Islam and Women
Self-Accountability
Umm-e-Milad Attariyyah
Sayyiduna Abu Bakr Kattani رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه states: A person would take himself to account for all the mistakes and sins he committed. One day, he calculated how many years he had been alive for, and it amounted to 60 years. Then he calculated it in terms of days and it came to approximately 21,500 days. Upon realisation, he let out a scream and fell unconscious. When he regained his senses, he said: Woe unto me! If I committed only one sin a day, then I will present myself with 21,500 sins in the court of Allah Almighty. So, what about those sins that I have not included? Woe unto me! I have prioritised the life of this world and have destroyed my Hereafter. I have spent my life disobeying my Lord so how can I give accountability of my deeds on the Day of Judgement? He then let out another cry and fell to the floor, when he was budged, he had passed away.[1]
Dear Islamic sisters! We come to know that according to our pious predecessors رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـه, self-accountability was very important and they valued their time immensely! If we want to be successful in this world and in the Hereafter, we must develop a habit of self-accountability (pondering and reflecting). The meaning of self-accountability is that we evaluate our lives; how many good deeds have we performed and how many sins have we committed. Hence, developing a habit of self-accountability is amongst the important principles of success. This is that flight of stairs that once we start climbing, we can not only begin identifying the goodness and flaws within us, but we can also bring light and brilliance to our abilities. Whoever makes intricate plans to achieve his goals and purposes, highlights his own weaknesses and in the light of previous mistakes and experiences, chooses a plan of action, he will gain success. The one who does not practise self-accountability, can never be successful as he does not have knowledge of his shortcomings, so he cannot correct or better himself and learn from previous mistakes. This results in him being left behind in matters of life. Therefore, we must keep an eye on our deeds and become alert if our good deeds are few, and if we have a habit of committing sins, we must remove it.
Remember, when evaluating your previous deeds, try to make more effort in performing good deeds if you calculate that your good deeds are few; it is essential if we are to become successful in both worlds. If we are not tactful in the way we spend our lives, then how can we become successful? Every Islamic sister who continues to hold themselves accountable like this will اِنْ شَــآءَالـلّٰـه be successful. At the very least, at the end of the previous year and at the beginning of the next, we should definitely hold ourselves accountable in order to estimate how many days were taken from our precious lives! How many good deeds have we preformed? How many sins have we committed? Instead of ignoring our weaknesses, ponder over them, blame yourself, make an effort to bring changes to yourself and value the time you have left. Other than this, when the new year commences, instead of calculating how many good and bad deeds you have committed, make a firm intention to spend your time in fulfilling the rights of Allah Almighty and the people, and carrying out the works of Dawat-e-Islami. If Allah Almighty wills, our life in this world and the Hereafter will be blissful.
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