Part 35

' “In the Shade of the Qur’an” (5/358). 2 Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful); and there was also revéaled: (Say: My Servants, you who have transgressed against yourselves, do not despair of the Mercy of Allah)”.

Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari 4 reported that the Prophet 4 said: “Allah 3¢ stretches His Hand out during the night so that people may repent for their faults committed from dawn to dusk, and He stretches His Hand out during the day so that people may repent for their faults committed from dusk to dawn. He would accept repentance before the sun rises in the west (i.e. before the Day of Resurrection).”'

Tbn ‘Umar .% reported that the Prophet # said: “Allah 3% will accept the repentance of His Servant till the throws of death begins.”?

Abu Hurayrah 4s reported that the Prophet 3 said: “Allah 4 welcomes two (types of) men with a Smile; one of whom kills the other, yet both of them enter Paradise! One who fights in Allah’s Cause and gets killed, and later on, Allah 3 forgives the killer who embraces Islam and also gets martyred in Allah’s Cause.”

Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri 4 reported that the Prophet 4 said: “Amongst the men of Bani Israel there was a man who had murdered ninety-nine persons. Then he set out asking (whether his repentance could be accepted or not). He came upon a monk and asked him if his repentance could be accepted. The monk replied in the negative and so the man killed him. He kept on asking till a man advised to go to such and such a village. (So he left for it), but death overtook him on the way. While dying, he turned his chest towards that village (where he had hoped his repentance would have been accepted), and so the angels of mercy and the angels of punishment quarrelled amongst themselves regarding him. Allah ordered the village (towards which he was going) to come closer to him, and ordered the village (whence he had come), to go far away, and then He ordered the angels to measure the distances between his body and the two villages. So he was found

' Recorded by Muslim. ? Recorded by al-Tirmidhi. 3 Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

to be one span closer to the village (he was going to). So he was forgiven.”!

Anas bin Malik .# reported that he heard the Messenger of Allah say: “O son of Adam! Certainly I shall continue to pardon you as long as you supplicate to Me and hope for My Forgiveness, whatever your faults and sins may be. O son of Adam, even if your sins pile up as high as the sky, and you asked for My Forgiveness, I will forgive you. O son of Adam, if you come to Me with sins the size of the earth, and met Me not associating anything with Me, I would come to you with forgiveness of equivalent size.””

It is enough for you to know that Allah # had forgiven “Wahshiy”, the killer of Hamza 2, the uncle of the Messenger of Allah. So is there any despair after hearing this... No, by Allah, it is all ruses and deceptions from Satan, the accursed.

Do not despair of the Mercy of Allah, despite the greatness of your sins, because the Forgiveness of Allah is greatest; so repent and follow the Path of Allah.

Man’s shields against Satan

The first shield: Ikhlas (Sincerity in one’s faith)

To achieve sincerity in one’s faith is the only way to free oneself from Satan, and this is his (Satan’s) own testimony: (He said: My Lord, because You misled me, I will make things on earth seem good to them and I will mislead them all, every one of them, except Your Servants among them who are sincere)’. Satan testified himself, of his inability to mislead the sincere believers. So who is sincere?

He is the one who does deéds, withoutt wishing to be praised by people.

' Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

? Recorded by al-Tirmidhi. 3 Surat al-Hijr, verses 39-40.

Al-Makfuf said: “A sincere person is one who conceals his good deeds, the way he hides his bad ones.”

Sahl said: “The definition of Ikhlas is when both the stillness and movements of a man are for Allah 4 (Alone).

Ibrahim ibn Adham said: “/khlas is to have a true intention (behind one’s actions) with Allah 3.” It was also said that to be truly sincere, one should constantly watch one’s actions, with regard to Allah a - who is watching all our actions — while ignoring all one’s good fortune.

The Prophet. # said: “Verily, Allah 38 accepts only the deeds which were performed with sincerity, seeking His (Allah’s) Pleasure.”!

Al-Junayd said: “There are some Servants of Allah who understood their faith, so they performed, and when they performed, they were sincere; therefore, sincerity draws them nearer to performing all aspects of piety and righteousness. Since ikhlds is a strong shield that wards off all of Satan’s attempts to break into the heart of the faithful, Satan then strives, with all his might to drive man out from the shield of ikhlas.

Al-Ghazali said: “Satan tries to influence a Muslim in his salah, even if he (the Muslim) conducts himself with sincerity. If he is watched by one or a group of individuals as he performs his salah, Satan would whisper to him: ‘Do your prayer properly so the onlooker would show respect to you and would not defame you’, so his limbs would display a sign of submission, and his salah would improve, and this is a clear display of riya’ (hypocritical acting).”

In another case a Muslim may be aware of Satan’s influence, and is on his guard against him; he does not obey his whisperings, and proceeds in his prayer normally. So Satan would approach him in a good way, telling him: “You are followed as an example, and everything you do will affect you and other people who look at you; therefore, if you act

' Recorded by al-Nasa’i.

properly, you will be rewarded for their deeds as well, and if you do not, you will bear responsability for their wrong doing. You have to improve your actions before them, so that they might emulate you in the submission and refinement of their worship”. This is another example of pure riya’ which annuls any aspect of ikh/as; for if he regards submission and proper worship as a good thing that he wishes others would not neglect, then why does he neglect it for himself when he is alone? Does he have a sense of honour for others more than for himself? This is pure deceit from Satan.

Therefore, a Servant of Allah should check one’s state of mind, before undergoing a particular action and during its course, to see if one’s intention is to seek the Pleasure of Allah 3€, or else there could be something else in one’s lower self with its desires.

Likewise, someone who fasts to benefit from the enthusiasm generated from fasting (with the intention to bring himself closer to Allah 38), or performing the pilgrimage (Hajj or ‘Umrah) to enjoy an excursion, or performing salah to fight off sleep, in order to guard his family and property, or acquiring knowledge in order to be dignified among the people of his family and tribe, or giving charity to a begger to avoid his displeasure, or attending a funeral to please the family of the dead.

In general, any good fortune, in this world, which pleases the lower self -to which one’s heart tends to incline — when linked to a particular activity, can influence its purity and affect its sincerity. It is for this reason that ikh/ds remains the hardest of all deeds, but this should not be a reason for giving up an activity, because this is the objective of Satan, being his main aim. Instead, one should endeavour to purify one’s work and never give it up for fear of riya’ (showing off). AlFudayl ibn ‘Ayyad said: “Giving up the activity for the sake of people is riya’, or doing work for the sake of people is shirk (an act of polytheism), but ikhids is when Allah 3 safeguards you from both.”

Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari 4% said: “A man came and asked the Messenger of Allah 3%: ‘One man may fight for pride and haughtiness, another may fight for bravery, and another may fight to show off; which of these (cases) is in Allah’s Cause?’ The Prophet 38 replied: ‘The one who fights that Allah’s Word (Islam) should be superior, fights in

Allah’s Cause.””! Allah 3% has gathered all these in the Verse: (They were only ordered to worship Allah, making their religion sincerely His as people of pure natural belief)’.

The second shield: Establishing worship of Allah Alone

When Satan vowed to God that he would mislead Adam and his offspring, Allah 3% replied clearly that there is a group of people whom Satan would not be able to dominate, saying: (Certainly, you shall have no authority over My Servants) (i.c. those who establish their worship to Allah Alone; so that Satan has no command over them). We notice that Allah 4 has attributed the term “Servants” to Him 3%, so He % said: {My Servants), which was either used in the context of dignifying them, or as a special attribute as they devote all aspects of their ‘ibadat to Him, and no one else.... But what is ‘ibadah?

Al-‘ibadah is a collective term for everything that Allah 3 loves and is pleased with, such as words and deeds, both ward and outward ones; and ‘ibadah is divided into four categories:

The first category: Physical (bodily) worship, such as prayer, fasting, bowing and prostration in salah, performing Hajj.

The second category: Material worship such as Dhabh (slaughtering animals for the Sake of Allah 32), nadhr (making a solemn pledge to Allah 38), zakah (alms-giving in Islam), and Sadagah (donating in charity).

The third section: Sincere ‘ibadah (pertaining to the heart), such as being submissive, humble, reliant, fearful, hopeful and seeking help all from Allah 48.

The fourth category: Verbal worship such as making an oath, calling for help, making a supplication, and seeking refuge in Allah from something harmful. All these types of ‘ibadat should be performed solely for the Sake of Allah 8%, and no part should be devoted to anyone else, whether it be a sovereign, prophet or pious person. Also,

' Recorded by al-Bukhari, Muslim, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa’i, and Ton Majah. ? Surat al-Bayyinah, verse 5.

as it is forbidden to bow or prostrate except to Allah 38, likewise, it is forbidden to perform circumambulation except around al-Ka‘bah (The Haram Mosque in Makkah); Allah 4% said: (and circumambulate the Ancient House (the Ka‘bah at Makkah))!. So it is unlawfull to circumambulate a grave or anything else, just as it is unlawful to sacrifice animals except for Allah 3%, following the Hadith of the Prophet # who said: “Allah has cursed the one who sacrifices for anyone besides Allah.”