RAMADAN 2022 – A MONTH OF HOPE

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE MOST MERCIFUL

Alhamdulillah we are now facing another Ramadan. Allah is so Merciful that He is giving us another opportunity to come back to Him and establish our relationship with Him. It clearly shows that despite our numerous and uncountable sins, Allah is waiting for all of us to correct ourselves so that we become more God conscious and our Iman is increased inshaAllah.

Allah has made ONE WHOLE MONTH for you and me to devote ourselves to do deeds which will eventually lead us to our final destination which inshaAllah we will remain forever – Paradise. Therefore, all of us must remain hopeful that one day all the hard work that we have put in this life to please Allah will be Rewarded by Him, despite of our numerous shortcomings.

How Merciful is Allah?

1. Allah Revealed the Qur’an in Ramadan as a guidance (2: 2)
2. The Qur’an began with “in the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful”
3. Several verses in the Qur’an brings a lot of hope to the believers:

قُلۡ يَٰعِبَادِيَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَسۡرَفُواْ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمۡ لَا تَقۡنَطُواْ مِن رَّحۡمَةِ ٱللَّهِۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَغۡفِرُ ٱلذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًاۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلۡغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ

Say, “O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.” ( Qur’an 39: 53)

وَإِذَا جَآءَكَ ٱلَّذِينَ يُؤۡمِنُونَ بِـَٔايَٰتِنَا فَقُلۡ سَلَٰمٌ عَلَيۡكُمۡۖ كَتَبَ رَبُّكُمۡ عَلَىٰ نَفۡسِهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَةَ أَنَّهُۥ مَنۡ عَمِلَ مِنكُمۡ سُوٓءَۢا بِجَهَٰلَةٖ ثُمَّ تَابَ مِنۢ بَعۡدِهِۦ وَأَصۡلَحَ فَأَنَّهُۥ غَفُورٞ رَّحِيمٞ

” And when those come to you who believe in Our verses, say, “Peace be upon you. Your Lord has decreed upon Himself mercy: that any of you who does wrong out of ignorance and then repents after that and corrects himself – indeed, He is Forgiving and Merciful.” (Qur’an 6: 54)

وَٱلَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُواْ فَٰحِشَةً أَوۡ ظَلَمُوٓاْ أَنفُسَهُمۡ ذَكَرُواْ ٱللَّهَ فَٱسۡتَغۡفَرُواْ لِذُنُوبِهِمۡ وَمَن يَغۡفِرُ ٱلذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ وَلَمۡ يُصِرُّواْ عَلَىٰ مَا فَعَلُواْ وَهُمۡ يَعۡلَمُونَ

And even those with Taqwa – who are they, whom Allah Described in the Qur’an surah 3 verse 135?

“And those who, when they have committed Fâhishah (illegal sexual intercourse) or wronged themselves with evil, remember Allâh and ask forgiveness for their sins; – and none can forgive sins but Allâh – and do not persist in what (wrong) they have done, while they know”

• In fact many stories in the Qur’an depicts Allah’s Immense Mercy

1. When Adam (AS) disobeyed Allah, he made a beautiful du’a to seek His Forgiveness (7: 23)
2. When Yunus (AS) disobeyed Allah, he also made a beautiful du’a to ask Forgiveness from Allah (21: 87)
3. When Ayub (AS) was tested by Allah – he made a du’a of distress

وَأَيُّوبَ إِذۡ نَادَىٰ رَبَّهُۥٓ أَنِّي مَسَّنِيَ ٱلضُّرُّ وَأَنتَ أَرۡحَمُ ٱلرَّٰحِمِينَ

And (remember) Ayyûb (Job), when he cried to his Lord: “Verily, distress has seized me, and You are the Most Merciful of all those who show mercy.” 21: 83

• Allah sent to you and I the very best prophet – Muhammad (SallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam)

وَمَآ أَرۡسَلۡنَٰكَ إِلَّا رَحۡمَةٗ لِّلۡعَٰلَمِينَ

And We have sent you (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم): not but as a mercy for the ‘Âlamîn (mankind, jinn and all that exists)

• Hadiths and Hadith Qudsi

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

“All the sons of Adam are sinners, but the best of sinners are those who repent often.” [AtTirmidhi]

“O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it.  [AtTirmidh]

How can you give up after that!

Remember this: we all sin, and the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

“All the sons of Adam are sinners, but the best of sinners are those who repent often.” [AtTirmidhi]

Now, there is something VERY important that you need to remember always.

Shaytan (the accursed devil) has 2 major techniques:

1- To make the sin seem appealing, approachable and easy to do.

2- Once the sin is committed, he makes asking for forgiveness and repentance seem impossible/fake/useless so that the person feels worthless and give up.

So don’t give him that. Be conscious of his techniques, immune and empower yourself.

Allah says: “[…] and despair not of relief from Allah. Indeed, no one despairs of relief from Allah except the disbelieving people” (Qur’an 12: 87)

Giving up and falling in despair is equal to disbelief because if you do that, aren’t you aware that Allah’s Name is The Continuously Merciful, The Forgiver, The Accepter of repentance..? These are His Names and these are His attributes and actions, who are we to deny His Names or deny the mercy and forgiveness that He wants to give His slaves! Denying His Names and Attributes is like denying Him.

This sort of desperation is from the shaytan. As Allah says:

” Satan threatens you with poverty and orders you to immorality, while Allah promises you forgiveness from Him and bounty. And Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing.” (Qur’an 2: 268)

Shaytan makes people focus on the downside (the sin, fear, poverty, hopelessness, failure) so they would overlook the immense hope that is there of Allah’s Help, Support and Mercy.

So don’t give him that.

Yes you’ve sinned and you feel sad and ugly. But do you know that despite all of that, you’re actually in a position to be loved by Allah!

Yes, loved!

Allah says:

” […] Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves.” (Qur’an 2: 222)

So, not only will Allah forgive, but He will also show His Love and Mercy upon those who repent and sincerely seek Him and seek the right course.

The action points here are in two folds:

1- Immune yourself against sin and against being an easy prey to Shaytan. How?

• Maintain all obligatory prayers on time.
• Make sure to recite the morning and evening adhkar regularly every day. They keep a lot of harm away and protect the person inwardly and outwardly.
• Engage with the Qur’an. Must read and/or listen to the words of Allah everyday. They keep one in check. Listen to or attend lectures of tafseer of Qur’an (exegesis and commentary). Try to also study and memorize Qur’an to the best of your ability.
• Have righteous friends. Have righteous friends. Have righteous friends and keep their company as much as possible. They remind you of Allah, encourage you for goodness and take your mind off sins.
• Recite Surat Al Baqarah whenever you feel weak. It shields and protects you against the Shaytan.
• Get busy. Occupy yourself with useful activities because if you’re not engaged in useful activities, shaytan will engage you in harmful ones.

2- If you do sin, just come back again! How?

• Stop the sin.
• Acknowledge and regret the sin wholeheartedly
• Make sincere and heartfelt repentance to Allah.
• Sincerely decide to not go back to it again
• Follow the bad deed with a good deed so it wipes it out.

“And establish prayer at the two ends of the day and at the approach of the night. Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds. That is a reminder for those who remember.” (Qur’an 11: 114)

So, if you did sin, then get back up and repeat the above steps.

Remember, if you are sincerely trying and you are doing your best to remain on the right course and you do not wish to keep doing or to insist on the sin, then you’re on the right track.
But…. if you take Allah’s Mercy and Forgiveness as a means to carry on doing sins and neglect or delay repentance, then you should be worried.

Remember the continuation of the verse we mentioned earlier…

“Say, “O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.”

And return [in repentance] to your Lord and submit to Him before the punishment comes upon you; then you will not be helped.” (Qur’an 39: 53-54)

Allah says that His Forgiveness is granted if…

“But indeed, I am the Perpetual Forgiver of whoever repents and believes and does righteousness and then continues in guidance.” (Qur’an 20: 82)

So this is the path. It doesn’t matter how many times you have fallen. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you repent immediately, do righteous deeds and keep going on the straight path.

Remember this beautiful hadith:

Ibn ‘Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) reported:
I heard Messenger of Allah (pbuh) saying, “A believer will be brought close to his Lord on the Day of Resurrection and enveloping him in His Mercy, He (SWT) will make him confess his sins by saying: ‘Do you remember (doing) this sin and this sin?’ He will reply: ‘My Lord, I remember.’ Then He (SWT) will say: ‘I covered it up for you in the life of world, and I forgive it for you today.’ Then the record of his good deeds will be handed to him”. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

So don’t give up when this is our Lord and this is His Mercy. Just remember this day, and start working…

Start now, start today. The power is yours, beat your shitan. The doors of goodness are all around you.

Get up and make wudu, pray 2 rak’aas…. good deeds wipe out bad deeds.

Give some money to charity, help someone in need, call your parents…the doors of goodness are endless and wide open for you. Seize them. Turn the table around. If you are still breathing, then you’re still in The Mercy of Allah and He is giving you more opportunities.

And if you fall, come back again

Allah never gets bored of accepting your repentance.

So long as you’re trying and you’re working hard and you’re doing your best…then the Mercy of Allah will be upon you and His aid will be with you. He called Himself the Continuously Merciful, The Forgiver and Hider of Faults and The Accepter of Repentance… for you!

This whole month of Ramadan has been organised by Allah in order to make you and I return to Him even if we are so full of sins:

1. Shaytan locked up
   1. Virtues of Terawih prayers is forgiveness of sins
   1. Last 10 nights of Ramadan – special du’a