“A-úthu billáhi minash shaytánir rajeem. Bismilláhir rahmánir raheem.
Al hamdu lillahi nahmaduhu wanasta’eenahu, wanastagh-firuhu, wanatoobu ilayhi, wana’oothu Billaahi min shuroori an-fusinaa, wamin sayyi aati a’maalinaa. May- Yahdillahu fa huwal muhtad, wa may- yudlill falan tajidaa lahu waliyan murshida. Wa ash-hadu an Laa ilaaha ill-Alláh, wahdahoo laa shareeka lah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduhoo warasooluh”
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today our khutbah will be about how to seek forgiveness and how to repent (make Tau’bah).
It is common for people to think that if they have disobeyed Allah (SWT) that they are amongst the sinners and will be punished for their wrong-doing. Whilst this is true Allah is most merciful and all-forgiving if you repent with sincerity and vow not to make the same mistakes again.
“Say: O My slaves, who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah, verily Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [Qur’an 39: 53]
It is in the nature of mankind to forge and to at times fall into sinful traps. However, Allah the Almighty has bestowed upon us the ability to rectify ourselves by turning to Him and praying for His forgiveness. The mercy of Allah is so vast that He forgives the most evil of sins if we turn to him for forgiveness.
It is reported that our prophet (SAW) in a Hadith said: “Indeed Allah the Almighty and Majestic says:
“O My slave! Verily, as long as you worship Me and have hope in Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done; O My slave! If you meet Me with as much as a mountain of sins, but do not associate any partner with Me, I would grant you a forgiveness as great as the whole world.” (Musnad Ahmad)
Committing sins does not only have a spiritual side, but can also have an effect on the human psychological mind. Sins, almost always, make us feel as if we have let ourselves down and that we have commited a transgression against the divine.
However we have no other door that we can knock upon but Him, there is no other power that can forgive us and lead us to the straight path but Allah (SWT).
Allah the Almighty calls out to us to turn to him and to repent no matter how sinful our actions have been before. The important thing is that we are to repent sincerely and to vow not to repeat the same ‘offence’.
The door of repentance is always open for a person until he dies or until the sun rises from the west, whichever comes first.
Whenever our repentance is broken we should repent (make tau’bah) again.
Dear brothers and sisters do not despair if you fall yet again into a sinful trap as Allah (SWT) is All-Merciful and he shall forgive you as long as you repent to him and turn your heart to him.
Let’s discuss the general method of repenting or making tau’bah.
We should make sincere tau’bah to Allah for our sins. Afterwards we should make sure that we immediately abstain from the sin, repent with an understanding that the actions were against the rules of Islam and promise to never commit the sin again. If one has violated the rights of another person it is necessary to seek forgiveness from that person.
After making sincere repentance be confident in the acceptance of it. Allah the All-merciful and All-Forgiving is always ready to accept the repentance of His sinful slaves. Allah (SWT) says in Surah Al-e-Imran:
“And those who, when they have committed Fahishah or wronged themselves with evil, remember Allah and ask forgiveness for their sins – and none can forgive sins but Allah – And do not persist in what (wrong) they have done, while they know.” [Al-Qur’an 3:135]
After repenting, one should try to live according to the will of Allah i.e. the Qur’an and Sunnah. This will bring utmost peace and tranquillity into one’s life.