Concept of Forgiveness in Islam

Transcript of the Friday Khutbah delivered by Dr. Munawar Haque on May 4, 2018

Brothers and sisters! The topic of today’s khutba is: “Concept of Forgiveness in Islam.” It is wisely said: “To err is human, to forgive divine.” Both parts of this statement are true. All people commit sins and make mistakes. God forgives them, and people are acting in a divine way when they forgive. Part of our being human is that we make mistakes. Sometimes we make mistakes unintentionally, and other times we make mistakes and fall into sin intentionally. Islam speaks about two elements of forgiveness: (1) Allah’s all-encompassing mercy and forgiveness, and (2) the need of human beings to forgive one another. We need both, because we do wrong in our relations with Allah (SWT) as well as in our relations with each other.

Out of the many beautiful names and attributes of Allah (SWT), some of them are related to His divine mercy and forgiveness. One of them is: “Al-Ghafoor,” which means “The Most Forgiving.” There are other names such as “Ghafir” and “Ghaffar” that are derived from the same Arabic root word  “ghafara,” which means to cover or to hide and from it comes the meaning “to excuse,” “to pardon,” and “to forgive.” Allah does all these things. The Prophet (SAW) was told to convey to all people the good news that Allah keeps forgiving and is most merciful.  

نَبِّئْ عِبَادِي أَنِّي أَنَا الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

“Tell My servants that I am indeed the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (Quran 15:49). Allah describes Himself as:

غَافِرِ الذَّنبِ وَقَابِلِ التَّوْبِ

“The Forgiver of sin and the Accepter of repentance”(Ghafir, 40:3). We must turn to Allah to seek His forgiveness.

اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ غَفَّارًا

“Ask forgiveness of your Lord. Indeed, He is ever forgiving” (Nuh, 71:10). A Hadith Qudsi tells us:

لَمَّا قَضَى اللَّهُ الْخَلْقَ كَتَبَ فِي كِتَابِهِ فَهُوَ عِنْدَهُ فَوْقَ الْعَرْشِ إِنَّ رَحْمَتِي غَلَبَتْ غَضَبِي

“When Allah decreed the creation, he wrote in his Book with Him on His Throne: “My mercy prevails over my wrath.”

One of the other names and attributes of Allah (SWT) is: “Al-‘Afuw,” (“The Pardoner”). This reflects another dimension of forgiveness. Literally, the word ‘Afa means “to pardon,” “to forgive,” “to pass over,” and “to restore.” Thus in relation to Allah, it means “to release us from the burden of punishment due to our sins and mistakes; to restore our honor after we have dishonored ourselves by committing sins and making mistakes.” Sometimes in the Qur’an both names, ‘Afuw and Ghafoor, come together.

فَأُولَٰئِكَ عَسَى اللَّهُ أَن يَعْفُوَ عَنْهُمْ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَفُوًّا غَفُورًا

“It may well be that Allah will pardon them. Allah is Ever-Pardoning, Ever-Forgiving.” (an-Nisa’, 4:99)

Another excellent name is: “At-Tawwab,” which means “The Accepter of Repentance.” Allah accepts repentance of those who sincerely repent and turn to him. The word “Tawwab” gives the sense of “oft-returning,” which means that Allah accepts a person’s repentance again and again. We commit sins and make mistakes. We then repent and He accepts our repentance. Then we again commit sins and make mistakes and we repent. And He again accepts our repentance.  He keeps on giving us opportunities to repent and mend our ways.

أَلَمْ يَعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ يَقْبَلُ التَّوْبَةَ عَنْ عِبَادِهِ وَيَأْخُذُ الصَّدَقَاتِ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ

“Do they not know that Allah alone accepts the repentance of His servants and receives their charity, and that Allah alone is the Accepter of Repentance, Most Merciful?” (At-Tawbah, 9:104)

One of the most beautiful things about repentance and turning to Allah and doing good deeds is that Allah not only wipes the sins off, but also replaces them with good deeds.

مَنْ تَابَ وَآَمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا فَأُولَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا

“Those who repent, believe, and do good deeds, Allah will change the evil deeds of such people into good ones. He is most forgiving, most merciful.” (al-Furqan, 25:70)

According to a hadith, “The one who repents from sin is like one who did not sin.” This means that if a person commits a sin, then repents sincerely from it, gives it up, regrets having done it, prays for forgiveness and does not go back to it, Allah will accept his repentance and treat him like one who did not sin. The sincere repentance of Adam and Hawwa (Alaihimussalam) opened the doors for Allah’s forgiveness to reach them. What did they both say?

رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنْفُسَنَا وَإِنْ لَمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ

“Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if you do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers” (al-A’raf, 7:23).

Allah (SWT) is also known by His beautiful name of “Al-Haleem,” which means “The Most Forbearing.” He is not quick to judge or punish, but gives time to each one of us. He shows clemency and is most patient to see His servant return to Him.

وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ حَلِيمٌ

“And know that Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Forbearing.” (al-Baqarah, 2:235)

There are two other names of Allah (SWT) by which He wants us to remember Him every time we take a step in our life. They appear in "Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim": “Ar-Rahman” (“The Most Gracious”) and “Ar-Rahim” (“The Most Merciful”). Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is reported to have said that no man’s good deeds are enough to get him admitted into Paradise, but it is only by the mercy of Allah that people will enter Paradise. Our deeds are only the tools or the means to get close to Allah so that we can be hopeful of His mercy. Therefore, let us do our good deeds, let us have our correct faith, and let us perform our obligations as best as we can, but then leave the rest to Allah’s mercy.

At times we find people questioning if Allah (SWT) will forgive them for the sins they have committed. Shaytan pushes them to believe that there is no scope for forgiveness left for them. They get into a state of desperation and lose all hope in Allah’s mercy.  So they never repent and seek forgiveness from Allah. But Allah says:

 قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ لا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

“Say: O My servants who transgressed against themselves, do not despair of Allah's mercy. For Allah forgives all sins. He is the Forgiver, the Merciful”(Al-Zumar, 39:53).

Imagine the beauty of Allah’s forgiveness that when non-Muslims enter into the fold of Islam, Allah forgives all their evil deeds but leaves behind all their good deeds that would be taken into account on the Day of Judgment. It is as if they were born again but carrying years of good deeds with them. The paths to forgiveness are many and all that is needed is our travelling on those paths. The bearing of good character and conduct results in forgiveness, if persons are truthful and upright with what they speak, they will be forgiven for their sins for Allah says,

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَقُولُوا قَوْلاً سَدِيدًايُصْلِحْ لَكُمْ أَعْمَالَكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَمَن يُطِعِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ فَازَ فَوْزًا عَظِيمًا

“O you who believe, be conscious of Allah, and speak the right words. He will put your actions right for you and forgive you your wrong deeds. Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly achieved a great success” (AL-Ahzab, 33:70-71).

We should not only seek Allah’s forgiveness when we have sinned but should also seek it when we have not sinned. Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW) despite being sinless used to seek forgiveness from Allah every single day, and used to say, “O people seek forgiveness from Allah. Verily I seek forgiveness from Him one hundred times a day.”  Seeking forgiveness or making istighfar is an act of worship done by all prophets, messengers and pious believers.

How often do we let days go by without seeking Allah’s forgiveness even once? Allah wants to forgive us and He wants us to feel His mercy in this life and in the hereafter. Unfortunately, much of the message what we get and what we deliver to others is not the mercy, love and forgiveness of Allah, but the anger of Allah and how we should fear Him. In order that we develop some appreciation of our relationship with Allah, listen to what He tells us in the Qur’an,      

وَرَحْمَتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ

“My mercy encompasses everything.” (al-A’raf, 7:156) 

We need to realize that there is great mercy and forgiveness from Allah and all that is required of us is to ask for it through our words and actions. How often do we sit in our prayers seeking forgiveness? May Allah give us the tawfiq to do so.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين

Brothers and sisters! While the concept of forgiveness in Islam lies in seeking the forgiveness of Allah (SWT), it also lies in being forgiving to one another. We must learn from the forgiving nature of Prophet Yusuf (AS) who looked upon his brothers and said,

قَالَ لَا تَثْرِيبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْيَوْمَ يَغْفِرُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ وَهُوَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ

“He said: There is no blame on you today. May Allah forgive you! He is the Most Merciful of the merciful” (Yusuf, 12:92).

Yusuf (AS) never spoke about the wrong that his brothers had committed against him. He was one of the most powerful men, and could have sought revenge but he chose to forgive and leave us all an example to learn from. No matter how a high position of power we may be in, the characteristic of forgiving one another should always be within us.  

The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was someone who’s patience and forgiving nature is an example for all of humanity. The wrongs that were committed against him were never held in his heart. Imagine that the man who assassinated Hamza ibn Abdul Muttalib (RA) - the Uncle of the Prophet (SAW) was informed by the Prophet (SAW) himself, that Allah was ready to forgive him, if he were to accept Islam. This was a time when the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was crying over the loss of his martyred uncle after the Battle of Uhud. The pain that he must have felt cannot be put into words. Yet, the Prophet (SAW) remained forgiving. There are many stories of those who committed excesses against the noble Prophet (SAW) and were later embraced by him with open arms.

The need to be forgiving starts with our dealings with our own family members. Perfection belongs only to Allah (SWT). We are not perfect. There is no perfect family. We do not have perfect parents. We do not marry a perfect person. We do not have perfect children. Sometimes, we have complaints from each other. Sometimes, we disappoint each other. So there is no healthy marriage or healthy family without the exercise of forgiveness. It is vital to our emotional health and spiritual survival. Without forgiveness the family becomes a ground of conflict. Without forgiveness, the family becomes ill. Whoever does not forgive does neither have peace in the heart nor close association with Allah (SWT). Those who do not forgive are physically, emotionally and spiritually ill.

Forgiveness is the remedy that heals. In order to achieve peace and harmony, we need to forgive one another and hold no feelings of grudge and resentment against one another because surely these ill feelings are but chains that tie us down. The power of forgiveness needs to be earned through the power of forgiving and by never losing hope in Allah’s mercy.

We must sincerely repent to Allah and seek His forgiveness for our sins, regardless whether they are major or minor, open or secret, intentional or unintentional. Indeed He accepts sincere repentance. He is the most forgiving; the most merciful. May Allah have mercy on us above the earth; below the earth, and on the Day when our deeds will be shown to us. May He make us merciful and forgiving to one another. May He lead us to ways that make us qualify for His mercy and forgiveness. May He help us achieve all that is good and righteous. Allahumma Ameen.

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