The fact that you’re repenting is a sign that He wants to forgive you.

ثُمَّ تَابَ عَلَيْهِمْ لِيَتُوبُوا ۚ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ هُوَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ

…Then He (Allah) turned to them so they could repent. Indeed, Allah is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful. (Quran 9:118)

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Fleeing unto Allah

Fleeing unto Allah

This hijrah requires an origin and a goal. A person migrates with his heart:

· From loving other than Allah > loving Him;

· From fearing and hoping and relying on other than Him > fearing and hoping and relying on Him;

· From calling upon, asking, surrendering to, and humbling oneself before other than Him > calling upon, asking, surrendering to,  and humbling oneself before Him.

This is precisely the meaning of “fleeing unto Allah”, as He ta’ala says:

“…Flee unto Allah…” [Surah Ath-Thaariyaat 51:50]

And indeed, the tawhid required from a person is to flee from Allah unto Him! Under this heading of “from” and “to” falls a great reality of tawhid.

Fleeing unto Allah ta’ala includes turning to Him only for asking or worship or anything which proceeds from that. Thus, it includes the tawhid of Ilahiyyah which was the common point in the messages of all the messengers, may Allah bestows His praise and peace upon all of them.

On the other hand, fleeing from Allah (unto Him) includes the tawh id of Rububiyyah and the belief in the Qadar (Allah’s Divine Measure & Decree). It is the belief that whatever one hates or fears or flees from in the universe takes place by the Will of Allah alone. What He ta’ala wills will surely happen, and what He does not will never be and is impossible to happen.

Thus when a person flees unto Allah, he would be fleeing unto him from a thing that occurred by His Will. In other words, he would be fleeing from Him unto Him!

One who understands this well can then understand the meaning of the Messenger’s sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam words:

“…I seek refuge from You in You…”

And:

“…There is no shelter or escape from You except in You…”

There is nothing in the universe that one would flee or seek protection from but is created and originated by Allah ta’ala. Hence, one would flee from that which emanates from Allah’s decree, will, and creation, to that which emanates from His mercy, goodness, kindness, and bounty. One is, therefore, fleeing from Allah unto Him, and seeking refuge in Him from Him!

Understanding these two matters causes one’s heart to stop being attached to other than Allah in fear, hope or love. He would then know that all that he flees from exists by the Allah’s will, power and creation. This would not leave in his heart any fear of other than his Creator and Maker. This in turn causes him to turn to Allah alone in fear, love and hope.

Had it been that what one flees from were not under Allah’s Will and Power, one would then be excused to fear that thing instead of Allah. This would be like running away from a creature to a more powerful one, without being totally confident that the second creature is powerful enough to protect him from the first one.

This is quite different from the case of a person who knows that the One to whom he is running is the same as the One who decreed, willed, and created that from which he is fleeing. In the latter case, no interest in seeking other protectors should remain in the heart.

So, understand well this important meaning in the Prophet’s sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam words above. People have explained them in many different ways, yet very few have realized this meaning which is their core and moral. This facilitation [in understanding] is indeed from Allah.

Thus the whole matter resolves to fleeing from Allah unto Him. This is the meaning of the hijrah to Allah ta’ala. This further explains why the Messenger sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said:

“A true migrator is one who abandons what Allah has prohibited.”

This is also why Allah ta’ala mentions Imaan and hijrah together in several places [eg. al-Anfal 8:72,74,75 & at-Tauba 9:20] – the two being closely linked, and each of them requiring the other.

Migration to Allaah ~Imaam ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah rahimahullaah

~Taken from The Magnificent Journey published by QSS

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Reciting the noble Quran & ten inner prerequisites

Reciting the Noble Qur’an

Reciting the Qur’an disciplines the soul in many respects. It teaches man what he is required to do and stirs in him what he needs to purify his soul.

Reciting the Qur’an enlightens the heart and reminds it of every proper conduct. In this way, it aids the other duties of Islam bringing forth their fruits, such as the Prayer, alms-giving, fasting and the pilgrimage …

Reciting the Qur’an is more likely to be effective if one ponders over the meanings with humility and contemplation

The Ten Inner Prerequisites of Reciting the Qur’an

The ten inner prerequisites are:

1.Understanding the original meaning of the words in the Qur’an

2.Feeling of awe

3. Consciousness of the heart

4. Pondering over the meanings

5. Deep understanding

6. Abandoning the barriers of understanding

7. The feel that Allah is addressing you

8. To respond to the meanings of the words

9. To be aware that Allah is witnessing your recitation

10. To believe the words of the Qur’an are referring to you

~ Imam al Ghazzali

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The Qurân was sent down to be acted upon

The Quran.

It is reported from Al-Fudayl (b. ‘Ayyâd) that he said:

The Qurân was sent down to be acted upon but people have taken just reciting it as enough of a deed. He was asked, “How is it acted upon?” He replied, “They should treat as halâl what it makes halâl and treat as harâm what it makes harâm, they should take on its commandments and stay away from what it forbids, and they should stop to ponder its amazing knowledge and wisdom.”

Al-Khatîb, Iqtidâ` Al-‘Ilm Al-‘Amal no. 116

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The Noble Emissaries (As-Safara Al-Keram)

Click for the rest of the series

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Get as close to Allah as you can

Get as close to Allah as you can, and realize that you do not get closer to Him by anything that is more beloved to Him than His own speech – the Holy Qur’an.

[Khabaab ibn Arat radi Allah anhu]

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Like the citron

The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“The believer who reads the Qur’aan is like the citron, whose fragrance is good and whose taste is good.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, no. 5007; Muslim, 1328. Muslim entitled the chapter in which this report is found, Baab Fadeelat Haafiz al-Qur’aan – the virtue of the one who memorizes the Qur’aan).

The phrase “its fragrance is good and its taste is good” attributes the quality of taste to eemaan (faith) and the quality of fragrance to recitation of the Qur’aan (because taste is more tangible and longer lasting than fragrance).

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Duas for forgiveness

1. لاَ يُكَلِّفُ اللّهُ نَفْسًا إِلاَّ وُسْعَهَا لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ رَبَّنَا لاَ تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِن نَّسِينَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا رَبَّنَا وَلاَ تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْنَا إِصْرًا كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِنَا رَبَّنَا وَلاَ تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لاَ طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِ وَاعْفُ عَنَّا وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا وَارْحَمْنَآ أَنتَ مَوْلاَنَا فَانصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ
2. رَبَّنَا إِنَّنَا آمَنَّا فَاغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ
3. ربَّنَا اغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَإِسْرَافَنَا فِي أَمْرِنَا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا وَانصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ
4. رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ
5. أَنتَ وَلِيُّنَا فَاغْفِرْ لَنَا وَارْحَمْنَا وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ الْغَافِرِينَ
6. رَبَّنَا اغْفِرْ لِي وَلِوَالِدَيَّ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ يَوْمَ يَقُومُ الْحِسَابُ
7. رَّبِّ اغْفِرْ وَارْحَمْ وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ الرَّاحِمِينَ
8. رَبِّ إِنِّي ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسِي فَاغْفِرْ لِي فَغَفَرَ لَهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
9. رَبِّ اغْفِرلِي

1. Rabbana la tu’akhizna in-nasina aw akh-ta’na. Rab-bana wa la tahmil ‘alayna isran kama hamaltahu ‘ala-lladhina min qablina, Rab-bana wa la tuhammilna ma la taqata lana bih, wa-‘fu ‘anna wa ‘ghfirlana warhamna anta Maulana fansurna ‘alal-qawmil kafirin

   [O our Lord! Do not hold us responsible if we forget or make a mistake. O our Lord, do not lay on us a burden such as You laid on those before us. O our Lord, do not impose upon us that which we have not the strength (to bear). Pardon us, and forgive us, and have mercy on us. You are our Lord-master, so help us against the unbelieving people) [surah Baqarah; 2:286]

2. Rabbana innana amanna faghfir lana dhunuubana wa qinna ‘adhaban-Naar

   (Our Lord! we have indeed believed: forgive us, then, our sins, and save us from the agony of the Fire) [surah Al’ Imran; 3: 16]

3. Rabbana-ghfir lana dhunuubana wa israfana fi amrina wa thabbit aqdamana wansurna ‘alal qawmil kafireen

   (Our Lord! Forgive us our sins and anything We may have done that transgressed our duty: Establish our feet firmly, and help us against those that resist Faith) [surah Al’ Imran; 3: 147]

4. Rabbana Dhalamna anfusina wa il lam taghfir lana wa tarhamna lana kuna minal-khasireen

   [Our Lord! We have wronged our own souls: If thou forgive us not and bestow not upon us Thy Mercy, we shall certainly be lost.) [surah Al-A’raf; 7: 23]

5. Anta Waliyyuna faghfir lana war-hamna wa anta khair-ulghgfireen

   ((O Lord) You are our guardian, so forgive us and have mercy on us and You are the best of the forgivers) [surah Al-A’raf; 7: 155]

6. Rabbana ghfir li wa li wallidayya wa lil Mu’mineena yawma yaqumul hisaab

   (O our lord, forgive me and my parents and believers on the day when the reckoning shall come to pass.) [surah Ibrahim; 14: 41]

7. Rabbi aghfir warham wa anta khayrur Rahimiin

   (O Lord, forgive and have mercy, For Thou art the Best of those who show mercy.) [surah Mu’minun; 23: 118]

8. Rabbi inni dhalamtu nafsi faghfir li faghafara lahu innahu huwaal ghafur-ur raheem

   (O my Lord! I have indeed wronged my soul! Do Thou then forgive me!) [surah Qassas; 28: 16]

9. Rabbi ighfir lee

   (O my Lord! Forgive me) [surah Saad; 38: 35]

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