Class 5
ALLAH’S FORGIVENESS
& SOME INSPIRATIONAL STORIES
ALLAH’S FORGIVENESS
نَبِّئۡ عِبَادِىٓ أَنِّىٓ أَنَا ٱلۡغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ
Declare (O Muhammad ﷺ) unto My slaves, that truly, I am the Oft-Forgiving, the Most-Merciful. (15:49)
يَـٰعِبَادِىَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَسۡرَفُواْ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمۡ لَا تَقۡنَطُواْ مِن رَّحۡمَةِ ٱللَّهِۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَغۡفِرُ ٱلذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًاۚ إِنَّهُ ۥ هُوَ ٱلۡغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ
“O My servants who have transgressed against their souls! Do not despair of Allah’s mercy, for Allah forgives all sins. He is Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (39: 53)
Al-Ghafur, Al-Ghaffar, Al-Ghafir. These three names refer to Allah’s forgiveness. The name Al-Ghafir means the Forgiver, while the names Al-Ghafur and Al-Ghaffar are more emphatic, indicating that Allah is most forgiving, oft-forgiving. Taken together, these three names occur in the Quran ninety-seven times. Allah says: “Declare (O Muhammad ﷺ) unto My slaves, that truly, I am the Oft-Forgiving, the Most-Merciful”. (15:49)
In one instance, the Quran refers to Allah as being “the best of those who forgive” when relating where Musa A.S. offers the following supplication: “You are our Protector: so forgive us and give us Your mercy; for you are the best of those who forgive”. (7: 155)
Allah forgives all sin without exception
Allah says:
“Will they not turn to Allah and ask His forgiveness? For Allah is Forgiving, Merciful”. (5: 74)
“Surely (as for) those who persecute believing men and women, then do not repent, they shall have the chastisement of Hell, and they shall have the chastisement of burning.” (85: 10)
“O My servants who have transgressed against their souls! Do not despair of Allah’s mercy, for Allah forgives all sins. He is Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (39: 53)
This verse affirms for us that Allah forgives all sins, without exception. Allah is willing to forgive even polytheism and unbelief, as long as the perpetrator renounces such falsehoods and sincerely repents. The mercy of Allaah encompasses all things. If a person’s sins are very great and he has wronged himself very much, but he then repents, Allaah will accept his repentance and will forgive his sins no matter how great they are.
For Muslims Allah says, “Allah does not forgive that partners be associated with Him, but He forgives other than that for whomever he pleases”. (4: 48)
This is with respect to those who believe in Allah and adhere to His guidance. If they perpetrate a sin or transgress ion, whether great or small, Allah has decreed that He can forgive that sin if He pleases or punish its perpetrator as He pleases as long as it is not shirk. He even replaces bad deeds with good.
It is affirmed in the Sunnah that Allah calls forth during the last third of the night, saying: Is there anyone beseeching me, so I can give? Are any seeking my forgiveness, so I can forgive them? Are there any penitent people for me to pardon? Is anyone calling to me so I can answer? (Sahih al-Bukhari (1145) and Sahih Muslim (758))
This is an example of Allah’s generosity and boundless favor. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ relates that Allah says: O child of Adam! However much you beseech Me and place your hopes in Me, I will forgive you without any reservation. O child of Adam! If you have sins piling up to the clouds and then ask My forgiveness, I will forgive you without any reservation. O child of Adam! If you come to me with enough mistakes to fill the Earth, and meet Me without associating anything as a partner with Me, I will come to you with enough forgiveness to fill the Earth. (Sahih Muslim (2687))
When, “Shaytan said to the Lord of Glory, ‘By Your Glory, O Lord, I will keep trying to misguide Your slaves so long as their souls are in their bodies.’ The Lord said, ‘By My Glory and Majesty, I will continue to forgive them so long as they ask My forgiveness.’” [Saheeh al-Jamee (2/32)]
Allah refers to Himself as the Oft-Forgiving because He created us knowing that our natures would make us prone to sin, and that we would seek His forgiveness and He would forgive us.
STORIES OF REPENTANCE & ALLAH’S FORGIVENESS
The Man who killed 99 people
The Prophet ﷺ said, "Amongst the men of Bani Israel there was a man who had murdered ninety-nine persons. Then he set out asking (whether his repentance could be accepted or not). He came upon a monk and asked him if his repentance could be accepted. The monk replied in the negative and so the man killed him making it a 100. He kept on asking till he reached a scholar. He told him that he had killed one hundred people, and asked whether he could be forgiven. The scholar said, ‘Yes, what could possibly come between you and repentance? Go to such-andsuch a town, for in it there are people who worship Allaah. Go and worship with them, and do not go back to your own town, for it is a bad place. So he left for it but death overtook him halfway through his way. While dying, he turned his chest towards that village (where he had hoped his repentance would be accepted), and so the angels of mercy and the angels of punishment quarrelled amongst themselves regarding him. Allah ordered the village (towards which he was going) to come closer to him, and ordered the village (whence he had come), to go far away, and then He ordered the angels to measure the distances between his body and the two villages. So he was found to be one span closer to the village (he was going to). So he was forgiven." (Sahih Bukhari)
The below stories are taken from the book - Stories of Repentance published by dar-us-salam.
The Ever-Living Never Sleeps
Both of them lived in a small town that was populated by only tens or hundreds of people. He was in love with her, and so when he saw her walking alone one night, he followed her until he had her cornered. When he came near to her, he said, “Woman, I crave for you.”
She said, “First go and see if all the people are asleep.”
Very pleased at her response, he walked around the town and returned. “Everyone is asleep,” he said.
“What about Allah Azza wa Jal?” she asked. “Is He sleeping at this hour?”
“Woman, what are you saying?” he exclaimed. “Indeed, Allah does not sleep: neither slumber nor sleep overtake Him.”
“The One Who hasn’t slept and doesn’t sleep sees us, even if people don’t see us,” she said. “Do you not fear He Who neither sleeps nor is heedless of anything that happens?”
The man left her alone with tears flowing from his eyes, having nothing in mind except the desire to repent to the One Who neither sleeps nor is heedless of anything that happens.
The True Treasure - I went to steal from him, but he stole from me
A burglar scaled the wall of Maalik bin Dinar’s house one night and easily managed to get inside. Once inside the house, the thief was disappointed to see that there was nothing inside actually worth stealing. The owner of the home was inside at the time, he was busy performing prayer. Realizing that he was not alone, Maalik quickly ended his prayer and turned around to face the thief. Without showing any sign of being shocked or afraid, Maalik calmly extended greetings of peace and then said, “My brother, may Allah forgive you. You entered my home and found nothing that is worth taking, yet I do not want you to leave my home without taking away some benefit.”
He stood up, went to another part of the room, and came back with a jug full of water. He looked into the eyes of the burglar and said, “Make ablution and perform two units of prayer, for if you do so, you will leave my home with a greater treasure than you had initially sought when you entered it.”
Much humbled by Maalik’s manners and words, the thief said, “Yes, that is a generous offer indeed.”
After making ablution and performing two units of prayer, the burglar said, “O Maalik, would you mind if I stayed for a while, for I want to stay to perform two more units of prayer?”
Maalik said, “Stay for whatever amount of prayer Allah decrees for you to perform now.”
The thief ended up spending the entire night at Maalik’s house. He continued to pray until the morning. Then Maalik said, “Leave now and be good.”
But instead of leaving, the thief said, “Would you mind if I stayed here with you today, for I have made an intention to fast the day?”
“Stay as long as you wish,” said Maalik.
The burglar ended up staying for a number of days, praying during the late hours of each night and fasting throughout the duration of each day. When he finally decided to leave, the burglar said, “O Maalik, I have made a firm resolve to repent for my sins and for my former way of life.”
Maalik said, “Indeed, that is in the Hand of Allah.”
The man did mend his ways and began to lead a life of righteousness and obedience to Allah. Later on, He came across another burglar he knew. [His friend] said to him, “Have you found your treasure yet?”
He said, “My brother, what I found is Maalik bin Dinaar. I went to steal from him, but it was he who ended up stealing my heart. I have indeed repented to Allah, and I will remain at the door [of His Mercy and Forgiveness] until I achieve what his obedient, loving slaves have achieved.”
One Sin led to his Repentance
A righteous man was once asked to tell the story of the pivotal moment of his life, the moment in which he first began to apply the teachings of Islam, and the following was his answer:
When I was a young man, I would not hesitate to perpetrate any sin that was made available to me. Then, one day, I saw a young woman who was perhaps the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Much tempted by her, I indicated to her that I wanted her to approach me. She seemed nervous, but I thought that she would probably agree to satisfy my sexual desires for money. She approached me with what seemed to be a great deal of trepidation, and when she actually stood before me, she looked extremely terrified.
Feeling sorry for her, I said, ‘Do not fear, for I will not harm you.’
But my words did not lessen her terrible fright in the least; in fact, her situation worsened. She began to tremble like a palm tree leaf trembles with the wind.
I said, ‘Tell me your story.’
She said, ‘By Allah, o my brother, never before this day have I offered my body in this way. Dire need is what has driven me to this, for I have three daughters who have not eaten a single morsel of food for three days now. It was pity for them that brought me to this low point in my life.’
For the first time in my life, I felt pity; her story moved me, and I no longer entertained the intention of taking advantage of her. After she told me where she lived, I took a great deal of money, clothing and food to her house. When I returned to my house, I told my mother what had happened.
My mother knew that I had a book in which I would record all of my evil deeds, and so she said to me, ‘My son, you are a man who has never performed a good deed except for the good deed that you performed today. I know that you have a book in which you record your evil exploits, go now and write in it your good deed.’
I stood up, went to my book, opened it, and found that all of its pages were blank- except for the first page on which was written a single line.
إِنَّ الْحَسَنَاتِ يُذْهِبْنَ السَّيِّئَاتِ
Verily, the good deeds remove the evil deeds (i.e. small sins) [Hud : 114]
At that very moment, I raised my hands to the sky and said, ‘By your Might and Majesty, never again will I disobey You.’ “
This is Allaah, The Ever-Forgiving, The Oft-Forgiving, The Almighty, The Exalted.
إِنَّ رَبَّكَ وَٲسِعُ ٱلۡمَغۡفِرَةِ
{Indeed, your Lord is vast in forgiveness.}[An-Najm: 32]
Listen to the call of Allaah:
“O My slaves, you err night and day, but I forgive all sins, so ask Me for forgiveness and I will forgive you.”
(Reported by Muslim).
Please join our free Certificate course “RELATION WITH ALLAH” , to learn about the rights of Allah, what He likes & Dislikes, His promises how to get closer to Him. : www.learn-islam.org/relation-with-allah (available online now, register and learn).
Note these are not part of the ongoing course, it is an independent course that can be done at your own pace and at your own convenience
TIPS FOR THE TEST
Do not have to memorise the ayahs or hadeeths word for word and their references, but remember their meanings and the msg being given.
Do not have to memorize the stories, they are there for inspirational pupose.
ASSIGNMENT
There will be an Assignment Question asked in the Test. Marks will be given based on the following: -
I. Invite atleast 15 people to the course (can invite via WhatsApp, Facebook, Email, telegram or word of mouth) 3 Marks. (check the note below for exceptions)
Note:
Those who have already invited whether on Whatsapp, Email or FB, do not need to invite again.
It does not matter, whether people join or not, our job is to invite.
II. Talk to 5 people (friends or family) about any three topics from the course - (5 Marks)
III. Pray for the Ummah, pray for the ease of all the poor & oppressed Muslims and Maghfirah of the Muslims who passed away. Pray that Allah make us all strong in imaan and give us the hidayah to work for the aakhirah and to help each other. - 1 Mark
JOIN FOR FREE VIA
WHATSAPP | TELEGRAM | EMAIL
Pls read our FAQs to get the details and to know how we go about things if U have any further Qs pls feel free to ask...
FAQs: - https://learn-islam.org/faqs-short-courses
Happy Learning... JazakAllah Khair...
As Salam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullaahi Wa Barakaatuh :)
SUPPORT LEARN ISLAM
If you benefit from courses by LEARN ISLAM and want to support us, please do so by buying the book FORGOTTEN SUNNAHS written by Abu Sahl Al Ansari (the founder and admin of LEARN ISLAM).
FORGOTTEN SUNNAHS : https://learn-islam.org/forgotten-sunnahs-book