[color=red][i]Reading today's BBC News article, this article came to my mind which i read this mornin. I find it quiet emotional but i still think u shuld read it as it really gets u thinkin[/i][/color]

[color=black][b]Title: Seeking Allah's Forgiveness [/b][/color]

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[color=green][b]This short synopsis is based upon a lecture of His Eminence Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri. It is an important spiritual discourse on the concept of ‘forgiveness’. This is a spiritually charged lecture which can only be appreciated if you watch it since tears will surely flow! Words cannot do justice to the topic discussed but merely provide an insight to it. So please watch the video/CD titled ‘Allah se maafi maango’, and allow the Shaykh to explain this concept without my marred words on the subject.

When Allah (swt) created man he placed within him a soul pristine clean, pure and chaste. However the blemishes of our sins and wrongdoings have made our sins sullied and impure, tainted and soiled. As time passes by we become more and more immersed in worldly pleasures, forgetting our orign and the place of our return. Yet despite our misdemeanors Allah is Rahman and Raheem, the Most Merciful and Compassionate. He is always ready to forgive and pardon our mistakes so it is imperative that we never feel abandoned or rejected. The act of seeking forgiveness is known as Tazkiyah, spiritual cleansing, so when we seek Allah’s (swt) mercy our souls will return to their origin in their original cleansed state. Once Sayyidina Aisha (RAA) asked the Holy Prophet (SAW) that if one is fortunate enough to find Layla-tul-Qadr (the night of decree) what they should ask for? The Holy Prophet (SAW) replied that if one is fortunate enough to find Layla-tul-Qadr they should ask for forgiveness.

It is also narrated that every night Allah (SWT) ascends to the lowest heaven and opens up his hands and says “Whoever has sinned in the day ask forgiveness now so that I may forgive him before the night is over”.

Asking for forgiveness washes away our sins which results in our souls being cleaned. The inner meaning of repentance in Arabic is ‘Return’. It is said ‘He repented’ meaning ‘He returned’. So repentance is to return from what is blameworthy in the law of Islam to what is praiseworthy in it.

Asking for forgiveness is the act that Allah (SWT) loves best. Allah (SWT) loves the repentance of a sinner more then the prostrations of a believer. This is because the believer is always focused on gaining reward and being admitted to paradise, whereas a sinner is always focused on the mercy of Allah (SWT).

Allah (SWT) states that “if there was such a world in which there were only believers I would destroy such a world and replace it with a world which consisted of both believers and sinners”.

It is stated in Hadith Bukhari that the ‘Holy Prophet (SAW) used to ask for forgiveness seventy times a day even though he was born sinless’.

An example of the Holy Prophet (SAW) sinless state is reflected in the way his food was digested. When we digest clean, beautiful smelling food it is disposed from our bodies in a foul smelling manner due to the foul state of our insides. However when the Holy Prophet (SAW) used to eat food that was clean and beautiful it used to be disposed smelling better then what it was when he took it in. Thus reflecting the transparency of our beloved Prophet and the Noor (light) of our beloved which no other human possesses.The Holy Prophet (SAW) had no sins yet asked for forgiveness to set the example for his Ummah (community) since repentance makes one rise in status in the eyes of Allah (SWT) and makes one become closer to Allah (SWT).

Allah (SWT) is so magnanimous in his mercy that he always looks to excuse and forgive the sinner, which beautifully illustrated in a story narrated in Hadith Bukhari. In this incident a man had committed 99 murders and was feeling ashamed and wanted to repent. However he was not sure if Allah (SWT) would accept his repentance as a result he went and asked a knowledgeable teacher if Allah (SWT) would accept his repentance. The teacher replied in the negative and told the man that because he had committed so many murders there was absolutely no way that Allah (SWT) could ever accept his forgiveness. This negative reply angered the murderer and as a result he killed the teacher who had given him this answer, thus he had now killed 100 people. However the murderer began to feel remorseful again and wondered whether Allah (SWT) could still forgive him, so he went to ask another religious teacher if it was possible for him to receive forgiveness. This religious teacher was more spiritual then the last teacher and replied positively that it would be possible for him to receive forgiveness. He ordered the man to go to the next village and sit and pray amongst a gathering of Allah (SWT) fearing men. This was because, due to the benefits and blessings of sitting in a gathering amongst the close ones to Allah, his prayer for repentance may be accepted. However on the way to the next town the man died and angels of Hell and the angels of Heaven both came to collect his soul. They began to argue and could not decide which one of them should take his soul. It was then decided by Allah (SWT) that they should measure the distance of the earth and if the distant he had traveled was longer and closer towards the village he was going towards then the angel of mercy should take his soul, and if the distance was shorter then the angel of punishment should take his soul. However when they measured the earth the angels realized that he had had died exactly half way, so Allah (SWT) ordered the land on the side that he had traveled to expand and the land on the other side to shrink. In performing this miracle it shows to what extent Allah (SWT) would go in his want to forgive sinners thus creating his own excuses to forgive them.

In another incident stated in Hadith Bukhari a man sinned and repented on 70 occasions, he continuously broke his promise not to sin, seventy times. He then became too ashamed to ask Allah (SWT) for forgiveness again, as a result he heard a voice from above ‘Ask for forgiveness and still I’ll forgive you.

Thus in repentance one should always focus on the FAZAL (mercy) of Allah (SWT) prior to his ADL (justice), because Allah (SWT) displays his Fazal over his Adl, as demonstrated in the two incidents narrated above. It is narrated that if mankind knew how much Allah (SWT) loved them they would lose all their senses in ecstasy with happiness and as a result their soul would separate from their body. Allah (SWT) loves us seventy times more than how much a mother loves her newborn child, and even more.

Hazrat Yahya (A.S) was a beloved Prophet of Allah (SWT). From the tender age of five he had fear of Allah (SWT) implemented in his heart .He constantly felt ashamed and remorseful about himself, and the sins that he had committed, even though he was a young, innocent child. Whenever he heard someone mention Allah (SWT) and the Day of Judgment, he used to cry hysterically and stop eating for days, As a result of this his father, Hadrat Zakriyya (as) and his wife decided not to talk about these subjects in front of him.

However due to his natural desire to listen to topics about his Beloved Lord he once hid behind a woman who was sitting in a gathering led by Hazrat Zakariyya (pbh). The gathering was discussing the Day of Judgment and all of a sudden they heard a scream and found it to be Hazrat Yahya (A.S). Hazrat Yahya (A.S) jumped up and ran to the mountains. Inside a cave he fell into a sajda (prostration) to Allah (SWT) and started to beg for Allah (SWT) for forgiveness. He stayed like this for three days and three nights. Meanwhile his parents were going frantic with worry and were looking everywhere for him. They met a shepherd and asked him if he knew where his son was. The shepherd replied that he had not seen their son. However he told them that he had heard crying from the mountains everyday which was so full of pain that as a result his sheep had stopped eating for days. Hazrat Yahya (A.S’s) parents realized that this must be their son. Later they found their son in the mountains weak and frail, given that he hadn’t eaten for three days.

When they found their son, he looked at them with his eyes blinded in tears and asked “Oh angel of death have you come already? Please give me a few more moments to return home so that I may ask my parents for their forgiveness”. His mother took him in her arms and said “I am your Mother, Why do you cry, you are young and innocent?”, to which Hazrat Yahya (A.S) replied, “Oh Mother, if you can guarantee that on the day of Judgement My Lord would not question me, then I would stop crying”. His mother truthfully replied that she was not able to give him assurance that he will not be questioned on the Day of Judgment. He then asked her that “how could she then ask him to stop crying and worrying”.

This is the condition of Allah (SWT’s) beloved people who are guaranteed to be admitted to paradise. At such a young and tender age Hazrat Yahya (A.S) felt such fear and consciousness of Allah, even from when he was such an innocent and young child. Hazrat Yahya (A.S) mother took him home and put him to bed. She lovingly told him that he should not cry and worry so much, should rest for a while and tucked her beloved son into bed. Hazrat Yahya (A.S) had just drifted into sleep for a little while, when he heard the voice of Allah (SWT) “Oh Yahya, have you now forgotten me and the Day of Judgement?” To this Hazrat Yahya, jumped out of bed, and ran into the mountains and again disappeared, where he would remember Allah, in isolation, and consistently cry for forgiveness.

In another incident an Awliya (Saint/Sufi) of Allah (SWT) asked his mother to promise him three things. Firstly he asked her to promise him that when he dies she should tie a rope around his neck, swing his corpse and beat it on the four walls of the house, whilst saying “This is what happens to disobedient creatures of Allah (SWT)”.
The second promise that he made his mother make was that she should carry out his funeral at night so that people could not view his corpse and whisper that ‘there goes the disobedient sinner to his grave’.

Thirdly he asked his mother to promise him that after he was buried she should stand on his grave so that when the angels come to question him, their questioning would not be so severe, due to the blessings of His Mother’s feet, under which is Paradise.

After some difficult persuasion, his mother had finally agreed to the request and promised him these things. The moment of his death arrived, his mother was about to tie a rope around his neck when she heard a voice from above, “Move back Oh woman! This man is amongst my beloveds”.

It is also narrated that Imam Abu Hanifah (Founder of the Hanafi school of thought), after every Isha prayer, used to go to the mosque and pull on his beard, whilst saying to Allah (SWT) “I am a great sinner please forgive me”. He used to be so overcome with remorse that he used to faint and when he used to wake up he used to say “It would be the biggest miracle in the world if I am forgiven on the day of judgment.”. Imam Abu Hanifah is known to the Islamic world as the ‘Greatest Imam’, and when he passed away he had so many people assembled for the funeral prayer, that the prayer had to be performed six times.

These are the touching heartfelt incidents of the Prophets and Awliyas of Allah (SWT). They were the beloved of Allah (SWT) and were so close to him, and felt such sincere and genuine remorse for the sins that they hadn’t even committed.

In another incident stated in Hadith Bukhari the Holy Prophet (SAW) passed a group of people who were laughing and joking. When the Holy Prophet (SAW) saw them he asked them ‘Have you received a guarantee from Allah (SWT) that you will not be questioned on the Day of Judgment. The people who were laughing and joking became quiet and replied that they had not received any guarantee from Allah (SWT) that they would not be questioned on the Day of Judgment. The Holy Prophet (SAW) asked them ‘Then how can you be laughing and so carefree’?

To sum up we know that our Allah (SWT) is merciful and has provided many ways for us to seek his forgiveness and closeness. Therefore we should all realize the purpose of our creation and should all sincerely ask for forgiveness for all our sins. Allah (SWT) says ‘O my slaves who have committed excess against their own souls, despair not of the mercy of Allah, Undoubtedly, Allah forgives all sins. Verily He is the forgiving and merciful (Al Zumar; 53).

MAY ALLAH (SWT) IMPLEMENT IN OUR HEARTS SINCERE AND GENUINE REPENTENCE FOR ALL THE SINS THAT WE HAVE COMMITTED KNOWINGLY AND UNKNOWINGLY. AMEEN [/b][/color]

[color=red]Translated by Sister Alveena Salim [/color]

[color=red][b]taken from:[/b][/color] www.minhaj.co.uk

[color=red]....For a more detailed commentary please Watch the Video “VD12” titled “Allah se Maafi Mango” (Seek Forgiveness from Allah)....Available from your local Minhaj-ul-Quran Centre.....

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