As the year draws to a close, a familiar energy fills the air. Work calendars clear, schools close their doors, and the hum of anticipation spreads through homes. Conversations revolve around travel and relaxation — a long-awaited pause from the year’s pressures. For many, this season is the long-anticipated reward: a holiday at last.
It is a natural longing — the heart’s desire to rest, to breathe, to be free from strain. Though our days are filled with striving and effort, true rest awaits only in Jannah. The real holiday is not reserved through a travel agent, nor marked on a calendar. It begins only when the journey of life ends — in the eternal peace of Jannah.
The believers of the past understood this well. Their days were spent in striving, their nights in worship, and their comfort lay not in the softness of beds, but in the sweetness of obedience. For them, every moment in the world was a step closer to that everlasting rest — a life with no deadlines, no illness, no fatigue, and no fear. As Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah bin Mas‘ood (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) said, “The believer will have no rest until he meets Allah Ta‘ala.” (Az-Zuhd – Ibnul Mubaarak #17)
Contrast this with our times. The modern world races toward rest, yet never truly attains it. Holidays are planned with excitement, but they slip away like sand through the fingers — a fleeting escape before the cycle begins again. People return to their routines more drained than before, their hearts still searching for a peace that no destination can provide.
The believer’s heart, however, sees beyond the glitter. He enjoys what is halaal, yet knows that the true “vacation” lies beyond the grave — a holiday that never ends. Thus, while the world celebrates its temporary break, he strives through deeds that will secure him his eternal one.
This does not mean that he lives without joy. Islam does not deny rest or happiness, but rather reminds one where true peace lies. A believer may rest, travel and smile — yet he never lets his heart unpack in a world that is not his home. He knows that the real resort is being built by his own actions.
A man once travelled all the way from Khurasaan to visit Imaam Ahmad bin Hambal (rahimahullah) – a journey spanning many hundreds of kilometres. Upon arriving, he said, “O Abu ‘Abdillah, I have come to you from Khurasaan to ask you a question.” When permission was granted, he asked, “When does a servant (truly) taste rest?” Imaam Ahmad (rahimahullah) responded, “At the first step he takes into Jannah.” (Tabaqaatul Hanaabilah vol. 2, pg. 290)
So as the world lights up with celebration, let every believer whisper to his heart: “My turn will come.” Not in a fleeting holiday of days and nights, but in an eternity from which there will be no call to return.
That is the holiday worth living for — the one that never ends.