Last 10 days of Ramadan are all about forgiveness

Well, we are approaching the second part of Ramadan – already! The next 10 days will be filled with forgiveness, of which we are sorely in need. Without a doubt, all of us are in need of forgiveness. The prayer of the Muslim is to seek forgiveness for sins we commit knowingly and sins we commit unknowingly. When one begs for forgiveness we are repenting; seeking tawbah - its meaning is to turn back to Allah by abandoning all major and minor sins and to repent to Allah from all known and unknown sins.

Allah, by bestowing on us His forgiveness, especially during the blessed month of Ramadan, is showing His wonderful attribute of mercy yet again.  The noble Quran says “So say: "O my Lord! Grant Thou forgiveness and mercy for Thou art the Best of those who show mercy!" Surah Al Muminun: 118

Indeed these second 10 days of Ramadan are the days of forgiveness, and we should seek Allah's forgiveness and repent for all sins with fervour and sincerity. Being sincere in our repentance is utmost; hence vowing not to commit open sins again - surah Al ‘Imran, 193: “Our Lord, we heard a caller calling us to faith: “Believe in your Lord!” And we believed. Our Lord, forgive us our wrong actions, erase our bad actions from us and take us back to you with those who are truly good.”

Just what is forgiveness? The dictionary explains forgiveness to mean compassionate feelings that support a willingness to forgive; the act of excusing a mistake or offence. From this meaning, I would say that forgiveness is definitely a form of mercy. Further, being forgiven is a blessing from God, a gift, which God bestows upon sincere, and I mean sincere repentance. One should not be asking God’s forgiveness and then commit the sin again and again. This would be taking advantage of God’s mercy and playing Him for foolish, which could only incur His wrath rather than His mercy. Thus upon sincere repentance, the believer’s sins are forgiven and the believer is free of condemnation before Allah, the Sublime.

Imagine if God was not so generous with bestowing forgiveness upon His ignorant slaves  — I dare say, we would all be going to hell in a hand-basket for sure and we wouldn’t be going at 20 miles an hour either, no we’ll be taking the Concorde straight to hell! I for one am thankful for God’s mercy of forgiveness, because I am a hot mess, but there is hope for me yet — I am reminded of the spiritual ‘Amazing Grace’: “ How sweet the sound, that saved a poor wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now I see.” The message of this spiritual is that only because of God’s mercy are we forgiven.

Forgiveness

There is an Islamic story or hadith related by Anas, who said: I heard the messenger of Allah say: Allah the Almighty has said: “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 is.”

Oh what joyful news!

The hadith sends a message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of the sins people commit and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God. Supanallah (all praise is due to God).

Repentance from all sins is obligatory on every adult believer. The Holy Quran supports this in Sura An Noor 24:31 “And all of you beg Allah to forgive you, O believers, that you may be successful.” Al-Agharr Al-Muzanee narrated that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:  “O people! Repent to Allah and seek for His forgiveness. I repent to Him in a day 100 times.”

So Believers, during these next 10 days of Ramadan, let us take full advantage of God’s mercy by following the sunnah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and beg for Allah’s forgiveness at least 100 times a day!

Ramadan Mubarek.