Salim was over joyous; he had just reached home after submitting the application form for one of the most difficult exams, the ACCA. “Wow! I am going to be a certified professional this year!” and then, a brilliant idea struck him. “Why don’t I call all my friends over for an exam party?” After doing all the planning, he called up his friends. Everyone was so eager to have another day to celebrate. While he spent the next two days going in and out preparing for a grand get-together, his mother watched worriedly.
“Salim! Are you OK? You should be calling them over to study; your exam is just a month away! I have never ever heard of anything as absurd as an exam party!” She pleaded anxiously. “You are supposed to celebrate after you succeed in the exam, are you sure you are going to clear it when you haven’t even touched your books?!”
Salim ignored his mother, “Mom, it’s the trend these days, everyone does it! Please don’t be so backward! Besides, it’s a good thing to make others happy and we are celebrating to thank this blessing.”
His mother felt like crying. “What can I do?”, she thought.
What do YOU think? Have you ever heard of a pre-exam party? No?
Well… I have! Read on…
“Afnan is turning 15 tomorrow! Masha Allah she is growing up so fast! I’ll call all her friends and aunts for a surprise party.”
The next day, when Afnan opened her Facebook account, she was shocked to see so many notifications. “Happy Birthday Afnan” they had all wished. ‘Oh’ she remembered. On her arrival at home, she was even more surprised to find that her relatives and friends had come over to celebrate her birthday. It was a day full of wishes, hugs, gifts and a grand cake -to celebrate the day she entered this world…
Can you relate between the first and the second scenario? No? Well…Read on….
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We all live according to our views and perspectives about life. The non-believers regard this life as everything; enjoy it to the utmost, enjoy it before it ends. For them, this is the time to gain all that they can; to them there is no hereafter.
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For a Muslim on the other hand, life is a serious matter, it is a responsibility that they shall be accountable for. Life is a tough exam; based on the curriculum of Quran, Seerah and Sunnah. It is a journey on a thorny road to Hell-fire or a blissful road towards Paradise. A Muslim is not free to do anything and everything that they desire. They willingly bind themselves in the boundaries set by Allah so that they can be free in the eternal life; in the gardens of Paradise, near their Lord who is pleased with them. When a Muslim enters this world, their assessment begins.
Prophet Muhammad explained the reality of this world in a beautiful parable. He said: “The world is a prison-house for a believer and Paradise for a non-believer.” 1
With this in mind, does celebrating birthday really make sense? Does it make sense to rejoice on the commencement day of your examination each year? Have you ever seen a prisoner partying the day he entered his prison cell? No! The reason to celebrate will only come afterwards…
This is why we see the best generations of Muslims far from such celebrations. We never heard the Sahaba, the tabi’en or later scholars celebrating various days: Badr day, Fathu Makkah (conquest of Makkah) day or Ahzaab day (even though these days were very important days). Instead, we read about them being hasty in racing after good deeds, seeking forgiveness and wishing they were birds and trees from the fear of accountability before Allah.
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