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Once a person came before Ibrahim bin Adham (Rahimahullāh)
and requested “Hazrat! Render me some advice,”
He said, “If you oblige to do six things which I tell you, you will
have no danger.
1. When you commit a sin, you must not eat Allah’s food. Every
ungrateful person is he who consumes Allah’s sustenance and still
disobeys Him.
2. When you disobey Allah you should go away from His kingdom
(earth). Staying in His kingdom and disobeying Him is a shameless
act.
3. Commit a sin in a place where Allah cannot see you. How do you
commit a sin in front of Allah, when you know Allah is ever present
and all seeing?
4. When the angel of death comes to withdraw your soul, send him back.
When you have no option, then with what reliance are you committing
sin?
5. When the two angels, Munkar and Nakir come to your grave, send them
away. When you have no choice, then prepare answers for their
questions.
Escape from hell on the day of Judgement. If you have no power to do
this, then abandon sin.
(Zawq Wa Shawq vol. 3 pg. 172)
We may be facing a situation in which irresistible temptation is
rising in our hearts and are being overwhelmed with an urge to commit
sin, too tempting for us to resist. What should we do in such a
situation? In order to please Allah, crush this sinful desire and
control our defiant self. By doing this, the light of taqwa and
righteousness will illuminate within us. It occurs in a Hadith that
once a strong desire arose in the heart of a man to cast an unlawful
gaze at a strange woman. This man however suppressed this sinful
desire due to the fear of Allah. In such a critical situation when a
man restrains his desires for no other reason but for the fear of
Allah, Allah bestows him the sweetness of Iman the likes of which he
could never obtain by satisfying his lustful desires.
Sometimes a man does fall into sins inspite of all his efforts to shun
them. In such a condition it is expected of him to turn to Allah, The
Most High, in repentance with deep feelings of regret and remorse. He
should recite any form of istighfaar, one of which is:
أَسْتَغْفِرُاللهَ رَبِّىْ مِنْ كُلِّ ذَنْبٍ وَأَتُوْبُ إِلَيْكَ
As a result of the expression of shame and regret in seeking
forgiveness, his status will be raised. In this way, he will become
the point of attraction for Allah’s mercy and forgiveness. Three
elements must be present to make repentance materialize:
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to feel ashamed of the sin committed.
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to give up the sin committed at once without any hesitation.
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a firm resolve not to repeat that sin in the future under any
circumstance.
When a sinner resorts to repentance in this way, he becomes purified
from his sin. It is mentioned in a hadith:
التائب من الذنب كمن لا ذنب له
“One who repents from sin is like one who has committed no sin at
all.” (Mishkāt)
By repentance, the entire trace of sin is effaced from the register
where the sin was recorded. How infinite is the mercy of Allah! There
will be no trace and reference to this sin in the hereafter.
It is mentioned in a hadith that a person who recites Sayyidul
Istighfaar (the leading formula of repentance), in the morning with
full conviction and he dies during the day, he shall enter paradise
directly. And if anyone recites it in the evening and dies during that
night, he will enter paradise directly.
Sayyidul Istighfaar is as follows:
اَللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ رَبِّيْ لاَ اِلَهَ إِلاَّ اَنْتَ خَلَقْتَنِيْ
وَأَنَا عَبْدُكَ وَأَنَا عَلَى عَهْدِكَ وَوَعْدِكَ مَا اسَتَطَعْتُ
أَعُوْذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا صَنَعْتُ أَبُوْءُ لَكَ بِنِعْمَتِكَ
عَلَيَّ وَ أَبُوْءُ بِذَنْبِيْ فَاغْفِرْ لِيْ فَإِنَّهُ لاَ يَغْفِرُ
الذُّنُوْبَ إِلاَّ اَنْتَ .
(Muhammad Reja 4th year student) |