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Bismillāh ar-Raḥmān ar-Raḥīm. Alḥamdulilāhi Rabbil ‘Alāmīn. Wa salātu wa salāmu ‘alā ashrafil anbiyā’ wal mursalīn, Muḥammadir Rasūlullāh ﷺ, wa ‘alā ālihi wa sahbihī wa sallam. Tasliman kathīran kathīra khamma ba’du.
My brothers and sisters, we are talking about perhaps the most important aspect of life: turning towards Allāh subḥānahū wa ta’ālā through istighfār and tawbah. I am saying this is the most important because it determines the difference between Jannah and Jahannam. A person could have done evil; a person could have been a mushrik or denied Allāh subḥānahū wa ta’ālā for their entire life. But just before they die, just before they see Malakul Maut, just before the curtain is lifted between this dunya and the other dunya, if they make istighfār and tawbah, then Allāh subḥānahū wa ta’ālā promised to forgive them and give them Jannah.
That is the importance of istighfār and tawbah. Obviously, it does not mean that we continue to do bad things, because we do not know when death will come. So we must hasten and hurry up in making istighfār and tawbah. It is such a critical thing that a person continues to seek the forgiveness of Allāh subḥānahū wa ta’ālā. We have the ḥadīth of Rasūlullāh ﷺ where he said to the people: “Seek the forgiveness of Allāh subḥānahū wa ta’ālā.” He added, “I do that 70 times a day.”
Rasūlullāh ﷺ was telling us to seek forgiveness, make istighfār, and ask Allāh to forgive you. Some of the Sahaba counted; they said they counted up to 100 times. This is the Rasūlullāh ﷺ for whom Allāh subḥānahū wa ta’ālā revealed the Qur’ān. In Surah Al-Fath, Allāh subḥānahū wa ta’ālā said, “Allāh subḥānahū wa ta’ālā has forgiven all your sins, previous and future.” And regarding the sins of Rasūlullāh ﷺ, there are none. Because he is, all the anbiyā’ are masoom and mahfuz. They are innocent and protected. This is our ‘aqīdah about all the anbiyā’. We cannot say any of the prophets committed this sin or that sin. Our ‘aqīdah is that they are protected and innocent. Allāh has kept them safe from Shayṭān, which makes sense because these are the people sent to lead others towards Allāh subḥānahū wa ta’ālā. How could they commit sin themselves?
So therefore, they are *insha’Allah* al-musta’la. Sayyidah Aishah ﷺ once noted that Rasūlullāh ﷺ was praying Tahajjud and used to pray for so many hours every night that his feet would sometimes swell up and it seemed as if the skin would split. She asked him, “Why do you put yourself to so much trouble, pain, and effort when Allāh has forgiven you?” Allāh subḥānahū wa ta’ālā revealed the Qur’ān and said He had forgiven all his sins in the past and future. So Rasūlullāh ﷺ replied, “Should I not be a grateful slave?”
Right? Because Allāh has forgiven me, does that mean I should not do anything? No. I will do even more. This is why we have been talking about istighfār and tawbah. We looked at its importance and the reason why most of us may Allāh have mercy on us, most Muslims, commit sins. Not because we deny Allāh subḥānahū wa ta’ālā, Alhamdulillah, we don’t do that, but because of our own nafs. Some things we like to do; some things are easy, some things are more troublesome. You might pray, but why go to the masjid? It’s too much trouble. Get up, go to the masjid. I can pray at home.
Alhamdulillah, here, this masjid is such a blessing for people living in this building. We just walk down the stairs and we are in the masjid. But even may Allāh bless our brothers who come from a distance or our Sheikh there who comes from far away. May Allāh bless them. And Allāh Ta’ālā, Nabi Sallallahu ‘Alayhi Wa Sallam said, for every step, Allāh Ta’ālā will give one reward, wipe out one sin, and increase one level in Jannah. Every step. The Sahaba had houses which were a little further away from the masjid, and Rasūlullāh ﷺ noted they deliberately did not come close to the masjid because they wanted to walk a few more steps.
Now, in today’s world, you might say, well, because they both came on motorcycles, so they are not walking. So, *insha’Allah*, one turn of the wheel is one step. So, *insha’Allah*, you will get more reward because you have a smaller wheel that turns more times than his. Well, have mercy. This is my *istiḥālah*. This is not fact. But I am saying that what matters here is not counting the number of times the wheel turns; it is the mercy of Allāh Subḥānahu Wa Ta’ālā.
Alhamdulillah. *Yadibkal*. This is the mercy of Allāh Subḥānahu Wa Ta’ālā that not only for the person who prays Salatul ‘Ishā’ in the masjid and Salatul Fajr in the masjid by jama’ah does Allāh Subḥānahu Wa Ta’ālā give him the reward for worshipping Allāh the whole night—even if he sleeps the whole night—during that time, if he wakes up for Tahajjud and so on, Alhamdulillah, even more for him. But even if he doesn’t wake up for Tahajjud, he still gets the reward of praying the whole night just because he prayed Salatul ‘Ishā’ and Salatul Fajr in the masjid by jama’ah. In addition to that, Allāh Subḥānahu Wa Ta’ālā gives reward for coming to the masjid. You’re getting reward anyway. But even coming to the masjid, Allāh is giving reward. For every step, you get a ḥasanah, and for every step, one of your sins is forgiven and one degree (*darjah*) is raised in Jannah.
And that’s also the reason for the benefit of consistent effort. Not just one day, not just one time, and then after that you go to sleep. No. Consistent effort because it builds. Every little thing keeps on building. We don’t realize the long-term effect of that cumulative effect of the action. But there is action. There is a beautiful ḥadīth of two people who accepted Islam on the same day; one died *shaheed* in some ghazwah, and the other died a year later. And I think it was Abu Talha al-Ansari radiyallahu ‘anhu wallahu ‘alam, but one of the Sahaba saw them in a dream. In the dream he saw that the man who died a year later went into Jannah before the one who died a year earlier as a *shaheed*. He thought this was strange because this man died as a *shaheed*, while the other died of natural causes a year later. Both are going into Jannah, but he was worried. So he asked the Prophet: “Ya Rasūlullāh, this is the dream I saw. I know these two people. They both accepted Islam on the same day. So the time in Islam is the same.”
This happened. Nabi Sallallahu ‘Alayhi Wa Sallam said, “Why are you surprised?” The Sahabi asked, “Did he not live one year more? Did he not get one more Ramadan? Did he not pray so many Salah more? Did he not do this? Did he not do that?” So all the cumulative daily ḥasanāt have benefited him. So he got more reward. Of course, both are in Jannah, Alhamdulillah, and the reward of the *shaheed* is separate. But in terms of the cumulative reward, his balance of ḥasanāt, this one has got more because Allāh gave him one year’s life more. So we ask Allāh SWT to give us lives which are full of ḥasanāt, full of the obedience of Allāh SWT as long as Allāh wishes.
So as I said, we commit sins not because Alhamdulillah, we don’t deny Allāh SWT, but because of our own nafs. Something we like to do, we do; something we don’t like, we don’t do, even though we should be doing that. So Allāh SWT mentioned that also. I have given you all the dalīl from the Qur’ān, the āyāt of the kalām of Allāh SWT where Allāh SWT said: if you do this kind of selective obedience—because selective obedience is disobedience—if you do something and don’t do something else because of your nafs, then you will be given special punishment. Severe punishment. And then we saw what happens to people who insist on committing sin despite being warned again and again. They insist on committing sin. Allāh SWT said, for them, even the doors of tawbah will be closed. They will not be given an opportunity to repent and turn towards Allāh SWT. They will be taken in that state until Mubali’ah soon, and they will be broken in spirit.
And finally, we looked at the āyāt of Surah An-Nisā’ where Allāh SWT said, “Tawbah is for those who as soon as they are aware that they have committed a sin, immediately make tawbah.” There’s no delay. There’s no *takhrīr*. No delay. They don’t say, “Oh no, we’ll wait; we’ll see.” No. Immediately, as soon as they know. But there’s no tawbah for the one who delays until they are seeing Malakul Maut. Then they say, “Innī tubtu ‘an,” I make tawbah now. There’s no delay. There’s no tawbah. Once the curtain has been lifted, once you have seen the Ākhirah, that’s it. There is no tawbah for somebody who waits till the end. And of course, there’s no tawbah for somebody who dies on *kufr*.
It is very important also to remember that when Allāh SWT said He will forgive, Allāh SWT will forgive. We do not despair of the forgiveness of Allāh SWT ever. It is a very, very important thing to remember because we have been talking about the āyāt of wa’id, the verses of punishment and so on. I don’t want you to feel that there is no hope. There is always hope till the end, no matter what somebody did. Right? In tawbah, if you have done something which is disobedience of Allāh SWT in His rights (*ḥuqūqullāh*), then we must make sincere istighfār and sincere tawbah to Allāh SWT, sincere repentance, and *insha’Allah* Allāh SWT will forgive. If we have done something which also hurt somebody else, then we should make up with that person, apologize, compensate, make amends, whatever, and then make istighfār to Allāh SWT. *Insha’Allah*, Allāh will forgive. But this is important. You can’t hurt somebody or harm somebody else and then go to Allāh and say, “I am sorry.” The person you harmed, you have to deal with that also. You can’t leave that. That has to be corrected.
So, never ever think about or say about somebody that Allāh cannot forgive so-and-so. No matter who it is. Right? There are some people right now in this dunya about whom I would love to say Allāh will never forgive so-and-so. But no, we don’t say that. We do not say that. Because this is not from Islam. Right? This is not from Islam. Jundab ibn ‘Adīl al-Ansari radiyallahu ‘anhu reported that Rasūlullāh ﷺ said: A man said, “By Allāh, Allāh will not forgive such and such a person.” Somebody was there and they said, “What about him?” He said, “No, this person; no, Allāh will never forgive.” Allāh SWT says, “Who is he who took an oath by Me?” Because he said, *Wallāhi*. He said, “Who is it? Who is this person who swore by Me that I will not forgive someone?” I have forgiven that person and I have erased your good deeds. Right? Whose good deeds? The one who said, “Allāh will not forgive.” So, Allāh SWT is saying that because you take an oath by Me, so you are trying to command Me who I should forgive and who I should not forgive.
This is not for you. If you do that, then Allahﷻ will forgive that person and Allahﷻ will wipe out your deeds. So, we should be clear in our mind. Don’t exceed the boundaries. We can ask Allahﷻ; you can make dua against somebody who has been causing trouble and so on. This is possible. We can do that. This is permissible. But we should never say, “Allah will never forgive so-and-so.” That’s not our job. We must never say that.
Finally, I want to close today with this very beautiful story which Rasulullahﷺ told us from the Bani Israel, from the people of Musaﷺ. The story is that there was a big famine and there was a lot of hardship, no rain, animals dying, and what not. So, Musaﷺ took all the people out into the desert to make Salatul Istisqa to make dua for rain. They made dua but there was no rain. So, Musaﷺ made dua to Allahﷻ and said, “Ya Rabb, we prayed for rain and there is no rain.”
So, Allahﷻ said to him, “Musa, there is a man among you, among your people, who is an evil man. He constantly disobeys me and I am angry with him. As long as he is there among the people, I will not send rain.” So, Musaﷺ announced and he said, “Allahﷻ said, ‘There is one person here who is a sinner who has been disobeying Allahﷻ throughout his life and Allah is angry with him. Unless, as long as that person is among the people, Allah will not send rain.’ So, whoever it is, leave.”
Now, this guy was in the middle of the people. He thinks to himself, “If I get out now, everybody knows who I am. Until now, nobody knows. But if I walk out now, what happens?” So, he made a lot of istighfar, a lot of tawbah. He said, “Allah forgive me, Allah forgive me.” But nobody left. So, as far as Musaﷺ is concerned, he is making an announcement; nobody is leaving. Anyway, so Musaﷺ again made Salatul Istisqa, he made dua for rain, and it rained heavily.
So, now, Musaﷺ had a very personal and very beautiful relationship with Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la. So, Musaﷺ says to Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la, “He said, Ya Allah, you told us, you told me that there is a man who disobeyed you because of whom you were not sending rain. So, I announced and I said to the people, ‘Whoever it is, leave.’ Nobody left. And then, he made dua again and the rain came.”
So, what is this? How did it happen? Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la said, “Musa, that man made tawbah. He made a lot of istighfar. He repented sincerely because he didn’t want to be shamed before everyone. So, he repented and I forgave him. So, I sent you the rain.”
Musaﷺ won’t leave it there. So, Musaﷺ said, “Ya Allah, who is this man?” Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la says, “Musa, when that man was disobeying me, I did not shame him. I did not lift the curtain. I did not expose him. When he was disobeying me, I did not expose him. Now, he made istighfar. I have forgiven him. Why will I expose him? Why will I not tell him?”
This is Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la. When the man was disobeying me, I did not expose him. Now, when he is obeying me, when he has repented, why will I expose him? I will not tell you. So, Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la said, “He is the one who covers our mistakes, and He is the one who forgives our sins. So, we must always think this. Alhamdulillah, inshaAllah, Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la forgives. But, we must make our part. We must make our effort. Make istighfar, make tawbah, live life carefully and thoughtfully so that we don’t commit sins.”
Mistakes, Alhamdulillah, we make. We are human beings. We will make mistakes. And for mistakes, there is istighfar and tawbah. Keep on making istighfar and tawbah as we said. Now, Isaﷺ himself used to make istighfar 70 times a day. So, make this into a good habit. Make istighfar and we ask Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la to forgive us.
Rabbana faqfil lana zulumana wa kaffirana sayyatina wa tawaffana ma’ala burar Rabbana aathina fi al-dunya as-salatamu fi al-akhirati wa salamu ala dhawqina dhahunna wa salallahu ala nabil kareem wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajmain bi rahmatika ya arhaman rahimin walhamdulillahi rabbil alamin (رَبَّنَا فَاقْفِنَا لِأُنُوسَانَا وَكَفِّرْنَا سَيِّئَاتِنَا وَتَوَفَّانَا مَعَ الصَّلِحِينَ رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ)