A pause for self-accounting at the start of the new year.

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows: O my brothers, this is the first meeting of this year from the monthly meetings that take place on the night of the third Sunday of every month. This year, and this meeting, is on the night of the nineteenth Sunday of the month of Muharram in the year one thousand four hundred and twenty-one. I ask Allah the Exalted to make it a blessed and beneficial meeting. As you know, this meeting has now taken place after the 'Isha' prayer. However, due to the shortening of the night, we have decided to advance it in the future to be after the Maghrib prayer, so that it is easier for those who came to the city to return to their towns early, and so that the meeting does not drag on in the short night. So our intention, if Allah wills, is that in the future the meeting will be after the Maghrib prayer.
In this meeting, we remind our brothers of how they ended last year. Some people ended it with Hajj to the House of Allah the Exalted . And some people did not perform Hajj but fasted on the Day of 'Arafah. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said about the Day of 'Arafah: . But even so, we do not rely on hopes, because a person may fall short; he may fall short in his fast or he may fall short in his Hajj. So let us reflect: in what has passed, in what has passed of our previous year, have we fulfilled the obligatory? The obligatory to Allah and the obligatory to the servants of Allah. Have we fallen short in the previous work? Do we have obligations that we have not fulfilled? Have we paid the zakah, which is a right of Allah and a right of the servants? We may be falling short in fulfilling the obligatory of zakah. Have we paid what is obligatory for us to our relatives in terms of maintenance, or to our wives in terms of maintenance? Have we refrained from the honor of the Muslims, not backbiting anyone and not talebearing to anyone, or are the matters the opposite of that? It is obligatory upon us, O my brothers, to hold ourselves accountable for what has passed. As for the future, it is up to Allah Mighty and Majestic. But it is obligatory for a person to make a firm resolve that he will adhere to what Allah has made obligatory upon him, for Allah or for the servants of Allah. Let him seek help from Allah and let him read the saying of Allah Mighty and Majestic: . And this is among the most important of the wills, as He Mighty and Majestic said: complete . We must resolve from now on to be one community, that our goal be one, that our methodology be one, that our hearts be united and pure, with no hatred for anyone and no enmity for any of the Muslims. And it is upon us, if we hear something said about someone, to first verify whether this is true or not? How many things are reported about a person, in speech or action, that have no basis in truth. So let us verify first whether this thing happened or not. For example, if it is said to us: So-and-so does not pray with the congregation, do we take this without verification? Answer, everyone. No. We verify first. Then, if it is established for us that he has neglected the obligation of the congregation, we do not take this as a means to backbite him, to gloat over him, and to sow enmity and hatred in the hearts of people regarding him. It is upon us to advise him, it is upon us to advise him. But how is the advice given? The advice is either that a person goes to him in his home, or invites him to his home and speaks to him with gentleness and softness, with encouragement and warning. If he reforms, that is what is desired. And if he does not reform, the responsibility is cleared from him and the sin becomes upon him.