Each of us are associated with this world and the Hereafter. We live in this world temporarily and we are unaware of the condition and timing of our departure from this world.
Nabi ﷺ stated that this world is a prison for the believers. In reality, we are the prisoners. We are not free. We have been restricted and cannot act in this world according to our own desires.
Thus, the believers should live like prisoners. The one who considers himself to have free rein in this world, will become destroyed. We must live our lives according to the law of Allah ta'ala and not according to our personal desires and opinions. Those who go against the laws of Allah ta'ala are considered rebels.
We are constantly faced with worries, challenges and difficulties in this world. It is not the place of satisfaction. We become exhausted in this temporary world and we destroy ourselves for the sake of this world due to abandoning our Hereafter. We have no worry about our afterlife, although we should hold greatest concern for it.
If we were to see the consequences of our sins and disobedience to Allah ta'ala, we would never commit wrongdoing. If we were to witness the reality of reward and punishment, we would never sacrifice a single gathering of dhikr. However, Allah ta'ala has veiled these things so that we may hold strong belief and trust in Him regardless.
The challenges of the Hereafter are much greater than the challenges of this world, however, we have been overwhelmed by this prison of a world to realise it. Unfortunately, we have no concern over our children's lack of practicing the deen and their forsaking of prayers. Allah ta'ala could easily destroy us for our misdeeds, however, He gives us a chance to reform ourselves.
Allah ta'ala granted us a solution for the challenges we face in this world and to make this world comfortable, as well as, helping us to prepare for the Hereafter.
Allah ta'ala orders us to reflect over the verses of the Quran. Allah ta'ala says,
"Turn to Allah in repentance all together, O believers, so that you may be successful." [24:31]
The commentators state that 'Tuflihun' refers to the success of both worlds.
Allah ta'ala addresses the believers and commands us to repent to Him in order to have our distresses eliminated. All of our problems will become solved through constant Istighfar.
Through this action, our world and Hereafter will be taken care of, this world will become paradise for us and our Hereafter will become full of ease and comfort.
The condition of seeking Allah ta'ala's nearness and love, is to rise in the last third of the night for Tahajjud prayer. The true lover endeavours to meet His beloved alone, in seclusion. During this part of the night, Allah ta'ala descends to the lowest part of the heavens and He calls out to those who desire to seek from Him. Rising during this part of the night, displays a person's devotion and sacrifice and his level of love towards Allah ta'ala. This is the best time for worship and performing Istighfar.
The more we repent, the more Allah ta'ala will elevates our status and make us His beloved.
We should recite Surah Yasin during Tahajjud time and we should try to memorise this Surah, even if it means memorising one line a day. Thereafter, by reciting Surah Yasin during a Nafl prayer, our revision will become fluent.
What is the difference between Istighfar and Taubah?
The one who has truly repented in this world, will never become distressed in this world.
Istighfar refers to repenting over our past sins and mistakes. Istighfar also refers to having remorse, shame and regret. This equals seeking Allah ta'ala's forgiveness and a person will be enabled by Allah ta'ala not to repeat the sin.
If a person become stubborn upon his sin and he tries to justify it, he will only be ruined.
"..saying, ‘Seek your Lord’s forgiveness, ˹for˺ He is truly Most Forgiving. He will shower you with abundant rain." [71:10 & 11]
Whoever performs genuine repentance and admits that he is a criminal in the court of Allah ta'ala, Allah ta'ala will be forgive him and from the heavens, He will shower down the rain of mercy. Rain is a mercy and blessing of Allah ta'ala which is why Allah ta'ala has used this word. Allah ta'ala will make this world Paradise for him.
Those who perform Istighfar the most, are most content with what they have.
"And supply you with wealth and children, and give you gardens as well as rivers." [71:12]
Allah ta'ala will grant us many gardens, fruits and rivers. We will become wealthy in the Hereafter.
Unfortunately, we sin and forsake prayers and dhikr in order to extend our wealth. Allah ta'ala orders us to repent and in return, our prosperity and our children are in His control. We should concern ourselves with encouraging our children to practice the deen and Allah ta'ala will deliver the guidance and sustenance for our children.
Everything is given to us through repentance. We will remain hungry and disrespected until we return to Allah ta'ala.
Through repentance, our provisions are extended. Only if we live our lives according to the way Allah ta'ala has prescribed to us, will we attain satisfaction and peace in this world.
We should not feel anxious living in this world, as Allah ta'ala has taken responsibility for our affairs. We should not concern ourselves with the best upbringing for our children or providing sustenance for our children. Rather, we should concern ourselves with abstaining from disobeying Allah ta'ala in every form. We should not bear to see our children miss prayers or praying in congregation.
We should focus on repenting and not worry about our past. We should promise Allah ta'ala not to repeat the sin and thereafter, Allah ta'ala protects such a person from repeating the sin.
We must visit a Sheikh and repent at his hands. The first action the Sheikh enables the student to perform, is true repentance. After this, Allah ta'ala makes this student His beloved and Nabi ﷺ supplicates for him.
Thereafter, the students life transformed. His sins are eradicated and converted in to good deeds, and he never compromises the Sunnah.
We must keep reciting Istighfar throughout every moment of our life. Through Istighfar, our acts of worship are accepted in the court of Allah ta'ala.
Nabi ﷺ would repent 70 to a hundred times a day, although he was not in need of it. In reality, he taught us the method of repentance so that we could learn from him.
We must perform two actions if we desire to become successful.
After performing a good deed, we must be grateful to Allah ta'ala and say, "Alhamdulillah."
Secondly, after performing a good deed or an act of worship, we must look towards our deficiencies, accept them and repent to Allah ta'ala.
Through these two actions, a person is made successful and he will be protected from pride. If he fails to do so, he will become haughty.
We should humble ourselves even in front of the sinners and consider them better than us. We should encourage them towards practice with love and hope and this is the way they will be influenced towards good and improved.
The happiest people in the Hereafter will be those who performed Istighfar in abundance in the world.
Each of us are associated with this world and the Hereafter. We live in this world temporarily and we are unaware of the condition and timing of our departure from this world.
Nabi ﷺ stated that this world is a prison for the believers. In reality, we are the prisoners. We are not free. We have been restricted and cannot act in this world according to our own desires.
Thus, the believers should live like prisoners. The one who considers himself to have free rein in this world, will become destroyed. We must live our lives according to the law of Allah ta'ala and not according to our personal desires and opinions. Those who go against the laws of Allah ta'ala are considered rebels.
We are constantly faced with worries, challenges and difficulties in this world. It is not the place of satisfaction. We become exhausted in this temporary world and we destroy ourselves for the sake of this world due to abandoning our Hereafter. We have no worry about our afterlife, although we should hold greatest concern for it.
If we were to see the consequences of our sins and disobedience to Allah ta'ala, we would never commit wrongdoing. If we were to witness the reality of reward and punishment, we would never sacrifice a single gathering of dhikr. However, Allah ta'ala has veiled these things so that we may hold strong belief and trust in Him regardless.
The challenges of the Hereafter are much greater than the challenges of this world, however, we have been overwhelmed by this prison of a world to realise it. Unfortunately, we have no concern over our children's lack of practicing the deen and their forsaking of prayers. Allah ta'ala could easily destroy us for our misdeeds, however, He gives us a chance to reform ourselves.
Allah ta'ala granted us a solution for the challenges we face in this world and to make this world comfortable, as well as, helping us to prepare for the Hereafter.
Allah ta'ala orders us to reflect over the verses of the Quran. Allah ta'ala says,
وَتُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ
"Turn to Allah in repentance all together, O believers, so that you may be successful." [24:31]
The commentators state that 'Tuflihun' refers to the success of both worlds.
Allah ta'ala addresses the believers and commands us to repent to Him in order to have our distresses eliminated. All of our problems will become solved through constant Istighfar.
Through this action, our world and Hereafter will be taken care of, this world will become paradise for us and our Hereafter will become full of ease and comfort.
The condition of seeking Allah ta'ala's nearness and love, is to rise in the last third of the night for Tahajjud prayer. The true lover endeavours to meet His beloved alone, in seclusion. During this part of the night, Allah ta'ala descends to the lowest part of the heavens and He calls out to those who desire to seek from Him. Rising during this part of the night, displays a person's devotion and sacrifice and his level of love towards Allah ta'ala. This is the best time for worship and performing Istighfar.
The more we repent, the more Allah ta'ala will elevates our status and make us His beloved.
We should recite Surah Yasin during Tahajjud time and we should try to memorise this Surah, even if it means memorising one line a day. Thereafter, by reciting Surah Yasin during a Nafl prayer, our revision will become fluent.
What is the difference between Istighfar and Taubah?
The one who has truly repented in this world, will never become distressed in this world.
Istighfar refers to repenting over our past sins and mistakes. Istighfar also refers to having remorse, shame and regret. This equals seeking Allah ta'ala's forgiveness and a person will be enabled by Allah ta'ala not to repeat the sin.
If a person become stubborn upon his sin and he tries to justify it, he will only be ruined.
فَقُلْتُ اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ غَفَّارًا . يُرْسِلِ السَّمَاءَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِدْرَارًا.
"..saying, ‘Seek your Lord’s forgiveness, ˹for˺ He is truly Most Forgiving. He will shower you with abundant rain." [71:10 & 11]
Whoever performs genuine repentance and admits that he is a criminal in the court of Allah ta'ala, Allah ta'ala will be forgive him and from the heavens, He will shower down the rain of mercy. Rain is a mercy and blessing of Allah ta'ala which is why Allah ta'ala has used this word. Allah ta'ala will make this world Paradise for him.
Those who perform Istighfar the most, are most content with what they have.
وَيُمْدِدْكُمْ بِأَمْوَالٍ وَبَنِينَ وَيَجْعَلْ لَكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ وَيَجْعَلْ لَكُمْ أَنْهَارًا.
"And supply you with wealth and children, and give you gardens as well as rivers." [71:12]
Allah ta'ala will grant us many gardens, fruits and rivers. We will become wealthy in the Hereafter.
Unfortunately, we sin and forsake prayers and dhikr in order to extend our wealth. Allah ta'ala orders us to repent and in return, our prosperity and our children are in His control. We should concern ourselves with encouraging our children to practice the deen and Allah ta'ala will deliver the guidance and sustenance for our children.
Everything is given to us through repentance. We will remain hungry and disrespected until we return to Allah ta'ala.
Through repentance, our provisions are extended. Only if we live our lives according to the way Allah ta'ala has prescribed to us, will we attain satisfaction and peace in this world.
We should not feel anxious living in this world, as Allah ta'ala has taken responsibility for our affairs. We should not concern ourselves with the best upbringing for our children or providing sustenance for our children. Rather, we should concern ourselves with abstaining from disobeying Allah ta'ala in every form. We should not bear to see our children miss prayers or praying in congregation.
We should focus on repenting and not worry about our past. We should promise Allah ta'ala not to repeat the sin and thereafter, Allah ta'ala protects such a person from repeating the sin.
We must visit a Sheikh and repent at his hands. The first action the Sheikh enables the student to perform, is true repentance. After this, Allah ta'ala makes this student His beloved and Nabi ﷺ supplicates for him.
Thereafter, the students life transformed. His sins are eradicated and converted in to good deeds, and he never compromises the Sunnah.
We must keep reciting Istighfar throughout every moment of our life. Through Istighfar, our acts of worship are accepted in the court of Allah ta'ala.
Nabi ﷺ would repent 70 to a hundred times a day, although he was not in need of it. In reality, he taught us the method of repentance so that we could learn from him.
We must perform two actions if we desire to become successful.
After performing a good deed, we must be grateful to Allah ta'ala and say, "Alhamdulillah."
Secondly, after performing a good deed or an act of worship, we must look towards our deficiencies, accept them and repent to Allah ta'ala.
Through these two actions, a person is made successful and he will be protected from pride. If he fails to do so, he will become haughty.
We should humble ourselves even in front of the sinners and consider them better than us. We should encourage them towards practice with love and hope and this is the way they will be influenced towards good and improved.
The happiest people in the Hereafter will be those who performed Istighfar in abundance in the world.
May Allah ta'ala allow us to implement. Ameen