In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
Peace and Prayers Be Upon our Master The Most Noble Prophet Muhammad
We praise Allah, thank HIM , seek HIS help and HIS guidance and forgiveness. And we seek refuge with Allah from the wickedness of our souls and sinfulness of our deeds. "He whom Allah guides, he is the rightly-guided; but he whom HE sends astray, for him you will find no guiding advocate".
The subject I want to talk about can be summed up in a word "let's have a new beginning with Allah (SWT)". Let's try. Let's repent to Allah.
Do you know what repentance is? It is a serious word.
What should we do to repent? Return to Allah (Exalted and Glorified be He)
Why should we repent? Of what should we repent? And what did we commit to repent? Let me tell you about things we do in our everyday life and do not recognize how grave they are .. and how Ever-Forgiving and Compassionate Allah is ..
Do we really love Him?! Do you know what we commit everyday without thinking?
We do many things; we commit even major sins.
Let us talk about major sins of a different type other than drinking alcohols or having prohibited relations. In fact, there are other serious misdeeds and disasters, such as: abandoning Salah (prayers) or neglecting the performance of some of them. Imagine this .. Allah has created you and you, though being His servant and worshipper, simply tell Him that you can not worship Him!! You do not actually utter this with your tongue, but your actions say it. Do you know what does it mean that you do not pray? It is as if you are telling Allah, "Sorry Allah, I can not prostrate to You (perform Sujud), because Your worship is a burden on my heart!!"
Is not this a major sin?! Do you know what is meant by a major sin?? It means that Allah (SWT) considers it a major sin. You would happily watch a football match for two hours, but you get bored of the ten minutes you stand praying before Allah!! Allah is the most powerful. Do you know that every soul is created and controlled by Allah; you can not even guarantee that you will live till you open your eyes after a wink. We are nothing without Allah, how could you not prostrate before Allah for five minutes after all this??! Allah forgives a lot. Yet, there is a certain circle, if anyone steps inside it, he will be running the risk of exposing himself to Allah's wrath. Do you know what this circle is? It is abandoning Salah and being disobedient to our parents.
Hell has many gates, there is a gate of Hell called "Saqar" .. do you know what "Saqar" is? Allah says what can be translated as, ”and what will make you know (exactly) what Hell-fire is? it spares not (any sinner) nor does it leave anything unburnt!”. (TMQ, 74:27 – 28) (1).
It is severe punishment .. in the same Surah Allah says that the angels stand on the door of Saqar asking those who enter it, what can be translated as, “what has caused you to enter Saqar?", They will say, "We were not of those who used to offer the Salah (prayers)” ((TMQ, 74:42 – 43). Is there something more obvious than that?! In addition, those people say in continuation to the same verse, what can be translated as, “and we used to talk falsehood (all that which Allah hated) with vain talkers”. Do you know what does this mean? It means that you join others in their sins, and partake in deeds that make Allah angry, that in the Day of Judgment you are called with the sinners and be disgraced.
Are not those major sins?? Please take care of Salah .. do not tell me that you are not a good person and that you have lots of misdeeds and so on .. you have to pray!!
Do not sever yourself from Allah .. when you abandon Salah, you mean that you no longer need Allah. It is as if you tell Him that you can handle anything in life without Him!!! Do you see how serious it is?? In this way, there are many major sins and disasters that we commit in our lives, and of which we must repent.
How many years will we live?? Seventy!! Imagine! Seventy years then we are in the great exam. If our deeds are mostly good ones, we will be rewarded with paradise. But if most of our deeds were sins and offenses, we will be punished with Hell.
I want to tell you that one hundred years ago there was no one of us on earth, and after one hundred years there will be no one of us on earth too!! Do you know that no one lives eternally on earth? .. every period of time new people replace old ones and no one stays forever .. this happen every hundred years. The point is: will we enter paradise or not? Is Allah pleased with us or not? Do you get my point? We will all die at the end!
That is why we need to repent .. because we commit major sins "abandoning Salah". For God's sake, is it reasonable to do so? Is it normal that you did not wake up to do Salatul-fajr (Dawn prayer) for the past five years?!! How are you thinking about it?? Where is your mind?! Now .. are you ready to repent after all what have been said?
Wait a minute… this is not the whole issue. Still we need to discuss the major sins and serious disasters that we do and we do not know how awful they are … the real disaster is that we care too much for different matters, but when it comes to worshipping Allah (SWT) we do no care a bit!!! How it comes that we did not repent up till now!! Do you know what happens to our souls every night during sleep? Do you know that sleeping is like death, but a junior death? Allah (SWT) takes our souls every night and returns them again in the morning. Allah Almighty says what can be translated as: “it is Allah Who takes away the souls at the time of their death, and those that die not during their sleep.” ((TMQ, 39:42) This means that all souls go to Allah (SWT) during sleep, and He resumes saying what can be translated as, “He keeps those (souls) for which He has ordained death and sends the rest for a term appointed.” Meaning that the dead soul is not sent again to the body. On the other hand, those whom Allah wills to live get their souls back again. We are really so weak .. how could we disobey Allah and go to sleep when He is not pleased with us!!
Do you know that the Satan likes to push us towards sins at night in order to make us challenge Allah and go to sleep in the hope that He may take our souls while we are at the top of sin??!! The Satan says, "Allah… is not this whom You preferred and dignified to me! There he is disorient and astray….". Please, do not ever sleep after committing a sin, your soul may not be sent to you again. For God's sake, let us repent together to Allah. There is another great sin which is filial ingratitude. A mother's tear is greater for Allah than sins of a whole year .. the face of a father going red in madness is greater for Allah than the sins of a whole year!
A girl talking to a man behind the back of her parents is considered a traitor because she deceived her parents! The messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): "every traitor will be flagged in the Day of Judgment on ever flag will be written “this is the treachery of so-and-so"… Why is it treachery? Because she made an unlawful relationship behind the backs of her parents. Allah Almighty says what can be translated as, "It is no virtue if you enter your houses from the back: It is virtue if you fear Allah. Enter houses through the proper doors". (TMQ, 2:189). She will be asked on the Day of Judgment about those wronged by her disloyalty, her father and mother!!!
Filial ingratitude is one of the most dangerous major sins. What is the way out then?
It is repentance. We have to repent and adopt a different attitude concerning our relationship with Allah (SWT). I can tell you that, apart from major sins, we commit thousands of minor sins daily - such as an unlawful staring, at a woman coming out from home unveiled and so on. The Prophet (peace be upon him) says that a Muslim will come on the Day of Judgment and Allah (SWT) will say "Spread the records of his sins before him. Ninety nine records of sins will then be spread; each of them extends till the end of horizon", it will be about forty kilometers. Can you imagine your scale to be weighed down by unlimited sins (backbiting, gossip, unlawful look, making fun of others, and so on.).
Despite all our sins, Allah is most merciful to us. So, let's get nearer and neared to Him. Do we commit sins other than the major and minor sins? Yes, we do. We do not thank Allah for the many blessings He has bestowed upon us. Is there still anything we have to repent? There is still a very serious sin, being heedless of the Signs of Allah (Exalted and Glorified be He).
In fact, people can be classified into three kinds:
The first are the believers who always try to get better. They may sin, but they ask for Allah's forgiveness at once and exert their utmost efforts to gain Allah's satisfaction.
The second are the wicked who do not refrain from any sin. This kind of people is extremely bad. The third are the heedless of the Signs of Allah. People in this group are the majority nowadays. Such people are inattentive to their relationship with Allah. They may have good manners; they may refrain from bad deeds - such as smoking - they may do nothing wrong; yet, they do not have due knowledge of Allah!
Let's ask frankly, what is your priorities? Your first priority may be girlfriends, second football, third future and money, fourth …. Where is Allah in your life? Do you include gaining His satisfaction in the list of your priorities?! How much importance you give to your relationship with Allah, in the middle of all your concerns?! Please, we have to reconsider our priorities, to make worshipping and satisfying Allah (SWT) the first priority in our lives.
We need to repent from such inattentiveness. Do you know that it is worse than the major sins? Do you know that the one who is heedless of the Signs of Allah is worse than the sinner? The wicked sinner is not pleased by committing sins, because he knows that sins bring humiliation. On the other hand, the heedless person is not aware of being in a state of obliviousness. He deceives himself into believing that he is on the right track. He remains all his life in this state, fooled by Satan. Do you know how Satan deceives the heedless person? He makes him sink deep in his inattentiveness, year after year, till the end of his life. He is not tempted to commit sins, because - in this case - he would recover from his inattentiveness and return to Allah. That is why being heedless to the Signs of Allah is worse than committing major sins.
Have you realized now why repentance is a must? After speaking about serious sins we commit, let's turn into another point. Let's consider the great blessing which Allah (SWT) bestows upon us in the following verse. Allah Almighty says what can be translated as, " Say: "O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah, for Allah forgives all sins". (TMQ, 39:53). Can we still be forgiven? Yes, for Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. Gentlemen and young ladies, after all what have been said, do you love Allah or not? Who rescued you from the swamp of sins in which you were about to sink but Allah (SWT)! Then, Allah Almighty adds what can be translated as, "for He is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. Turn you to our Lord (in repentance)"; "turn you to our Lord" means return to Allah. You should intend now to repent of all your sins as soon as possible. You already know that Hajj (pilgrimage) obliterate all sins, so does repentance. It wipes your sins and leaves you like a new-born baby.
Allah (Exalted and Glorified be He) says what can be translated as "And follow the best of (the courses) revealed to you from your Lord, before the Penalty comes on you - of a sudden while you perceive not!" (TMQ, 39:54). Allah urges us to submit to His orders, lest sever penalty would befall us while we are heedless. Allah Almighty says what can be translated as, "Know they not that Allah does accept repentance from His votaries"; (TMQ, 9:104) Allah accepts his slave's repentance as soon as he offers it.
Let's ask ourselves the following question: Why does Allah show us such readiness to forgive? That is because He is our Creator who loves us and wants to forgive us.
Allah Almighty says what can be translated as, "Allah does wish to Turn to you". (TMQ, 4:27) Allah forgives us as soon as we ask for His forgiveness. He also says what can be translated as, "And those who do not desist are (indeed) doing wrong" (TMQ, 49:11). Allah (Exalted and Glorified be He) gets angry with His slave who does not want to repent.
Allah Almighty says what can be translated as, "Those who invoke not, with Allah, any other god, nor slay such life as Allah has made sacred except for just cause, nor commit fornication; - and any that does this (not only) meets punishment. (But) the Penalty on the Day of Judgment will be doubled to him, and he will dwell therein in ignominy. Unless he repents, believes, and works righteous deeds, for Allah will change the evil of such persons into good" (TMQ, 25:68).
Have you realized now Allah's willingness to forgive His slave? He also replaces his evil deeds with good ones. Do you still not love Him? It has been reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) says, "A man comes on the Day of Judgment and Allah (SWT) says to him "read your sins". He changes colors with every sin he reads, as he thinks that he is destined to eternal damnation. Allah (SWT) tells him "Have not you repented?" He says "Yes my Lord; I have repented." Allah (SWT) then tells him "Reread your book." He rereads his sin and finds that it is replaced by a good deed; every sin he reads is turned into a good deed till all his sins are converted into good deeds." The man saw that his bad deeds changed into good ones, increasing his score to Allah. Thus, he said, "I have, Lord, additional bad deeds that have not been written down by angels"! Do you feel Allah's mercy? How Ever-Merciful He is! Does your heart begin to love Him?! Do the worldly pleasures still have the priority over Allah's satisfaction and repentance?
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "O people! I ask Allah 's forgiveness and express repentance hundred times a day". Consider this act of the Prophet, the one who is perfect and infallible. What did he repent for? He expressed repentance for his mind absence of the remembrance of Allah at some moments. His companions said, "The times during which the Prophet asks Allah's forgiveness in one meeting were counted up to more than one hundred and seventy". There is now an urgent need for repentance. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Allah (Blessed and Exalted be He) descends to the closest heaven to earth at the last third of night calling any one wants to repent and ask forgiveness". He also said, "Allah gives the sinners a chance for expressing repentance at night and another chance in the morning". The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "The Servant's repentance makes Allah pleased". Do not you see that repentance is easy?
It was reported in Hadith, "One of the followers of Israel disobeyed Allah for forty years. As he was nearing death, he made his will. He requested his sons to burn his dead body after his death till it turns into ashes. Then he asked them to ground the ashes, then wait for a stormy day and scatter them over the mountaintops. After the father's death, the sons did what their father ordered them. At Resurrection, Allah (SWT) asked the man to say the reason behind doing this act (and Allah knows best). The man answered that he committed many sins and was afraid of Allah's punishment. Allah (Blessed and Exalted be He) forgave the man's sins on account of his fear from Him.
Allah says in Hadith Qudsi: “I, humans and jinn are in considerable news. I created them and they worship others. I provided them with the means of subsistence and they thank others. I bestowed My blessings upon them and they in return fall in many vices. I bestowed My mercy upon them – though I Am in no need for them – and they commit many sins – though they are in dire need of Me. Those who invoke Me continuously I love them. And those who disobey Me, I never let them despair from My mercy. If they ask for My forgiveness, I bestow it upon them. If they refrain from doing so, I Am the Healer of all their wounds. I afflict them with disasters to purify them from sins. Those who repent and return to Me I gladly accept them and those who cut themselves off Me I approach them asking them to come back to Me. I tell them: Do you have another Lord other than Me? If they made a good deed, I reward them as if they have made ten good deeds and more. If they commit a sin, I account it as a single sin and I accept their repentance. I swear by My power and glory, if they asked for My forgiveness, I forgive them.”
Indeed, Allah is the Ever-Forgiving. Do not you love Him?! Allah says to David “Dawud” (peace be upon him), "O David! If My disobedient servants knew how much I long for their repentance, they would deadly seek to approach Me. These are, David, My feelings toward the disobedient. Imagine Allah's love for His obedient". I swear by Allah, the most beautiful day in your life is the day in which Allah forgives you.
There was a man, named Ka'ab Ibn-Malik, who committed a major sin against the Prophet (peace be upon him) and this made Allah resentful. As a result of such a sin, the man had been damned for fifty days during which no one spoke with or greeted him. One day, Ka'ab Ibn-Malik was performing Fajr (Dawn prayer) on his house roof and the Prophet (peace be upon him) knew through the verses that Allah forgave him. One of the companions told Ka'ab that Allah accepted his repentance. Ka'ab wept and prostrated to thank Allah. After that, on his way to the mosque, people congratulated him on this blessing. When he entered into the mosque, the Prophet (peace be upon him) - with his face as bright as the full moon - brought the good news to him. He said to him that Allah forgave him. That day was the best one Ka'ab had experienced since he was born.
How precious repentance is! Is not it high time to repent? Do not you long for expressing repentance? There was, during the era of Moses “Musa” (peace be upon him), a man of his people who was disobedient and insisted on committing sins for forty years. At that time, there was a drought. Moses and his people stood to perform the prayer of drought and shortage of rain (Salatul-estisqaa). Rain did not fall. Moses asked Allah to make rain fall and was answered that rain will not fall unless the disobedient servant leaves. Moses gathered his people and told them that rain did not fall because of the sins of the man who misbehaved for forty years and in order for rain to fall, the sinner had to leave. Nobody responded and the man knew himself but did not withdraw from people. He said, "O Allah! If I left, my guilt would be exposed to people, and if I stayed with them, we all would die of thirst. There was no way out except repentance and praying for Allah's mercy. Forgive me, Allah, and conceal my guilt". As a result, rain fell and Moses wondered how this happened and the disobedient was still among them. Allah told him that because He rejoiced at the repentance of His sinner, He ordered rain to fall. Moses asked Allah to let him know this sinner to rejoice with him. Allah said to Moses, "I did not disgrace him for forty years. How come now that I disgrace him the day on which he repented?"
Let us ask ourselves about how often Allah conceals our sins!
How can we repent now??
Repentance has three conditions:
Feeling sorrow for the sin, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) says, "Repentance is feeling sorrow."
Stopping the sin
Insistence on not returning to the sin again
Will Allah accept my repentance if I returned once more to the sin?? Yes.
The evidence on this is the story of the Prophet Muhammad with the man who visited him and asked:
If I made a sin – O Prophet of Allah – would it be recorded?
The Prophet answered: Yes.
The man said: what if I repented?
The Prophet said: It will be erased.
The man added: What if I returned to the sin once again?
The Prophet answered: It will be recorded once again.
The man said: What if I repented?
The Prophet said: It will be erased.
The man said: What if I returned again?
The Prophet said: It will be recorded.
The man asked: What if I repented?
The Prophet said: It will be erased.
The man said: What if I returned again?
The Prophet said: It will be recorded.
The man asked: What if I repented?
The Prophet said: It will be erased.
The man asked: Till when will it be erased?
The Prophet – peace be upon him – answered, "Allah does not stop bestowing His forgiveness until you get board of asking for it."
Brothers and Sisters!!
Do you feel these words .. ought we not love Allah, return to Him and start anew with Him …!!?
*** In the end ***
I ask Allah – the Omnipotent, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Merciful – to forgive us all and accept our repentance and to unite all Muslims …. Finally, we ask Allah to bestow His peace upon his Messenger. Our last invocation is all praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.
(1)TMQ=Translation of the Meaning of the Qur'an. This translation is for the realized meaning, so far, of the stated (Surah:Ayah) of the Qur'an. Reading the translated meaning of the Qur'an can never replace reading it in Arabic, the language in which it was revealed.
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