(Never) Losing hope
“Despair not of the mercy of Allah. Verily, Allah forgives all sins!”
Surat 39 Az-Zumar Ayat 53
Qul yaa'ibaadiyal lazeena asrafoo 'alaaa anfusihim laa taqnatoo mirrahmatil laah; innal laaha yaghfiruz zunooba jamee'aa; innahoo Huwal Ghafoorur Raheem
Say: “O 'Ibadi (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah, verily Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
Amongst the infinite and great attributes of Allahﷻ is His ﷻ Mercy. Wherever one is in life, whatever one has or has not done, the Creator Allahﷻ is always there, always ready and always ready to forgive and guide us. What does it take? It just takes us to ask and to make repentance unto Himﷻ . We can never doubt that Allahﷻ will forgive us and we can never doubt that Heﷻ will forgive others too.
It is an easy trap when we’re feeling not so good to turn to others and think he or she is wrong, or that he or she is doing wrong. Why do we have to make others wrong? The reality is that making others wrong does not make us any more right!
There is only one single method of making oneself right and that is making oneself right before Allahﷻ by begging Himﷻ for forgiveness for straying from the straight path; forgiveness for major straying and forgiveness for minor straying from the path.
Surah 2 Al Baqarah Ayat 222
Inna Allaha yuhibbu attawwabeenawayuhibbu almutatahhireen
Truly, Allah loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves.
Our beloved Prophet Muhammadﷺ , the best of creation, repented 100 times daily.
“O mankind! Do tawbah (repent) to Allah and seek his forgiveness, for surely I do so 100 times every single day.” (Saheeh Muslim)
Abu Hurayrah narrated that he said: “I swear by the one in whose hand is my soul! If you did not commit sins, Allah would have surely gotten rid of all of you, and he would have surely brought another people who would commit sins – so that they would then seek Allah’s forgiveness (for their sins) and so he would forgive them.”
We are all full of imperfections and only Allahﷻ can guide us. Only Heﷻ can judge us and surely one is not capable or does not have the knowledge to judge one another. One is guided to repent often.
Surah 4 An Nisa Ayat 17
Innama attawbatu AAalaAllahi lillatheena yaAAmaloona assoo-abijahalatin thumma yatooboona min qareebin faola-ikayatoobu Allahu AAalayhim wakana AllahuAAaleeman hakeema
Allah accepts only the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and foolishness and repent soon afterwards; it is they whom Allah will forgive and Allah is Ever All-Knowing, All-Wise.
This message of Allah’sﷻ Mercy is one of hope, not just a little hope but absolute hope. This is the Guidance; not to ever lose hope, for oneself or for others. One’s ‘reality’ is changed in that instant, with repentance and recommitment to one’s intention.
It just takes that one step in a new direction to change one’s destination!
With salat one is guided back to the rope of Allahﷻ . No longer abandon salat, seek the guidance from Allahﷻ . There is not a man or woman on this planet that is not entirely needy of guidance and forgiveness; without attaining the mercy of Allahﷻ one is lost – lost in this world and lost in the hereafter.
If one is feeling shame or remorse after committing a sin against oneself, then this is a sign of Allah’s mercy. Complete this and attain Allah’sﷻ forgiveness by returning to Himﷻ alone. That one step taken in the direction of Allahﷻ could be the one that changes the direction of one’s life forever, and with that step begins a new journey.
Islam offers the believer hope; whatever one’s condition, there is hope. It is essential never to lose hope; rather one can offer salat. Contemplation and salat will change one’s state of mind, bringing perspective to one’s life; one is able to reflect as to how significant we make what is truly insignificant.