Seeking Forgiveness in Ramadaan - Shaykh Sultaan al-'Eid

[عقيل الهندي]

Seeking Forgiveness in Ramadaan

Part 1 of a Transcription of a Khutbah delivered by Shaykh Sultaan al-‘Eid, may Allaah preserve him[1]

Verily, All Praise is due to Allah. We praise Him we seek His aid and His Forgiveness. We seek refuge in Him from the evil of ourselves and from our bad actions. Whosoever Allah Guides, there are none who can misguide. Whosoever Allah misguides, there are none who can Guide.
I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship in truth except Allah alone, having no partners and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger:
To proceed: Indeed, Allaah is the all-Wise, all-Knowing. He does as He wills; rules as He wishes and there are none to fault His wisdoms – He is the Strong and Mighty.
He has given excellence to specific nights and months over others. He has made Laylatul Qadr better than a thousand months. He swore by the ten days of Dhil Hijjah; made the fasting of Arafah an expiation of sins and mistakes. And there are none of these special times except that Allaah has gifts within them, attained by those who He wills by His virtue and mercy. And the one who is content is the one who reaps from the months, days and hours and opens themselves to Allaah’s gifts.
At-Tabaraani and others have reported, from the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah, may Allaah be pleased with him, that the messenger of Allaah sall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, ‘Seek the good in your time and open yourselves to the gifts of your Lord – for, indeed, Allaah has gifts through virtue of His mercy – received by whoever He wills from His slaves.’
Maalik bin Deenaar said, ‘’Esa alayhi salaam said, ‘Day and night are treasure boxes – so look to that which you put in them.’’
‘Umar bin Tharr used to say, ‘Act for yourselves, may Allaah have mercy upon you, during this night and its nights, for the one wronged is he who does not give justice to the [potential] good of the day and night. And the disadvantaged is he who does not take advantage of them. So enliven your hearts with the remembrance of Allaah – for indeed, the hearts are only enlivened by the remembrance of Allaah.’
Slaves of Allaah, whosoever knows the Paradise and its Bounties desires it and turns away from the dunya and its finite allures.
Slaves of Allaah – go forth to a place whose residents do not die; whose buildings do not ruin; whose youth do not become decrepit and whose beauty does not wane. A place whose wind is an-Naseem [the name of the breeze in Jannah] and whose water is at-Tasneem [the name of a spring in Jannah]. Its people wallow in the mercy of the Most Merciful and relish looking at His Noble Face. {Their way of request therein will be Subhanaka Allahumma (Glory to You, O Allah!) and Salam (peace, safe from each and every evil) will be their greetings therein (Paradise)! and the close of their request will be: Al-Hamdu Lillahi Rabbil-'Alamin [All the praises and thanks are to Allah, the Lord of 'Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists)]} [Yunus: 10].
O nation of Muhammad, sall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, o slaves of Allaah, glad tidings of the mercy, virtue, goodness and excellence of Allaah are yours. The month of Ramadaan has come. The month of mercy, forgiveness and emancipation from the Fire.
Abu Bakr bin Abi Maryam mentioned that his shuyookh used to say, “When Ramadaan comes, give in charity, as charity given in it is multiplied.”
Al-Haafith Ibn Rajab, may Allaah forgive him, said, “The person fasting is performing worship during the day and night. Their dua is accepted when they are fasting and when they break fast. So while they are fasting they are fasting and patient and during the night they eat and are thankful. { Say: "In the Bounty of Allah, and in His Mercy (i.e. Islam and the Qur'an); -therein let them rejoice." That is better than what (the wealth) they amass} [Yunus: 58].
During Ramadaan, the hearts embrace their creator; with fasting the souls submit to their lord and acts of obedience and means of attaining closeness to Him are made easier for them.
One of the Salaf was fasting and put their futoor meal in front of them when they heard someone asking, ‘Who will give a loan to the Ghani [Allaah]?’ So the one fasting replied, ‘I. I am the slave without good deeds.’ So he stood up and gave the meal to the one who asked and spend the night hungry himself! Peace from Allaah and mercies upon those believing souls.
Fasting intercedes for the slave before his Lord, saying, “O my lord! I prevented them from their desires, so make me an intercessor for them.” This is the case for the individual who takes care over their fast and fears their lord. As for those who waste their fast and it does not prevent them from that which Allaah made impermissible, then it is fitting that they be beaten in the face with it, with it saying to them, “May Allaah waste you as you wasted me!”
Glad tidings, o believers, that the eight gates of paradise have been opened in this noble month for you; its breezes breeze over the hearts of the believers; the gates of al-Jaheem have been locked for you; the feet of Iblees and his progeny have been shackled for you . In this month Allaah releases those Iblees has taken prisoner. Al-Hassan al-Basri, may Allaah forgive him, said, “Iblees said ‘I have destroyed the nation of Muhammad with disobedience but they broke my back with seeking forgiveness.’ So turn to Allaah and seek his forgiveness.’
Slaves of Allaah – face this month with repentance, regret, brokenness and repentance. Take yourselves into account and think carefully about your state and the consequences of your affairs and think much about death.
The Salaf used to exert their effort in doing good deeds and perfecting them but then would be concerned about their acceptance, fearing they would be rejected. And they are the ones given that which they offered and their hearts were frightened.
‘Ali, may Allaah be pleased with him, said, “Be more concerned about the acceptance of actions than [simply doing] actions. Have you not heard the saying of Allaah, {Allaah only accepts only from the muttaqeen}?”
‘Abdul-‘Azeez bin Abee Rawaad said, “I reached them and they were exerting themselves doing righteous actions and after they had done them, they were concerned as to whether or not they had been accepted.”
O people of great sin – repentance! Repentance in these noble days as there are no days to substitute them and whosoever is freed from the Fire in them, they have indeed attained a great success.
And whosoever desires to be freed from the Fire of Jahannam during Ramadaan must perform the requisite duties that will make this happen – and they are easy in this month, and all praise is due to Allaah.
From them: To seek repentance and forgiveness. Al-Hassan al-Basri said, “Seek forgiveness often as you do not know when mercy will descend [when you will die].”
Luqmaan said to his son, “O my son, train your tongue in seeking forgiveness, as Allaah has certain hours in which a questioner is not denied.”
‘Umar bin ‘Abdil-‘Azeez said, “Say as your father Aadam said, {Our lord, we have oppressed ourselves and if you do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be from the losers}; say as Nuh said, {And if you do not forgive me and have mercy upon me I would be from the losers}; say as Musa said, {My lord, I have oppressed myself, so forgive me}; say as Thun-Noon said, {Glory be unto you, indeed I was from the oppressors}.”
And some of the Salaf used to seek Allaah’s forgiveness for their shortcomings in offering prayers after they had prayed, just as a sinner would seek forgiveness from a sin.
Slaves of Allaah – The most beneficial manner of seeking forgiveness is when it is done in conjunction with seeking repentance. So whosoever seeks forgiveness with their tongue and determines within themselves that they will revert back to disobedience after this blessed month has finished – their fasting is rejected and the door of repentance is closed for them, unless Allaah wills otherwise.
K’ab said, “Whosoever fasts Ramadaan while telling themselves that once it is over, they will not go back to disobedience will enter the paradise without any issue.”
Slaves of Allaah – Do not let your hearts get attached to any acts of disobedience and know that whosoever leaves something for the sake of Allaah, Allaah grants them what is better than it. {If Allah knows any good in your hearts, He will give you something better than what has been taken from you, and He will forgive you} [al-Anfal: 70].
And how sorrowful we are for a time wasted in other than obedience to Allaah and to being negligent with regards to Allaah! Allaahu akbar!
It will be said to the people of fasting and of the Qur’aan on the Day of Standing, {Eat and drink at ease for that which you have sent on before you in days past!} [Al-Haqqah: 24]. However much their bodies tire from hunger and standing before Allaah, they refrain their limbs from disobedience to Him; they recite His book well and prepare for that which is ahead of them, {They used to sleep but little by night [invoking their Lord (Allah) and praying, with fear and hope]} [adh-Dhariyaat: 17].
Fasting by day, standing [in prayer] by night and patience in obedience to Allaah in a small number of days. So they will be safe from that which they feared and happy at night when they prepare to succeed by conversing in secret to al-Malik al-‘Allaam and during the day as they are fasting for Allaah and it is He who will reward them. And the fasting person has 2 times of happiness – when they break their fast and when they meet their lord. {That is the Grace of Allah, which He bestows on whom He wills} [al-Jumu’ah: 4].
O heedless and negligent one – the masses have reaped and you have failed; they have hastened to Allaah but you have not; they have established that which He has ordered but you have squandered it. Be mindful of the saying of our lord,

{My worshippers! No fear shall be on you this Day, nor shall you grieve, (You) who believed in Our Ayat (proofs, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) and were Muslims (i.e. who submit totally to Allah's Will, and believe in the Oneness of Allah - Islamic Monotheism) Enter Paradise, you and your wives, in happiness. Trays of gold and cups will be passed round them, (there will be) therein all that the one's inner-selves could desire, all that the eyes could delight in, and you will abide therein forever.} [Az-Zukhruf: 68-71]

And if the fear of the entire creation intensifies on the Day of Standing, they will be called by this aayah. They will raise their heads and those who believed and were Muslims will stand, while those who disbelieve will bow their heads and it will be said to the believers {Enter Paradise, you and your wives, in happiness} [Az-Zukhruf: 70]

O Allaah, make us from them, o Most Merciful.

[1] Translated from the Shaykh’s website http://www.sultanal3eed.com/article/...%A8%D8%A9.html [accessed 5th Ramadaan 1434AH, conforming to 14/7/13 CE]