Ask Forgiveness from Your Lord
Ask Forgiveness from Your
Lord Part 2
From As-Sunnah Bimonthly Islamic
Newsletter
If the servant knows
that Allah is the sole Creator, then it is binding upon him to worship Him
alone, this occurs in several Qur'aanic verses: “I am
your Lord, therefore worship Me alone.” [Soorah al-Ambiya (21):
92]
“O mankind!
Worship your Lord (Allah), Who created you and those who were before you so that
you may become al-Mutaqoon. Who has made the earth a resting place for you, and
the sky as a canopy, and sent down water (rain) from the sky and brought forth
therewith fruits as a provision for you. Then do not set up rivals unto Allah
(in worship) while you know.” [Soorah al-Baqarah (2): 21-22] Ibn Abbas
(radhi allahu anhu) commented on the last words of the verse: “…while you
know.”, saying: “So do not set up partner with Allah in your worship
while you know that you have no Creator other than Allah.”, and this defines the
meaning of the supplication: “You created me, and I am Your
slave/worshipper.”
Thus, since Allah is
the sole Creator, we do not direct any worship to anyone besides Him. We
supplicate to Him alone. But today, we see some who claim to be the followers
Islam, and apparently acknowledge, “La ilaha illa Allah” (i.e. none is
worthy of worship except Allah) still to be found at the shrines and tombs,
supplicating and requesting the engraved to fulfill their needs. They worship
those regarding whom Allah says: "Say (O Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi
wa-sallam), to those who invoke those besides Allah): 'Call upon those besides
Him whom you pretend (to be gods). They have neither power to remove the
adversity from you nor even to shift it from you to another person.” [Soorah
al-Isra (17): 56] And: “Say (O Muhammad r): “Call upon those whom you assert
(to be associate gods) besides Allah, they possess not even the weight of an
atom, - either in the Heavens or on the Earth, nor have they any share in
either; nor there is for Him any supporter from among them.” [Soorah Saba
(34): 23]
Thus, this
declaration which is also the first pillar of Islaam (La ilaha illa Allah - None
has the right to be worshiped except Allah) comes at the beginning of the
supplication and states the purpose of the creation, which is servitude
(Uboodiyyah), Allah says “I did not create Jinn and mankind except for my
worship” [Soorah ad-Dhariyaat (51): 56]
Servitude is also the
right of Allah on His slaves, this affirmation of Allah's right and that the
creation is His slave is mentioned in the statement, “You created me and I am
Your slave/worshipper.”
Servitude of the
creation is of two types; servitude to Allah's Lordship and servitude in worship
to him.
1 - Servitude
of Lordship means that the whole creation is brought into existence by
Allah alone; He created them and He provides them with their needs, He causes
life and death and none shares with Him any of His Dominion. Therefore, none in
the creation can escape this servitude of Allah, and Allah says: “All
(Angels) in the Heavens, and all (men and Jinn) upon the Earth will come to the
Most Merciful on the Day of Judgement as submissive slaves.” [Soorah Maryam
(19): 93]
2 - Servitude
in Worship is something, which Allah has granted to some of His creation
in particular. They are those whom He has guided to the obedience of His
Commands, and upon whom He has bestowed Eemaan. So these are slaves of Allah who
worship Allah, obey Him, comply with what He has legislated, and carry out His
orders and obey His Messenger… Therefore, Allah ascribed them to Himself, like
His saying: “Ibaad ar-Rahmaan - the slaves of the Most Merciful…” [Soorah
al-Furqaan (25): 63]
In this supplication,
the servitude of Lordship was mentioned in the previous statements: “O Allah, You are my Lord… You created
me.”
“I am Your slave/worshipper”, confirms the servitude of
worship meaning; I am a worshiper of You, one who carries out Your Commands and
one who complies with what You have legislated. Thus, the supplication commences
with these great and comprehensive matters pertaining to Tawheed.
“And
I am faithful to my covenant (to You) and my promise (to You) as far as I am
able…”,
By this statement,
the servant makes a covenant with Allah to abide by everything he previously
said (i.e. Tawheed) meaning he will truly believe and remain upright upon the
obedience to Allah, just as he makes a promise in every Rak'aah of his prayer
saying, “You alone do we worship, and You alone do we seek help”
The saying, “As far as I am able…” makes worship dependant upon the
slave’s ability and this is from the Mercy of Allah to us. Some scholars explain
that this statement is an acknowledgment of one's weakness and deficiency, whose
meaning is; 'I am not fully able to complete Eemaan and attain its highest level
and most perfect form. I acknowledge my weakness and shortcomings, I am not
able, so do not hold me to account for my weakness, deficiency and shortcomings'
and Allah says in His Book: “Allah does not place a burden on any soul
greater than it can bear.” [Soorah al-Baqarah (2): 286] And it occurs in a
Hadeeth of Allah's Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam): “If I command you
with something then do as much of it as you can, and whatever I forbid you then
leave it (altogether).” [Saheeh al-Bukharee, vol: 9, no: 391] Here, the
scholars explain that when he (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) mentioned the
command (al-Amr), he made it dependant upon the ability, since there may be some
commands that a person may not be able to carry out, or which he may not be able
to carry out fully. So, the performance of the command is made dependant upon
the ability. Therefore, the supplication is: “As far as
I am able…”
However, when he
(sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) mentioned the forbiddance, he said: “… and what
I have forbidden you from, then leave it (altogether).” He did not say “…as far as you are able” and as the scholars say,
forbiddance means to refrain from doing something and it is within the ability
of everyone. Everyone is able to refrain from fornication, theft, murder and all
matters, which Allah has forbidden. Therefore, leaving forbidden matters are not
made conditional on one's ability.
Next the saying,
“I acknowledge before You all the favours that You have
bestowed upon me. And I confess all my sins to You”, is both
affirmation and confession, “I acknowledge…”,
here the statement is not restricted to any specific favor of Allah, rather, it
is left unrestricted meaning, I acknowledge and affirm all favors with which You
have blessed me with, the blessing of Eemaan, the blessings of health and
children, the blessings of crops, the blessings of house - all blessings. He,
the Perfect and the Most High, is the One Who grants and bestows them:
“Whatever blessings you have are from Allah.” [Soorah an-Nahl (16):
3]
After having
acknowledged the blessings, it is necessary for the servant to give thanks to
Allah for them by his heart, his tongue and his actions: “And remember when
Your Lord proclaimed, 'If you give thanks, I will give you increase in
blessings, but if you deny the favors and are thankless, then I shall punish you
severely.” [Soorah al-Ibraheem (14): 7]
Then the supplication
mentions, “I confess all my sins to You…”
This
sentence, since it immediately follows, “I acknowledge
before You all the favours that You have bestowed upon me.”, it means, 'I admit
that I fall short in giving thanks to Your Favors.' Some scholars
explain saying, “I confess all my sins unrestrictedly, that is all my acts of
disobedience and every sin that I have committed” By this admission, the servant
acknowledges that he has fallen short with regard to Allah's Right upon him,
which is 'worship' This acknowledgment of the servant is the beginning of the
road to repentance. However, if he commits acts of disobedience and yet does not
feel that he is a sinner, then repentance is something far away from him. Thus,
the servant's being sinned must lead him to seeking forgiveness and this is the
core of the meaning of the Hadeeth.
The pattern of the
statements, “I acknowledge before You all the favors that You have bestowed upon
me. And I confess all my sins to You”, indicate to another wisdom; it is that
the servant, in this life continuously passes back and forth throughout the day
between two affairs; these are either blessings granted to him by Allah, which
require that he gives thanks to Allah, or he falls into a sin and this requires
him to repent and to seek forgiveness. Therefore, some of the Salaf used to say,
'I enter the morning in between blessings and sins, so I want to put forth
thanks for the blessings and seek forgiveness for the sins.'
Another point which
is manifest from this Hadeeth is that, whatever sin the servant committed, if he
acknowledges the fact that he has sinned and then truly repents, Allah accepts
his repentance, whatever his sin may be, and forgives him.
The supplication ends
with, “none can forgive sins except You”,
indicating that Allah alone is the Forgiver. Therefore, the servant turns to
Allah in repentance, obedience and seeks His forgiveness.
Explanation and
clarification of this Hadeeth testify that Tawheed and al-Istagfar are from the
most important aspects of a Muslim's life. These two matter are combined in a
number of Qur'aanic verses and the Sunnah of Allah's Messenger (sallallahu
alaihi wa-sallam), Allah says: “Then know that none
deserves the right to be worshiped except Allah, and ask for forgiveness for
your sins and also for believing men and believing women, for Allah knows well
your actions whilst awake and whilst in your places of sleep.”
[Soorah Muhammad (47): 19]
Likewise, it is
mentioned: “None has the right to be worshiped but You (Allah), far removed
are You from imperfection! I have been one of those who have wronged
themselves!” [Soorah al-Ambiya (21): 87] “So
make your worship purely for Allah and seek His forgiveness for your sins.”
[Soorah Fussilat (41): 6]
To
Summarize
The supplication
comprises of:
(1) Knowing Allah's Lordship and His sole right to be
worshiped.
(2) Affirmation that Allah is the sole Creator and thus He alone
deserves to be worshiped
(3) The hope for Allah's Mercy
(4) Seeking refuge
with Allah from being transgressed
(5) Attributing all blessings to Allah
alone and
(6) Attributing all sins and mistakes to one's oneself
(7) And
this supplication contains the slave’s desire for forgiveness and his
acknowledgment that none can forgive except Allah.
Subject: Ask Forgiveness from Your Lord Part 2 
Tue Oct 02, 2007 2:17 pm