1 TAUBAH "REPENTANCE" و ع ب اد ال رح م ن ال ذ ين ي م ش ون ع ل ى الا ر ض ه و ن ا و ا ذ ا خ اط ب ه م ال ج اه ل ون ق ال وا س لا م ا و ال ذ ين ي ب يت ون ل ر ب ه م س جد ا و ق ي ام ا و ال ذ ين ي ق ول ون ر ب ن ا اص ر ف ع ن ا ع ذ اب ج ه ن م ا ن ع ذ اب ه ا ك ا ن غ ر ام ا ا ن ه ا س اء ت م س ت ق ر ا و م ق ام ا و ال ذ ين ا ذ ا ا ن ف ق وا ل م ي س ر ف وا و ل م ي ق ت ر وا و ك ان ب ي ن ذ ل ك ق و ام ا و ال ذ ين لا ي د ع ون م ع الله ا ل ه ا ا خ ر و لا ي ق ت ل ون الن ف س ال ت ي ح رم الله ا لا ب ال ح ق و لا ي ز ن ون و م ن ي ف ع ل ذ ل ك ي ل ق ا ث ام ا ي ض اع ف ل ه ال ع ذ اب ي و م ال ق ي ام ة و ي خ ل د ف يه م ه ان ا ا لا م ن ت اب و ا م ن و ع م ل ع م لا ص ال ح ا ف ا ول ي ك ي ب دل الله س ي ي ات ه م ح س ن ات و ك ان الله غ ف ور ا ر ح يم ا و م ن ت اب و ع م ل ص ال ح ا ف ا نه ي ت وب ا ل ى الله م ت اب ا Dear brothers and sisters I was reciting some verses from Surrah Furqan. I have already explained some of these verses during my last Khutba. In these verses Allah Rabul-Alamin describing the most important characteristics of Ibad-ur- Rehman "the true servants of Allah Rabulalamin". Those important deeds which distinguished Ibad-ur-rehman from Ibad-us-Shitan. Those deeds and those specific characteristics which naturally emerged in a person when he consciously decided to convert himself from Ibad-us-Shitan to Ibad-ur-Rehman. Those important characteristics are as that true servants of Allah walk humbly
2 on the earth and when ignorant and Jahals address them with bad words with harsh words, they try to ignore them and say them "peace to you" and who spend their nights in Ibadat and standing before Allah Rabul-alamin, who pray for forgiveness and who spend their wealth in the way of Allah. The true servants of Allah only pray in front of Allah Rabbulalamin and who never kill anyone nor commit adultery. Actually these sins are very big in their intensity and if anyone commits these sins then azab on the Day of Judgment will be doubled for him. After describing these deeds, Allah Rabul-Alamin describes another important and distinguished characteristic of Ibad-ur-rehman. Actually this important characteristic is beauty of our religion and only specific to our religion. Allah loves those people the most those have this property and Allah hate those people who are arrogant and do not have this characteristic. This important characteristic is Taubah or Repentance. Dear brothers and sisters, Allah has created us with some weaknesses, He has created us with some faults which are by-default part of our Nafs or part of our soul. Doing mistakes and making faults is characteristic of human being. It is not possible that someone claim that I am free from weaknesses and I did not commit any mistake in my whole life. Even those people who have high taqwa,
3 may slip and can make mistakes. No one is perfect. Even Prophets, who are innocent by nature, did not claim that they are free from faults. Allah says in Surra Yussaf, verse 53 Yussef (AS) said: And I do not hold my own self or my soul to be free from weakness; the soul is surely incites to evil, except of the one on whom my Allah shows mercy. Indeed my Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) also said, Every son of Adam commit sins and do mistakes but the best sinner or wrongdoer are those who go for Taubah and ask forgiveness from Allah. So dear brothers and sisters, it should be clear to all of us that doing wrong or commit sins are part of our nature. Committing sins or doing wrong things is a type of filth which is attached to our Nafs. No body is free from the filth of sin. Allah has made us in this way that we staggered or stumbled in any pathway of life.
4 Dear brothers and sisters that religion will not be a natural religion who tells that every human being can commit wrong things and it is part of his nature but does not tell us about its solution. That religion will not be a natural religion who does not guide us that how to come out from the dwellings of sins, how to find way in the deep and dark tunnels of sins. How one can free himself from the consequences of the sin. If there is specific treatment for diseases related to human body, there should be specific treatments for the diseases which are attached to human soul. It is very strange that no other religion has any solution for this problem except Islam. Only Islam gives the solution if someone commits some sins or does some wrong things in his life. In Hinduism, if you commit some sin then you should have to face its consequences. There is no way to be free from the punishment of your sins. According to Hindu's belief there is no forgiveness. One cannot repent of his sins. They have created many interesting and strange logics. Hindus believed that every human being have many lives, have many births. If you did some thing wrong in this life then you will be born in some evil form in the next life. If someone is cruel in this life then in the next birth, he will be born in the form of wolf. If someone in this life deceives anyone then he will be snake in his next
5 birth. This is the reason why they do not kill any snake or wolf or any animal, because they think it may be there ancestors who did some wrong things in their previous life and now they are in the shape of animal. Christianity also gives no solution of this problem. Actually most of the Christians are away from their religion. They have created such concepts which facilitate them to be away from the true teachings of Christianity. According to Christianity because of the sin of Hazrat Adam which he did in Jannah, all humanity is sinner and wrong doer. That's why Allah sent his son "Jesus" and then Allah hanged him and Jesus pay the cost of the sins of all humanity. Now after "Jesus" these priests have this right to give letter of forgiveness to any person. If you did some sin, you should tell this to priest, that priest decides how much you have to pay for this sin. You pay and then the priest gives you a letter that now you are free from all your previous sins. Dear brothers and sisters, Islam is the only religion, which when claims that its natural religion then at the same time it gives the solution of the sins and mistakes make by the human beings according to human's nature. If the human body can get some diseases then its soul can also get some diseases. These diseases are some time related to its characters, some time related to its deeds, some time related to its concepts and some times related to
6 its intentions. These all problems are in fact related to its soul. If body can be recovered from diseases then soul can also be cleaned from the filths and dirtiness of sins and mistakes. Dear brothers and sisters, what you normally do when you suffer from any disease, you definitely go to your doctor and tell him about your disease. He will prescribe you some medicines and also advise you some thing to do. If you will take those medicines and act on his advice then you will be recovered with the blessing of Allah. Likewise if your soul gets some disease then you should come back to Allah, whom you disobeyed. If someone follows the path of SHITAN then after TAUBAH he should now follow the path which Allah tells him. The true meaning of "TAUBAH" is coming back towards ALLAH Rab-ul-alamin with complete sincerity. Allah says in Surra Al-Tahrim, verse 8
7 O who believe! Turn to Allah in sincere repentance with sincere "Taubah". It may be that your Lord will remove the evil consequences of your deeds and make you enter Gardens through which rivers flow Allah also says in Surra Hud, verse 90 And seek forgiveness of your Lord; then turn to Him wholeheartedly. Verily, my Lord is Merciful, Most Loving. Allah also says in Surra Al-Nahal, verse 119 Nevertheless, your Lord is Forgiving and Compassionate towards those who have repented or make "Taubah" and mended their ways after they had committed evil in ignorance. Dear brothers and sisters, "Taubah" is the unique characteristics of Islam. By accepting the "Taubah" of sinners and wrongdoers which actually we all are, Allah has made great blessing and mercy on us. Dear brothers and sisters, Allah
8 is very happy with those who make good deeds and have high Taqwa in whole of their lives, but believe me Allah is more happy with those who come back to Allah by doing sincere "Taubah". The Prophet (peace be on him) fully illustrated this by one very beautiful example narrated in Muslim. That is about a man who had a camel carrying his food and water provisions. His camel was lost in a harsh desert. The person continues to search for the camel until he exhausted and retires under the shade of a tree and given up all of his hopes. The person is so disappointed that he started to think that he will definitely die because of thirst and hunger. Then, suddenly, he finds the camel standing right in front of him. Prophet said his companions: What is your opinion about the delight of this person? When a sinner repents and turns to God, Allah is even more joyous than the owner of this camel who suddenly finds his lost beast in a moment of total despair. (See Muslin-, al-tawbah, Bab fi al-hadd 'ala al-tawbah, traditions 1-8.) Dear brothers and sisters, Allah is immensely pleased with a man when he repents and turn to Him.
9 Dear brothers and sisters, in Hadith-e-Qudsi Allah Says: " 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. [Hadîth Qudsi]. My dear brothers and sisters! Allah has opened the door of repentance, so why should we not enter? In a Hadith it is narrated that "Repentance has a door whose span is the distance between East and West,". (And in another version its span is the distance travelled in 70 years). and "It will not be closed until the sun rises from the West." Listen to the call of Allah: "O My slaves! You sin morning and evening and I forgive all your sins. So call on Me, I'll forgive you all your sins."
10 Except those who repent, and believe and do good deeds; for as to these, Allah will change their evil deeds into good deeds; and Allah is Most Forgiving, Merciful; Dear brothers and sisters, the word Taubah which is rendered as repentance in English, is not a simple term as most people believe. It is very rich in meaning and implications, and is not simply a word of mouth after which the sinner continues in his sins. My dear brothers and sisters, do you know the meaning of Taubah Nasuha or sincere repentance. Ubayy Ibn Kaab asked the same question to Prophet (SAW). He replied that sincere repentance should have following ingredients: Feel guilty about the sin Ask Allah s forgiveness Have strong will not to repeat the sin.
11 Once a Bedouin was saying words of Taubah and istighfar in a hurry. Ali told him this is a Taubah of liars. He then explained that the Taubah must have following 6 components; 1- Feeling of regret and sadness about your sins and remorse what has been committed 2- Takes up the duties which are ignored and fulfils them 3- Pay rights to those who have been treated wronged or badly. 4-Seek forgiveness who is hurt 5- Show determination not to repeat that sin again. 6- Struggle to make one obedient to Allah (SWT) 7- Making good deeds And those who repent and do good deeds indeed turn to Allah with true repentance; Dear brothers and sisters The Prophet (P.B.U.H) emphasizes to us that good deed wipe out bad ones. The prophet (P.B.U.H) said "...And follow the bad deed with a good one that will wipe out the bad one." In another narration, sahabi
12 asked the prophet (S.A.W.): "Give me advice", the prophet (S.A.W.) said: "If you do a bad deed, then follow it with a good one that will wipe it out." Also there are some authentic Ahadith where the prophet (S.A.W.) specifies certain good deeds that wipe out bad ones. I like mention some of them which can remove our sins 1- Repentance from the sins. Imam Muslim reported that the prophet (S.A.W.) said, "If anyone repents before the sun rises from the west, Allah will forgive him." Abu Huraira reported that the Prophet (SAW) said, I seek Allah s forgiveness and do Taubah more than 70 times a day. 2- Praying two Rak ahs and seeking forgiveness after doing bad deeds. An authentic Hadith reported by Imam Abu Dawod that the prophet (S.A.W.) said: "If a man does a bad deed, then he makes a good wudu, and pray two Rak ahs and seek Allah s forgiveness, then Allah will forgive him." 3- The supplication or Dua at the end of every meeting. An authentic Hadith reported by Imam At-Tirmidhi that the prophet (S.A.W.) said, "Whoever sits in a gathering which indulges in useless talk and before getting up supplicates or
13 pray: "Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika, ash-hadu an la ilaika illa anta, astaghfirka wa atubu ilaika. He will be forgiven for (the sins he may have intentionally or unintentionally committed) in that assembly." 4- Performing the five daily prayers well and with humility. Imam Muslim reported that the prophet (S.A.W.) said, " When the time for a prescribed Assalat (the prayers) approaches and a Muslim observes its ablution and acts of bowing and prostrating properly, this salat will be an compensation for his sins, so long as he does not commit major sins, and this is for always." 5- Attending the Friday prayer and listening to the Khutbah without saying a word. Imam Muslim reported that the prophet (S.A.W.) said, "If anyone performs wudu properly, then comes to the Friday prayer, listens to the Khutbah (Speech) attentively and keeps silent, his (minor) sins between that Friday and the previous Friday will be forgiven, with the addition of three more days. 5- Giving charity. In Hadith reported by Imam At-Tirmithi that the prophet (S.A.W.) said: "The charity puts out the bad deed like the water puts out the fire." Dear brothers and sisters Prophet (P.B.U.H) said, "Every act of kindness is a charity.
14 In another Hadith, Abu Hurairah narrated that Allah's messenger said, It is also charity to utter a good word. We can do many small charities and wipes out our sins, Like Spreading greeting is also a charity. A hadith is narrated in Bukhari, in which prophet said, "I swear by whom my soul is in his hand, you will not enter Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love each other. Do you want me to guide you to something which if you practice, you will love each other? Spread greeting with peace among of you." Behaving decently with people and help the others is also a kind of charity. Abu Hurairah narrated that Allah's Messenger said, " He who believes in Allah and the Last Day must not harm his neighbour, and he who believes in Allah and the Last Day must show hospitality to his guest, and he who believes in Allah and the Last Day should speak good or remain silent.. 9- Behaving nicely with parents especially with mother. It is reported that a person came to the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) and submitted, "0 messenger of God I have committed a very big sin and buried my daughter alive when I was an unbeliever. So please show me a good deed that may result in my forgiveness by
15 God." The Prophet asked, "Is your mother alive?" He replied in the negative. The Holy Prophet then asked, "Is your mother's sister alive?" He said, "Yes." The Prophet said, "Go and behave nicely with your aunt. Then the Holy Prophet added, "It would have been better had his mother been alive," because good behaviour with mother is very effective in removing consequences of big sins. 9- Pious and religious Children can also become our source of Najat and repentance of our sins on the day of Judgement. Abu Huraira reported from the Prophet (SAW) that Allah (SWT) shall raise the position of a pious person in Jannah. He shall ask, O my Rabb! Why have you done this? He will be replied that it is due to Istighfar from your child who they did for you. 9- Remembring of Allah. Imams Bukhari and Muslim reported that the prophet (S.A.W.) said, "And he who says: 'Subhan-allahi wa bihamdihi (Glory be to Allah and his is the praise)' one hundred times a day, Allah will be given all his sins even if they were as much as the foams of the sea. Dear brothers and sisters, we have normal habit to be silent or think about something during walking, driving or travelling. If we try to wet out tongue with these small sentences, then may be Allah show mercy on us and erase our sins.
16 But there are always compulsions with the above mentioned deeds and that if we did some thing bad with other, deceives others, grasp the wealth of others by wrong way, forget the rights of others which were obligatory to us. Then in this case we will never get repentance until unless that person will not forgive us whom been deceived or treated badly. This means we should be very sensitive about the rights of other people. Hazrat Umar (RA) used to call Hazrat Bilal: "O my chief Bilal! One day, by mistake, Hazrat Umar (RA) said to Hazrat Bilal (RA): "You are dark complexioned." He immediately realized his mistake and was extremely sorry for uttering such words. He lied down on the ground and asked Hazrat Bilal (RA) to walk on his body so that Umar's mistake can be forgiven on the day of Qiyamah. Hazrat Bilal (RA) refused to walk on his body, saying: "You are beloved to Allah's Nabi Sallallahu alaihi wasallam and are also his father-in-law. Your daughter is the wife of Nabi Sallallahu alaihi wasallam and the mother of the ummah. How can I place my feet on your sacred body? I have forgiven you for the sake of Allah." This was the way of sahaba that if they committed a mistake, they would immediately ask for forgiveness and would not hesitate in resorting to istighfar and repentance.
17 Dear brothers and sisters, Tauba and repentance from our sins are such a great blessing that it can bring countless bounties, successes, peace and harmony in our lives. In fact, Taubah Nasuha or sincere repentance is solution of all our problems. ALLAH says in Surra Nuh, Verse 11-13 "And Nuh said, Seek forgiveness of your Lord; for He (Allah) is the Great Forgiver. He (Allah) will send down rain for you in abundance. And He will strengthen you with wealth and with children, and He will give you gardens and He will give you rivers" Allah says in Surra Hud, Hud (AS) ask to their nation, My people! Ask your Lord for forgiveness and turn to Him in repentance. He will shower abundant rains upon you from the heaven, and will add strength to your strength. Do not turn away as those given to guilt. Dear brothers and sisters just try to think about these verses and then imagine the conditions in our countries. Our rivers are going to dry, our lands are going to barren, other nations are overruled over us, our leaders and politicians are corrupt, the man who is the most corrupted in our societies are our leaders. But what are we doing? We are in search for new politicians, we are in search for new leaders, some of our people are fighting against their own nations. But what
18 Allah is advising to us in these hours of sufferings. Allah says "Ask your Allah for sincere forgiveness and turn to Him with Taubah Nasuha. He will shower abundant rains upon you from the heaven, and will add strength to your strength. How we are grabbed in different problems. If we want to get blessing of Allah Rabbul-Alamin then we have to go for Tauba and Astaghfar. If we want to change our situation then we have to change ourselves. Abdullah Ibn Abbas reported that the Prophet (SAW) said, Whoever makes Istighfar, Allah (SWT) shall remove all his sorrows and troubles and shall provide him Rizq and sustenance from the sources he never thought of. Ahmad, Abu Dawood, Ibn Maja. Dear brothers and sisters at the end of todays Khutaba I want to tell you the story of sincere repentance and spirit of Taubah Nausha. The story of that companion of Prophet who was one of the leading opponents of Prophet before accepting Islam. Before accepting Islam, he tried to stop the way of Islam with full of his strength and power. But when he accepted Islam, he had given all of his life for the spreading of Islam. He used to weep by keeping Quran in hands and saying Ya Kitab-ul Rabii, Ya Kitabul Rabbi, I did many wrong things with you in my past. During one war, Abu-bakr had seen one tent with lots of Horses and many other things of war. Abu-bakr requested that sahabi to leave some thing for his family, but he replied when I was against Islam, I did every thing
19 with full of my strength then why not now when I accepted Islam. We all hear the story of those three warriors of Islam, who were in War of Qadsia and were badly injured. One sahabi brougth water to them and all three transfered it to next sahabi by thinking may be he is more thirsty than us and then all of them died. That Sahabi was Akrama-bin abi jahl who when accepted Islam given every things for the spreading and prosperity of Islam and even his own life. Dear brothers and sisters life is running towards end. Every breath you take is a step towards death. Anything which can be counted is finite and will come to an end. Just think that the number of people who resided in the graveyards are more than those number who are living on this earth. Allah tells to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) و ا ن ذ ر ه م ي و م الا ز ف ة (O Prophet), then warn them of the Day that has drawn near Dear brothers and sisters Allah needs our tears which dropped from our eyes because of fear from Allah, because of acceptance of our sins, because the acceptance of sins whose height are in-fact more than the heights of the mountains. Allah says in Suura-Al-Imran, verse 133-136.
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21 And hurry or hasten to the forgiveness of your Lord and to a Paradise as vast as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the God-fearing people. who spend in the way of Allah both in prosperity and hardship, who suppress their anger, and forgive others. Allah loves such good-doers." These are the ones who, when they commit any indecency and wrong against themselves, instantly remember Allah and beg forgiveness for their sins and who can forgive sins except Allah? - and who do not wilfully persist in the wrong they have done. They shall be recompensed by forgiveness from their Lord and by gardens beneath which rivers flow; there they shall abide. How good is the reward of those who work!