The souls lying in Barzakh are envious of those who are present in the world and taking advantage of the opportunities Allah ta'ala has granted them so that they can achieve higher ranks.
On the day of Qiyamah, when the people will be gathered, an angel will come and command those who remembered Allah ta'ala in adversity and prosperity to rise up. They will rise and be told, "Enter in to Paradise without reckoning." Then, the angel will command those who were occupied in worldly affairs and transactions, yet, were not lazy from performing dhikr, to rise up too. They will be told, " Enter in to Paradise without reckoning." Then, the angel will address those who would stand and remember Allah ta'ala in the nights and they were not attached to their beds. They will be told to rise and enter in to Paradise without reckoning.
This is the importance of dhikr. It is out of Allah ta'ala's mercy that He grants us difficulties which enable us to turn back to Him. If we are distanced from Him after our trials, then it is Allah ta'ala's punishment upon us which is leading us to Hellfire.
We should engage in dhikr and make ourselves habitual so that we can enter Paradise without our accounts being scrutinised.
Others will be sweating and distressed that they will have to undergo challenging stages and their accounts will be scrutinised. On the other hand, the Dhaakir will be welcomed in the Hereafter. May it not be that we regret abandoning the opportunity of dhikr in this world!
Allah ta'ala has prepared the resources and solutions for us. Good things are acquired via good company. Good company draws a person towards good actions and it revives the passion and desire within. Thereafter, the person becomes regular in his actions and he no longer finds it difficult to act upon the instructions of Nabi ﷺ.
Whenever we have a desire to engage in dhikr, we should look for good company and where dhikr gatherings are already taking place.
Allah ta'ala has given us Ramadan which is departing and what can be a bigger loss than losing out in Ramadan. We can't guarantee that we will be given another Ramadan, hence, will incur a massive loss if we don't repent today and our Ramadan will be wasted.
We perform all other actions which our hearts desire whilst abandoning the action we should be performing which is forgiveness.
Hadhrat Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه reported: The Prophet ﷺ ascended the pulpit and he said, “Amin, amin, amin.” It was said, “O Messenger of Allah, you ascended the pulpit and said amin, amin, amin.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Verily, Gabriel came to me and he said: Whoever reaches the month of Ramadan and he is not forgiven, then he will enter Hellfire and Allah will cast him far away, so say amin. I said amin. Whoever sees his parents in their old age, one or both of them, and he does not honor them and he dies, then he will enter Hellfire and Allah will cast him far away, so say amin. I said amin. Whoever has your name mentioned in his presence and he does not send blessings upon you and he dies, then he will enter Hellfire and Allah will cast him far away, so say amin. I said amin.” [Sahih Ibn Hibban]
Allah ta'ala, the angels and the Prophet ﷺ, are all included in conveying this message to us. The Prophet ﷺ's "Ameen", demonstrates that this is a very solid dua and the dua of the Prophet ﷺ will definitely be accepted.
We should question ourselves whether we have earned Allah ta'ala's forgiveness during these blessed days. If we have performed all other actions during Ramadan but have not attained forgiveness, then we are wretched and destroyed in both worlds.
Worship doesn't ensure that we are forgiven. Through observing regular prayers, we are granted servanthood. Through our fasting, our desires are crushed and controlled. Through giving in Zakah and charity, the love of the wealth is removed. Performing Hajj enables us to become bold and work hard in the path of Allah ta'ala as the ability of working hard is developed. Similarly, if we wish to attain Allah ta'ala's forgiveness, we must repent. Until we repent, we cannot be forgiven. Thus, for every action we receive a certain result. The results do not come about automatically without any effort.
"Oh believers! Turn to Allah in sincere repentance..." [66:8]
Allah ta'ala invites us towards repentance with love. He helps us feel ashamed over our sins and encourages us to repent. After repenting, He promises to conceal our sins due to His mercy. We shouldn’t make excuses to avoid repenting in Ramadan otherwise we will become a total failure.
Istighfar is very virtuous and a person will be rewarded through it, however, forgiveness will not be granted through it. Allah ta'ala explains that we must repent through our heart.
If Allah ta'ala sends punishment upon us, then no one can save us, not even technology. With His punishment, everything will evaporate in to thin air. Allah ta'ala controls Masjidul Aqsa and the situation is a lesson for us to learn from.
Only that person is pious and successful, who pleases his Lord continuously.
Allah ta'ala is not pleased through our worship. Rather, He is pleased through a person's repentance. If we did not sin, Allah ta'ala would wipe us away and replace us with a nation who sin, just so He can forgives us.
Allah ta'ala is very pleased with a person who constantly sins and then submits and bows to Him.
“Allah is more delighted at the repentance of His servant than one of you who lost his riding animal on a journey in a barren land while it carries his food and drink. He loses all hope as he comes to a tree to lie down in its shade, despairing over his animal, but suddenly he finds it standing over him. He takes hold of its reins and then he greatly rejoices, saying: O Allah, You are my servant and I am your Lord! He makes a mistake due to his great joy.” [Muslim Shareef]
Allah ta'ala showered His mercy upon the sinners during Ramadan and He has made us His beloveds in Ramadan due to our repentance. He surrounded us with mercy and then He softened our hearts through fasting. Thereafter, he drew us in so that we can seek His forgiveness. Thereafter, Allah ta'ala granted us nights of power and enabled us to perform i'tikaaf.
The meaning of i'tikaaf is that we should not hold any desires of the world. Allah ta'ala desires that we seek His forgiveness and in return, Allah ta'ala grants us Laylatul Qadr.
Allah ta'ala keeps us awake on this night as He desires to reconcile with His slave. He desires to be happy with us and we are happy with Him.
If we haven't repented, but continue to worship, then the sins will still be stuck to us.
.."so your Lord may absolve you of your sins and admit you into Gardens, under which rivers flow.." [66:8]
When a person seeks forgiveness, Allah ta'ala opens the doors of Paradise for him and removes the witnesses of his sins from the earth. Allah ta'ala wipes away the traces of his sins to the extent that the earth is no longer able to testify against a person's sins. If it wasn't for that, we would have many witnesses upon earth which will bear witness for our sins in the Hereafter and then, we wouldn't be saved.
What is sincere repentance?
Allah ta'ala addresses us eighty eight times in the Quran, yet we still do not obey Him and we fail to repent. We should speak to Allah ta'ala in our heart and present our sins in His court. We should develop remorse in our heart. Our tears are so powerful that they extinguish the fires of Hell.
We should never believe that we are not in need of repentance. This is the deception of Shaytan and he places a veil over our sins.
The biggest wali Allah seeks forgiveness, so we should disregard the whispers of Shaytan reminding us of our piety and independence from forgiveness.
We will lose nothing by repenting to Him. We should make a promise to Allah ta'ala that we will not repeat the sin. Even if we end up sinning again, Allah ta'ala will continue to forgive us.
If we repent now, we will have earned Ramadan. We may get tired of sinning, however, Allah ta'ala never tires of forgiving us.
We should be courageous and stop the sin. Allah ta'ala will forgive such a person immediately and Paradise will be waiting for him.
The best repentance is that you visit a teacher and make him witness your repentance. This is the act of Bay'ah which the Sahabah also took at the hands of the Prophet ﷺ. This procedure will continue via the great Mashaikh until Qiyamah.
The Sheikh will enable you to repent. He will introduce you to Allah ta'ala and he will also teach you the dhikr of Allah ta'ala. Then, he will rectify you and help you to improve.
The Mashaikh are the deputies of the Prophet ﷺ and they have a very difficult task in this world. They perform the same actions and duties as the Prophet ﷺ. They live according to the Quran, they follow Shariah, revive the Sunnah and they provide tazkiyah for their students.
We should seek a teacher and repent via him and we will attain all the rewards of the Hereafter, otherwise our Ramadan will have gone to a waste.
Every person is a sinner and everyone is in need of repentance.
