Al-Ghafoor (The Forgiving)

Al-Azhar Quran Teaching | Al-Ghafoor (The Forgiving)

Al-Ghafoor (The Forgiving)

 
Sins will ruin your life;
 
They will crush your soul, make water taste unpleasant,
 
Food loses its savor, nights turn desolate,
 
And days filled with boredom.

Al-Ghafoor

 
If you are weary of your sins and faults if you feel that their misfortune has overshadowed your life and that darkness has extinguished the joy in your days and nights, or if you no longer find delight in your prayers, supplications, and worship, know that it is time to step into the world of comfort and forgiveness,seeking the meanings of pardon and absolution in the Name of Allah, Al-Ghafoor.
 
You now need to understand the essence of forgiveness, how your Lord is forgiving and oft-pardoning, and how desperately you need this forgiveness throughout all stages of your life…
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The Prison

 
The affliction of the soul by sin is far greater than the affliction of the body by illness. Your soul groans under the burden of disobedience. Yes, your body may have momentarily enjoyed the sin, but your soul yearns for Allah!
 
Imagine being confined in a narrow prison with walls just a meter apart; how suffocated would you feel?
 
Sins place your soul in a similar prison. They encircle you: “and his sins encompass him.” They make your soul suffocate.
 
Even if there were no Paradise or Hell, sins alone are a torment, a blazing fire, and a painful punishment.
 
But when we know that among His Names are Al-Ghafoor (The Forgiving), Al-Ghaffar (The Oft-Forgiving), and Al-‘Afuww (The Pardoning) and that it is His Attribute to forgive sins, the walls of that narrow prison begin to crack.
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Do you know?

 
Say sincerely, Astaghfirullah (I seek Allah’s forgiveness).
 
Do not just say it; reflect on it: Astaghfirullah.
 
Is there anything more beautiful than this word, which scatters all whispers, fears, and anxieties when said with a sincere heart?
 
Do you know that every calamity, illness, grief, sorrow, or pain is caused by your sins?
 
Read: “And whatever strikes you of disaster – it is for what your hands have earned, but He pardons much.
 
Backbiting, lying, cheating, envy, disrespect, disobedience to parents, gazing at the forbidden, and neglecting obligations have brought upon us a great deal of pain, grief, and suffering.
 
We go, humbling ourselves, seeking loans to cover our needs. Perhaps this financial hardship is a consequence of a sin we committed. If only we said Astaghfirullah with humility, we would not need to lower ourselves before people.
 
We seek a religious healer to cure the distress we feel, the fears that disturb our peace, and the emotional struggles we endure. But perhaps what afflicts us is due to a sin we committed. If only we said Astaghfirullah with a living, repentant, and devoted heart, we wouldn’t need any of that.
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And my Betrayals?!

 
I never saw the Attribute of forgiveness as vividly and prominently as I did while flipping through the pages of the Prophet’s biography:
 
Umar bin al-Khattab used to persecute Muslims for their faith. He held the whip in his strong hand and lashed his slave girl’s back. When he grew tired, he put the whip down, saying, “I only left you because I’m bored.”
 
The Muslims believed that the conversion of Umar’s donkey to Islam was more reasonable than the conversion of ‘Umar himself because of his intense enmity toward Islam and hatred for this religion. Yet, the All-Forgiving opened the doors of repentance for him, and he became Umar al-Farooq. And the whips he used to burn the backs of his slaves—where did they go? God forgave them!
 
Khalid bin Al-Waleed climbed the Archers’ Hill during the Battle of Uhud, causing the death of Abdullah bin Jubair and his companions who were stationed there. Moreover, he was responsible for the greatest defeat the Muslim army, led by the Prophet, ever suffered. He caused the Prophet to be wounded, his head injured, his molar broken, and the rings of his helmet embedded into his noble face.
 
He caused the blood of the Prophet peace be upon him to flow, and the Prophet said: “God’s anger has intensified against a people who caused His Messenger’s face to bleed.” But then God revealed: “The decision is not yours, whether He will forgive them or punish them, for indeed they are wrongdoers.” And Khalid became one of those forgiven and accepted into the fold of Islam!
 
He converted, and the All-Forgiving erased all those grave deeds.
 
He transformed from the key cause of the Muslims’ defeat at Uhud into The Sword of Allah Unsheathed!
 
And those noble lives he took? The helmet’s rings? The pure prophetic blood? All of it—God forgave!
 
A man once came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) with a heart weighed down by the enormity of his sins and said: “What do you think of a man who has committed every sin without leaving anything behind, fulfilling every vice and wrongdoing—does he have a chance for repentance?” The Prophet asked: “Have you embraced Islam?” The man replied: “As for me, I testify that there is no god but Allah, and you are the Messenger of Allah.” The Prophet said, “Yes, you do. Do good deeds, and leave bad deeds behind, for God will replace all of them with good deeds.” The man exclaimed: “Even my betrayals and my immoralities?!” The Prophet replied, “Even your betrayals and immoralities!”
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Have you forgotten?

Why do you think that your sin is the greatest thing in existence? Have you forgotten that He is the All-Forgiving, the All-Loving?
 
Have you forgotten that He rejoices in your repentance?
The Companions saw a frantic woman among the captives searching for her child. She embraced and kissed him out of love, longing, and fear when she found him. The Companions marveled at her affection and joy. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “God is more joyful at the repentance of His servant than this woman is with her child!”
 
What are you waiting for now?
 
Say, “Astaghfirullah (i.e., I seek God’s forgiveness),” right now…
 
Say it with your heart, soul, and tongue—even your sins that try to convince you that forgiveness is impossible, make them say forcibly, “I seek God’s forgiveness.” Let it roar through your being, and through that cry, swear that the All-Forgiving will forgive you—not because of your cry but because He is the All-Forgiving, the All-Loving.
 
Abu Sufyan bin Harb, Safwan ibn Umayyah, Ikrimah bin Abu Jahl, Amr bin al-As, and many others—were guilty of polytheism, fighting Islam, and killing Companions. Yet, the All-Forgiving and the Most Merciful enveloped them in His forgiveness and transformed them into Companions.
 
Do you know what it means to be a Companion? It means being among the best humans after the Prophets.
 
Look at what forgiveness did for Ikrimah, Safwan, and others. It turned them from murderers of the Companions into noble Companions themselves!
 
The feeling of sin engulfing you makes your spirit groan, your thoughts turn dark, and your words tense. But when you draw near to it with “Astaghfirullah (I seek God’s forgiveness),” the groans, darkness, and tension burn away.
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Blessed are those…

 
For God forgives with “Astaghfirullah (I seek God’s forgiveness).”
 
He forgives through repentance: “Except for those who repent after that and reform, for indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.”
 
He forgives through good deeds: “Indeed, good deeds erase bad deeds.”
 
He forgives through trials and afflictions: “No calamity befalls a believer—whether to his self, children, or wealth—except that it expiates his sins until he meets God without a single sin.”
 
Do you know what you should abundantly repeat in this life without tiring? Seeking forgiveness! The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Blessed is the one who finds in his record an abundance of seeking forgiveness.”
 
You will rejoice eternally over the countless “I seek God’s forgiveness” recorded in your book.
 
You will shout at the top of your voice, “Here, read my record!”
 
You will find your friends on the Day of Judgment, open your book of abundant “I seek God’s forgiveness,” and say: “Look! God accepted these countless pleas for forgiveness and forgave me!”
 
This is why seeking forgiveness is legislated not only after sins but also after acts of worship!
 
Do not you say, “I seek God’s forgiveness” three times after every prayer? Even your acts of worship are filled with shortcomings that only seeking forgiveness can mend.
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Do not despair…

 
The All-Forgiving named Himself Al-Ghafoor (The All-Forgiving) because without forgiveness, you will burn, the sorrow will consume you, you will feel true suffocation, and you will become addicted to crying.
 
If you believe that your sin is too great, that the scholar you consulted about your sin could not imagine the dark details of that enormous transgression, and that his answer did not address your question, then listen to your Lord. He is fully aware of every sin His servants will commit, from Adam until the Day of Judgment. He knows the details of those sins, their steps, and their gravity. Yet, He says: “Say, ‘O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the Mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He Who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.’”
 
Have the whispers (of doubt and despair) ceased now? The One Who said this knew, when He revealed the Qur’an, that on such and such a day, you would commit such and such a sin. Despite that, He told you: “He forgives all sins,” and your sin is undoubtedly among those sins—not greater than Allah’s forgiveness nor beyond His vast Mercy.
 
What matters is that your saying “Astaghfirullah” (I seek Allah’s forgiveness) must be preceded by abandoning the sin and ceasing it: “But if they cease, then indeed Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.”
 
How can you say, “Forgive my wrongdoing,” while persisting in the wrongdoing? How can you erase your transgression only to rewrite it anew? Stop. Let your “Astaghfirullah” be sincere, deserving of the heavens’ gates to open for it.
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The Greatest Will!

 
Allah, the Most Glorious, has decreed many things for you:
 
He willed your existence, so you came into being. He willed your health so you became sound and well. He willed for you to have intellect, and here you understand what you read and hear. But do you know what the greatest will Allah may grant you is?
 
That He forgives you!!
 
“To Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. He forgives whom He wills and punishes whom He wills. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.”
 
How great is the divine will that qualifies you to enter Paradise by the Mercy of the Most Merciful, Exalted be He!
 
The forgiven face illnesses like others, but these do not strip away their smiles.
 
The forgiven endure financial hardships like others, but they do not bow their heads in despair.
 
The forgiven shed tears, yet they never lose hope in the Mercy of Allah.
 
Now, set aside worries, pains, and illnesses:
 
The forgiven sleep at night in peace, for the strangest possibility is death. But what if they die? They are free of sins that would turn death into a terrifying specter!
 
By Allah, read, or rather feel:
 
“And whoever does a wrong or wrongs himself but then seeks forgiveness of Allah will find Allah Forgiving and Merciful.”
 
Don’t you long to find Allah Forgiving and Merciful? Then seek His forgiveness!
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The Most Beautiful Part!

The Forgiving One knows that sins ruin your life, crush your soul, make water taste bitter, food loses its pleasure, the night feel lonely, the day monotonous, family ties burdensome, friendships suspicious, the details of life worrisome, sleep suffocating, and solitude tearful. So He says to you: “Will they not repent to Allah and seek His forgiveness?” Would not that be better for them? Have not they grown weary of layers upon layers of distress? Do not they long for a smile that comes from the heart? So why do not they seek His forgiveness?

Do not be astonished!

Al-Ghafoor (the All-Forgiving) always forgives generously, astonishingly, and beyond human ability to forgive!

He forgives always:

He forgives (sins) between prayers, between one ‘Umrah and the next, between Ramadan and Ramadan, and between Hajj and Hajj if major sins are avoided!

Thus, the servant’s life becomes a continuous cycle of forgiveness, pardon, and mercy!

Imagine: You pray Fajr and then go to work, where you inevitably commit small sins (avoiding major ones). When you perform a proper ablution for Dhuhr prayer and complete it, you end your prayer with “As-salamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullah,” and all your sins are washed away. This pattern repeats from one prayer to the next! What would we do if our Lord were not Forgiving?

He forgives generously:

He forgives all sins for fasting just one day in the year!

He forgives all sins for saying, “Subhan Allah wa bihamdihi” a hundred times—just two minutes and the sins of seventy years are erased! Is there any generosity comparable to this?

He forgives what humans cannot:

He forgives the sins of a woman who spent her life in sin and immorality because she gave water to a thirsty dog.

He forgives astonishingly:

Take the case of those who participated in the Battle of Badr. Allah looked upon them and said: “Do whatever you wish, for I have forgiven you!”

All their sins, past and future, are forgiven!

Among them was Haritha bin Suraqa, a young man who joined as a helper, not a fighter. During the battle, he stood at a distance watching, and while drinking from a water basin, a stray arrow struck his neck, killing him. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) returned to Madinah, Haritha’s mother approached him and said: “O Prophet of Allah, tell me about Haritha. If he is in Paradise, I will endure patiently, but if it is otherwise, I will grieve bitterly.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied: “O mother of Haritha, there are multiple gardens in Paradise, and your son has attained the highest, Al-Firdaws.”

Ibn Kathir commented: “This is a significant indication of the virtue of the people of Badr. Haritha, who was not actively engaged in combat but was merely observing from afar, attained Al-Firdaws because of a stray arrow while drinking water… Imagine the reward for those who stood firm against the enemy!”

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Begin…

 
Start a New Chapter with the Name Al-Ghafoor.
 
Rejoice, for He forgives all sins. Hasten to seek His forgiveness by following His commands and avoiding His prohibitions. As Allah says: “Say, [O Muhammad], ‘If you should love Allah, then follow me, so Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.’”
 
O Allah, forgive all our sins—those that are great and small, early and late. Make us among those who find abundant Istighfar (seeking forgiveness) recorded in their deeds.
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