Seeking Forgiveness: Tradition of the Prophets and the Righteous

The Prophets, may Allaah exalt their mention, and the virtuous and
righteous people were the quickest of all to comply with the call of
Allaah The Almighty.
Our father Aadam )Adam( and our mother Hawwaa' )Eve(, may Allaah exalt
their mention:
They responded to the call of Allaah The Almighty immediately after
they disobeyed Him when Shaytaan )Satan( caused them to slip and drove
them to commit a sin. They hastened to show remorse and to repent.
Allaah The Almighty Says )what means(:}They said, "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.{]Quran 7:23[
Nooh )Noah(:
When hefelt sympathy for his disbelieving son, he said )what
means(:}…"My Lord, indeed my son is of my family; and indeed, Your
promise is true; and You Are the most just of judges!{]Quran 11:45[
Then Allaah The Almighty Said to him )what means(:}…"O Nooh, indeed he
is not of your family; indeed, he is ]one whose[ work was other than
righteous, so ask Me not for that about which you have no knowledge.
Indeed, I advise you, lest you be among the ignorant.{]Quran 11:46[
Then, Noohasked for the forgiveness of Allaah The Almighty, repenting
of what he said. Allaah The Almighty Says )what means(:}… "My Lord, I
seek refuge in You from asking that of which I have no knowledge. And
unless You forgive me and have mercy upon me, I will be among the
losers.{]Quran 11:47[
Besides, after Allaah The Exalted had punished the disbelieving people
of Noohwith drowning and saved the believing people with Noohhe
said)which means(:}My Lord, forgive me and my parents and whoever
enters my house a believer and the believing men and believing women.
And do not increase the wrongdoers except in destruction.{]Quran
71:28[
Ibraaheem )Abraham(:
Ibraaheemwho was the intimate friend of Allaah The Exalted, said in
the verse )which means(:}And who I aspire that He will forgive me my
sin on the Day of Recompense.{]Quran 26:82[
Moosa )Moses(:
Moosasays in the verse )which means(:}He said, "My Lord, indeed I have
wronged myself, so forgive me," and He forgave him. Indeed, He is the
Forgiving, the Merciful.{]Quran 28:16[ Healso says )what
means(:}]Moosa[ said, "My Lord, forgive me and my brother and admit us
into Your mercy, for You are the Most Merciful of the merciful.{]Quran
7:151[
Muhammad:
The Companions of the Prophetnarrated that the Prophetused to seek the
forgiveness of Allaah The Almighty at least one hundred times in each
gathering, saying:"O Lord, forgive my sins and grant me )accept my(
repentance; for You are the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful."In
another version:"… You are the Forgiving, the Merciful."]Abu Daawood[
The Prophetsaid:"By Allaah! I ask for forgiveness from Allaah The
Exalted and turn to Him in repentance more than seventy times a
day."]Al-Bukhaari[
Furthermore, Allaah The Almighty urges the Prophetto seek His
forgiveness. He, the Exalted, Says )what means(:}… ask forgiveness for
your sin and for the believing men and believing women…{]Quran 47:19[
Yoonus )Jonah(:
Prophet Yoonuscalled out in the darkness of the whale's belly )what
means(:}There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have
been of the wrongdoers.{]Quran 21:87[
Daawood )David(:
Daawoodsupplicated Allaah The Exalted as Allaah The Exalted Says )what
means(:}And Daawood became certain that We had tried him, and he asked
forgiveness of his Lord and fell down bowing ]in prostration[ and
turned in repentance ]to Allaah[.{]Quran 38: 24[
Abu Bakr:
Abu Bakrthe best of this nation after the Prophetasked the Prophet"O
Messenger of Allaah, teach me an invocation with which I may invoke
Allaah in my prayers." The Prophetsaid:"Say, 'Allaahumma inni thalamtu
nafsi thulman katheeran wa la yaghfir ath-thunoob illa ant; ighfir li
maghfiratan min 'indik wa irhamni, innaka anta Al-Ghafoor Ar-Raheem )O
Allaah, I have wronged my soul very much and none forgives the sins
but You; so please bestow Your forgiveness and mercy upon me. No
doubt, You are the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful(.'"]Al-Bukhaari[
'Umar:
'Umarsaid to the Prophet"O Messenger of Allaah, ask forgiveness for me."
There are numerous righteous and devout people other than these, who
used to seek the forgiveness of Allaah The Almighty frequently;
repentance was their banner, their request for forgiveness was their
slogan, and they repeatedly turned to Allaah The Almighty.

Justification is the Excuse of the Weak

Who among us does not make mistakes? Who among us can dare claim that
he is infallible? Every human is expected to make mistakes, and this
is not in itself a defect, for the Prophetsaid:"All the sons of Aadam
constantly commit sins, but the best of those who constantly commit
sins are those who are constantly repentant."]Ibn Maajah[ The real
defect lies in insisting on making the mistake and adhering to
falsehood. The mistake becomes even graver when its doer endeavors to
justify it in order to make himself and those around him believe that
he did not make a mistake at all.
The Definition of Justification
Justification, in the false sense, is the process of fabricating
excuses for one's behavior, thoughts or views, in order to replace the
real motives and reasons. It is the process of concealing the reality
and truth with a justification that one would accept and approve of,
without any reaction or feeling any guilt.
The Evil End of Justification
Justification is an incurable disease that leads to a tragic end,
which results in bitter consequences for the doer, as his continuous
justification distracts him from correcting himself and reflecting on
his defects. Accordingly, he always thinks that he is doing well. If a
slave of Allaah The Almighty reaches this state, it becomes difficult
to reform him and he loses his self-harmony because he is living in a
state of internal psychological warfare in which he is both the
executioner and the victim. The one who suffers from this disease is a
curse on himself and others, as he is extreme in enmity and frequently
argues with others. At this point, he is the most detested of
creatures in the sight of Allaah The Almighty. In this respect the
Prophetsaid:"The most hated person in the sight of Allaah is the
extremely quarrelsome person."]Al-Bukhaari[
The Quran Vilifies such People
Such people have existed throughout history. The Quran relates to us
the stories of some of them; for instance, Allaah The Almighty Says
)what means(;}And among them is he who says: "Permit me ]to remain at
home[ and do not put me to Fitnah." Unquestionably, into Fitnah they
have fallen. And indeed, Hell will encompass the disbelievers.{]Quran
9:49[ Commenting on this verse, Al-Qurtubisaid,
Muhammad ibn Is'haaqsaid: "The Messenger of Allaahsaid to Al-Jadd ibn
Qays, when he wanted to set out for the Battle of Tabook:"O Jadd,
would you like to fight the yellow people ]the Romans[, so that you
could take female captives and servants from them?" Al-Jadd replied,
"My people know that I am besotted by women, and I fear that if I see
the women of the yellow people, I would fall into Fitnah. So, do not
put me in Fitnah but permit me to remain behind, and I will support
you with my money."Thereupon, the Messenger of Allaah turned away from
him, and said:"I permit you."Just look at this man, who, when knowing
the hardship of traveling to Tabook and the difficulty of confronting
and fighting the Romans, wanted to justify his situation and protect
himself! He therefore invented a fabricated excuse which was his
infatuation by women and his fear that he may be tempted upon seeing
them and would then be forced to leave the Muslim army because he
would not have the self-restraint to keep himself from them.
Shaykh-ul-Islam Ahmad ibn Taymiyyahcommented on this incident, saying,
"Since enjoining good, forbidding evil, and Jihaad are some of the
tests and trials that subject a person to Fitnah, some people began
justifying their abandonment of these obligations by seeking safety
from Fitnah. Allaah The Almighty Says )what means( with regard to the
hypocrites:}And among them is he who says: "Permit me ]to remain at
home[ and do not put me to Fitnah." Unquestionably, into Fitnah they
have fallen. And indeed, Hell will encompass the disbelievers.{]Quran
9:49["
Similarly, another group of people justified their abandonment of
Jihaad by saying that they could not set out for Jihaad in the heat.
Therefore, Allaah The Almighty Says about them )what means(:}And
]they[ said: "Do not go forth in the heat." Say: "The fire of Hell is
more intensive in heat" - if they would but understand.{]Quran 9:81[
Sayyid Qutbsaid in this regard, "It is therefore either fighting in
the cause of Allaah in the heat for a limited period, or being cast
into Hell for a duration that no one knows the length of but Allaah."
Does a Believer Justify Himself?
In the previous examples there were some cases which might not be
stated by those who form the cream of Muslim society. However, reality
proves that even some truthful believers might be afflicted by
justification, as Allaah The Almighty Says )what means(:}And We have
certainly diversified in this Quran for the people from every ]kind
of[ example; but man has ever been, most of anything, ]prone to[
dispute.{]Quran 18:54[ Some scholars of Tafseer )Quranic exegesis(
commented on this verse by mentioning what was narrated in Saheeh
Muslim, that 'Ali ibn Abi Taalibnarrated that the Messenger of
Allaahcame one night to him and his wife Faatimah and said:"Do you not
observe ]late-night Tahajjud[ prayer?"'Alireplied, "O Messenger of
Allaah, indeed our souls are in the Hands of Allaah and when He wants
to awaken us, He does so." The Messenger of Allaahset off when he said
this to him. He was slapping his hand on his thigh while going while
saying )what means(:}but man has ever been, most of anything, ]prone
to[ dispute{.Ibn 'Aashoorsaid,
What the Prophetmeant here was that it would have been more
appropriate for 'Alito praise Allaah The Almighty and thank the
Messenger of Allaahfor waking him up to pray Tahajjud, be keen on
repeating this act, be pleased with the rebuke of the Prophetand not
counter these words with others in order to justify his sleeping! This
is the cause of the Prophet's astonishment at the words of 'Ali.
Some Causes of Justification
The main obstacle in justification is the absence of frankness with
one's self, as we fail to talk to ourselves about our own reality.
This is because, from a very early age, we were taught to elevate
ourselves to high moral levels and sublime traits that are often
difficult to attain. Therefore, we try to conceal our reality in a
framework of lies about oneself that were set by the methods of our
early upbringing. ]Qiraa'ah fi mushkilaat at-tufoolah[
Justification might also be due to arrogance that has affected the
heart, and this results in making it difficult to apologize or
appearing to be in a state of weakness according to the thoughts of
such an arrogant person. Love and inclination to this worldly life is
another cause of justification, and perhaps this reason specifically
is what leads many people to do what Allaah The Almighty has
prohibited, and people then justify their actions with false excuses.
For instance, the person who consumes Riba )interest(, claims that he
is compelled to do so; however, if one looks at his case, he would not
find him compelled at all. He might not even be in any kind of a need.
There are many similar violations of the Sharee'ah nowadays, and those
who commit such violations try to justify them.
Is There Treatment?
Undoubtedly, truthfulness with one's self is the clear and easy way in
order not to indulge in the confusion that comes about due to
justification. Reckoning one's self for negligence and acknowledging
its mistakes protects it from a foul final stage of life and leads us
to not accumulate our mistakes. In fact, being truthful with one's
self is one of the highest and hardest degrees of truthfulness.
Let us contemplate the story of the great Companion, Ka'b ibn
Maalikwhen Allaah The Almighty saved him by virtue of his
truthfulness. He sat before the Prophetand said, "O Messenger of
Allaah, if I had been in front of anyone other than you of the people
of the worldly life, I would have thought of an excuse to avoid his
dissatisfaction. But by Allaah, I had no excuse." Consequently, Allaah
The Almighty accepted his repentance, excused him and turned to him.
On the other hand, those who lie and invent weak and false excuses,
are exposed by Allaah The Almighty.
One of the most important means of treatment is the reading of the
biographies of the people who fell into this malady. When
justification dominated the Children of Israa'eel, they used trickery
and various methods to violate the ruling of Allaah The Almighty and
caught fish on the Sabbath. Consequently, Allaah The Almighty
transformed them into apes and pigs. Allaah The Almighty Says )what
means(:}And you had already known about those who transgressed among
you concerning the Sabbath, and We said to them: "Be apes,
despised."{]Quran 2:65[ When one contemplates this punishment for the
one who dares to violate the limits that Allaah The Almighty has set,
undoubtedly, he will think many times before doing such an act when
knowing its evil end.
We supplicate to Allaah The Almighty to guide us to the best manners
and to ward off from us the worst of manners, as He is the most
Gracious and Noble.

The 'art' of deception: A new phenomenon

Allaah Almighty Says )what means(:"Oyou who have believed, if there
comes to you a disobedient one with information, investigate, lest you
harm a people out of ignorance and become, over what you have done,
regretful."]Quran 49: 6[
Deception is a necessary tool for the success of wickedness.
Fortunately, most of us are not so corrupted that we could support
naked injustice and brutality, but must be, to one extent or another,
fooled into supporting it once it is camouflaged in an illusion of
justice and benevolence.
While it is certainly true that the art of deception has become
tremendously sophisticated and indeed, pervasive, in modern society;
it is equally true that the fundamental nature of deception, that is,
the types of tricks generally used, the methods, the aims, and the
qualities that make people susceptible to deception, have not really
changed in millennia.
The various forms of deceit and manipulation that provide the basis
for modern propaganda and public relations ruses are pointed out by
Allaah Almighty in the Quran in numerous passages, providing the
believers of all eras with the means by which to inoculate themselves
against being fooled, misled, and deceived into accepting a distorted
version of reality.
Let us examine only a few select examples of the tactics of deceit
exposed in the various stories Allaah narrates in the Quran to warn
and instruct the believers, and hence concentrate on only two
particularly relevant and informative cases.
The treachery of Yousuf )Joseph( brothers
Two of the most audacious and sinister, and in many respects, modern,
instances of lying occur in the story of Prophet Yousufand these will
be the focus of our analysis.
Yousuf's brothers, envious of their father Yaqoob's )Jacob(great love
for Yousufplotted to kill or expel him. Allaah narrates to us that
they said )what means(:"Kill Yousuf or cast him out to ]another[ land;
the countenance of your father will ]then[ be only for you..."]Quran
12: 9[
Yaqoobapparently was wary of his other sons' intentions toward Yousuf;
earlier warning the young boy not to relate to them the prophetic
dream he had for fear that they would become jealous; and they
themselves refer to Yaqoob'sdestruct of them, and this provides our
first example of deceit:
Allaah Says )what means(:"They said, 'O our father, why do you not
entrust us with Yousuf while indeed, we are to him sincere
counselors?'"]Quran 12: 11[
This statement alone demonstrates two of the cleverest and most
frequently employed techniques of manipulation, now apparent in
persuasive media from governmental propaganda to product advertising,
and is worth looking at closely.
The brothers begin by insinuating that there is something wrong with
their father; not only suggesting that he does not trust them, but
that this distrust indicates a flaw in his judgment and not in their
trustworthiness. They then declare the purity of their intentions, as
Yousuf's"sincere counselors," thereby, not only self-defining and
defending their own characters, but also making the idea of their
untrustworthiness all the more apparently offensive; intensifying the
underlying rebuke of their fatherwho, it should be mentioned, has
actually said nothing until now about distrusting them. They have
begun with an accusation, immediately seeking to create a defensive
posture in their fathera feeling perhaps of guilt, that will incline
him to grant them their request if only to prove their accusation
untrue.
This technique is so widely applied in modern society that it can
scarcely be catalogued. Whether it can be observed on the scale on the
national politics where, for instance, a population is perhaps
persuaded that they are unsafe or threatened, and should acquiesce to
certain restrictive policy measures of the state, which after all, is
only tying to protect them; or whether it is applied in so mundane a
matter as product advertising where consumers are convinced that they
have bad breath, body odor, or insufficiently white teeth, all of
which 'faults' can only be corrected by purchasing merchandise; the
tactic is the same.
Having declared themselves to be good-intentioned and trustworthy, the
brothers then suggest that Yaqooballow them to take Yousuf,away with
them, to allow him to 'play' and 'enjoy' himself; more subtly
affirming their status as 'well-wisher's', even as they are seeking to
create the circumstances that will allow them to harm Yousuf. They
reiterate to their fathera more specific assurance that they are to
their prophet brother"good guardians." They have so framed their
request to take Yousufaway that for Yaqoobto refuse would be a direct,
and apparently unjustified, condemnation of their character.
The wolf
The reason given by Yaqoobfor not allowing Yousuf's brothers to take
him with them was that hefeared they would neglect him and hewould be
left alone and attacked by a wolf. We will see that Yousuf's brothers
subsequently use this pre-existing fear to diver suspicion from
themselves and what they have done to Yousuf; unknowingly, Yaqoobhas
provided them with not only the means to carry out their plot against
Yousufbut also the means by which to conceal it. After they have
dropped their brother in the well, as we know, they return to
Yaqooband validate for him what hehad feared; that Yousufhad been
attacked by a wolf; thereby making even less likely the chances of
being exposed. They tell him what hewas ready to believe, activating
the pre-existing fear, thus preemptively canceling out any inquiry
into what happened.
Once again, this tactic of manipulation is an almost ever-present
facet of modern social engineering and the propaganda system. An
important difference, of course, is that the fear of the proverbial
'wolf' in modern societies is more often than not a manufactured fear,
not one that is present naturally, but one that has been created,
promoted in the public, unlike the quite realistic and rational fear
of Yaqoob. Nevertheless, the exploitation of this fear is identical.
We can look for instance, at the entire Cold War period to find
numerous examples of the manipulation of fears, the utility of
pre-existing fears as unquestioned explanations for subsequent events.
We can also, of course, look at more recent history. Once a particular
fear has been established in the public, whether it has been implanted
in them or is in fact a rational anxiety, its existence can serve to
mobilize necessarily irrational blame for nearly any unpleasant
circumstance or happening.

*Ruling on a womanperforming the adhaan.

*What is the ruling on a woman performing the adhaan for men?.
Praise be to Allaah.
For fourteen hundred years the custom among the Muslims has been that
the adhaan has not been performed by anyone except men. This alone
should be sufficient evidence that women are not allowed to perform
the adhaan for men. Going against this is going against the way of the
believers. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"And whoever contradicts and opposes the Messenger (Muhammad) after
the right path has been shown clearly to him, and follows other than
the believers' way, We shall keep him in the path he has chosen, and
burn him in Hell — what an evil destination!"
[al-Nisa' 4:115]
The matter would be too clear to need any evidence or argument, were
it not for the fact that there are people whose eyes have been sealed
by Allaah and who are arguing about matters that should be regarded as
firmly-established aspects of this religion.
The evidence for that from the Sunnah is as follows:
1 – al-Bukhaari (604) and Muslim (377) narrated that Ibn 'Umar (may
Allaah be pleased with him) said: When the Muslims came to Madeenah,
they used to gather and wait for the prayer, and there was no call for
the prayer. One day they spoke about that and some of them said, "Let
us use a bell like the bell of the Christians." Others said, "No, let
us use a horn like the horn of the Jews." 'Umar said, "Why don't you
send a man to give the call to prayer?" The Messenger of Allaah(peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, "O Bilaal, get up and call
the people to prayer."
This hadeeth indicates that the decision of the Sahaabah was that no
one should give the call to prayer except men, and there is no room
for women to do that, because 'Umar said, "Why don't you send a man to
give the call to prayer?"
2 – al-Bukhaari (684) and Muslim (421) narrated from Sahl ibn Sa'd
al-Saa'idi (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of
Allaah(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Whoever
notices anything amiss during the prayer, let him say tasbeeh, for if
he does so it will be noticed; and clapping is only for women."
al-Haafiz said:
It is as if women are not allowed to say tasbeeh because they are
enjoined to keep their voices low in prayer at all times, because of
the fear of fitnah. End quote.
If women are forbidden to alert the imam by speaking if he makes a
mistake, and should clap instead, so that they will not raise their
voices in the presence of men, then how can it be allowed for a woman
to give the adhaan?
The scholars are agreed that it is not prescribed for women to give
the adhaan for men. There follow some of their comments on this topic:
It says inBadaa'i' al-Sanaa'i'(1/411) (Hanafi):
It is not allowed for a woman to give the adhaan, according to all the reports.
It says inMawaahib al-Jaleel(2/87) (Maaliki):
The adhaan of a woman is not valid. End quote.
Al-Shaafa'i said inal-Umm(1/84):
A woman should not give the call to prayer, and if she gives the
adhaan for men, her adhaan is not valid (and they should repeat it).
End quote.
It says inal-Insaaf(1/395) (Hanbali):
The adhaan of a woman is not valid. End quote.