And,
"And those who invoke not any other ilaah (god) along with Allah, nor
kill such person as Allah has forbidden, except for just cause, nor
commit illegal sexual intercourse and whoever does this shall receive
the punishment.
The torment will be doubled to him on the Dayof Resurrection, and he
will abide therein in disgrace;
Except those who repent and believe (in Islamic Monotheism), and do
righteous deeds; for those,Allah will change their sinsinto good
deeds, and Allahis Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful" [al-Furqaan 25:68-70]
This is a great blessing anda great deal, for Allah will change your
sins into gooddeeds! Allah is Most Great. No one misses out on sucha
great deal except one who is ignorant or who does not care about this
blessing.
So repent! my dear brothers and sisters, if you want this great deal,
Allah will change your sins into good deeds.
And listen to what your beloved Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah
be upon him) said to encourage people to repent:
"Allah is more delighted with the repentance of His slave than one of
you whosuddenly finds his camel laden with supplies after losing it in
a barren land." (Agreed upon)
And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
"Allah says: "O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and put your
hope in Me, I will forgive you no matter what you have done, and Ido
not mind. O son of Adam, if your sins were to reach up to the clouds
of the sky, then you were to ask Me for forgiveness, I will forgive
you and I do not mind."
And he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Allah says,
"O My slaves, you commit sinsby night and by day, but I forgive all
sins. So ask Me for forgiveness and I will forgive you."
And he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Allah
stretches forth His hand by night to accept the repentance of those
who sinned during the day, and He stretches forth His hand by day to
accept the repentance of those who sinned during the night. (This will
continue) until the sun rises from the west."
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) saw
a woman looking for her young son among the prisoners of war. When she
found him, she embraced him and gave him her breast. The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Do you think that
she could throw her child into the fire?" They said, "No." He said,
"Allah ismore merciful towards His slaves than this woman is towards
her child."
Allah is Most Great! After knowing of this generosity, can we ignore
the matter of repentance? Can we delay repenting? O Allah, glory be to
You, howmerciful You are. Glory be to You, how kind You are. Glory be
to You, how generous You are.
"When my heart grew hard and I did not know where to turn,
I made the hope of Your forgiveness my way out.
I thought that my sin was so great, but when I compared it
To Your forgiveness, my Lord, Your forgiveness was greater.
You never cease to forgive sin, and You never cease
To be generous, out of Your bounty and kindness." [Arabic poetry]
Be frank with yourself
What is keeping you from repenting and following the path of
righteousness?I can imagine you saying,"My family, community and
friends. I am afraid of repenting then going back to my sin. My sins
are so many, how can I be forgiven? I am worried about my family and
my wealth." I say to you: Do you think that you will saythat to your
Lord on the Day when you meet Him? No, by Allah! These are imaginary
obstacles which can only be overcome by one who fears his Lord.
"If the soul had great ambitions,
The body would be exhausted by trying to fulfil the desires of the
soul." [Arabic poetry]
Be proud of your religion, and sincerely resolve to dogood and to
continue doing so, putting your trust in Allah. And remember the mercy
of your Lord and the vast extent of His forgiveness.
My brother, if the Angel of Death were to come to you at this moment,
would you be content to meet your Lord in this state? My brother,
please do not run away from yourself or try to avoid checking on
yourself. If you do not check on yourself today, then in your grave
you will regret it, at the time when regret will be of no avail.
A new beginning
Know that repentance is not limited only to this month it may take
place during this or any other month. But why should your new
beginning not take place in the month of goodness and blessing? A man
may be born twice, on the day when he emerges from the darkness of his
mother's womb into the light of thisworld, and on the day when he
emerges from the darkness of sin into the light of obedience. So be
like this.
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