Servants of the Most Merciful
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Episode 8: Allah Turns Their Sins Into Good Deeds
Dr. Omar Suleiman dives into the 7th quality of the servants of the Most Merciful.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Okay. Bismillah. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Audhu billahi minash shaitanir rajim. Bismillahir rahmanir rahim. Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. Wa ala alwani ila amma dhalimeen. Wa ala alqibatu lil muttaqeen. Allahumma salli wa sallim wa baraka al abdika wa rasulika Muhammadin salallahu alayhi wa sallam wa ala anihi wa sahbihi wa sallim tasneemin kathira. So, alhamdulillah rabbil alameen. It's, you know, we're getting into these last few nights of Ramadan and tonight we'll actually be covering what the ulama call one of arja ayat fi kitabillah, one of the most hopeful verses in the book of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. I know that last night there was, it was heavier than some people might have expected. And I pray that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow that to activate us towards good and that we don't become debilitated by any of that. Allahumma ameen. I pray that Allah azawajal forgive us for all of our transgressions and all of our sins wherever they may be. Allahumma ameen. So, this ayah is ayah 70 now where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says illa man taaba wa aamana wa amila amalan salihan fa olaika yubaddeelu Allahu sayyi'atihim hasanat wa kana Allahu ghafooran raheema unless he repents and believes and does righteous deeds. Now, of course, this is building off of the last, the last verse where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said that these are people that do not commit these major sins. So, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentioned the three worst major sins and that was shirk, murder and adultery. And Allah follows that up by saying, except for those who repent and believe and do righteous deeds, for them Allah will change their evil deeds into good deeds. Wa kana Allahu ghafooran raheema
and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is ever forgiving, most compassionate. Now, this is profound, obviously, because it's coming after the worst of deeds and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is offering amnesty as he always does, even with the worst of deeds, that you still have a chance to repent and to turn back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But this verse offers some serious, some serious pause for reflection because it has an interesting sequence to it. Okay? So, for example, why would Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala say ta'aba wa amana, repented and believed, isn't belief repentance in and of itself? What goes beyond the amnesty? So, the ilmah, they say, the first thing to mention here is that the people already have the benefit of the pardoning of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This goes beyond the forgiveness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And subhanAllah, today I was reflecting actually with Sheikh Haseeb Noor on the verse in Surah Al-Ankabut, where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, walaikana taqabbalu AAanhum ahsana maAAamilu that those are the people that we accept the best la nukaffirana AAanhum sayyiatihim wa la najaziAAanahum ahsana lathee kanoo yaAAmaloon In the second page of Surah Al-Ankabut, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says that we will remove and expiate their sins and we will reward them for only the best of what they used to do. So, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala removes all of your sins nukaffira AAanhum sayyiatihim, Allah removes all of your sins, the major ones and the minor ones with tawbah, with repentance. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala rewards you to the best of your good deeds. So, if you're thinking about the spectrum here, even the most disgusting and filthy of sins are forgiven and even the supposedly most insignificant good deeds are forgiven. And even the supposedly most insignificant good deeds or the good deeds that have some deficiencies in them that are noble in their performance or noble in what they represent but their performance falls short of the quality of those good deeds, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
nataqabbalu AAanhum ahsana maAAamilu, Allah accepts the best of their performance. So, the scholars here they mentioned that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has already put aside that He will forgive you. But now Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is going to the next level. Allah azawajal will reward you. And what does it mean? yubaddilu allahu sayyiatihim hasanat, Allah will change their evil deeds into good deeds. So, inshaAllah ta'ala, let's pause with this for a while. Some of the scholars they say that in this ayah, tawbah precedes aamana, that they repented before believing because tawbah here ay aslamah, tawbah here means they became Muslim and aamana is the realization, the reality of that Islam coming to be in their own hearts and in their actions. Okay, so remember I don't know if it was last night or the night before we talked about this idea that when two words appear with one another Islam and iman, Islam refers to the external reality, iman refers to the internal reality. And so some of the scholars say tawbah here is aslamah, that they became Muslim, aamana here refers to that belief actually permeating the heart, penetrating the heart and becoming an inward reality as well. Some of the scholars they say here that tawbah also means major sins because the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, he said that he is not a believer when he commits murder, he is not a believer when he commits zina. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam did not mean by that that you are a kafir, that you are a disbeliever, but that that action is so far removed from belief and I'm not going to be able to go into detail with that hadith, but that deed, major sins don't take a person out of Islam according to the creed of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah, but that deed is so removed from belief that person is not a believer at the time that they are committing that murder, at the time that they are committing that adultery.
So some of the scholars say tawbah here precedes aamana because it's turning away from those things that cannot coincide with belief. So tawbah here means either aslamah, became Muslim, or referring to the major sins as well. The scholars also mention here that the recourse of shirk, the recourse of polytheism, is monotheism, the recourse of shirk is tawheed, and the recourse of abandonment of salah, of abandoning the prayer, is iqamat as salah, is establishing the prayer. And the recourse for zina, the recourse for adultery, is a life of chastity. Everything that Allah tells you to turn away from, there is a recourse for it, a practical recourse for it. So the scholars then had some very interesting tafasir about this idea. What does it mean, tabdeel al-sayyi'at bil hasanat, that Allah exchanges the sins for good deeds? Does that mean that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala literally takes your sins and turns them into good deeds? Does that mean that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allows your good deeds to remain, but He removes your sins? Does that mean that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala doesn't necessarily reward your good deeds, but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala guides you to good practices in the place of bad practices? Okay, so what does it exactly mean? Does it mean, again, there are a few possibilities here. One, that Allah exchanges your sins for good deeds. So that would mean that every sin that you committed has now become a good deed. Two, that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allows your sins to be forgiven, but He allows your good deeds to stay. Okay, so your sins are forgiven,
but the good deeds that you did before repenting to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, before becoming Muslim, those good deeds will stay. And the third possibility is not necessarily referring to the forgiveness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, because that's already established, but it is referring to the idea that your bad practices are replaced by good practices. Okay, so yubadilallahu sayyi'atihim hasanat could either mean that the sins themselves become good deeds through your practice, or they become such in the sight of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So let's look at what some of the scholars said about this. So Sa'eed ibn Jubair radiallahu ta'ala, he said, ayy abdalahum bi'ibadatil awthan ibadatillah. Allah exchanged for them worship of the idols for the worship of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. wa abdalahum biqitalil muslimeen qitalan ma'il muslimeen. Okay, it's beautiful when you're thinking about this from a Meccan context, all right? That Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala replaced their fighting against the Muslims with fighting with the Muslims. And by the way, there is a practical reality of this too. How many times do you see, it's very rare, but when it happens, it's beautiful. Islamophobes becoming some of the greatest defenders of Islam, right? People that attack the Prophet ﷺ becoming defenders of the Prophet ﷺ. So abdalahum biqitalil muslimeen qitalan ma'il muslimeen. Which is, you know, you think about how many people fought against the Prophet ﷺ in Badr that were then fighting with the Prophet ﷺ in the battles that were to come next. wa abdalahum bi nikahil mushrikat nikahil mu'minat. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala replaced their engaging in intimacy with the disbelievers with halal avenues of marriage instead.
Imam Hassan al-Basri rahimahullah said, abdalahumullah bil'amal al-sayyi al-amal al-salih. Allah replaced bad deeds with their good deeds, meaning the ability. Like when you say, allahumma a'inni ala dhikrika wa shukrika wa husni ibadatik. Oh Allah, help me, oh Allah, assist me in remembering you properly. In, you know, bi shukri, allahumma a'inni ala dhikrika wa shukrika wa husni ibadatik. To remember you properly, to thank you properly, and to worship you properly. Okay, so Allah azawajal assisted them by finding replacements for them or guiding them to replacements for them. wa abdalahum bil shirk ikhlasah. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala replaced their shirk with sincerity. wa abdalahum bil fujuri ihsana, wa bil kufri islama. And Allah replaced their immodesty with chastity and their disbelief with Islam. So that's one way of looking at it. The scholar said that, you know, quite literally, and there's a benefit to this by the way, even if you don't believe it to be the exclusive interpretation, which is not the majority opinion, by the way. The majority opinion is what I'm going to cover next, which is a literal transformation of the bad deeds into good deeds, meaning punishment to reward. But there's still a benefit to this idea that your bad practices are replaced by good practices. And so the same faculties that you used to use to harm are now used to do good. The same faculties that you work acts of ingratitude with are now being used to work acts of gratitude with. Like Wahshi ibn Harut, subhanAllah, the man who threw the spear that killed Hamza radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum. Wahshi was the one that threw the spear that killed Hamza radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum. And he became Muslim later on and he made tawbah. But Wahshi lived with the trauma, the memory of having killed someone so beloved to the Prophet ﷺ and causing such harm to the Prophet ﷺ, right?
Causing that pain to the Prophet ﷺ. And so when Hurub al-Ridda came around, the battles of apostasy, Musaylim al-Kaddab, who was a vicious man, who was a man that claimed prophethood, that murdered many companions, that murdered many hufadh, and of course claimed to be not just the Prophet but claimed to abolish, abrogate many of the rulings of the Prophet ﷺ. Was really threatening Islam at its core from Rasul and Risalah, from the messenger to the message. And Wahshi was the one that threw the spear as a Muslim that killed Musaylim al-Kaddab, Musaylim al-Dalair, who was killing Islam in every way possible. And Wahshi said one for one, he said, قَتَلْتُ خَيْرَ النَّاسِ I killed the best of people and I killed the worst of people. Right? This hand took the life of the best of people and took the life of the worst of people. So basically showing this idea of redemption that Allah ﷻ places someone on a path of redemption. Okay? But what is this? What's the full effect of this ayah? And this is truly beautiful. SubhanAllah, it's mind-blowing how unmatched Allah's mercy is. If you remember we started this series by saying Ar-Rahman is so unmatched in His mercy that to call someone Ar-Rahman is not allowed. Not just to call someone Ar-Rahman, to call someone Ar-Rahman because the mercy of Allah is so... It is all-encompassing. There is nothing like it. I remember last episode we said that, you know, SubhanAllah, there are 99 forms of mercy that are saved for the Day of Judgment. If you know what the experience of those forms of mercy are, may Allah allow us to experience all of them on Yawm al-Qiyamah. Everyone say Ameen. May Allah allow us to experience all 100 parts of His mercy on Yawm al-Qiyamah. This is what this looks like on the Day of Judgment.
Ibn Abbas said, their bad deeds literally become good deeds. Not that the good deeds that they did prior stay and the bad deeds are forgiven. No, Allah transfers their bad deeds into good deeds. And here are the following ahadith. One of them is narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr radiAllahu ta'ala anhuma. He says that the Prophet ﷺ said, a man from my nation will be called before all of creation on the Day of Judgment. And 99 scrolls will be spread out before his eyes to where he can see the end of each of those scrolls. So he is looking on, you know, at his scrolls. SubhanAllah, imagine how doomed you would feel if you're standing on the Day of Judgment before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala lays out 99 scrolls, all sins, and you know, each one of them reaching the distance of your sight. How doomed would you feel in those moments as you're standing before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? And the Prophet ﷺ will say to him, says that Allah will say to him, do you deny any of this? So you're looking at these scrolls in front of your eyes. May Allah protect us from that wuquf. And you're changing colors. You're literally changing colors because of how distraught you are looking out at those scrolls. And you are reading your sins. Iqra kitabak, right? No one else is reading your book to you. You're reading your book. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, do you deny any part of this? Right? Is any one of this, you know, is any one of these deeds off? And the man will say, laa ya rabbi, I have nothing to say for myself. Ya Allah, all of it is true. I can't say anything about it.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will then say, have my recording scribes, the mala'ika, the angels that were recording, were they unjust to you? Were they unjust to you? SubhanAllah, we've been talking about angels this whole month. And one of the first episodes was the pens, hold your pens, right? So Allah is asking you, this is the day of justice. Allah is asking you, were the mala'ika unjust with you? Did they record something, you know, in an exaggerated fashion? Do you dispute any of this? This is a lie. And the person would say, ya Allah, no, they're being completely fair. So this is a person that's doing it, he's acknowledging everything. Ya Allah, I did it all. 99 scrolls, I'm guilty of every one of these sins. And changing colors, the mala'ika were not unfair to me, the angels were not unfair to me. It's just me. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will say, okay, do you have any good deeds to show for yourself? Any hasanat to show for yourself? And the man will put his head down and say, ya Rabb, I've got nothing. I've got no more good deeds to show for myself. So the comparison of his sins to his good deeds are far apart, right? Far apart. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says to him, indeed, you have hasanat with us. Wa innaka laa tuzlam, and you will not be wrong today. And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will call for a card that says, ashhadu an laa ilaha illallah, wa ashhadu anna muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh. I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and that Muhammad salallahu alayhi wasalam is his slave and messenger. And so the man sees the card and he says, ya Rabb, what's this card going to do with all of these scrolls? And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will simply respond to him and say,
innaka laa tuzlam, you will not be treated unjustly. And so the scrolls will be placed on one side of the mizan, on one side of the balance, and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will place the card that says, ashhadu an laa ilaha illallah, wa ashhadu anna muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh, on the other side, and the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said, that the side of the scale that has the card in it will sink down, and it will send all of those scrolls flying. It will send all of those scrolls flying. In another hadith, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said from Abu Dhab, radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, also an authentic hadith, so the previous hadith is authentic, and this is another sahih hadith, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said, I know the last of the people of the fire to depart from the fire, and the last of the people of Jannah to enter into Jannah. So this is a person that's done a lot of bad stuff, right? So this is the worst of this ummah. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said, a man will be brought forth, and he will say, ask about his small sins and hide his large sins. Ask about his small sins and hide his large sins. So it will be said to him, did you do this and that on such a day? Did you do this and that on such a day? Did you do this and that? And so realize this is a man that's committed kabah, he's committed major sins. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, only ask him about the minor sins. Let's put the major sins to the side for now, and let's just ask him about the minor sins. So he's asked about each one of those minor sins. Did you do this? Did you do that? And he will say yes. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will say to him,
for each of your sayyiat, for each one of your sins, is a reward, is a hasana. I'm changing your sins into a good deed. So the man will say, Ya Rabb, laqad amiltu ashyaa maa araha haahuna. He said, oh Allah, but I did things and I don't see it here. I did some of these deeds, I did some sins that I don't see here. So if you connect the narration to the previous narration, the man says, I can't blame the angels, I can't say they were unblessed. Bear with me. Every one of these sins is mine. Nothing is missing. I don't really have much good to show for myself. And so now when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, you know what, I'm going to turn all of these sins into hasanats, all of these sins into good deeds. The man starts to complain and say, Ya Rabb, laqad amiltu ashyaa maa araha haahuna. But there's some sins, oh Allah, that I did that I don't see written here. And Abu Dharr radiallahu ta'ala said that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam dhahika hatta badat nawajidu, that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam laughed so hard when he narrated this hadith that you could see the back of his teeth. That the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam smiled and laughed so widely at the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala upon this man that you could see his back teeth, his molar teeth, salallahu alayhi wasalam, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to witness that smile. Allahumma ameen. So this is for the major sinners of the ummah. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said, shafa'ati, my intercession on the day of judgment is for the major sinners of my ummah. Subhanallah, what then of the person who abstains from major sins, right? What then of the person that is guilty illa lamam, just for the minor sins, the slip ups here and there and always turns back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala right away. Right. So like, you know, really perceiving the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, even trying to comprehend the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
It's really it's truly unmatched and it's unfathomable because we can't think of showing that type of mercy to anyone else. And so when we hear of it, the way that Allah will show mercy to the members of this ummah, that shows you, by the way, the value of la ilaha illallah muhammadun rasulallah. That shows you the value of faith. Your brothers and sisters never allow low faith to become no faith. Never allow, no matter how low you sink, do not forsake that card of la ilaha illallah muhammadun rasulallah. Right. That's the first card that is the heaviest card on the day of judgment, heavier than any one of your deeds, heavier than your laylatul qadr, heavier than your sadaqa, heavier than your salm, heavier than all of it is la ilaha illallah muhammadun rasulallah. Don't forsake that card, no matter how low you get, even if you fall. May Allah protect us all into major sins. Do not forsake that card of la ilaha illallah muhammadun rasulallah. So this was the proof that Ibn Abbas radiallahu anhu and scholars mentioned that Allah would actually switch their sins. yubaddeelullahu sayyiatihim hasanat Now that is on the day of judgment, if a person made tawbah, if a person repented to Allah. And by the way, I only quoted two authentic hadith. There are about nine of them that I found that all speak to the same scene, but give us different elements and different sites of the same scene. The point is that that is one way of tabdeel al sayyiat bil hasanat, Allah azawajal switching out the sins for the good deeds. However, what happens when a person ta'aba wa amana in the meaning of becoming Muslim? Like what happens in effect at that moment for them? Abu Sa'id al khudri radiallahu anhu, he said
Itha aslam al abduh fa hasuna islamuhu kataba allahu lahu kulla hasanatin kana azlafaha wa muhyat anhu kullu sayyiatin kana azlafaha thumma kana ba'da thalika al qisas al hasanatu bi asrati amthaliha ila sab'i mi'ati dhif wa sayyiatu bi mithliha illa an yatajawaz Allah azawajal anha So this hadith which is an authentic hadith, the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said that when a person becomes Muslim and their Islam is sound, Allah will decree reward for every good deed that they did before. In the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, every good deed that they did before becoming Muslim, Allah azawajal will preserve it. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will remove every sin that they committed before that moment. So subhanAllah, even though one of the requirements for a good deed to be accepted is that it's done for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. When a person becomes Muslim, Allah takes all of the good deeds that were done before and it's as if they were done for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because Allah will not let that good be erased. So that good is upgraded to a good that would benefit them in the hereafter as if it was done for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as well and every bad deed that they would have done would have been erased. And then the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said after that, it's al-qisas, it's the reckoning. Each good deed will be rewarded 10 times up to 700 times and each bad deed will be rewarded as it is unless Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala yatajawaz an, unless Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgives it all together. Okay, so this is the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala once again and there are so many beautiful incidents and you got to realize that most of the companions of the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam had committed these major sins before becoming Muslim. And you know, as I said, some of them struggled with them even in their initial prohibition.
And you know, there's one hadith that I'll share with you that just shows you the beauty of this. There was an old man and this is an authentic narration, an old man with sunken eyes, shaykhun kabir. He's an old man and his eyes were sunken and he came to the messenger of Allah salallahu alayhi wasalam and look at how he described himself. He said, Ya Rasulullah, a man lived the life of betrayal and all sorts of immorality to the point that Ya Rasulullah, there was not a sin that exists that he did not commit. Like I am a person that did every imaginable sin in the world, the sins that involve yawlim nafsa, the sins that involve a person with himself and the sins that involve other people. There is not a single sin that he did not do. And he says to the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam, if you took his sins alone and you were to distribute them among the whole of mankind, they would all be doomed. Like this one person has committed so much sin that if you were to take all of his sins and he's talking about himself, you were to take all of his sins, all of my sins and put them, you know, distribute them across mankind. Wallahi la halakuh, they would all perish. And he says to the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam, hal lahu tawba, is there any hope for this person? Is there any hope for this person? Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wasalam, he said to him, Islam, did you become Muslim? He said, ask for me, he said, ash hadu an la ilaha illallah wa ash hadu anna Muhammad an abduhu wa rasuluhu. He said, yes, he said, ask for me, ash hadu an la ilaha illallah wa ash hadu anna Muhammad an abduhu wa rasuluhu. The prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said, Allah will forgive you for everything you have done before this.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will replace all of your evil deeds with good deeds. The man said, ya rasulullah, even all of the betrayal and all of the past deeds and all of the immorality, ya rasulullah, all of it, all the fujur, all of that, all that I committed. The prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said, even your betrayal, your immoral deeds, your lack of chastity, everything. So this old man started to cry and he walked away from the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam and he said, la ilaha illallah, allahu akbar. So he just kept on repeating this old man, kept on repeating this on his way down and some of the commentators say he died shortly after this subhanAllah. So he didn't live long after this. He turned back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgave him for absolutely everything and Allah's mercy completely blew him away. So what are the implications for us? The next ayah, wa man ta'aba wa amina salihan, fa inna hu yatoobu ila Allahi mataba. But you really want to know what sincere repentance looks like? Whoever repents, wa amina salihan, and does good deeds, then verily he is the one who returns to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala the way Allah should be returned to. So the scholars, they say about this a few things. Number one, when a person sincerely repents to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, maghfirah is there, the forgiveness is there. Allah forgives them for everything from the moment of their sincere repentance. That is an unconditional forgiveness that comes from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But you don't just want your repentance to be a moment. You want it to be a new trajectory. You want it to be, you know, you want it to be a new page with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
You want it to be a new commitment with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying, look, your forgiveness is there, your amnesty is there. And think about, you know, how relieving that was for those companions of the Prophet ﷺ who committed all sorts of horrors before they repented to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But amina salihan, but if you really want to make your repentance good, then replace your bad habits with good habits. Replace the time that you used to spend in doing evil with time that you now do good with. Umar bin Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala said, if you are in a place and you sinned against Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, don't leave that very same place except that you have done a good deed that could be put in its place. So that that place, that setting will testify for you on the day of judgment, not against you. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, wa man taaba wa amina salihan, fa inna hu yatubu ila Allahi mataba. And the scholars also say that one of the effects of this is that's why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is not just afoo, but afooun kareem. Afooun kareemun. Right? These are both authentic narrations, by the way, that in the last ten nights, Allahumma innaka afooun tuhibbu al-afwa fa'afoo anni, or Allahumma innaka afooun kareemun tuhibbu al-afwa fa'afoo anni. Oh Allah, you are the most forgiving and the most generous. You love to forgive. So forgive me. They say that that's because his karam, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is kareem, he's generous in that, you know, when connected to his repentance, his forgiveness, his forgiveness is full and unconditional. His forgiveness is full and unconditional. That Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not just remove the sin, but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is so generous, kareem, right? That it's unconditional and that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in his karam preserves your good,
replaces your sins, your deeds on the day of judgment, and it's completely unconditional in his acceptance of your repentance. Allah azza wa jalla says, wahoo alladhi yaqbalu tawbatu an ibadihi, wa yaafoo an assayeeat, wa ya'lamu ma taf'aloon. Someone might say, but that's not for me. I don't deserve this. I don't deserve this. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, wahoo alladhi yaqbalu tawbatu an ibadihi, he is the one that accepts the repentance of his servants, wa yaafoo an assayeeat, and Allah overlooks all of their sins. And then a person in their mind might be saying, but, you know, I've done a lot, or is the effect of it gone? Am I really going to be completely forgiven? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, wa ya'lamu ma taf'aloon. Allah knows what you do. Allah knows who you are. Allah knows who he created. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knows our weaknesses and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knows our efforts to overcome those weaknesses. And so what's the point to come to in conclusion insha'Allah ta'ala? The mark of sincere tawbah is whether you have turned the page that Allah has erased or not. So if you're thinking about turning that page with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the page is already erased from your sin, if you sought his forgiveness sincerely. But the mark of everlasting repentance is whether you're going to turn that erased page and now fill it with good deeds. The Prophet ﷺ he said, ittaqillaha haythuma kunt, wa atbir al-siyyata al-hasana tatamhuha, wa khaliq al-naasa bikhuluqin hasan. The Prophet ﷺ said, be mindful of Allah wherever you are and follow up a bad deed with a good deed, tamhuha, it will wipe it out, it will be put in its place. Wa khaliq al-naasa bikhuluqin hasan, and treat the people with the best of character, treat the people with good character.
The scholars say that this hadith in brief here as it relates to this insha'Allah ta'ala and then we'll conclude for the night. Ittaqillaha haythuma kunt, if a person is mindful of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wherever they are, then they would avoid the sins in totality, right? Mindful sinning, because you know there's a difference between the slip-ups and again mindful sinning. Taqwa as the Sahaba demonstrated for us is that you walk through a bunch of thorny bushes and you hold yourself tight to make sure you don't get pricked. Now inevitably you're going to get pricked a few times and what you do is you're going to hold yourself closer and heal and move forward, right? You're not going to jump into the thorns, you're going to heal and move closer and move forward. So they say taqwa is comprehensive. Taqwa is an attitude. Taqwa is not limited to one deed, taqwa is an attitude and a person should have taqwa with their worship, taqwa with their good deeds and sins, taqwa with the rights of people upon them, taqwa with their family, taqwa. Taqwa is staying away from evil, staying away from evil. So it's comprehensive and that there's an element of taqwa in everything that you do. And then Allah says, the Prophet ﷺ says, follow up the sin with a good deed. So after you commit the sin, the inevitable sinning that you will, follow it up with a good deed instead. وَخَارِقِ النَّاس بِخُلُقٍ حَسَنٍ And treat the people with the best of character. That's also comprehensive. So taqwa is your comprehensive means of avoiding evil, mindful evil with Allah ﷻ and with those that Allah has assigned rights to and Allah has assigned very specific rights. So being in a comprehensive way, mindful of Allah and the end of this is to be mindful of the people around you.
Okay, and in the middle of this, when you slip up, make sure you followed up with good instead. So ibadur rahman are not people that are sinless. No one gets to a point where they're sinless. Ibadur rahman are not people that do not commit sins, but ibadur rahman are people that take their slip ups and turn them into, turn them into new connections with Allah ﷻ. So they take their sins and they convert them into good deeds. They take their distance from Allah ﷻ and they develop resolve through what they felt with that distance to make up for it by drawing especially close to Allah ﷻ. Ibadur rahman are not people that are incapable of sin. Ibadur rahman are people that specifically desire Allah's forgiveness and His pleasure. And Allah ﷻ is a'fooun kareemun, Allah ﷻ is most forgiving and most generous. We ask Allah ﷻ, Allahumma innaka a'fooun kareemun tuhibbul afwa fa'afoo anna. Allahumma innaka a'fooun kareemun tuhibbul afwa fa'afoo anna. Allahumma innaka a'fooun kareemun tuhibbul afwa fa'afoo anna. Oh Allah, you are the most forgiving and the most generous. You love to forgive, so forgive each and every single one of us. Your brothers and sisters, I ask you as I will every night insha'Allah ta'ala to please keep myself, my family in your du'a. The yaqeen team members and their families in your du'a insha'Allah ta'ala. And please keep each other in your du'a. May Allah ﷻ reward you all, accept it from you all and keep on striving for Laylatul Qadr bi'idhnillahi ta'ala. May Allah ﷻ allow us to be amongst those who observe Ramadan in its totality and who observe Laylatul Qadr in its totality. And may Allah ﷻ make us amongst those that receive His complete forgiveness. Allahumma ameen. Jazakumullahu khayran. Wassalamu ala ala nabiyyina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'in.
Assalaamu alaikum.
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