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Bismillāh ar-Raḥmān ar-Raḥīm, al-ḥamdu lillāhi rabbil-‘alāmīn, wa salātu wa salāmu ‘ala ash-sharafi al-anbiyā’ wal-mursalīn, Muḥammadur Rasūlullāh sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa ‘ala ālihi wa sahbihi sallam, tasleemun kaseerun kaseerun. Amma ba’du, my brothers and sisters, I want to remind myself anew.
Sometimes, our life is going on smoothly, alhamdulillah, we are doing what we should be doing, we are praying on time, we are fasting in Ramadan, we are giving zakat and so on and so on,
and then something suddenly happens,
and you commit some sin,
and then that troubles you a lot, and you feel a lot of pain, and you feel, why did I do this, and there is great regret, and you feel ashamed that you did this.
And somewhere,
shayṭān comes to you and tells you and makes you feel that this is the end. I cannot do good, I have done evil. All the good I did till now is washed off, it is finished, it is gone, and there is no point in doing anything good. Right? Shayṭān gives you this spin.
I remind myself anew that Allah Subḥānahū Wa Ta’ālā created Adam ‘Alayhi Salām, and Allah said, with my own hands.
In the meaning of hands, as it suits, Allah Subḥānahū Wa Ta’ālā’s majesty and grace. When you say hands, we don’t think of our hands.
Then Allah Subḥānahū Wa Ta’ālā gave him a wife, and Allah Subḥānahū Wa Ta’ālā put them both in Jannah.
Allah gave them everything that anyone who goes into Jannah gets, and we ask Allah for this, insha’allah.
There was no illness, there was no trouble, there was no effort, there was no anxiety, no fear, no stress. Adam ‘Alayhi Salām didn’t have to go to work every day, he didn’t have to run a shop, nothing.
Everything.
And the only thing they were told was, don’t go near that tree.
That’s it, otherwise nothing else. There was no other commitment on him, there was no other limit on him, just don’t go near that tree.
But that is what they did.
Shayṭān tempted them, he did whatever he did, and they went near that tree,
and so they disobeyed Allah Subḥānahū Wa Ta’ālā. They disobeyed Allah Subḥānahū Wa Ta’ālā inside Jannah.
They disobeyed Allah Subḥānahū Wa Ta’ālā even though they had seen Allah Subḥānahū Wa Ta’ālā.
We have not seen Allah Subḥānahū Wa Ta’ālā. We ask Allah Subḥānahū Wa Ta’ālā to show Himself to us in Jannat al-Firdaws, insha’allah. But we have not seen Allah. We have not seen the Nabi ‘Alayhi Salatu wa S-salam. Adam ‘Alayhi Salam himself was a Nabi.
Yet this disobedience happened. Now think about this. Allah Subḥānahū Wa Ta’ālā is telling us the story of Adam ‘Alayhi Salam. He created him.
Allah Subḥānahū Wa Ta’ālā could have caused Adam ‘Alayhi Salam to do something wonderful in Jannah, and Allah Subḥānahū Wa Ta’ālā could have told us this story that Adam ‘Alayhi Salam was created, I created him, and he did this wonderful thing. He worshipped Allah Subḥānahū Wa Ta’ālā in a particular way, he made this particular zikr, whatever it was, right? But what is the first thing that Allah Subḥānahū Wa Ta’ālā is telling us about Adam ‘Alayhi Salam? That he made a mistake. That he committed a sin. Not that he did something good.
Even though he had everything going for him,
the first thing he did was, he committed a sin.
Now, Allah Subḥānahū Wa Ta’ālā, also told us the story of Iblīs,
who also committed a sin.
And similar nature of the sin, which is disobedience of a command of Allah Subḥānahū Wa Ta’ālā.
They did not commit shirk, either of them. They did not deny Allah Subḥānahū Wa Ta’ālā. They did not say, I don’t believe in Allah. They did not say, I will not worship Allah. They didn’t, even Iblīs did not say this.
But he disobeyed a direct command of Allah Subḥānahū Wa Ta’ālā.
What is the difference? The difference is in what happened after the sin. It’s not the sin by itself. It is what happened after the sin. In the case of Adam ‘Alayhi Salam, Adam ‘Alayhi Salam and Hawwa ‘Alayhi Salām, our mother and father, immediately accepted ownership for that action. Accepted that we have committed a sin. Committed something which is a sin.
Immediately. They did not justify it. They did not give some tawīl. They didn’t give some reason for it.
They didn’t try to say, no, but you see, this was natural. It may have happened. No. I have, we have committed something which we should not have committed.
Rabbana zalamnā anfusāna. Demand is, Rabbana zalamnā anfusāna. O Allah, we have transgressed, transgressed against ourselves. We have harmed ourselves. We have done zulm on ourselves. Because when we commit a sin, we are not harming Allah Subḥānahū wa Ta’ālā. Nothing can harm Allah. Nothing can benefit Allah. Allahu as-Sabdh.
We harm ourselves. So they said, O Allah, we have harmed ourselves. We have committed zulm on ourselves. We have transgressed against ourselves. We have oppressed ourselves.
Rabbana zalamnā anfusāna. Fa illam takhfir lana wa tarhamnā. And if You do not forgive us, and if You do not have mercy on us, lanakunā minal-khāsirīn. Surely we will be among the losers.
So what is happening here? One, they are admitting to their sin. They have admitted, we are wrong. No justification.
No trying to give it some other color. I have done wrong. Period. Khalas. They did not even say, Shayṭān instigated me. Which? It was a fact. But they didn’t say that. See, whoever instigated me or didn’t instigate me, at the end of the day, I pulled the trigger. At the end of the day, it was my hand. At the end of the day, it was my decision.
Right? I’m not exporting that blame on somebody else. Yes, there is a fact. If you look at all the facts of the case, yes, I had these friends. I had these advisors. These people were bad people and they advised me wrongly.
Irrespective of all that, who did the deed? I did it. Did somebody hold your hand? Did somebody force you? Nobody forced me. I was free. I could have walked away. I did not walk away.
I could have refused. I did not refuse. Right? So, very clearly, they’re not saying Shayṭān did. Rabbana zalamnā anfusāna. Oh Allah, we have made zulm on ourselves.
Qul illam takhfirnā. Qul illam takhfir lanā wa tarhamnā. So, first is, admit your mistake. Secondly, go to the mercy of Allah Subḥānahū Wa Ta’ālā. Ya Allah, la yaghfiru dhunuban illa ant. Nobody can forgive sins except You.
I don’t have to go to a priest and tell him, please, I will confess to you and give me something to recite. No.
You are my Rabb. I am your ‘Abd.
And I go to You because la yaghfiru dhunuban illa ant. No one can forgive sins except You. Qul illam takhfirnā. If You do not forgive us, if Qul illam takhfir lanā, and if You do not forgive us, wa tarhamnā, and if You do not have mercy on us, lanakunā minal-khāsirīn, we will be among the losers. We will be people who are liable to be punished.
Iblīs, on the other hand, he also did something wrong, but he did the opposite.
He justified his action.
He said, ana khairum minhu. I am better than him.
Khalaqtanī min-nār wa khalaqahu min-tīn. You made me with fire and You created him with clay. So he is blaming Allah Subḥānahū Wa Ta’ālā. He is saying, the problem is, You gave a wrong instruction. Your order was wrong. How can You ask somebody who is superior to make sajdah to somebody who is inferior? So this hukm is wrong. Naudhubillāh. It’s not my fault. It’s Your fault. You gave a wrong order.
My disobeying that order was correct. The order itself is wrong.
And arrogance. I am better than him. The ‘Abd of Allah Subḥānahū Wa Ta’ālā, who is better than him? Who decides that? You?
And then he said, andhirnī ila yawmi yub’aṭhun. Give me time until the day of judgment.
He didn’t say, I am sorry. No. G
Give me time. So he is a *rajim*. The one who is cast aside. He is a *rajim*. In the fire. So we learn from this that to make a mistake is human, because the first human, the first action he did was to make a mistake. And he made that mistake in a place in which there was no scope to make a mistake. So if you make a mistake, I make a mistake in this dunya which is full of fitna, alhamdulillah, it’s not something that you despair about. If Adam Alayhi Salaam could make a mistake in Jannah, you can make a mistake here. There is no, it’s not something that you despair over. I am not equating myself or you to Adam Alayhi Salaam. He is a Nabi of Allah. You are not a Nabi. But point being that it is human to err, it is human to make a mistake, it is human to commit a sin, and we don’t lose hope over that. Number one.
Number two, therefore what do you do? You do not do what Iblis did. You don’t justify that. You don’t give 20 reasons why that happened. You don’t export the blame onto your friends and whoever else was involved. Even though that may be true. As I am saying, the fact that Iblis misguided Adam Alayhi Salaam, this is a fact. But Adam Alayhi Salaam did not talk about that. He owned responsibility for his action. So we don’t export the blame onto my friend said this, so and so. No. It is end of the day. It is my decision. It was my, my decision. I knew what was right. I knew what was wrong. I did what was wrong instead of doing what was right. Therefore, I seek forgiveness. And we focus on the glory and majesty of Allah. Right? And we ask Allahﷻ to forgive us. This is what we should do. No matter what the mistake.
We know the story that Prophetﷺ said. He said in the past there was a man who had committed 99 murders. He was a serial killer of very high order. 99 people he murdered. Then he had some he thought to himself well maybe this is not the right thing to do. So, what shall I do? And then he thought to himself I committed 99 murders. Will Allah forgive me even? What’s the point in making *tawbah*? What’s the point in making *istighfar*? Let me go and check. So he went to some sheikh. He went to some alim who was there. And he told him look I have done 99 murders. Do you think Allah will forgive me? That man said how can Allah forgive you? Allah cannot forgive you. Look at you. You have done 99 murders. How will Allah forgive you? So the man obviously had some mental issue. He had anger problems or something. He pulled out his sword and cut out this man’s head also. So now the 99 became 100. Then he thought to himself well you know maybe I did 99 now 100. Now what to do? So he went looking for another alim. He found his other second sheikh. He told him I had committed 99 murders. Then I went to so and so. I asked him will Allah forgive me? He said Allah cannot forgive you. So I killed him also. Now I have 100 murders. Will Allah forgive me?
So this man said to him number one Allah will forgive you if you make *istighfar*, if you ask Allah sincerely repent, Allah will forgive you. Number one. He said however what you do is you go, you leave this place. Because obviously you are living in a place which is evil. You got some companions, you got some people, you got some friends. How can somebody just do 99 murders? How can somebody just kill 100 people? There is something else behind it right? You are in the midst of people where all of this stuff is okay. It is okay to sit and plot about the murder of somebody. It is okay to get somebody killed. You are not among people where even if you open your mouth and say something like this people will say are you mad? Are you crazy? What are you talking about? You want to kill somebody? Are you insane? Right? If there is an older person, an elder person who has the authority maybe he slaps you in the face and says get out of here. No. You are among people where this talk is acceptable. Where these things are done. So this company that you have itself is evil. So the Sheikh said to him leave this town. Go from here. And he told him there is such and such a place, go to that town where the people are good and they are pious people. Go there and make *istighfar* and ask Allah to forgive you. Insha’Allah Allah will forgive you.
So this man said okay. And he started walking towards that town. Right? With the intention of making *tawbah* there. Now the *qadr* of Allah as he was walking towards that place he traversed some distance and he died. He dropped dead. His mouth came, he dropped dead. He has not reached that place. He has not actually made *istighfar* and *tawbah*. He was going with that intention but he didn’t actually do it. He died. Now what? So the malaika of Jahannam and the malaika of Jannah both came. The malaika of Jannah said this man is ours, we are taking him to Jannah because he was going with the intention of making *istighfar*. The malaika of Jannah said no. He has not made *istighfar*. He killed a hundred people. It’s not funny. It’s not a small thing. He killed a hundred people. He didn’t make *istighfar*. So he goes to Jannah. Now Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala of course knows all of this happening. Allah is seeing it. Allah is hearing it. But the malaika are doing their job so they go to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala and they ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala they tell Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala the story which Allah knows of course. And they say Ya Rabb what shall we do?
So Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says to them measure the distance that he travelled from where he was with that sheikh to where he was going, measure that distance. If he has travelled more than half the distance he will go to Jannah. If he has travelled less than half the distance he will go to Jannah. And when the angels went to measure, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala commanded the earth to stretch so that the distance would be more than half. The man had not travelled half, he only travelled some short distance. But Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala commanded the earth to stretch so that when the malaika measure it is more than half the distance. And Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala gave the man Jannah because he only intended to make *istighfar*. The intention was in his heart, he had not done it but Allah knows the intent. So I remind myself when you when you do this if you are doing good continue to do good Alhamdulillah, if you make a mistake, it is not the end of the world, it is a mistake, make sincere *istighfar* and *tawbah*, don’t repeat it and very important change your company. Change your company, don’t sit with the same people, don’t go to the same places, don’t be on the same social media, don’t be chatting with them, nothing just get out of that company, separate yourself, sever those relationships and find good people to be with, find the company of good people, be with good people and Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala will forgive us, we have no doubt about this.
In the famous hadith in Ibn Majah Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa alihi wasallam is reported to have said: “Kullu bani Adham is a person who is a person khatta’oon khairul khatta’een at-tawaboon.” Right? Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said all the children of Adam Alayhi Salam are people who make mistakes and he said the best of those who make mistakes are those who make *tawbah*. The best of them who make mistakes are the ones who make *tawbah*. So we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to make us among the tawabeen, make us among those who seek forgiveness and we ask Allah to forgive us. Wa sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, wa ala nabiyyil kareem, wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma’in bi rahmatik ala Allah.