Verily, it is obligatory upon an individual to look to his past year to see what he has done. Did he perform his obligatory acts the way they should be performed, or did he fall short? Did he avoid and distance himself from what was made unlawful [upon him], or did he indulge in it?

Imām Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-‘Uthaymīn (رحمه الله) said:

Indeed, every merchant looks in his record books at the end of the year to see what profit was made, [or] what loss occurred, and if there was some loss, is it possible to compensate for it or not?

Verily, we are at the end of this year. We ask Allāh to conclude it for us with goodness, to pardon us for the mandatory things that we have fallen short in, and to forgive us for whatever violations/transgressions we have committed.

O brothers! Verily, it is obligatory upon an individual to look to his past year to see what he has done. Did he perform his obligatory acts the way they should be performed, or did he fall short? Did he avoid and distance himself from what was made unlawful [upon him], or did he indulge in it?

Hence, if he was lackadaisical with the performance of his obligatory duties, it is upon him to rectify them, so long as he has the opportunity.

Let him ponder/reflect; did he perfect his purification, his prayer, his fast, his Zakāh and his Ḥajj? Let him reflect.

Perhaps, a person may have some missed fasts from Ramaḍān, so he says: ‘A lifetime is in front of me, and I have until the number of missed days in the month of Shaʿbān to make them up.’ There is no problem with that, but there is absolutely no guarantee of being able to fulfill that obligation in that particular timeframe. He should hasten to make up the missed fasts because he does not know what can afflict him. It may be that he is afflicted with sickness and is incapable of fasting, or perhaps he may die and no one will make up his missed fasts on his behalf, so reflect.

Source: al-Liqāʾ al-Shahrī, Sitting no. 44, Question no. 12.
Translated by: Abū Wāʾil Musa Shaleem