Monday, December 25, 2006

I would like to repent, but!..

Dear brother & sister!

O slave of Allah!

Allah has opened the door of repentance, so why should you not enter? "Repentance has a door whose span is the distance between East and West," says a hadith; (and in another version "its span is the distance traveled in 70 years"). "It will not be closed until the sun rises from the West."

Listen to the call of Allah: "O My slaves! You sin morning and evening and I forgive all your sins. So call on Me, I will forgive you all your sins."

Allah extends His Hands in the night to forgive the sinner of the day and extends His Hands in the day to forgive the sinner of the night. And He loves to hear excuses. So why don't you turn to Him?

How beautiful are the words of the repenting man who says: "I beseech You O Lord, in the name of Your honor, and (by) my ignominy that You have mercy on me. I beseech You in the name of Your Strength and my weaknesses. Your Self-sufficiency and my dependence. To you I submit my sinning, guilty forelock. You have many slaves apart from me. But I have no Master save you. There isn't any refuge but with You nor escape from You except to You. I plead You O Lord, in the manner of the pleading of a destitute, and entreat You in the manner of a broken, downtrodden man. I beseech You in the manner of a blind man in fear. This is a supplication, O Lord, from one whose head is bowed down before your Majesty, whose nose is in the dust, whose eyes are filled with tears and whose heart has submitted."

Consider this story:

lt is reported by a trustworthy man of the past that as he was passing through a street he saw the door of a house open. A woman came out with a child who was crying and pleading while she was pushing him out. She left him outside the house and slammed the door shut in his face. The child left the door and walked a distance. Then he stopped, looked about, began to think, and not finding any other place but his own house where he could take shelter nor anyone who would care for him as his mother would, he returned to his house dejected, sad. He found the door shut. He sat at the sill, put his cheek on the threshold and slept with tear marks on his cheeks. He was in this state when the mother opened the door. When she saw him in this state she could not control herself. She bent down, grabbed him to her bosom, began to kiss him and say in tears: "Oh my boy! My dear child! My very soul! Where were you? Didn't I tell you not to disobey me? Do my bidding, and don't force me to punish you, while I hate to do that." Then she carried the child back and closed the door behind her.

That is the story of a mother and a child: the story of disobedience, punishment, return, forgiveness and unbound love. But the Prophet, salla Allah u alihi wa sallam, has told us that: "Allah loves His creation more than a woman does her child." In fact, there is no comparison between the love of a mother for her child and that of Allah whose Mercy encompasses everything. Allah, azza wa jall, is immensely pleased with a man when he repents and turns to Him. And we shall never be deprived of anything by a Lord who is more pleased with the repenting man, than that man..

"..who was traveling through an arid land. He dismounted and took shelter under a tree seeking some rest. He lay there with his beast, loaded with food and water, at his side. But when he awoke, lo! The beast was gone! He began to search for it frantically. He climbed a hill but couldn't see a trace of it. He climbed another hill and still no trace of it. Finally, when hunger and thirst overtook him, he said, 'Let me go back to the tree, and lay down there until death overtakes me.' So he went back to the tree, and lay there with eyes closed - in total despair. And lo! As he opened his eyes and raised his head, there the beast was, right before his very eyes, with all the food and water loaded on it intact! He rushed to it and picked up its halter. (Can you imagine his happiness) But lo! Allah is happier with a man when he turns to Him seeking His forgiveness, than the man who found his beast when he had lost all hopes."

Know it, my dear brother & sister, that true repentance of every sin also brings with it humility and devotion to Allah, and that pleading of a penitent is very dear to Allah. So that what follows after repentance is obedience of a greater degree to the extent that sometimes Satan regrets that he enticed him into that sin at all. That is why you will see that those who repent become very much changed personalities.

Allah does not abandon a man who comes to Him a penitent. Compare the situation with that of a father who used to look after his son with great love and care, providing him with the best of clothing, food and toys. Then one day the father sent him on an errand. But, as the boy was walking an enemy took hold of him, tied him and carried him away to the land of the enemies. There his master treated him exactly in the opposite manner. So that whenever the boy remembered his father and his treatment, his eyes swelled with tears, and the heart with pain. He was in this condition of ill-treatment at the hands of his enemies, when their caravan happened to pass by his father's place again. As he looked around he found his father standing nearby. He ran to him and threw himself at him crying "My father! My very father!". His master followed him and was trying to pull him away, but the boy clung to his father, refusing to let him go. What do you think of this father? Do you think he will abandon him to the enemy, refusing to take back the child? If not, then what is your opinion of the Lord whose love of His creation is greater than the love of a father for his child? When a slave of His runs away from his enemies, and throws himself at the threshold of His door, rolling down in dust before him, saying: "O my Lord! Have mercy upon him who has no one to show Mercy save You, no Helper save you, no refuge save You, no Savior save You, I am Your slave, in Your need, dependent on You, beggar at Your door, You are the refuge, with You is the shelter, there is refuge but with You, nor escape from You except to You" then surely the Lord is not going to turn him back empty handed.

Come along then. On to the good deeds, to virtuous living, in the company of the righteous, steering yourself safe from deviations after the right direction, and misguidance after guidance. And Allah is with you.

Shaykh Muhammad Salih al-Munajjid
The Conclusion of the Book "I Would Like to Repent, But!..." Translated by Syed Iqbal Zaheer Taken From: http://www.orst.edu/groups/msa/books/repent.htm

Repentance

Imam Ash-Shaafi`ee (may Allah have Mercy on him)

Al-Muzni who is Aboo lbraaheem Isma`eel ibn Yahya said:
"I entered upon ash-Shaafi'ee during his illness which resulted in his death, so I said to him: 'What is your condition?' He replied: "I am journeying from this world, and departing from my brothers, drinking from the cup of death, and upon Allaah - Exalted is His remembrance - arriving. And no! By Allaah, I do not know if my soul is travelling towards Paradise or the Fire!" Then he started to weep, and he said:

'In You, the Creator, I raise my longing, And even if I am, O possessor of kindness and generosity, an evildoer, a criminal,

When my heart became constricted and my paths became narrow,

I took my hope in Your pardon and forgiveness as an opening and an escape,

My sins seemed very great to me but when I compared them to Your forgiveness,

I found Your forgiveness to be greater,

You are and still remain the only One who can forgive sins,

You grant and forgive out of Your benevolence and generosity,

Perhaps the One who is the source of all goodness will forgive and overlook my mistakes,

And will hide the sins and burden that I accumulated,

My sins seemed very great to me, so I turned (to You) in humility,

Were it not for my contentment in you, I wouldn't, O my Lord, have seen any comfort at all,

So if You forgive me, You would have forgiven a sinner, A rebellious, oppressive tyrant still sinning,

So my crime is very great, past and present, But Your forgiveness that embraces Your servant is greater and higher,

So whomsoever holds fast to Allaah is truly saved from mankind, And whomsoever's hopes are in Him, will be far removed from any regrets.'

In translating these lines of poetry I have exercised a certain degree of freedom in order to preserve the emotive content as well as making it readable in the English language. [Translator Note]


Diwaan ash-Shaafi`ee From "Three Forgotten Prayers" by `Adnaan Aali
`Uroor © Call to Islam Da`wah Center, UK 1997

Monday, December 18, 2006

The Expiators of Sins

Bismilaahi wasalaatu wasalaamu alaa rasuulilaah

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