It seems that I am forever quoting the Prophet about the unworthiness of the stomach, and yet on each occasion I end up feeling like a hypocrite, my own spare tyre seemingly immovable, even though I know that there's a guaranteed way to get rid of it. Eat less. But can I do it? Not yet. I just hope God forgives me for preaching a lifestyle for other people and then not following my own advice.

Well, it’s getting a little bit late, but here’s one more Happy New Year to you all. Whatever happened last year, it’s time to face the world afresh, with hope and optimism, a new beginning, and New Year’s resolutions. Yes, it’s that time again, when we resolve not do all those things that we have been doing to excess, like smoking, drinking, and eating.

Strange how the things that we all seem to agree are bad for us are mostly defined as the outward mark of our celebrations in life. No wonder we find it so hard to abandon these things, when it feels like turning our backs on the enjoyment of life itself. Hardly surprising if recent reports suggest that 83% of our resolutions don’t survive.

Now even if I had been celebrating Christmas it would have been fairly restrained as it again fell in our fasting month of Ramadhan, but that was over when I joined my family to bring in the New Year. Of course, I was stone cold sober for the celebrations, which many Scots would consider to be a contradiction in terms.

But then, for those who don’t indulge, the traditional Scottish celebrations seem just appallingly self-destructive, and even drinkers seem to accept the illogicality of the process on the following day, when “Never again” is a phrase on so many people’s lips, it could almost be the source of the New Year’s resolution tradition.

As with drinking, so with smoking, Muslim lawyers say it is forbidden to do what does you damage. Suicide is clearly forbidden, and smoking can be seen as a little suicide. As with alcohol, a little of what poisons in larger quantities is forbidden, but the key is your intention.

And New Year is all about good intentions. We all want to improve our diet, even if we don’t have the self-discipline of Muhammad who never ate food on three days running,  but we all have good intentions. And the Prophet may have said there’s no vessel less worthy of filling than the stomach, but he also said that Islam, and hence life, isn’t meant to be a hardship.

So good luck  with your New Year’s resolutions, and don’t abandon them because of short term failure. Remember, the month of Muharram and the Muslim New Year will be along at the end of March.