The Struggle to Attain Ihsaan & Remain There

The Expiators of Sins

This is the first part of a two part lecture I attended during this summer. This part was titled The Expiators of Sins and the lecture was explained by Salem Al Amry who is a prominent sheikh from the UAE. The lecture was presented in a thorough, enlightening and humorous manner, may Allah grant him and the organisers of the event Janatul Firdows. Below however you'll find the notes I made and if compared the actual volume of the lecture are but brief.



-Allah has created 100 rahma’s, 99 he kept to himself and 1 part he sent to the earth. 99 Allah kept for the Day of Resurrection.

-Allah loves us even more than our own mothers, Allah azza wa Jal should be loved above all creation.

-The prophet (saw) said “Whoever believes that Allah will forgive all his sins, Allah will do so, as long as nothing is associated with Allah”.

-Immediately after you sin you have to turn to Allah, again and again and again & ask for forgiveness. Our repentance should out number our sins.

-The prophet (saw) said “Every son of Adam is a sinner, the best of those who sin are those who frequently repent”.

-Sin is something which causes you discomfort, uneasiness and you don’t like people knowing about.

-Do a good deed after a bad one, because one tackles out the other.
You won’t be held accountable for satanic doubts – Do not entertain them – Get rid of them straight away. – The rejection of the thought was the purest thought of faith, say amantu bilaah ( I believe in Allah) and read qull huwa Laah ahad.

-Fighting against satanic whispers during prayers is a form of Jihad, as long as you struggle to close these doors rather than entertain the thoughts.

Expiators

1. Emaan once a disbeliever, polytheist etc is blessed with emaan all their past sins are forgiven and their good deeds are carried over. Emaan wipes away everything!

2. Following the Sunnah of our beloved prophet salawaatu Laahi wasalaamu aley and looking to the Sunnah itself is a righteous deed. No one is perfect or even close to perfection however when you see something which that you too should be doing, make dua in order for Allah to give you the ability to also do it. When the prophet salalaahu aleyhiwasalam asked for forgiveness for someone in his time, that person would be forgiven. He who obeys the messenger (saw) obeys Allah azaa wa jal.

3. Sincere Tawbah (Repentance). Ask Allah for forgiveness so that Allah may forgive you.
*Steps to repentance
- Leave Sin
- Regret action
- Determine not to go back to it
- Rectify the situation by e.g. stolen money has to be given back
- Ask Allah’s forgiveness for that person

*The sincere repenter is like one without sin, Ibn Maajah. The prophet salalaahu aleyhiwasalam repented 70 times a day and asked for forgiveness in order to show and teach us to mimic this example. *Be kind and tolerant (forgive and over look others faults and shortcomings, wouldn’t you like Allah to forgive you)? Allah says in the qur’an “Verily the good deeds wipe away the bad”.

Once there was a man who after he would lend people money he would give the rich more time to pay the money back and totally allow the poor. Allah forgave him.

After you commit ghiba-backbiting immediately ask for forgiveness, (you might forget) Due to unavoidable situations you might fall into ghiba again but Allah azaa wa jal reminds you. Allah only reminds those he loves, might bite yourself or cut yourself.

Shaitan will make you despair, Say Allah is Most Forgiving, do you think Allah will forgive you? Every Muslim is so valuable so dear . A Muslim is a buried diamond due to his or her emaan.

4. Giving salaam. Salaam is an expiator of sins. The prophet (saw) said you will not enter Jannah unless you love each other. The messenger of Allah said “Shall I tell you how to instil this love…Spread the salaam”. If you separated by even a wall or pillar you should say salaam again.

5. Shaking hands. Sins will shed like trees shed their leaves. (Same sex obviously)

6. Kindness to all. A lady locked a cat in a room until death came to the cat, Allah the Beneficent consigned her to the fire. A prostitute saw a dog panting, so thirsty that it was licking sand and she used her shoe to draw water out, Allah the Beneficent granted her paradise and forgave her sin.

7. Tests, trails and difficulties. Allah tests those that he loves. Allah will test us with;
- Fear (loss of security)
- Hunger
- Wealth
- Death
- Loss of crops
Maybe you weren’t practising initially as soon as you started you faced difficulty. This is because it is a test, don’t go back but say Allah is testing me and there will be relief. Fa ina ma’al usri usra, ina ma’al usri usra.

Allah will test you according to your emaan, the stronger the emaan the tougher the test and visa versa. Trails and tribulations are an opportunity to become closer to Allah azza wa jal & an opportunity be raised higher ranks in Jannah.

Once a man travelled on a journey with his whole family. They were all in a car when they experienced a terrible crash. Everyone died except him, he prostrated on the very ground he was on and said alhamdulilaah.

If you’re having a rough day, week, month or year just take a peak into the lives of the anbiyaa
(prophets) and the righteous people of the past. Insha’allah that should give some perspective.

8. Wudu (ablution). It is recommended that you keep your wudu through out the night and day. The messenger of Allah (saw) said only the mu’minoon maintain their wudu.

9. Athaan (call to prayer). The athaan is an expiator and chases away the shaytaan. The supplications made between athaan and iqaamah are never rejected. The messenger of Allah (saw) said ‘if people knew the blessings the fajr and isha salaah contain they would attend them even if they had to come crawling’.

10. Walking to the masjid, every step expiates sins and elevates you in Jannah.

11. The dhikr of Allah. Saying Subhaanallah, Walhamdulilaah, Walhaahu akbar, Astagfirullaah etc. Towards the end of time people will be in no need of food or rain they will be sustained by the dhikr of Allah.

12. Tahajjud salaah (night prayer). Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "When any one of you sleeps, Satan ties three knots at the back of his neck. He recites this incantation at every knot: `You have a long night, so sleep.' If he awakes and remembers Allah, one knot is loosened. If he performs Wudu', the (second) knot is loosened; and if he performs prayer, (all) knots are loosened. He begins his morning in a happy and refreshed mood; otherwise, he gets up in bad spirits and sluggish state.'' [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Commentary: "Tying knots'' can be literal, the way magicians do it in their magical exercises. With this practice Satan tries to withhold people from the worship of Allah. Some people are of the opinion that it is a metaphor for sleepiness/dozing. In any case, Satan does his level best to withhold a person from the worship of Allah. Satan experiences frustration if someone gets up at night for prayer; he also experiences happiness if he manages to keep someone asleep until dawn.

13. Listening to quran, reading it, memorising it, giving dawah, mending & bringing together Muslims who have fallen out.
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Jazaak allaah khair & May Allah enable us to worship Him in the Manner He deserves to be worshipped...ameen

posted by Ihsaan-the struggle @ 4:29 AM