This world is a place of examination. It is full of trials and sin. No matter how much we try, we cannot live here with ease and peace. We cannot make this world a Paradise for us.
Nothing here is in our control which is why we should instead focus on our objective of life - to construct our abode in Paradise.
We all have the capacity to sin and at the same time, sinful people cannot enter Paradise. Thus, Allah ta'ala has granted us a solution.
In reality, sins are more dangerous than physical sicknesses because sicknesses will lead you to death but sins will lead you to Hellfire eternally.
The solution to prevent sinning is repentance. It is a great gift which opens the door to Paradise. It is the most valuable thing in the world. One who repents is most beloved to Allah ta'ala as it shows that the servant has truly believed in His Lord.
Repentance is what enables our deeds to become accepted. Whoever constantly repents will never fail in this world or the Hereafter. He achieves a high level friendship with Allah ta'ala. After a person repents, Allah ta'ala showers His mercy upon him.
Istighfar through the tongue does not enable repentance. It is definitely beneficial, however, it does not remove the sins. Many of us are under the pretence that this litany wipes away our sins and we die with this belief.
We should correct our method of repentance. As a matter of fact, there are three conditions in order for repentance to be accepted.
Remorse over past sins is essential otherwise repentance is not sincere. Only after sincere repentance a person is enabled to make sacrifices and abandon the world. However, we must put the effort in first.
The second step of repentance is to make a firm promise to Allah ta'ala to abandon the sins.
The sign of true repentance is that it brings about a change. It brings about regret and concern over a person's actions.
Despite performing good deeds, one may enter Hellfire. This is because he did not repent. Only those sinners who repent will enter Paradise as a person cannot succeed without remorse and repentance.
Dhikr itself does not grant a person Paradise, nor is it the objective. Rather, it is the means for success. It assists one in achieving true repentance. We attend the dhikr gatherings to prepare for the Hereafter.
Regret and remorse enables a person to compensate for his wrong actions and make amends with those he has oppressed. It encourages one to seek forgiveness from his loved ones. It is such a powerful action that it removes a person from the darkness. Similarly, it takes a second to be remorseful and this is sufficient for a person's life to be transformed and become closer to Allah ta'ala.
Sadly, we fail to repent which is why we wrong our family. The sign of true repentance is that a person is remorseful and he discards the sins immediately.
The third condition of repentance is that one flees from those places he committed sins. He leaves relatives and friends who are associated with his sins. It is true regret which enables a person to shun sins and not repeat them.
Nonetheless, it is inevitable to sin so we should constantly be seeking forgiveness alongside. We should not become hopeless over our sins. We shouldn’t be satisfied with lying and other sins we commit.
If a person sins after he repents and he conceals his sin from the world due to fear of what people will say, yet he sins in private, such a person has deceived himself and is the biggest hypocrite. He fears the world which means he repented for the world and not for Allah ta'ala.
Had he repented for Allah ta'ala, he would have abstained from sins in private too. A person should be sincere with Allah ta'ala, such that his public and private state is the same. This is the condition of a person who has performed sincere repentance and such repentance is accepted in the sight of Allah ta'ala.
We should leave hypocrisy and be sincere. We should repent for the sake of Allah ta'ala only. Furthermore, we should not overlook our sins and fail to repent, otherwise, we will face trials and distress in life.
Whoever sincerely repented, will constantly repent in future after being attacked by Shaytan and his status will be elevated.
In reality, even after repentance, a person is in danger and must preserve his repentance. This is because repentance can be broken at any time. Shaytan attacks a person right until death.
What is the remedy for persevering our repentance? To keep hold of the company of a kaamil Sheikh.
If a student has sincerely repented and he becomes stuck, Allah ta'ala will always prepare a solution for him.
"And patiently stick with those who call upon their Lord morning and evening, seeking His pleasure..." [18:28]
Allah ta'ala explains the glory of those who sit in His remembrance morning and evening. It is a great thing to be steadfast upon dhikr. Here, Allah ta'ala informs the Prophet ﷺ to accompany the group of Sahabah who were sat in a group remembering Allah ta'ala and to be punctual in this deed. This order was a reward for the companions.
For this reason, I consider that the Holy Prophet ﷺ's blessings are definitely present wherever a dhikr gathering takes place.
If you are a dhaakir and you face problems, then know that your difficulties are temporary and you will be rewarded.
Alongside dhikr, we must adopt the company of the teacher otherwise we won't be successful. Such a sheikh in whose company people are transformed and repentance is enabled, he is considered a complete devotee to the Prophet ﷺ.
A person must be punctual upon dhikr in order to receive the reward. He must adhere to the company of his Sheikh alongside dhikr in order to maintain his repentance. A person's success is not based on how many lessons of adhkaar he attains. Rather, it is determined by one's situation and his remorse.
Unfortunately, parents discourage their children from practicing the deen and encourage them only in worldly pursuits.
This era we are passing through is dangerous. We should not become hypocrites. We should visit the Sheikh and seek forgiveness through him. The purpose of this world is to attain Paradise and we will attain it through constant and sincere repentance.
We should make a promise to abandon sins even when we are in seclusion. As a result, our family will improve and our character will improve because the hypocrisy has been removed. We should fear Allah ta'ala and not what the people will say.
The hypocrites are those who do not accept Allah ta'ala’s wisdom and instead they take out the defects of the pious people.
May Allah ta'ala safeguard us and allow us to implement. Ameen
This world is a place of examination. It is full of trials and sin. No matter how much we try, we cannot live here with ease and peace. We cannot make this world a Paradise for us.
Nothing here is in our control which is why we should instead focus on our objective of life - to construct our abode in Paradise.
We all have the capacity to sin and at the same time, sinful people cannot enter Paradise. Thus, Allah ta'ala has granted us a solution.
In reality, sins are more dangerous than physical sicknesses because sicknesses will lead you to death but sins will lead you to Hellfire eternally.
The solution to prevent sinning is repentance. It is a great gift which opens the door to Paradise. It is the most valuable thing in the world. One who repents is most beloved to Allah ta'ala as it shows that the servant has truly believed in His Lord.
Repentance is what enables our deeds to become accepted. Whoever constantly repents will never fail in this world or the Hereafter. He achieves a high level friendship with Allah ta'ala. After a person repents, Allah ta'ala showers His mercy upon him.
Istighfar through the tongue does not enable repentance. It is definitely beneficial, however, it does not remove the sins. Many of us are under the pretence that this litany wipes away our sins and we die with this belief.
We should correct our method of repentance. As a matter of fact, there are three conditions in order for repentance to be accepted.
Remorse over past sins is essential otherwise repentance is not sincere. Only after sincere repentance a person is enabled to make sacrifices and abandon the world. However, we must put the effort in first.
The second step of repentance is to make a firm promise to Allah ta'ala to abandon the sins.
The sign of true repentance is that it brings about a change. It brings about regret and concern over a person's actions.
Despite performing good deeds, one may enter Hellfire. This is because he did not repent. Only those sinners who repent will enter Paradise as a person cannot succeed without remorse and repentance.
Dhikr itself does not grant a person Paradise, nor is it the objective. Rather, it is the means for success. It assists one in achieving true repentance. We attend the dhikr gatherings to prepare for the Hereafter.
Regret and remorse enables a person to compensate for his wrong actions and make amends with those he has oppressed. It encourages one to seek forgiveness from his loved ones. It is such a powerful action that it removes a person from the darkness. Similarly, it takes a second to be remorseful and this is sufficient for a person's life to be transformed and become closer to Allah ta'ala.
Sadly, we fail to repent which is why we wrong our family. The sign of true repentance is that a person is remorseful and he discards the sins immediately.
The third condition of repentance is that one flees from those places he committed sins. He leaves relatives and friends who are associated with his sins. It is true regret which enables a person to shun sins and not repeat them.
Nonetheless, it is inevitable to sin so we should constantly be seeking forgiveness alongside. We should not become hopeless over our sins. We shouldn’t be satisfied with lying and other sins we commit.
If a person sins after he repents and he conceals his sin from the world due to fear of what people will say, yet he sins in private, such a person has deceived himself and is the biggest hypocrite. He fears the world which means he repented for the world and not for Allah ta'ala.
Had he repented for Allah ta'ala, he would have abstained from sins in private too. A person should be sincere with Allah ta'ala, such that his public and private state is the same. This is the condition of a person who has performed sincere repentance and such repentance is accepted in the sight of Allah ta'ala.
We should leave hypocrisy and be sincere. We should repent for the sake of Allah ta'ala only. Furthermore, we should not overlook our sins and fail to repent, otherwise, we will face trials and distress in life.
Whoever sincerely repented, will constantly repent in future after being attacked by Shaytan and his status will be elevated.
In reality, even after repentance, a person is in danger and must preserve his repentance. This is because repentance can be broken at any time. Shaytan attacks a person right until death.
What is the remedy for persevering our repentance? To keep hold of the company of a kaamil Sheikh.
If a student has sincerely repented and he becomes stuck, Allah ta'ala will always prepare a solution for him.
وَاصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُم بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُ ۖ
"And patiently stick with those who call upon their Lord morning and evening, seeking His pleasure..." [18:28]
Allah ta'ala explains the glory of those who sit in His remembrance morning and evening. It is a great thing to be steadfast upon dhikr. Here, Allah ta'ala informs the Prophet ﷺ to accompany the group of Sahabah who were sat in a group remembering Allah ta'ala and to be punctual in this deed. This order was a reward for the companions.
For this reason, I consider that the Holy Prophet ﷺ's blessings are definitely present wherever a dhikr gathering takes place.
If you are a dhaakir and you face problems, then know that your difficulties are temporary and you will be rewarded.
Alongside dhikr, we must adopt the company of the teacher otherwise we won't be successful. Such a sheikh in whose company people are transformed and repentance is enabled, he is considered a complete devotee to the Prophet ﷺ.
A person must be punctual upon dhikr in order to receive the reward. He must adhere to the company of his Sheikh alongside dhikr in order to maintain his repentance. A person's success is not based on how many lessons of adhkaar he attains. Rather, it is determined by one's situation and his remorse.
Unfortunately, parents discourage their children from practicing the deen and encourage them only in worldly pursuits.
This era we are passing through is dangerous. We should not become hypocrites. We should visit the Sheikh and seek forgiveness through him. The purpose of this world is to attain Paradise and we will attain it through constant and sincere repentance.
We should make a promise to abandon sins even when we are in seclusion. As a result, our family will improve and our character will improve because the hypocrisy has been removed. We should fear Allah ta'ala and not what the people will say.
The hypocrites are those who do not accept Allah ta'ala’s wisdom and instead they take out the defects of the pious people.
May Allah ta'ala safeguard us and allow us to implement. Ameen