which comes after death; the deficient of intellect is he who allows his soul to follow his passion while having a false hope in God”.  

Said ibn Jabīr was asked about the deceived in relation to God, he said, “That is the person who continues in sinful rebellion yet expecting from God forgiveness.”

The believer must be in the prophetic mindset of having rolled up his or her sleeves to take upon the serious affair in which he or she finds him or herself.  We are to aspire individually and collectively in our life journeys to ensure that each one of us arrives successfully to our final abodes before a generous Lord. 

Though we have entered into the year 1431, we are in reality that many years closer to our Day of Appointment.  Let us take resolve and firm resolution and keep in mind the words of Hasan al-Basrī: “O son of Adam, you are but a number of days and when a day of yours has passed by, a part of you has passed away with it.”  He is reported to have said also, “Death has eclipsed the world and has not left any possessor of a true heart any joy!”

Wa mā a’laynā illā l’balāgh!