Tawbah (Repentance) & Istighfar
(asking for Allah’s Forgiveness)
The presenter stats the episode by raising a significant question: How can repentance stem from the heart? How can it be the repentant’s means to attain the most perfect of all goals, that is, being restored to Allah’s Grace, Presence and Divine Company? How come a person be a Muslim and associating others with Allah at the same time?
Allah, Exalted be He, says: “So set your face upright to the religion, unswervingly upright; (this religion is) the original disposition from Allah upon which He originated (Literally: constituted) mankind. There is no exchange for the creation of Allah. That is the most upright religion, but most of mankind do not know. (Be) turning penitent to Him; and fear Him, and keep up the prayer, and do not be of the associators, (Those who associate others with Allah). Of the ones who have caused disunity in their religion and become sects, each party exulting with what they have close to them.” (Sūrat Ar-Rūm “The Romans” (30), Verses 30-32).
This means: “O Muhammad, you should set your face upright to the religion and the same applies to your ūmma and those who will follow you! You (all) should be unswervingly upright! You and your ūmma should abide by the original disposition which Allah endowed you with, and always turn penitently. On being restored to your Lord’s Grace and this original disposition, you will be turning to Him penitently. Whoso gets remote from this original disposition, that is, Islam and complete submissiveness to Allah, the lord and Cherisher of the Worlds should turn to Him and be restored to His Presence and Divine Company.
“And fear Him,” whenever you intend to turn to your Lord penitently you should intensify your penance with piety and keeping up prayers with all perfection and submissiveness and offering these prayers in their early fixed stated times. Allah says: “surely the prayer has been a timed prescription (Literally: book) for the believers.” (Sūrat Al-Nisa’ “Women” (4), Verse 103). Delaying the performance of prayers after their early fixed stated times and performing it at a late period is not a facilitation endowed to people as people think except for those who have a legal excuse. The Muslim should know that he does not possess nor hold a sway over the period between various prayers. It is not a coincidence that the call to the `asr (afternoon) prayer be at 15:25 pm in one country and five minutes later in another country. The whole universe and all the peoples therein should remain prostrating to Allah, Exalted be He, and subjugated to Him round-the-clock. Throughout the day, there will be a group of people prostrating in one place and a second group kneeling down in another place, and a third group glorifying Allah, and others calling to prayer and reciting the Noble Qūr’an. This is the perfect iqama performance and keeping up of prayers.
Under certain circumstances, people may delay offering prayers after their early fixed stated times. The reason behind this is the fact that fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) is not a general term comprising a number of halal (religiously lawful) and haram (religiously unlawful) issues and topics. Rather, some exceptional cases that should be taken into consideration. These cases come under the ‘necessities’ concept that make the prohibited deeds lawful. To apply this on the offering of prayers, when a Muslim hears al-adhan (call for prayer) at a certain place he should offer the prayer immediately
We have previously said that keeping up prayers differs from its mere performance. Let’s take an example for this: a person heard al-adhan (call for payer) while walking in the street or driving his vehicle on the highway and is unable to stop to offer prayers, and another one who is sitting at ease in his home and heard the adhan of the noon prayer, shall they be equal on Doomsday when they will be called to account?
l-Iqamah commences with Takbīrah of consecration (i.e. by saying Allahu Akbar). A Muslim who commences his praying by saying Takbīrah of consecration and saying Allahu Akbar he should feel the meanings of this takbeerah profoundly and experience this feeling incessantly from one takbeerah to another, and from one obligatory prayer to another.
Allah says: “Surely prayer forbids obscenity and malfeasance;” (Sūrat Al-Ankabūt “The Spider” (29), Verse 45). Whoso offers prayers and commits obscenity or a sin (steals, or commits adultery or even lies) after offering prayers then he has not really prayed. Our prayers should forbid us from committing obscenity and ward off the devilish insinuations and evil whispers of Satan.
Allah says: “Recite what has been revealed to you (i.e., the Prophet) of the Book, and keep up the prayer. Surely prayer forbids obscenity and malfeasance; and indeed the Remembrance of Allah is greater, and Allah knows whatever you (The pronoun is plural) work.” (Sūrat Al-Ankabūt “The Spider” (29), Verse 45)
Each word we say during our prayers should have a great impact on the Muslim. In fact, remembrance of Allah is greater than everything and all thing, remembrance of Allah is greater than any sin you commit after performing prayers, greater and far superior than your being carried away or lured by the devilish insinuations of the devil or the evil whispers of one’s soul. A Muslim who commits a sin after offering prayers then he has merely performed it as a religious rite. On the other hand, whoso offers prayers piously will never commit a sin.
Allah, Exalted be He, says: “And (by) the afternoon! (Or: time).
Surely man is indeed in (sheer) loss, Except the ones who have believed, and done deeds of righteousness, and enjoin each other to the Truth, and enjoin each other to patience.” (Sūrat Al-`Asr “The Afternoon” (103), Verses 1-3). Muslims overlook this Sūrah. People neglect their offering and keeping up of the ‘isha` (evening) prayer so they delay offering it. Muslims should enjoin each other to the Truth and patience. They should remind each other of offering prayers. A Muslim has to lead his brother in Islam on the Path of True Guidance. So, he might take him to the mosque more than once until he becomes used to frequent the mosque solely for Allah’s Sake.
Then the presenter raises a question: Allah says: “So set your face upright to the religion, unswervingly upright; (this religion is) the original disposition from Allah upon which He originated (Literally: constituted) mankind. There is no exchange for the creation of Allah. That is the most upright religion, but most of mankind do not know. (Be) turning penitent to Him; and fear Him, and keep up the prayer, and do not be of the associators, (those who associate others with Allah). Of the ones who have caused disunity in their religion and become sects, each party exulting with what they have close to them.” (Sūrat Ar-Rūm “The Romans” (30), Verses 30-32). Allah forbids mankind to associate others with Allah. Religion is a relationship established between the slave and his Creator, then how come Muslims cause disunity in their religion and become sects? And how can we follow this instruction and be keen never to associate others with Allah?
Allah says: “So set your face upright to the religion, unswervingly upright; (this religion is) the original disposition from Allah upon which He originated (Literally: constituted) mankind. There is no exchange for the creation of Allah. That is the most upright religion, but most of mankind do not know. (Be) turning penitent to Him; and fear Him, and keep up the prayer, and do not be of the associators, (those who associate others with Allah). Of the ones who have caused disunity in their religion and become sects, each party exulting with what they have close to them.” (Sūrat Ar-Rūm “The Romans” (30), Verses 30-32).
The prohibition here does not encompass those who do not pray. Rather, it applies only to the pious repentants who keep up prayers as we should fear for them.
Those who do not keep up prayers are in the company of the devil. When the pious repentants who keep up prayers reach this stage Allah warns them from associating others with Him. Allah says: Of the ones who have caused disunity in their religion and become sects, each party exulting with what they have close to them.” (Sūrat Ar-Rūm “The Romans” (30), Verses jhjhj30-32).
So this proves that they are professing and embracing Islam. Islam, the True religion, has been exposed to disunity, that’s why the at-Tūrūq as-Sufia (Sufi Orders or Doctrines) emerged. After the Prophet (SAWS) had passed away, Muslims never heard about religious orders or sects. When Abū-Bakr became the Caliph he said: “Verily, I am a follower (i.e. of the Prophet) and not an originator of unlawful innovations!”
It is heart-rending that nowadays we preoccupy ourselves with disputes and debates without ever trying to cooperate or coordinate efforts to support Islam. As per the Prophet’s hadith, what is Halal (religiously lawful) is manifest and what is Haram (religiously unlawful) is manifest, and midway between them are things which people can not discern and which they do not know whether they are Halal (religiously lawful) or Haram (religiously unlawful). This is inappropriate, for Islam is Allah’ religion and His religion is one religion. We have to refer to the Noble Qūr’an and the Prophet’s Sūnnah. The point is when Muslims dispute there must be a group that seeks truth and true guidance. Each sect would vie with the other and conquer it. Some ahadith that are widely spread among people are not authentic as the hadith of the Farewell Pilgrimage. Many Muslims reiterate this ahdith as: “I have left among you that which if you hold fast thereto you will never go astray after me, that is, Allah’s Book and my Sunnah.”
This narration is not authentic. The authentic version is mentioned in Sahih Muslim. In hijjat al-weda’ (the Farewell Pilgrimage), the Prophet (SAWS) said: “I have left among you that after which you will never go astray if you hold fast thereto, that is, Allah’s Book. And you will be asked about me what will you say?” They (i.e. his Companions) said: “We bear witness that you have conveyed (the message), and have performed your duty and given wise (sincere) counsel.” So the Prophet then raised his forefinger toward the sky and pointed it at the people (and said): “O Allah, may You bear witness! (thrice).”[This narration is the authentic one report is from Sahih Muslim]. There are many ahadith that are widely spread among Muslims yet they are not authentic. That’s why I ask all Muslims and Muslim scholars to refer to the true and authentic sources of our religion, to refer to Allah’s Noble Qūr’an and the authentic Sūnnah of His Prophet (SAWS).
The sinner repents to his Lord and resolved sincerely never to commit it again yet he commits it again. On turning to your Lord penitently, you should have sincere and true intention and determination never to recommit a sin again. If his determination was sincere and true when he turned to his Lord and then he committed the sin then Allah will forgive him as the Prophet (SAWS) said: “The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get his reward as per what he has intended!” Scholars differed about the repentance of a sick person or a disabled person. If a thief becomes disabled, may he repent? Yes, of course! Although he stopped committing sins and stealing because of his physical disability, Allah may accept his repentance. It is Allah, Exalted be He, Who will call him to account, as He knows whether or not he would have committed the sin again if he had not become disabled!
Allah, Exalted be He, knew and knows what did take place in the past, what is taking place in the present and what will take place in the future, all things that no one whosoever knows. He, Exalted be He, with His all-encompassing omniscient knowledge, knows whether a disabled person would have committed a sin or not if he had not been deprived of his physical ability and strength. That’s why even a disabled person may turn to his Lord penitently and repent. Nevertheless, if that disabled person gains back his health he has to beware lest he commits the sin again.
Similarly, a young woman might take upon herself to put on the veil because of a sudden illness that befell her, yet she puts it off and forsakes the Islamic dressing and veil when she recovers. Nevertheless, the gates of repentance are wide open for her and she may repent and turn to her Lord penitently. Allah, Exalted be He, stretches forth His hand by night to accept the repentance of those who sinned during the day, and He stretches forth His hand by day to accept the repentance of those who sinned during the night.”
If a believer commits a sin during daytime, he should not wait until nightfall to repent, rather, he should not leave the setting or place where he sinned without repenting and tuning to his Lord.
Allah says: “Surely relenting from (Literally: upon, i.e.’ Allah relents) Allah is only towards the ones who do any odious deed in jahala (i.e. foolishness) (and) thereafter they repent shortly; so Allah relents towards those and Allah has been Ever-Knowing, Ever-Wise.” (Sūrat Al-Nisa’ “Women” (4), Verse 17).
Moreover, Allah says: “And when adversity touches man, he invokes Us to his side, or sitting, or upright, then as soon as We have lifted off him his adversity, he passes on, as if he had not invoked Us to an adversity that touched him. Thus, whatever they were doing was adorned (i.e., made attractive) for the extravagant.” (Sūrat Yunus (10), Verse 12).
Many people supplicate and pray humbly to Allah, Exalted be He, and try to come closer to their Lord by performing supererogatory prayers when they are sufferingor when an adversity touches them. Yet, when they are relieved of it, they forget all this and stop performing righteous deeds or supererogatory prayers to get closer to their Lord.
Committing sins repeatedly is due to the sinner’s jahala mentioned in Allah’s saying: “Surely relenting from (Literally: upon, i.e. Allah relents) Allah is only towards the ones who do any odious deed in jahala (i.e. foolishness) (and) thereafter they repent shortly; so Allah relents towards those and Allah has been Ever-Knowing, Ever-Wise.” (Sūrat Al-Nisa’ “Women” (4), Verse 17). In fact, Allah obligated Himself (though nothing whatsoever can obligate Him) to accept the repentant’s repentance. For linguists and interpreters, jahala means foolishness or stupidity. This means that he knows exactly the punishment for the sin he is committing, yet he commits it.
Owing to Allah’s all-encompassing mercy, He uses the word jahala. If He used the word jahl, that is , ignorance. Had this been the case, then the meaning would have been totally changed. In that case, the sinner would be committing sins because he did not know the punishment for them and that he will have no excuse when he knows it and consequently, his repentance would not be accepted.
Allah says: “And relenting is not for the ones who do odious deeds until, when death is present to one of them, he says, “Surely now I repent, ” neither (for) the ones who die (while) they are steadfast disbelievers; for those We have readied a painful torment.” (Sūrat Al-Nisa’ “Women” (4), Verse 18).
The gates of repentance will be closed only if sinners do not repent. Allah the Great Lord calls the ones who obligate themselves to repent al-tawwaben , that is, the ones who repent constantly, As Allah says: “Surely Allah loves the ones constantly repenting,” (Sūrat Al-Baqarah “The Cow” (2), Verse 222).
‘At-Tawwaben’ has two definitions, they either repent constantly because they repent from a sin, or they repent constantly are constant without committing a sin, and this is the best repentance. A believer should repent and turn to his Lord whether he committed a sin or not. The Prophet (SAWS) taught us Sayyid al-Istighfar (the supreme supplication for forgiveness): “O Allah! Verily, You are my Lord. There is no God save You. You created me and I am Your slave and I will abide by my Covenant and pledge to You as much as I can. I seek refuge with You from all the evil I have done. I do acknowledge before You all the blessings You have bestowed upon me, and I do acknowledge my sins. So I entreat You to forgive my sins, for no one forgives sins save You!”
Covenant here means the original disposition, and the pledge Allah took from sons of Adam when He made them bear witness concerning themselves
Allah says: “And (remember) as your Lord took from the Seeds (Or. sons) of Adam, from their backs, their offspring, and made them bear witness concerning themselves, “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yes indeed, we bear witness.” (So) that you should not say on the Day of the Resurrection, “Surely we were heedless of this”.” (Sūrat Al-Araf “The Battlements” (7), Verse 172).
“I seek refuge with You from all the evil I have done”: this means “I can resort to no one save You to erase and relieve me from the evil deed I committed”.
“I acknowledge before You all the blessings You have bestowed upon me”: this means “the most supreme of all these blessings is my tuning to my Lord penitently by being wholly submissive to Him”.
“And I acknowledge my sins So I entreat You to forgive my sins, for no one forgives sins save You!”: This is Sayyid al-Istighfar (the supreme supplication for forgiveness):. The human being turns to his Lord penitently with his sins, and uses a great and wondrous excuse, that is, the covenant and Pledge Allah took from sons of Adam when He made them bear witness concerning themselves, and that he embraced Islam and submitted humbly to Allah before his birth.
Allah says: “O you have believed, be pious to Allah with His true piety, and definitely do not die except as Muslims.” (Sūrat Al-Imran “The Family of Imran” (3), Verse 102). We wonder who can be pious to his Lord with true piety. No one can ever be pious to his Lord and fear Him the way that becomes Him. The believer should make a shield between himself and the Divine attributes of Majesty. Allah says: “So be pious to Allah as best as you can, (Literally: as much as you are able to)” (Sūrat At-Taghabun “Mutual Fraud” (64), Verse 16). This means “be pious to your Lord as best as you can in the most becoming way”.
Let’s take an example. Allah says: “And it is (a duty) upon mankind towards Allah (to come) to the Home on Pilgrimage, for whomever is able to make a way to it.” (Sūrat Al-Imran “The Family of Imran” (3), Verse 97). Does this mean that you have to go on pilgrimage every year? When the Prophet (SAWS) was asked about this he told him not to ask about something he did not mention, and that if he (SAWS) said “yes” it will be enjoined on all Muslims. Scholars differ about this issue, yet we can infer from the Prophet’s answer that it is preferable for Muslims to go on pilgrimage every year.
Translated by sister Soad Naguib jazahaAllah kheiran