`Asr Suhbah
(Suhbah in progress.)
So cannot Allah (swt) do that? Yes, by “Kun fayakoon.” Does He even need to say, “Kun”? He doesn’t need to say “Kun” even! Scholars said, wa amruhu bayna ‘l-kaafi wa ‘n-noon, “His order, His will, is between the [letters] Kaaf and Noon,” before He finishes...He doesn’t need to say, “Noon”, His Affair and Order is in-between. Some awliyaullah say, “Before the Kaaf, His Will will be there.” When The Essence, Allah’s Essence which no one knows, as He said, “Qul Huwa Allahu Ahad,” where ‘Huwa’ means the “Absolute Unknowable Divine Essence,” when from His Essence the Will for Allah to create comes, that Will immediately goes to Ismullah al-Khaaliq, the Divine Name, The Creator, and from that ocean Creation comes. So Creation comes from the Name al-Khaaliq. When Allah’s Will comes to create anything, Ismu ‘l-Khaaliq immediately acts on it; it executes or implements Allah’s Will by putting the blueprint of that Creation, which goes to the Bahr al-Qudra, the Ocean of Power, where it appears. Allah, Subhaanahu wa Ta`ala!
So we say, “Yaa Rabbee! We are Your weak servants coming to Your Door. You never closed Your Door to anyone. We are coming and we are regretful of our mistakes and sins!” What does Allah (swt) want from His servants? To repent and to ask forgiveness. Allah is asking repentance from His servants, “Come!” Like how people go to the masjid, for what? It is a sign of, “Yaa Rabbee, we are coming to Your House for forgiveness, and You are the One, laa tukhayyib `abdan, You don't put down or disappoint any one of Your servants. We are Your guests.”
If Allah is teaching us to be hospitable to a guest, how do you think that Allah (swt) will host His guests when they are coming to His Door? Does He shut the door or does He have an open door? I heard from Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, that Baab at-Tawbah, the Door of Forgiveness, is open until the Day of Resurrection. It means until there is no life on Earth that Baab at-Tawbah is open, the Door of Repentance is open! And He said if your sins are as wide as from East to West, you have a lot of sins, Allah (swt) will stretch His East and West to contain your sins and will not let anyone be lost, to say, “O! Allah did not forgive me.” Haasha, Allah will forgive!
قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
Qul yaa `ibaadiya ’Lladheena asrafoo `alaa anfusihim laa taqnatoo min rahmatillaahi inna Allaaha yaghfiru ’dh-dhunooba jamee`an innahu huwa ’l-ghafooru ‘r-raheem.
Say, "O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah, for Allah forgives all sins for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (Surat al-Zumar, 39:53)
“Yaa Muhammad! Say to My Servants who asrafoo `alaa anfusihim, have transgressed the limits on themselves, they did a lot of sins.” When He says, “Asrafoo,” it means excessively, too many sins; your hair will become white listening to someone who has excessive sins. He is telling Prophet (s) in the Holy Qur’an, “Say to them, yaa Rasoolullah, those who have excessive sins, don’t lose hope, laa taqnatoo min rahmatillah, don’t despair of Allah's Mercy! Inna Allaaha yaghfiru ’dh-dhunooba jamee`an, verily Allah forgives all sins.”
Who is the Mercy of Allah? Who did Allah dress with Mercy? Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! So don’t think that he will not be with you, be near you, interceding for you, and that ayah is an order for the ummah. Allah is telling him, Allah is ordering the Prophet (s), “Qul, say!” and he (s) cannot say “no” because, “I dressed you with Mercy in order to build them up.” Qul yaa `ibaadiya ’Lladheena asrafoo `alaa anfusihim laa taqnatoo min rahmatillaah, “Don’t despair of Allah's Mercy.”
It means don't despair of the Prophet (s), keep your eyes focused on him as he is the door, he is the Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa, he is the one who reached there, he is already there! So you need to follow his footsteps to reach there and you need his guidance. Allah (swt) is saying, “When you are entering the Ocean of Rahmah, when you are not in despair of His Rahmah,” which is the Mercy He dressed the Prophet (s) with, “you are there, then at that time you are ready to be forgiven, inna Allaaha yaghfiru ’dh-dhunooba jamee`an.” Allah didn’t say, inna Allaaha yaghfiru ’dh-dhunoob, “Allah forgives you from sins,” but He said, inna Allaaha yaghfiru ’dh-dhunooba jamee`an, “Allah forgives you from all sins!”
It means, “Whatever you have done of excessive sins, even if it’s too much, whatever you have done in your life of sins I am forgiving.” Allah will forgive, innahu Huwa ‘l-Ghafooru ‘r-Raheem, “He is The One Who Forgives and is Raheem, The Compassionate.” Do you think if you call on Him, saying, “Yaa Ghafoor! Yaa Ghafoor! Yaa Ghafoor!” any sin will stay on you? Just now when we said, “Yaa Ghafoor, yaa Ghafoor,” all our sins are gone, not because I can see that they are gone, but because all our minds and hearts will have a good thought of our Lord, as the hadith states:
أَنَا عِنْدَ حُسْنِ ظَنِّ عَبْدِي بِي
Anaa `inda husni zhanna `abdee bee.
I am according to My servant’s good thoughts of Me. (Hadith Qudsi, Bayhaqi)
We are having good thinking of You, yaa Rabbee, that You are going to forgive us in dunya and Akhirah! Ameen, yaa Rabbi ’l-`Alameen! We are excessively transgressing the limits now, but when His servants transgress the boundaries and limits, Allah likes them to ask for forgiveness every moment in their life, even all our life, and we say, “Yaa Ghafoor! Yaa Ghafoor! Yaa Ghafoor!” or “Yaa `Afoow! Yaa `Afoow! Yaa `Afoow!” all our life without stopping and Allah (swt) will be happy with us. Allah (swt) has Ninety-Nine Names, so call on Him asking Him through any Name you like as it is the hadith of the Prophet (s).
So if we say, “Yaa Rabbee, make our days and nights, make all our years on the same manifestation of the Beautiful Names and Attributes that you send on the last hour of Friday, to make them all like that,” and you are asking and saying, “Yaa `Afoow, yaa Ra’oof, yaa Rahmaan, yaa Hannaan, yaa Mannaan, yaa Dayyaan, yaa Subhaan, yaa Dayyaan,” would He say no? He says, “Come to Me with all your sins, My Doors are open from East to West!” There is no exit, you enter, but no exit. When you enter inside and it is wrapped, so let us say from the day of birth to this moment, everything is inside now wrapped in it, because you asked forgiveness, so Allah will forgive. So now from this moment forward, if you want to exit to bad `amal you can and if you want to exit to good `amal you can, but that exit is very tight. But most people will exit, because Shaytan tries to stretch them like rubber; he makes them to be like rubber and you become so slim, not like a plasma TV, like LED TV, very thin and can have all your data inside like computers, but from that moment now backwards, with Allah's Mercy on us it is forgiven.
Anaa `inda husni zhanna `abdee bee. Hold fast to that hadith of the Prophet (s) and don’t let it go. “I am according to the good thoughts of My Servant about Me.” Whenever you have good thoughts you will be saved and Allah will forgive you. If you have doubts, be careful as you cannot play here: either you have belief 100%, or if your belief is slightly shaky, the digital thermometer or Heavenly Balance can check it. If we believe and then we did a sin, still we believe in the first part, that Allah will forgive us, He will forgive you. Now if you commit a sin, okay, immediately remember that you can ask for repentance and the doors are open from East to West. Come to Allah (swt) and don't go to anyone else as they are not going to give you anything if Allah does not want!
Awliyaullah make du`a for you, but they are expecting something from you: that you show interest in order that they can present you to the Prophet (s). The farthest they can go is to the Prophet (s) and the Prophet (s) can go to Allah (swt). Also in your prayers, in your du`a, you go to Allah (swt), but Allah said in Holy Qur'an, “First you have to be in the presence of the Prophet (s) for your du`a to be accepted or for that wali’s du`a to be accepted:”
وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذ ظَّلَمُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ جَآؤُوكَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُواْ اللّهَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ الرَّسُولُ لَوَجَدُواْ اللّهَ تَوَّابًا رَّحِيمًا
Wa law annahum idh zhalamoo anfusahum ja’ooka f ’astaghfaroollaaha w ’astaghfara lahumu ‘r-rasoolu la-wajadoo ’Llaaha tawwaaba ‘r-raheema.
If they had only, when they were unjust to themselves, come to you and asked Allah's forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful. (Surat an-Nisa, 4:64)
“If they oppressed themselves they must first come to you, yaa Muhammad!” They have to come to that presence as we just said, that Allah dressed Prophet (s) from His Mercy. So first you have to come to that Mercy, then Allah will forgive your sins. So here in this ayah you have to come to the Prophet (s) first, as stated openly, wa law annahum idh zhalamoo anfusahum ja’ooka f ’astaghfaroollaaha, “They come to you, yaa Muhammad, and they ask Allah for forgiveness, but for it to be accepted you (s) have to make istighfaar on their behalf, w ’astaghfara lahumu ‘r-rasoolu la-wajadoo ’Llaaha tawwaaba ‘r-raheema, and they will find that Allah has forgiven them.”
Anaa `inda husni zhanna `abdee bee, “I am according to what My Servant thinks about Me,” which means good thoughts. Here we are having good thoughts of Allah by going to His Door, Sayyidina Muhammad (s), as Allah is ordering us, so we have it in our hearts, we believe, “Yaa Rabbee! Don’t shake our belief, keep our belief strong in You and in Your Prophet (s) and in Your Awliya!” Then we will be able to move forward and we will be cleaned from any sins, whatever it is, only not to lie.
قال أبو الدرداء وذكر بعضهم قال عبدالله بن جراد يارسول الله هل يزني المؤمن قال قد يكون ذلك قال هل يسرق المؤمن قال قد يكون ذلك قال هل يكذب المؤمن قال لا ثم أتبعها نبي الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : { إنما يفتري الكذب الذين لا يؤمنون بآيات الله } النحل : 105
One time the Sahaabah (r) asked the Prophet (s), “Yaa Rasoolullah! Does the mu’min steal or rob?" The Prophet (s) replied, "Perhaps." They asked, "Does the mu’min make zinaa (adultery)?" The Prophet (s) replied, "Perhaps." They asked, "Does the mu’min steal?" The Prophet (s) replied, “Perhaps.” Then they asked him, "Does the mu’min lie?" To this the Prophet (s) replied, "This, no!" Then the Prophet (s) followed it by (reciting), “Only they invent falsehood who believe not Allah's revelations, and (only) they are the liars.” [Surat al-Nahl, 16:105] (Kanzu ’l-`Ummal, 8994)
The Sahaabah (r) came to the Prophet (s) and they asked him, hal al-mu’min yasruq, “Yaa Rasoolullah! Does the believer steal?” The Prophet (s) said, rubbamaa, “Might be.” And they asked, hal al-mu’min yaznee, “Does a Muslim, a believer do adultery?” He (s) said, rubbamaa, “Might be.”
You might be a Muslim and you say, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah,” and you fast and you pray, but you steal. Might be that you have bad character or you make zinaa (commit adultery), which is a big sin.
(Hadith narration continues.) And then they asked, hal al-mu’min yakdhib, “Can a believer lie?” He said, fa amma haadhihi fa laa, “As for that, no, you cannot lie!”
It means you cannot lie on what you already promised Allah to follow, to do. If you are a Muslim, you cannot lie as lying is not accepted in Islam, because if you lie for dunya then it is easy to lie for Akhirah. Whatever contract you made with Your Creator, and that contract was on the Day of Promises when Allah asked, alastu bi rabbikum, “Am I not your Creator?” and we all said, balaa, “Verily, yes!” As soon as we said, “balaa,” there was a contract that we signed.
What is that contract? “Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadu ‘r-Rasoolullah, wa iqaamu ‘s-salaat wa itaau ‘z-zakaat wa sawmu ramadan wa hajju ‘l-bayt.” Finished! You signed that contract, you cannot breach it; if you breach it, you lied. That is the lie, not to lie in general, which is also a sin, but not lying on your contract that you signed in front of Allah in the Divine Presence. You made Shahaadah and said, “Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadu ‘r-Rasoolullah,” and you promised to pray the five prayers and fast and to pay zakaat and to make Hajj. You signed at that time, so you cannot now say, “No,” lying to Allah (swt). So however you think of Allah, that is what you get. If you think, “Yaa Rabbee! You are The One Who forgives everything, You are The One Who raises everyone, so raise us!” then we can take that opportunity and ask now, and this is before Maghrib and before breaking fast, we say, “Yaa Rabbee, raise us to be with the Prophet (s)!” Will Allah say no?
وَرَحْمَتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ فَسَأَكْتُبُهَا لِلَّذِينَ يَتَّقُونَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَـاةَ وَالَّذِينَ هُم بِآيَاتِنَا يُؤْمِنُونَ
Wa rahmatee wasi`at kulla shayin fasa’aktubuhaa lilladheena yattaqoona wa yu’toona ‘z-zakaata wa ‘Lladheenahum bi ayaatina yu’minoon.
My Mercy encompasses everything. That (mercy) I shall ordain for those who do right and practice regular charity and those who believe in Our Signs. (Surat al-`Araaf, 7:156)
“My Mercy has widened to encompass all things and I will write it for those who have taqwaa, who fear Allah and those who give charity and those who are mu’min, I will dress them with My Rahmah!”
We are all saying, “Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadu ‘r-Rasoolullah,” in this one hour before Maghrib. May Allah make that hour the blessed hour, the hour of forgiveness and to make all our days and nights to be like that one hour of Friday when all du`a are accepted!
Wa min Allah at-tawfeeq bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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