Note: The following transcript was generated using AI and may contain inaccuracies.
The Prophet ﷺ, when he said, وَإِنِّي لَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ فِي الْيَوْمِ مِئَةَ مَرَّةً I seek Allah's forgiveness a hundred times a day. He didn't commit a hundred sins a day. And the Prophet ﷺ is ma'soom, he's protected from all of the major sins and from anything which is deliberate.
So why a hundred times a day? قَدْ أَفْلِحَ مَنْ زَكَّاهَا وَقَدْ خَابَ مَنْ دَسَّاهَا We were speaking about At-Tawbah and Istighfar. And we didn't really get into the topic of At-Tawbah because we were still talking a lot about Istighfar last time. And this time we're gonna get into both insha'Allah ta'ala.
I'm going to begin by talking about the sins that have happened and those that are yet to come. Great. And the things which affect the heart and cause it to be distant from Allah.
In the hadith of al-Aghhar al-Muzani, وَكَانَتْ لَهُ صُحْبَةً And he was from the sahabah, r.a. He said, أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ قَالَ إِنَّهُ لَيُغَانُ عَلَى قَلْبٍ وَإِنِّي لَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ فِي الْيَوْمِ مِئَةَ مَرَّةً He said, إِنَّهُ لَيُغَانُ عَلَى قَلْبٍ He said, my heart, this word يُغَان it doesn't mean to be sealed. It doesn't mean to be covered in the sense of cut off from Allah Because that cannot happen to the Prophet ﷺ. But this word يُغَان is like a feeling of something which is coming between you and Allah. Yani your heart is not like it was before.
And if the Prophet ﷺ said, I feel this happen to my heart, what do you think about your heart and my heart? It's more likely that it will happen to us and it's more likely that it will be more severe. إِنَّهُ لَيُغَانُ عَلَى قَلْبٍ I feel this something between me, my heart and Allah. And indeed I seek Allah's forgiveness a hundred times a day.
This tells us that the cure, the first cure, when you feel something come between your heart and Allah, it is what? الاستغفار to ask Allah's forgiveness. And that the Prophet ﷺ, when he said, وَإِنِّي لَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ فِي الْيَوْمِ مِئَةَ مَرَّةً I seek Allah's forgiveness a hundred times a day. He didn't commit a hundred sins a day.
And the Prophet ﷺ is ma'soom, he's protected from all of the major sins and from anything which is deliberate. So why a hundred times a day? This, the point I brought this for is the issue of seeking forgiveness even when you have not got something specific in mind. Does that make sense? Even when it's not like, I just did something really bad, let me seek forgiveness.
Just the action of regularly and consistently asking Allah for forgiveness. And this is from two angles. Number one, because there will be many sins you don't remember.
There will be many sins that you didn't remember that you did or you didn't know that you did. And the second thing is that it's not just about what you remember. It's about keeping that connection between you and Allah.
Ibn Al-Qayyim r.a explains how this happens. He said in Al-Waadil As-Sayyib, صَدَأُ الْقَلْبِ بِالْأَمْرَيْنِ There are actually two things that cause this covering or distance between your heart and Allah. There are two things that cause it. بِالْغَفْلَةِ وَبِالذَّبِّ
So yes, sins cause it. We all know that. If you disobey Allah, your Iman goes down, your heart becomes further away from Allah.
But there's something else which causes your heart to feel like it's not connected to Allah. And that is Al-Ghafla. Just being unaware, not remembering Allah.
And Allah is not in the front of your mind. You're thinking about the dunya. We know the famous hadith of Hanzala Al-Asadi وَكَانَ مِنْ كُتَّابِ الْوَحِي He was from the people who wrote the revelation, رضي الله عنه.
He said, لَقِيَنِي أَبُو بَكَر يَوْمًا فَقَالَ لِي كَيْفَ أَنْتَ يَا هَنْظَرَ He said, Abu Bakr met me one day. He said, how are you O Hanzala? قَالَ قُلْتُ نَافَقَ هَنْظَرَ He said, Hanzala became a munafiq. Hanzala is من كتاب الوحي.
He's a writer. He writes the Quran. He cannot be a munafiq.
And he's saying to Abu Bakr, I feel I am a munafiq. I think I'm a munafiq. Abu Bakr says to him, سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ مَا تَقُولُ What are you saying? سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ You are from the righteous companions, the noble people.
We know your virtue. How can you say that you are a munafiq? And then he tells that when we are with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, يُذَكِّرُنَا بِالنَّارِ وَالجَنَّ كَأَنَّا رَأْيُ عَيْنٍ He reminds us of the Hellfire and Paradise as though we see it with our own eyes. فَإِذَا خَرَجْنَا مِنْ عِنْدِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ عَفَسْنَا الْأَزْوَاجُ وَالْأَوْلَادُ وَالضَّيْعَاتِ فَنَسِيْنَا كَثِيرًا He said when we leave the Messenger ﷺ, we get busy with our wives and our children, our businesses, our life, our dunya.
We think about it and we forget what the Messenger told us about. And it's not in the front of my mind. When I was sitting with him, it feels like Jannah is in front of my eyes.
It feels like Jahannam is in front of my eyes. There's nothing in my mind except Allah and Al-Dar Al-Akhirah. But when I leave the Prophet ﷺ, I start thinking about my wife, what does she need, and my kids, and my businesses, and I need to sell this and buy this.
And I forget about how I used to be when I was with him. Abu Bakr says something to him. He said, وَاللَّهِ إِنَّا لَنَلْقَى مِثْلَ هَٰذَا He said, Wallahi, I feel the same.
Abu Bakr who is the best of the ummah after the Prophets and the Messengers ﷺ, the best of this ummah is Abu Bakr after the Prophet ﷺ. He said, Wallahi, inna lanalqa mithla hadha. We feel the same thing. It happens to us exactly the same like that.
When I'm with the Prophet ﷺ, it feels like Jannah is in front of my eyes. But then I think about my kids, and my wife, and I get busy. He said, فَانطَلَقْنَا إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ We went to the Messenger ﷺ and we told him about it.
He said, I said to the Prophet ﷺ, نَافَقَ حَنْظَرَةً Hanzara has become a munafiq. The Prophet ﷺ said to him, وَمَاذَكْ What is this all about? And he said, When we are with you and you remind us تُذَكِّرُنَا بِالنَّارِ وَالجَنَّةِ كَأَنَّا رَأْيُ عَيْنٍ فَإِذَا خَرَجْنَا مِنْ عِنْدِكِ عَافَسْنَا الْأَزْوَاجُ وَالْأَوْلَادُ وَالضَّيْعَاتِ نَسِيْنَ كَثِيرًا The Prophet ﷺ he said to him, he swore by Allah. He said, وَاللَّذِي نَفْسِ بِيَدِ لَوْ أَنَّكُمْ تَدُومُونَ عَلَى مَا تَكُونُونَ عِنْدِ وَفِي الذِّكْرِ لَصَافَحَتْكُمُ الْمَلَائِكَةَ فِي فُرَشِكُمْ وَعَلَى تُرَقِكُمْ و he said, وَعَلَى تُرَقِكُمْ وَفِي فُرَشِكُمْ He said, the angels would shake your hands on the road and in your beds.
وَلَكِنْ يَحَمْضَلَ سَاعَةً وَسَاعَةً But O Hamzala, there is a time for this and a time for that. A time for this and a time for that. What is the purpose of this discussion? The idea of Al-Ghafla, how it affects the heart.
Hamzala thought he was a Munafiq because he doesn't think about Jannah all the time. He doesn't think about Allah all the time. He doesn't think about the hellfire all the time.
There are times when he thinks about his kids. There are times when he thinks about his family. There are times when he thinks about his dunya and his businesses.
And because of this, he feels his heart distance from Allah. And the Prophet ﷺ tells him that this is Nullah. This is something you cannot... Did anyone, the angels shake your hands? No, you... experience this connection with Allah all the time.
But when it happens, how do you fix it? When you feel... إِنَّهُ لَيُغَانُ عَلَىٰ قَلْبِي وَإِنِّي لَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ فِي الْيَوْمِ نِئَةَ مَرَّةً With istighfar and with dhikr. And that's why Ibn Al-Qayyim, he says, وَجَلَاءُهُ بِشَيْءَي This cover is taken from the heart with two things. بالاستغفار وبالذكر It's taken away by asking Allah's forgiveness and by remembering Allah.
And so when you remember Allah, you feel that connection come back to your heart once again. And these two things are always present in the heart of a believer such that the scholars discussed which of them is more important. And is it more important to make istighfar or is it more important to make dhikr? And your heart is always engaged in these things.
Ibn Al-Qayyim, he says, قُلْتُ لِشَيْخِ الْإِسْلَامِ بْنِ تَيْمِيَةِ رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى سُئِلَ بَعْضُ أَهْلِ الْعِلْمِ أَيُّمَا أَنْصَعُ لِلْعَبْدِ التسبيح أو الاستغفار He said, I asked Shaykh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah or I mentioned to him that some of the scholars they spoke about which is better for a person. Is it more beneficial for them to make istighfar or is it more beneficial for them to remember Allah? And he answered with a very interesting answer. He said, إِذَا كَانَ الْثَوْبُ نَقِيًّا فَالْبُخُورُ وَمَاءُ الْوِرْدِ أَنْفَعُ لَهُ He said, if your thawb is clean, then bukhur, incense and rose water is good for it.
And it's nice to put rose water on your thawb when your thawb is clean. He said, وَإِن كَانَ دَنِسًا فَالصَّابُونَ وَالْمَاءُ أَنْفَعُ لَهُ He said, but if your thawb is dirty, it's better that you wash it with soap. He said, ثُمَّ قَالَ لِي فَكَيْفَ وَالْثِيَابُ لَا تَزَالُ دَنِسًا He said, what do you think that still if your thawb is still and still your clothing it's not clean yet, you must be constantly engaged in istighfar.
And the Prophet ﷺ didn't have sins to speak of and he made istighfar a hundred times a day. For us to take that as an example and to remember Allah to cure this issue of ghaflah. The times in the day when you don't remember Allah, have you reflected upon the five daily prayers and the benefit of those five daily prayers spaced throughout the day? Is that they are the cure for the ghaflah that we go through, right? We go through periods of the day we don't think about Allah as much as we should.
And then we come back and we pray and we remember Allah. And then we go out again and we have our lives to live and then we come back and we pray again and we remember Allah. But this is the situation of the believer to uncover their heart with al-istighfar and al-dhikr.
And I said that I brought this statement because I wanted to show you the issue of istighfar does not have to be directly related to doing a sin at that moment. Does that make sense? That it's not the case that you have to have done a sin right this second and then you make istighfar. Rather it can be something that you are engaged in regularly because of the sins you forgot and also because of the fact that it keeps your heart connected to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And from this is the statement of Ali radiallahu anhu. He said, أَنْتَ الْمُقَدِّمُ وَأَنتَ الْمُؤَخِّرُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنْتُ Hadith narrated by Muslim. He said the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam from the last things he used to say before he would make salam in the prayer between the tashahud and the tasleed.
That's the time when he said, وَلِيَ تَخَيَّرْ مِنَ الدُّعَاءِ أَعْجَبَهُ إِلَيْهِ Choose the dua you like the most at that time. You choose whichever dua, whichever dua you like the most. At the end of what he would say is, O Allah, اللَّهُ مَغْثِرْ لِي مَا قَدْ دَمْتُ وَمَا أَخْرْتُ O Allah, forgive me what I have already done and what I have yet to do.
So that means you can ask Allah's forgiveness of course for what you have done, but you can also ask Allah's forgiveness for what you haven't done yet. وَمَا أَسْرَغْتُ وَمَا أَعْلَنْتُ And what I did in private and what I did in public. وَمَا أَسْرَغْتُ And when I went over all of the limits that you set.
وَمَا أَنْتَ أَعْلَمُ بِهِ مِنِّي And the sins you know about better than me. And that means you can also ask Allah's forgiveness for the sin you don't remember. You can ask Allah to forgive you for a sin even if you don't remember it.
As for a tawbah which we're going to come to, a tawbah is a little bit different. But here you can ask Allah to forgive you for something you don't even remember. Because what are you asking Allah for? You're asking Allah for two things, we covered it last week.
You're asking Allah to cover it up, sitr. And you're asking Allah for al-wiqayah, to protect you from the evil of it. Like the milfar, like the helmet they wear in battle.
It covers your head and it protects you from the arrows that the people shoot at you. So you're asking Allah, Oh Allah, there are things I don't even know that I did. I don't even remember.
There are things that I... You know that I did them and perhaps I deserve to be punished for them and I am not aware of how serious they are. Forgive me all of them. And so this comes under the heading of asking forgiveness for something that hasn't happened or asking forgiveness for something that you're not aware of.
Now we come to the issue of a tawbah and al-istighfar. So in terms of the language, what's the difference between al-tawbah and al-istighfar? As we said al-istighfar, it means to cover up and to protect. So you're asking Allah to cover up the sin and protect you that you don't get a punishment or a consequence or a problem from that sin in this life or the next.
As for al-tawbah in the language, it comes back to al-ruju' Coming back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Turning back. Ibn al-Qayyim gives the example of a person on a path and that path is going to lead you to destruction.
As Allah Azzawajal said, وَأَنَّ هَذَا صِرَاطِ مُسْتَقِيمًا فَاتَّبِعُوهُ وَلَا تَتَّبِعُ السُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِكُمْ عَن سَبِيلِ This is my straight path, so follow it and don't follow the other paths that take you away from my path. So the question is, if you are on one of those other paths that takes you away from the path of Allah, there is no way to get back on the straight path except to turn your back on the path that you're on and go back the way you came. And that's what the word tawbah really means.
The word tawbah originally is somebody on a path and he's on the wrong path. And that path leads him to al-halaq, it leads him to destruction. So he turns around, he shows his back to it and he goes back the way he came.
This is a tawbah, going back to where you should be. Ibn al-Qayyim he said, فَالْإِسْتِغْفَارُ يَتَضَمَّنُ الْتَوْبَةُ وَالْتَوْبَةُ تَتَضَمَّنُ الْإِسْتِغْفَارُ وَكُنُّ مِّنْهُمَا يَدْخُلُ فِي مُسَمَّ الْآثَرِ عِندَ الْإِقْلَاقِ He said, and this is Ibn al-Qayyim's well-known opinion, he says that look, whenever istighfar is mentioned on its own, it includes tawbah. And whenever tawbah is mentioned on its own, it includes istighfar.
When Allah Azzawajal tells you, يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ then this tawbah includes istighfar. And when Allah Azzawajal says, mentioning what Nuh said, فَقُلْتُ اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ غَفَّارًا I said, seek the forgiveness of your Lord, He's always forgiving. This includes a tawbah.
And the two of them are included in the other one. It's not that Nuh is telling people, don't make tawbah, just make istighfar. And it's not that Allah is telling you, make tawbah but don't say, أَسْتَغْفِرُوا اللَّهِ The two of them are coming together.
But when they are put together in the same sentence, اِسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ ثُمَّ تُوبُوا إِلَيْهِ Now what is the meaning? Make istighfar, then make tawbah. So we've already answered from one angle that it could be that tawbah has shurood, conditions, and tawbah has rules and regulations. So to a certain extent, it could be that istighfar is the initial asking of forgiveness and asking Allah to pardon.
And then tawbah is when you bring the conditions later on. That's one way of thinking about it. I hope that makes sense to everyone.
That in the beginning, you just ask Allah, O Allah, forgive me. O Allah, pardon me. O Allah, wipe it out.
O Allah, don't punish me. But maybe you haven't actually brought all of the conditions of tawbah that are required. You haven't done everything.
And then later you come to a point where you have regret and determination never to do it again and things like that. The way Ibn Al-Qayyim he says, he says, وَأَمَّا عِنْدَ الْإِقْتِرَانِ وَأَمَّا عِنْدِ إِقْتِرَانِ إِحْدَاءَ الْلَفْظَيْنِ بِالْأُخْرَى He said, when we put one of these words together with the other one, استغفروا ربكم ثم توبوا إلي Istighfar and tawbah come together. He said, فَالإِسْتِغْفَارُ طَلَبُوا وِقَايَةِ شَرِّ مَا مَضَى وَالْتَوْبَةُ أَنْ رُجُوعُ وَطَلَبُوا وِقَايَةِ شَرِّ مَا يَخَافُهُ فِي الْمُسْتَقْبَدِ مِن سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِهِ He said, Istighfar is asking Allah to keep you safe from something that has happened already.
And tawbah is coming back to Allah and asking Allah to keep you safe from something you're scared about in the future, from the evil deeds that you might do. He said, فَهَا غُنَا ذَنْبًا There are two sins. ذَنْبٌ قَدْ مَضَى فَالإِسْتِغْفَارُ مِنْهُمْ طَلَبُوا وِقَايَةُ وَطَلَبُوا وِقَايَةِ شَرِّهِ وَذَنْبٌ يَخَافُ وُقُوعُهُ وَيَخَافُ وُقُوعَهُ فَالتَّوْبَةُ الْعَزْمُ عَلَىٰ أَنْ لَا يَفْعَلَ وَالرُّجُوعُ إِلَىٰ اللَّهِ يعني تعالى So here he said there are two types of sin.
There's a sin that's already passed. You've done it. So this is what Istighfar is from.
You're asking Allah, Oh Allah, I did something wrong. Protect me from the evil of what I've done. And as for At-Tawbah, you are asking Allah to protect you from doing it again.
You're asking Allah to protect you from doing it again. And that means having a determination not to do it again. And if we look at the conditions of Tawbah, then the conditions of Tawbah are three basic conditions along with one extra condition.
The three basic conditions, they can be considered past and present and future. As for in the past, a person feels regret for what they've done. He feels sorry about what he did.
As for in the present, the person stops doing it. And as for the future, they intend and make themselves determined not to do it again. These are the three basic things that are needed in Tawbah.
So Tawbah contains two things that Istighfar doesn't contain. It contains the meaning of going back to Allah. In other words, turning your back on the sin and saying, I'm done with this.
It was the wrong way. It was the wrong behavior. It was the wrong action.
And I'm going to turn back to Allah Azza wa Jal and take a different path. And it contains a determination not to do it again. And that determination not to do it again, why do you have it? Why are you determined not to do that sin again? Because you're scared of what might happen to you by sinning like that again and again and again.
So your focus is on not doing it again as well as regretting what has passed. So literally it is as though you have turned your back on the sin. You don't ever want to go back in that direction.
And you're determined not to come to that place again. As for if that sin involved the rights of other people, for example, backbiting or slander or you took somebody's property or you spoke about someone's honor, whatever it might be, and it's something that involves another person. So there is a fourth condition.
And that fourth condition is making up for what was done. And making up for what was done, there are two very simple things and one that is more difficult. The first thing is make up for what is done by undoing it.
What do we mean undoing it? For example, if it was property, return the property. If it was money or a share of a business or a house, give it back. Whether the person knows or not, the main thing is that it goes back to them.
If you had spoken badly about a person, speak good about them in the same environment with the same people. Undo what you did. That in itself is half of the problem, but there is another half of the problem.
And that is that you now have to ask that person to forgive you and pardon you for what you did. So now you've turned back to Allah. You've turned your back.
I'm not going back there again. And you've determined, you're determined, I'm not going to go in the future, I'm not going to do that again. And you've made up for it by mentioning the person with good and... But now how do you get that person to forgive you? So if it is the case that you can speak to them and you can say to them, -"Akhi, I said something about you." You don't have to mention what it is.
Or I did something, it wasn't my... I didn't mean to hurt you, but then I thought you wouldn't have liked it. Just forgive me if I said something. The person should forgive you.
وَلِيَعَفُوا وَلِيَصْبَحُوا أَلَا تُحِبُونَا يَغْفِرُوا اللَّهُ لَكُمْ Forgive and overlook. Don't you want Allah to forgive you? So the person, if somebody asks you to forgive them and pardon them, you should forgive and pardon them. And you shouldn't say, -"What did you say? Why did you say?" Don't worry about it.
Forgive me if I did the same. Let it go, so that Allah will forgive you. But what about if you fear a worse problem that will come from it? You know this person is a person that if you speak to them like that, it could ruin the relationships or cut the ties of the family or cause a big problem later on.
So what do you do now? Now what you're going to do is you can't go to that person because it's going to make a worse problem. So what you have to do is you have to make dua for them and you have to give charity on their behalf and you have to try to be good to them. And you have to be determined never to do it again.
Perhaps through all those things, Allah will inspire that person to let it go. And ultimately, that's what will happen on the Qantarah, right? The Qantarah which is the place where the believers will, who are from the people of Jannah, they will fix the problems that were between them. And that Allah will inspire one that their level in Jannah will be raised because they forgave the other person.
But to do that, you have to make sure you never go back to that sin. And you have to really try to do a lot of good for that person. Perhaps Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will inspire that person to forgive you and let it go.
But if you can speak to somebody about it, it's better you speak to them about it and say, Akhi, please forgive me in this life so that you don't have to pay with your good deeds. Yawm al-Qiyamah. There's another distinction between At-Tawbah and Istighfar.
That Ibn Al-Qayyim, he says, He said, فَهَا هُنَا أَمْرَانِ لَابُدَّ مِنْهُمَا مُفَارَقَةُ شَيْءٍ وَالرُّجُوعُ إِلَى غَيْرِهِ He said, فَخُصَّتِ التَّوْبَةُ بِالرُّجُوعِ وَالإِسْتِغْفَارُ بِالْمُفَارَقَةِ He said, there's two things you have to have. You have to leave what you're doing and you have to go back and do something different. So he said, if we look at the core meaning of Istighfar, in reality, you are trying to leave something and you're just trying to get rid of it and you cover it up, don't go back to it.
If you're trying to sort of like cover it up and cover the consequences and stop doing it. And if you look at Tawbah, it's all about doing something else, not going back to it again. So this is two more distinctions.
So he said, وَأَيْضَنْ فَالْإِسْتِغْفَارُ مِن بَابِ إِزَالَةِ الضَّرَضِ وَالْتَوْبَةُ طَالَبُ جَلْبِ الْمَنْفَعَةِ He said, so in reality, what is that? Istighfar is about getting rid of the harm. We said that covering it up and it's about getting rid of the harm. Tawbah is about getting a benefit.
It's not just about getting rid of the harm. You're actually asking Allah to guide you in the future to something better. So you're asking Allah for a benefit.
And with istighfar, what you're really doing is getting rid of a harm. These are all different ways to look at these two, but you remind yourself that actually they both include one another. In the ayat of the Quran, when istighfar is mentioned, it is istighfar and tawbah.
And when tawbah is mentioned, it's tawbah and istighfar. When they're mentioned separately, these are the different aspects to it. Istighfar is about letting go.
Tawbah is about the future and not going back to it. Istighfar is about covering it up and not having something bad happen in the past. And tawbah is about not doing it again.
So these are some of the meanings that come from it. We now need to talk about al-kabair and al-saghair. We know the Prophet ﷺ, he said in a famous hadith of Mu'adh ibn Jabal, He said, Have taqwa of Allah wherever you are and follow up a bad deed with a good deed, it will wipe it out.
And treat the people with the best of manners. Ibn al-Qayyim, he says in madarij al-salikeen, He said, وَإِن تَجْتَنِبُوا كَذَائِرَ مَا تُنْهَوْنَ عَنْ نُكَثِّرْ عَنْكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَنُدْخِلْكُمْ مُدْخَلًا كَرِيًّ He says, whenever Allah speaks about dhunoob and sayyiat together. Both in English we say sins, right? But the word dhunoob refers to the major sins.
And the word sayyiat, it refers to the smaller sins. First of all, what's the difference between the big sins and the small sins? So the big sins is any sin which Allah Azawajal threatened a specific punishment for. Or the hellfire, or his anger, or his curse, or Allah said that it is kabeer or azeeb.
Anything which singles it out. So anything which it's mentioned, the hellfire, or the punishment of the grave, or Allah's anger, or any specific punishments are mentioned for it. Or it's mentioned as being major or serious.
For example, the statement of Allah Azawajal, وَتَحْسَنُنَّهُ حَيِّنَةً وَهُوَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ عَظِيمٌ You think it's something light, but it's a very severe sin in the sight of Allah. This means it's a major sin. It's a major sin.
So now Ibn Al-Qayyib, he says, these major sins often they are called dhunoob. And the minor sins which are those that are not mentioned with specific punishments, or are not mentioned as being serious, or Allah's curse. These sins are often called sayyiat.
And Allah Azawajal speaks about al-maghfirah, forgiveness, and al-takfeer. And takfeer here means expiation. In other words, something wipes something else out.
It means something wipes something else out. Like you did something good, and it wiped out something bad. So he says maghfirah is for the big sins.
Because Allah Azawajal is covering it and concealing it and forgiving it. As for the issue of just doing a good deed, this is for the small sins. That you do a good deed and it wipes it out.
For example, you do wudu and your sins fall away. These are the minor sins. You pray your salah, and all the sins you did between the previous salah and this salah, pa, wiped out.
You go to Umrah, and your sins are wiped out before the previous Umrah. You go to Jumu'ah. العمرة إلى العمرة والجمعة إلى الجمعة يعني الجمعة إلى الجمعة والعمرة إلى العمرة كفارة لما بينهما مجتون بات الكبار أو كما قال صلى الله عليه وسلم جمعة جمعان عمرة عمرة It wipes out the sins that came between it يعني from the last Umrah or the last Jumu'ah as long as you keep away from the minor sins and major sins.
So what does Ibn Qayyim say here? Generally when you hear this word سيئات and you hear the word تكفير these words are associated with minor sins. And when you hear الذنوب and you hear المغفرة this is generally associated with the major sins. And the evidence is if you keep away from the major things that we prohibited you from we will نكثر يعني تكفير I will wipe it out the سيئات that you have and we will enter you into a noble place.
He said ولفظ المغفرة أكمل من لفظ التكفير He said the word مغفرة is more complete it can be for small, it can be for big. As for the idea of just wiping something out this is for the صغائر He said ولفظ المغفرة فإن لفظ المغفرة يتضمن الوقاية والحظ ولفظ التكفير يتضمن السطر والإزالة وعند الإفراد يدخل كل منها في الآخر And he said also these two words come together and it's not the case that any of these two words they can come together with the same meaning but generally the word مغفرة what does it mean? He said this word it means Allah will protect you and keep you safe. And as for the idea of expiation then this means that Allah will cover it and take it away and in other words erase one, put the other one in its place.
Is it possible that a person could be forgiven for a major sin because of a good deed that they did? If it's accompanied with توبة, yes and if you feel sorry and then you do a good deed then that good deed can wipe out it can wipe out the major sin that you did. In other words you have توبة and along with توبة you do good deeds along with توبة you do good deeds and that's why if you think about the ayah at the end of surah الفرقان إِلَّا مَن تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِنَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا فَأُولَٰئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَةً وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا Those people who make توبة and they believe and they do righteous deeds those people Allah takes all of their misdeeds and replaces it with good deeds because they bought a توبة as well as doing righteous deeds afterwards but a person shouldn't rely on just righteous deeds to wipe out major sins that they've done in their life any major sins you've done you shouldn't just say or I did major sins but I'm gonna do good deeds it should be I have to ask Allah's forgiveness I have to feel sorry try not to do it again and at the same time I'm gonna do good deeds to make up for those bad deeds فَأُولَٰئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَةً They are the people Allah takes the bad deeds they have done and replaces them with good مَدَارِجِ السَّالِكِينِ إِبْنَ الْقَيِّمِ رَحِيمُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى He said إِنَّ الذَّنْبَ قَدْ يَكُونْ أَنْفَعَ لِلْعَبْدِ إِذَا اقْتَرَنَتْ بِهِ التَّوْبَةُ مِنْ كَثِيرٍ مِّنَ الطَّاعَاتِ It's a very strange statement but it's very true He said a sin you do could end up being more beneficial for you than many good deeds وَهَذَا مَعْنَا قَوْلُ بَعْضِ السَّلَفِ He said this is the meaning of the statement of some of the pious predecessors قَدْ يَعْمَلُ الْعَبْدُ الذَّنْبَ فَيَدْخُلُ بِهِ الْجَنَّةِ وَيَعْمَلُ الطَّاعَ فَيَدْخُلُ بِهَا النَّارِ He said it was narrated from some of the Imams of the past that somebody could do a sin and enter Jannah because of it and do a good deed and enter Jahannam because of it Now the first reaction is this sincerity like one was sincere, one was... It's not sincerity Somebody could sincerely and truly do a good deed for Allah and it might enter them into Jahannam And someone might do a sin knowingly and deliberately and it might enter them into Paradise How can it be? قَالُوا وَكَيْفَ ذَلِكَ He said يَعْمَلُ الذَّنْبَ فَلَا يَزَالُ نَصْبَ عَيْنَيْهِ إِنْ قَامَ وَإِنْ قَعَدْ وَإِنْ مَشَى ذَكَرَ ذَنْبَهُ فَيُحْتِثُ لَهُ إِنْكِصَارًا وَتَوْبَةً وَاسْتِغْفَارًا وَنَدْمًا فَيَكُونُ ذَلِكَ سَبَبَ نَجَاتِهِ He said the person does a sin and it has such an effect on them that it's in front of their eyes every time they stand, every time they sit, every time they walk, every moment of their life, they can see this sin in front of their eyes. So it makes them feel humble and low before Allah and it makes them repent to Allah and feel sorry for what they've done.
And a person وَيَعْمَلُ الْحَسَنَةُ فَلَا تَزَالُ نَصْبَ عَيْنَيْهِ إِنْ قَامَ وَإِنْ قَعَدْ وَإِنْ مَشَىٰ The person, they do a good deed and it keeps being in front of their eyes every time they stand and they sit and they walk. كُلَّ مَا ذَكَرَهَا أَوْرَثَتْهُ كِبْرًا Or he said أَنِي عَجَبًا وَكِبْرًا And he pried. He feels amazed by what he did.
He feels so proud of that good deed. The only thing he can see in front of his eyes is that good deed I did. And it makes him proud and it makes him impressed with himself.
فَتَكُونُوا سَبَبَ هَلَاكِ And it becomes the reason why he gets to be destroyed. I think we'll cover one more point inshaAllahu ta'ala which we've covered it but there's a point that I wanted to highlight. And I think we covered most of what I wanted to cover and the time is not much but there is one thing that I wanted to highlight which is How do you repent from something involving the right of another person when you can't make up for what you've done? So Ibn Qayyim he talks about the one who kills someone else.
He says وَبَقِيَ حَقَّ الْمَغْرُوفِ لَا يُضَيِّعُهُ اللَّهِ وَيَجَعَلُ مِنْ تَمَامِ مَغْفِرَتِهِ لِلْقَاتِنِ تَعْوِيظَ الْمَقْتُورِ He says, he's talking about somebody who kills someone else and then becomes Muslim for example. Or kills someone else and makes tawbah. Now Allah will not let the right of that person go.
Agreed? Allah is not gonna let that you cannot say the person became Muslim okay I'm sorry he killed you but he became Muslim after that so you know you just have to let it go. No Allah Azzawajal will not let it go. But Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will exchange for that person and give them better in return for leaving that right.
In return for not punishing the person that killed them. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will replace them will replace it with better. He said وَالتَّوْبَةُ النَّصُوحُ تَهْدِمُ مَا قَبْلَهَا فَيُعَوَّضُ هَذَا عَن مَظْلَمَةٍ He said sincere tawbah wipes out what came before it.
And this person the sin that bad you know the oppression that they did it's gonna be made up for. وَلَا يُعَاقَبُ هَذَا لِكَمَالِ تَوْبَةِ And a person who makes true sincere tawbah Allah will not punish them for what they did to that other person. But instead what Allah Azzawajal will do Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will replace the rights of that one that was killed by giving them a great reward in Paradise to make up for the fact that their right is not taken from the person that killed them.
He said وَصَارَ هَذَا كَالْكَافِرِ الْمُحَارِبِ لِلَّهِ وَلِرَسُولِهِ صَلَى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِذَا قَاتَلَ مُسْلِمًا فِي الصَّفِ ثُمَّ أَسْلَمَ وَحَسُنَ إِسْلَامً He said the example of this if you want to know how this works. Imagine a disbeliever who kills a Muslim in a battle and then accepts Islam and is a good Muslim. Happened to the Sahaba right? Fought in a battle against the Muslims and killed many and then accepts Islam and is a good Muslim after that.
فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ سُبْحَانَهُ يُعَوِّذُ هَذَا الشَّهِيدَ الْمَقْتُولُ وَيَغْفِرُ لِلْكَافِرِ بِإِسْلَامِهِ وَلَا يُآخِذُهُ بِقَتْلِ الْمُسْلِمِ ظُلْمًا He said rather what will happen is Allah will give a huge reward to the one that was killed to make up for that right and Allah will not punish the one that killed them because they accepted Islam and Allah promised that Islam wipes out what came before it. What is amazing about this is the next statement that he says. He said that the tawbah فَإِنَّ هَذْنُ الْتَوْبَ لِمَا قَبْلَهَا كَهَدْ مِنْ إِسْلَامِ لِمَا قَبْلَهَا He said tawbah is the same as just like becoming Muslim again.
Tawbah is the same like you became Muslim again. Just how Allah would forgive for example the likes of let's just say for example Khalid ibn Walid رضي الله عنه when he fought against the Muslims and then he became Muslim and he was a good Muslim. Just how you would expect Allah عز و جل to forgive him for those people that he fought against them and killed them in battle.
Likewise the one who makes tawbah is like that. A sincere tawbah that is true to Allah, Allah will wipe out what came before it. He said وَعَلَى هَذَا إِذَا سَلَّمَ نَفْسَهُ وَانْقَادْ فَعَفَى عَنْهُ الْوَلِيُّ وَتَابَى الْقَاتِلُ تَوْبَةً نَصُوحًا فَاللَّهُ تَعَالَى يَقْبَلُ تَوْبَتَهُ وَيُعَوِّذْ الْمَقْتُولُ And that's what we said.
And I just wanted to mention that point at the end because a person might say there are some situations I might never be able to make up for what I did. But sincere tawbah to Allah عز و جل can make up for it by Allah inspiring the person not to take their right and giving them a great replacement in the Akhirah and then forgiving you even for what you did to that person. But a person should not rely upon this in the sense that they should not say Okay, I'm not going to ask forgiveness.
I'm not going to try. Because it requires تَوْبَةً نَصُوحًا like a person who became Muslim the day they became Muslim. Does that make sense? It requires تَوْبَةً like the day you became Muslim.
So it's not something that you can just say that Oh, it doesn't matter. I oppressed this person. I hurt this person.
It requires you to really feel terrible about it and to make a true intention never to do it again and to try to make it up to them whatever way you can. And whatever you can't do and you can't reach it Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى will make up for it if your tawbah is true and sincere. These are just a few points that I wanted to gather.
Otherwise, I think you know that the topic of istighfar and tawbah is very big. And it's mentioned throughout the Quran and the Sunnah. I just wanted to bring together a few points that we could talk about it in the light of tazkiyatun nafs.
And we can talk about the role that tawbah and istighfar plays in cleaning the heart. Because in reality, what we've seen is that there are two things that we really need to clean our heart. Tawbah and istighfar is part of cleaning the heart.
And part of cleaning the heart is also remembering Allah عز و جل. Because it cleans the heart from being heedless. And if we bring these things together, inshaAllah, this is the foundation of cleaning the heart.
And then we can talk about the second part which is developing the soul with praiseworthy attributes. InshaAllah, which is the second half of what we're going to talk about bi-idhnillahi ta'ala. So inshaAllah ta'ala, we can take a few questions if we have a little bit.
Anyway, I think we have five minutes. We don't really, but we can make five minutes. We can take a couple of questions inshaAllah.
So the non-Muslims, they have kufuq, right? That's the first thing we need to understand. That non-Muslims have rights. Whether they are living in a Muslim country or not, they have rights.
The rights are different. When they're living in a Muslim country, they have even more rights. Because they have the right of the mustatman, the one who has been given a guarantee of security by the wali al-amr.
And if the ruler said to them, you're safe in my country, you're welcome here, you're safe. So they have even more rights than they had before. But they had rights before.
Like for example, the right that you explain Islam to them, that you transmit Islam to them. That's one of their rights. And the right that if they did not harm you or drive you out of your home, or fight you on behalf of your religion, أن تبروهم وتقصدوا إليهم That you are kind towards them and that you are fair towards them.
And so on. So these rights will be taken to account for Yawm al-Qiyamah as well. So the rights of the non-Muslims are important.
But here's a different scenario. The question is regarding somebody who was not a Muslim and then that person became Muslim. And after that, and you oppressed them or you took from their rights before Islam.
If we said the non-Muslims have rights as non-Muslims, then as Muslims, he has even more of a right to punish. And so as a Muslim, maybe the difference is that you can approach that person and you can say to them, forgive me for what I did or pardon me if I did something. Because what they have done is wiped out.
The mistakes they have made are gone when they accepted Islam. But the mistake you made towards them, it still remains on the account unless you ask them to forgive you and Allah Azawajal most best. Okay, so now there's two non-Muslims.
There was an oppression between them in Jahiliyyah, right? And then one of them accepted Islam. Well, I don't know that there's anything different from what we said already. Like I think the same idea, right? He's going to say to the person, forgive me.
And he's going to ask Allah. The only difference is when you make dua for a non-Muslim, your dua has to be centered around hidayah. It can't be, for example, oh Allah, you know, pay them back the money I took or give them back any.
It has to be, oh Allah, guide them and make up for what I did. Because if you're not making dua for their guidance, you're not doing what's in their best interest. Other than that, I'm not sure I know of any answer more than that.
But that doesn't mean there isn't one that just I don't know more than that. Like as much as I know about the issue and Allah knows best. No, because if you become Muslim, everything that you did before is wiped out automatic.
There's two things that wipes out everything bad you've done. One is becoming Muslim and the other one is repenting to Allah, tawbah, going back to Allah and asking Allah sincerely to forgive you. These things wipe out everything that you've done.
Islam on a general sense, like everything and tawbah for the things you made tawbah for it. When you made tawbah for that one thing, so it gets wiped out. When you made tawbah for another thing, it gets wiped out and so on.
And the other things which we mentioned like Hajj and Umrah and Jumu'ah and things like that. But the main most important one out of everything is tawbah. And if a person becomes Muslim, all their bad deeds get wiped out.
So it doesn't matter what they did. But the question is then how will that person who they killed, how will they feel? Allah will give them a very special place in Jannah because of that person is not going to be punished. Does that make sense? That is a very interesting point.
That is a very interesting point. So this question is in the situation of this issue, the last one we mentioned of someone being killed. What happens if that person is killed wrongfully as a disbeliever? Wallah the thing is that the disbeliever when they die, Allah Azzawajal doesn't keep any good deeds for them.
Allah turns them all to habaa and manthoorah. Turns all of their deeds into scattered dust. So he doesn't, they don't have anything to, any blessing to get.
There is nothing for them to get. But still justice will be done for everyone, right? Allah will not leave anything without justice. But that person doesn't have anything good to hope for if they died without Islam, with the conditions.
They got the message, they chose not to accept it, they died without Islam. That person doesn't have anything good to be kept for them. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will ask about it.
Because the first thing that will be asked about it is the spilling of blood. And the first thing that will be asked about a person's personal affairs is the salah. And Allah Azzawajal knows best.
So if somebody doesn't forgive the other person, if somebody doesn't forgive the other person, the issue is that it has to be made fair between them yawmul qiyam. So either Allah will inspire that person to forgive them yawmul qiyam, or either that person will have to give them from their good deeds or take their bad deeds to make up for it. And that's why in reality the scholars they call it ذنب لا يترك.
Meaning it's a sin. Allah will never leave it alone. He's never going to leave it.
Something has to be done. Yes, it's true if the person is being obstinate and not kind, perhaps, perhaps Allah will inspire them yawmul qiyam. But otherwise, you don't have a choice, as we said, it's going to be good deeds and bad deeds that are exchanged if a person doesn't forgive.
Now we say to the brothers and sisters, you should forgive, because this is a means for Allah to forgive you and make your account easy for you by your forgiving other people. But a person still, the good deeds and bad deeds will be exchanged between them. So the thing is, going back to ma'asiyah, after tawbah, is something that is normal.
Right? It happens. Because at the end of the day, what is needed for you in tawbah is determination. يَعْنِي الْعَزَمُ أَن يَأَنَّ يَعُودُ He's got a determination.
Does that mean he will never go back? No, sometimes he might go back. And we mentioned the hadith in the beginning, we mentioned last week, about the hadith أَذْنَبَ عَبْدِي ذَنْبَ My servant committed a sin. فَعَلِمَ أَنَّ لَهُ رَبًّا يَغْفِرُ الذَّنْبَ وَيَأْخُذُ بِالذَّنْبَ ثُمَّ عَادَ فَأَذْنَبَ He does it again and again.
ثُمَّ عَادَ فَأَذْنَبَ He does it again. And Allah says to him, اِعْمَلْ مَا شِئْتَ فَقَدْ غَفَرْتُ لَكَ Do whatever you want, I forgive you. Why? Every time he was sincere.
Every time he did it, his tawbah was nasuh. He really meant it. He said, Allah, I'm never gonna go back to it again.
I'm never gonna do it again. ثُمَّ عَادَ But he did it again. Oh Allah, I'm not gonna go back to it again.
ثُمَّ عَادَ The problem is if he wasn't sincere. Like the person says, استغفر الله But then he wants to, you know, already he's thinking to do it again. But if he's really sincere, then Allah will forgive him each time if he is really, really sincere and he doesn't want to go back to it, but he falls into it again.
At the same time, are we as Muslims happy with that? Ibn al-Jawzi mentioned it, رحمه الله تعالى Just because this happens doesn't mean you can be happy with it. You should be sad about it that, SubhanAllah, how did I do this again after I said I was not gonna do it again? So the second time you are even stronger, but maybe still. Third time you are stronger, but even still.
But you should not be happy that you are saying that never mind, I did it again, but I made tawbah again. Every time you should feel sad that you did it again. But at the same time, it can happen.
It's not and it doesn't mean that you're a terrible person or you're a munafiq because you did something bad again. And that's the nature of Bani Adam. We keep falling into mistakes, but each time we should be sincere.
So this issue of al-'afl, the word al-'afl or Allah's name al-'afl, it means wiping out. And it means two things. It means concealing and it means or it means three things, concealing, protecting and wiping out.
So when you say that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is afu, it means that he wipes out the sin complete and he doesn't take you to account for it and he doesn't make any consequence for you. They see it with regard to al-maghfirah and al-'afl that al-'afl relates to wiping out the sin. That's what I remember, that it gets wiped out.
And that al-maghfirah relates to protecting you from it or it relates to concealing it. And we mentioned it more in the names of Allah in the difference between al-ghaffar and al-'afu and al-ghaffar. We mentioned it in there in more detail.
Maybe if you go back to it, I spoke about it more there. But what I remember from the top of my head is that that is more connected to the wiping out of the sin and that al-maghfirah is connected to protecting you from it. And so you could be protected from it and it can be also wiped out so that you don't find it in your record at all.
And the scholars differed. Are we going to see the sins that Allah wiped out? Are we going to see them in our record or not? And some of them said, we will see them but they will not hurt us. And others said, we will not even see them at all.
And for example, the statement of Allah, فَأُولَٰئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِ بِحَسَنَاتٍ Allah is going to replace their bad deeds with good ones. Will you see those bad deeds? Some of them said, you'll see them but they will not harm you at all. You'll see them like they don't have any effect for you.
And others said, you won't even see them at all. Allah will replace them completely with good deeds. And Allah Azawajal was blessed.
The scholars differed about it because the statement of hajj, the Prophet ﷺ said, مَنْ حَجَّ فَلَمْ يَرْفُثْ وَلَمْ يَفْسُقْ رَاجَعَ كَيَوْمِ وَلَدَتْهُ أُمُّهُ He said that, whoever makes hajj and he doesn't, يعني رَفَثْ is either intimacy or it's either bad language. The word رَفَثْ comes for both. And الفصوق is like to do open sins, major sins.
So he doesn't do major sins, he doesn't fall into intimacy which is not permitted for him in Ihram. And he doesn't fall into bad language and shouting and getting angry. He will return like the day that his mother gave birth to him.
Generally, the most common thing you read is that they say that the سَغَائِر for sure, that's counted. But still that the كَبَائِر requires tawbah. So what it means and it seems to me is that if the person makes hajj sincerely, Allah Azzawajal will inspire them to make tawbah in that hajj.
And this inshaAllah, the tawbah together with the hajj will take away the major sins and the minor ones inshaAllah. If they have a true hajj where the hajj but their hajj should include tawbah, it shouldn't be the case that they just make hajj and say I'm not gonna make tawbah, my hajj will take away my major sins. This doesn't go with the principle that we mentioned, right? That's the problem.
Even if that hadith would seem to indicate it, it doesn't go with all of that hadith that we have. So to me the best way of reconciling between it is to say that the hajj that a person makes tawbah and turns back to Allah, this is the hajj that Allah will wipe out their minor and their major sins. But as for the hajj where a person is not willing to make tawbah for the things they've done, then this person, perhaps we cannot guarantee to them that their hajj will wipe out the sins that they did.
And Allah azawajal knows best. We still have a lot of questions, but we'll take two, three more inshaAllah, yes? So this issue of ghafla, ghafla, what does it mean to be heedless? So there's no doubt that there are types of heedlessness that fall into haraam, and there are types that don't. The type which Hamdala mentioned doesn't fall into that which is haraam.
And the evidence is that the Prophet's ayahs did not rebuke him for it. He didn't say to him, what you've done is haraam, tawbah ila Allah, make tawbah. He didn't.
He said, sa'atan wa sa'i. And there's a time for this and a time for that. But the ghafla which is prohibited, is for example the ghafla which leads to, which leads you to leave the faraid or the wajibat.
You leave the fard. Or the ghafla which causes you to do the haraam. So a ghafla, being unaware, ghafla just means not being aware, right? Not thinking.
If you're not thinking, and that not thinking leads to you doing haraam or leaving fard, then this becomes itself haraam. But if it's a case of just not being fully aware of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and the akhira, then this is to a certain extent something that people go through. However, what we did say is that a person shouldn't be content with it.
And you shouldn't be happy and say, alhamdulillah, I had two hours where I didn't remember Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. No, you should criticize yourself for it. But it's something which is a reality.
Everybody will go through it. And the Prophet ﷺ did not rebuke Hamdala for it or tell him that what you've done is a major sin or what you've done is terrible. But there is no doubt the ghafla which leads to you committing haraam or which leads to you missing the fard.
This, for example, فَوَيْلُ لِلْمُصَلِّينَ الَّذِينَ هُمْ عَن صَلَاتِهِمْ سَاهُوا The people who neglect their prayer from its proper time. This is a ghafla which is haraam. But maybe we can go into it in more detail in subsequent lessons insha'Allah.
Because we didn't really- we mentioned it by passing, but we didn't really go into it in a lot of detail insha'Allah. Yes, an excellent question. So if you have wronged someone, but that person is not aware of it at all, completely unaware, should you then go to that person and tell them or should you just repent between you and Allah and make dua for them and all that? I don't think it matters whether the person is aware or not, but it matters what the consequence of you telling them is.
So the person could be aware and you tell them and you know they're going to hit the roof and they're going to ruin the relationship with you and they're going to cut their family ties and everything, it's going to go really bad. So this person, you don't approach him. There could be a person who doesn't know what you did, but they're a very easygoing person.
And you can go to that person and say, I feel wallahi, you know, all of us sometimes we fall into things and we say things, you don't have to tell them what you said, but just that I feel like maybe I might have taken your rights or I might have said something, just forgive me. Yeah, of course, okay, we all do this, we forgive each other, never mind. But if you feel that you're going to make the situation worse by telling them, because like you said, they don't know about it and it's just going to make it worse, it's just going to sour the relationship, then in this case, Shaykh of Islam Ibn Taymiyyah may Allah have mercy on him, they said, in this case you don't tell the person because you're going to make the situation worse, not better.
You're going to make divisions between people, not bring people together. But sometimes you know the person has easygoing personality, so you can tell them inshaAllah. So for example, praying is very good.
For tawbah, a person anyways, when they want to learn a du'a, there are some great resources like Hisn al-Muslim is very good, Fortress of the Muslim, they can just read the du'a. But to pray is very good, pray two raka'at, nobody commits a sin and then prays two raka'at and asks Allah to forgive them, except Allah will forgive them for it. So praying is very good.
As for fasting, generally it's okay, but not specifically. I wouldn't want someone to be a habit that, for example, every time I do a sin, I specifically fast a particular day, because sharia didn't come like with that specific detail, right? But if a person just says, look, I've done sins and I want Allah to forgive me, I'm going to fast. There's no harm in it, but you see the difference between the habit of the prayer and the habit of the fasting.
The habit of the prayer is proven from the Prophet ﷺ, that when you commit a sin and you pray two raka'at and you ask Allah azza wa jal to forgive you, then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will forgive you for it. And fasting is proven generally from the point of good deeds. It's just I want to do good deeds.
I want to do righteous deeds. So I want to fast. I want... But I wouldn't say that every time a person does tawbah that they particularly proceed that tawbah with a specific fast, because I don't see that the sharia came with that exact methodology, right? It's something to do sometimes, but not make it a habit like that, so it doesn't become a habit that didn't come in the sharia.
And Allah knows best. It's a different question though. It's not on our topic, but it's a good question.
That somebody who is killed before they can complete an action they wanted to do which was a good intention, Allah will raise them according to their intention. Because this has happened before. It happens when if Allah wants to destroy a people, like the statement of Allah azza wa jal in Surah al-Anfal, تَقُوْ فِتْنَةً لَا تُصِيبًا لَلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا مِنكُمْ خَاصًۭا Shield yourself from a trial that doesn't affect only the wrongdoers among you.
Meaning that there's good people in a town and bad people. And the bad people do so many bad things, Allah destroys the whole town. So now who died? The bad people died and the good people in the town also died.
They all died because Allah destroyed the whole town. He didn't say, I'm going to leave this person and take this person. Like the hadith, اَنَا هَلَكَ وَفِينَ الصَّالِحُونَ Will we be destroyed when there are righteous people among us? The Prophet ﷺ said, نَعَمْ إِذَا كَثُرَ الْخَبَرِ If lots of bad things, people do lots of bad things, maybe everybody will be destroyed.
But what will happen? They will be raised by their intention. إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ So Allah will look at their intention that you had a good intention and Allah will give them the reward of that intention that they had. Does that make sense? But they have to be Muslim for that condition, okay? Then it can't be that the person was not Muslim and he said, you know, next year I'm going to become Muslim.
He has to be... He's Muslim and he wanted to do something good but he died before he could do it. Allah will reward him for the intention that he had to do good. Did that make sense? He was a non-Muslim but then he... But he had to accept Islam.
You cannot... It's not enough to want something yet. You have to actually do it. You can't say, well, I wanted to do it.
That's why we tell people you have to not delay. You have to accept Islam quickly. Don't delay because maybe that delay next year, you don't know what's written for you.
Maybe you'll walk into a bus and you'll die. Like you never know, right? That's why a person can't delay in doing something good. Because sometimes when you delay, Allah might take away the chance to do good forever.
So there's no doubt as you said that tawbah and istighfar are associated with good things happening to you and calamities being removed. There's a famous saying, مَا نَزَلَتْ مُصِيبَةٌ إِلَّا بِذَنْقٍ وَمَا رُفِعَتْ إِلَّا بِتَوْبَةٍ No calamity ever happened except because of sin and it was never lifted up except because of tawbah. There's no doubt.
But just the fact that you are doing istighfar doesn't stop that Allah tests you. Because Allah Azzawajal, He said, وَنَبْنُوكُم بِالشَّرِّ وَالْخَيْرِ فِتْنًا We're going to test you with bad things and good things. So the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, made istighfar and tawbah and all the time.
Yet he went through hardships and calamities. And that doesn't take away from that istighfar. It's that sometimes a sin came to you and when you make istighfar, Allah Azzawajal raises it immediately.
And sometimes Allah will raise it later on for a wisdom that is with Him. So you should never feel like Allah is not accepting my tawbah. For example, I'm not having children.
Even though Allah Azzawajal said, فَقُلْتُ اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ هِنَّ غُكَانَ غَفَّارًا يُرْسِلِ السَّمَاءَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِدْرَارًا وَيُمْدِدُكُمْ بِأَمْوَالٍ وَبَنِينٍ I'm not able to have kids and I'm making istighfar. But Allah Azzawajal tests you for a time. It's not the case that the first moment you say, استغفر الله, that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, every calamity or every test in your life will be removed.
But everything happens at the time that is best for you and Allah knows best. It means the small sins. That's the معروف.
That's the well-known tafsir of it. إِلَّا الَّمَمْ is except for the small sins. Now we have to understand what is a small sin.
A small sin, we said, it's the one that is not mentioned as specific punishment, etc. But also it's something that is not done continuously. And that's why Allah Azzawajal, he said, the ayah in Surah Al-Imran, وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا ثَاعَلُوا فَاحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُوا أَنفُسَهُمْ ذَكَرُوا اللَّهَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُوا لِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَمَن يَغْفِرُ الظُّنُوبَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَلَمْ يُصِرُّوا عَلَى مَا ثَاعَلُوا وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ So even the Kabira could come into it under one angle.
Something that you did without intending it, without going back to it, without continuing it, and you did it and straight away you realized it was wrong, and you turned back to Allah Azawajal. This can be for the things that Allah Subhānahu wa Ta'ālā excuses. Because the statement here that matters is, وَمَن يَغْفِرُ الظُّنُوبَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَلَمْ يُصِرُّوا عَلَى مَا ثَاعَلُوا وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ They don't keep on doing the same thing over and over again.
Mostly it refers to the minor sins, but even a major sin that you only did one single time and you immediately regretted it and you immediately turned back to Allah. This is from the things that is, you hope that Allah Subhānahu wa Ta'ālā will forgive for a person. And Allah Azawajal knows best.
Qawwali, I would love to stay personally all night, I have no problem. But I think we've taken the time from the masjid and from the brothers and sisters. And I really appreciate all of your time and any listening and your good questions.
We ask Allah Subhānahu wa Ta'ālā اللهم اغفر لنا ما قدمنا وما أخرنا وما أسررنا وما أعلننا وما أسرفنا وما أنت أعلم به منا أنت المقدم وأنت المؤثر لا إله إلا أنت We ask Allah Subhānahu wa Ta'ālā اللهم آت نفوسنا تقواها وزكيها أنت خير من زكاها أنت وليها ومولاها We ask Allah to forgive us. We ask Allah to teach us beneficial knowledge. We ask Allah Subhānahu wa Ta'ālā to give us a taqwa and a tazkiyah for our souls.
That is what Allah Subhānahu wa Ta'ālā made easy for me to mention Allah and His best. والصلاة والسلام على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين
