The Wheel of Time is spinning

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Sitting on a ferris wheel how quickly did you complete the circuit and see you are back at the start. You continue circuit after circuit and before long your time is done. Aw man – already?

Just a little ealier I heard the now all too familiar conversation about time and where has the year gone. Indeed where? It’s gone, never to return except for some snippet we hold in our memories, never to be relived or reclaimed. A year has gone like the circuit of the ferris wheel. With each circuit another year has passed. How much have we benefited ourselves? How much of this benefit is short-term and how much is the real long-term benefit?

We are on the threshold of a new year  (the Islamic/Hijri new year is in a day or two while we are only a month away from 2012 CE). As Muslims we celebrate our new year by fasting on the 9^th and 10^th days of the new year (in the month of Muharram). This is an optional fast but a strongly recommended fast. There are no wild celebrations/parties, no music, no street parades, but rather a reconnection with the Creator. With the Mercy of our Lord at every turn, days like these are reminders of that Mercy. And why should we not pick the fruits of that Mercy by concerning ourselves with dialling 255224 – oh by the way that is “ALLAAH”  - and committing your pledge – your pledge of time for doing good, your pledge for giving more charity, your pledge of being mindful of time, your pledge for getting involved with those who do good)

So to my Non-Muslim friends: We do not celebrate your new year since we have our own. We celebrate differently to the way you do. We leave you to do what you do. We do not wait for midnight like you do, we do not pop the corks (no alcohol), we do not party (jiving or whatever you may call it). So you will find us in our homes and/or mosques when you are celebrating your new year. We trust too though that your new years resolutions will give consideration to the real issues at hand while,sadly, in a time of ecstacy that we forget the suffering and oppression.

As we receive news of change in weather patterns, the political turmoil in specifically the Arab world, the financial crisis in Europe, and even our own home-grown problems – is this not the time to reflect?

Have you noticed that you are getting older and have you noticed that many people that you knew, some older and some younger, have departed from this world just this past year. Where have they gone? Where will they be going? How much time do you have left on this earth and where will you be going after this? Have you scripted a book that will be a best-seller at the grand opening of the Garden of Bliss?

The ferris wheel is turning and the sands of time is running out.  Soon the doors of 1433 AH (after Hijrah) and 2012AD will open and the doors to their predecessors shut. In a blink you will read this message again and the numbers would have changed (forward). Will you be asking “what happened?” in a sleepy voice.