For The Sinner Like Me

Asalaamu Aliakum

Bismil’laah, all praise goes to Allah, we thank him for giving us the opportunity to convey this reminder and we hope that we benefit from it.

Allah said:

      "By the soul and (by) Him who made it perfect, and then inspired it to understand what is wrong and what is right for it. Truly, successful is the one who purifies (his soul)." 91:7-9 

The believer always has to live between fear and hope. Always fearing Allah’s punishment but also having hope in his forgiveness. By fearing Allah a believer is more cautious of his actions, because he fears the hell fire, and having hope in Allah encourages the believer to always repent to Allah, no matter how much sin the person did or does. This balance between fear and hope will Inshaa Allah (with the will of Allah) keep us on the straight path. The path that we ask Allah to keep us on 17 times a day. 

Allah said:

     "Tell My servants that I am indeed the Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful. 15:49
     "And that My Penalty will be indeed the most grievous Penalty."15:50

Overcoming The Whispers Of Shaydan

As human beings we all have Fitra (natural inclination to do good) and our Fitra points out the good from the bad. One example is how when we were young we had this natural instinct that stealing and lying was wrong without someone telling us. As we grew up, we still had that Fitra inside us, but because Shaydan never gave us the chance to think we acted without thinking about our actions.
In order to make the right choice, we need to first give ourselves some time to think so that we can make the right decisions, because we can only repent when we realize our mistakes (with the help of Allah). Therefore, to overcome the whisper of shaydan we have to stop, think, make a firm decision to go back to Allah, start practicing the law of Allah and finally associate ourselves with righteous people. 

      When one is on the road to repentance shaydan whispers many things to his ears to discourage him. He might whisper such things like, "You have committed too many sins, "It’s too late to go back now," and his favorite, "You are young you still have time."Firstly, let's understand that sinning is part of human nature. The Prophet (saw) said, "Every person commits sins and the best sinners are those who repent." Many fall in the traps of the Devil; as a result closing the door to Allah’s mercy after sinning.Once a man came to the mosque of the Prophet (saw) complaining about his sins. The man was so overtaken by guilt and saddened by his state that the Prophet (saw) said to him, "Say this: O Allah, your forgiveness is greater than my sins and my hope in Your mercy is greater to me than my [evil] actions." The man said this and the Prophet (saw) said to him, "Say it again." The man repeated it, then the Prophet (saw) said to him, "Say it again." The man did it and the Prophet (saw) said to him, "Arise for, indeed, Allah has forgiven you!"

      When we understand the problem, make sincere intention to fix it, and take the right steps to change. Then Allah will help us, forgive us and turn our bad deeds into good deeds as proven in the Quran and the Sunnah. So let’s take advantage of this great opportunity while we still can.

Benefits Of Repenting

Allah Said:

   “Truly, Allah loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves.’’ 2:22

Do you want to drive disasters and accidents away and be safe from Fitnah (trials) and dilemma? You should ask for forgiveness.

Allah said:

    “But Allah would not punish them while you, [O Muhammad], are among them, and Allah would not punish them while they seek forgiveness.” 8:33

Do you want to have a strong body and be healthy; free of diseases and disabilities? You should ask for forgiveness.

Allah Said:

    “Ask Forgiveness of your Lord and then repent to Him. He will send [rain from] the sky upon you in showers and Increase you in strength [added] to your strength.” 11:52

And finally this next Hadith is one of the best analogy to show how much Allah loves those that go back to him and how happy he becomes with that servant.

The Prophet (saw) said,

    “Truly, Allah is happier with the repentance of His slave than one of you who is on his mount, and upon his  mount is his drink and food; then he loses his mount in the desert, and he searches for it until he loses hope; so he sleeps and then wakes up to find that his mount is beside him, and he says, ‘O’ Allah, you are my slave and I am your Lord’. He pronounced this mistake as a result of extreme happiness.”

#This reminder was not written by me. It was the work of Haaruut Maaruut. May Allah reward him. Feel free to comment!!!