 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيدنا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين أما بعد السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته I wish you once again a Ramadan مبارك And I pray to Allah سبحانه وتعالى that may these days and nights of Ramadan be a blessing for all of us إن شاء الله أمين يا رب العالمين As we begin these middle ten nights of Ramadan we are reminded by the hadith of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم where he says The first portion is that of the mercy of Allah The middle portion is that of the forgiveness from Allah سبحانه وتعالى And the final one is asking Allah سبحانه وتعالى for protection from the Hellfire So as we begin these middle ten nights of Ramadan Let us remind ourselves that in addition to everything that we ask Allah سبحانه وتعالى for, per the recommendation of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم مغفرة Forgiveness is something that we ask for increasingly within these ten nights And as I had mentioned the hadith of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم last week Where the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was climbing the pulpit He said, أمين, three times And essentially reminded us that attaining forgiveness from Allah سبحانه وتعالى Is so easy and one of the greatest things that we need to do in the month of Ramadan And that if we don't do it, the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has prayed against Or جبرايل has prayed against that individual and the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم Has said, أمين to it So what I would like to do is share a verse or two of the Quran And a few traditions and a hadith of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم Allah سبحانه وتعالى in Surah al-Imran reminds us and says وسارعو إلى مغفرة من ربكم وجنة عرضوها السماوات والأرض وعدت للمتقين الله سبحانه وتعالى says حيستن ريس رن toward the forgiveness of your Lord وسارعو مسارع Right? Go really quickly إلى مغفرة من ربكم toward the forgiveness of your Lord وجنة and towards gardens عرضوها السماوات والأرض The width of which or the span of which Is the heavens is equivalent to the heavens and the earth In other words جنة is much larger than the heavens and the earth And run towards it الله سبحانه وتعالى says By seeking forgiveness from الله سبحانه وتعالى وعدت للمتقين What is this jannah? It has been prepared for the متقين For those who are God conscious Then Allah mentions a few qualities here And I'll go through them Allah says Who are the متقين? These are people who spend in prosperity and adversity In other words They spend when times were good And they spend even when times are difficult And these are people who hold on to their anger They repress their anger They're really angry They're in a position where they can actually Be angry at another individual And despite that They hold back والعافين عن الناس And they forgive people They forgive people Right? If you forgive others Allah will forgive you There's that hadith of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم Where he says يرحمه من في الارض يرحمكم من في السماء Have mercy on the people Of the face of this earth And the one in the heavens Will have mercy on you Right? If we forgive for the sake of Allah Allah will forgive us إن شاء الله That's the greatest reward That we can benefit from That we can expect From Allah سبحانه وتعالى When we forgive others Then Allah continues والله يحب المحسنين Allah loves those who do good Now listen to the next verse Allah says Who are the متقين? Allah is still describing The qualities of the متقين والذين إذا فعلوا فاحشة The متقين are people who When they commit an evil When they make a mistake When they commit a sin أو ظلموا أنفسهم Or they oppress against themselves In other words You do something that you shouldn't have ذكروا الله They remember Allah You know, they make that mistake You've made a mistake It's not like we haven't We've sinned But then what do we do? ذكروا الله They remember Allah يا الله Right? In prayer Either we remember Allah in prayer We remember Allah in ذكر We remember Allah through salawat However it is That we remember ذكروا الله فا استغفروا لذنوا بهم And the متقين are the people Who make استغفار of their sins Who seek forgiveness of their sins Right? We say يا الله Forgive me However it is That we seek forgiveness from Allah And then this is the part ومن يغفر الذنوب إلا الله Who is there to forgive sins Except Allah Who has the authority To forgive sins Except Allah Who has the ability To forgive except Allah In other words There's no one That can forgive Any wrongdoing that we do Except Allah And Allah is reminding us That seek forgiveness from me And I will forgive you And in addition to my forgiveness I will give you paradise ولم يصروا على ما فعلوا وهم يعلمون And they do not persist on the actions That they used to do أولائك جزائهم مغفرة من ربهم Allah then once again reminds us Of the rewards He says These are the people The reward for them Is مغفرة من ربهم Right? And forgiveness from their Lord وجناتن تجري من تحتها الأنهار And gardens, paradise Underneath which rivers flow خالدين فيها They will be in there forever ونعم أجغ العاملين And what a beautiful return And reward this is For those who do actions For those who do good There's another place Where Allah سبحانه وتعالى When we talk about forgiveness Allah سبحانه وتعالى says وليعفوا وليصفحوا Let them forgive Let them pardon Let them forgive And let them overlook وليعفوا وليصفحوا What does overlooking mean? Overlooking means That you happen to be in a position Where you can get your revenge Where you can get your return Despite that You say You know what? For the sake of Allah Until the day of judgment Until I go into paradise And I go into paradise And I go into paradise And I go into paradise Until I go into paradise You've been forgiven And I'm not going to bring it up again Now of course You know there's times and places If the instance is that of harm And you want to bring it to the attention Of any individual Or that individual That's understood But you know sometimes Someone has done some wrong to you And you just And it's really not going to make a difference You just end up forgiving them وليعفوا وليصفحوا Then Allah continues ودعونا لك that Allah would forgive you ألا تحبون أن يغفر الله لكم ودعونا لك that Allah سبحانه وتعالى Would forgive you أريد أن أتكلم معلومة A few Hadith Forgiveness Remember we're talking about the middle Ten days of Ramadan and forgiveness عبد الله ابن عباس رضي الله عنه On the raites That the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم Says من لذي مل أستغفار This is such a beautiful Hadith من لذي مل استغفار جعل الله له من كل ضيق مخرجة ومن كل هم من فرجة ورزقه من حيث لا يحتسب. This is not just for Ramadan. The Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم says, whosoever makes constantly seeks or makes استخفار. Constantly. And I'm not. This by the way doesn't mean that you pull out a تسبيح every day and say استخفر الله استخفر الله استخفر الله استخفر الله. No. While that's part of it. This doesn't necessarily just mean that after the prayer we say استخفر الله استخفر الله استخفر الله. Three times as we are reminded in the Hadith of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. No. This just means constantly seeking استخفار. You do something wrong. You think of something wrong. You say يا الله forgive me in your heart, with your tongue. You say يا الله forgive me. You think of something else. You say يا الله forgive me. You saw something that you know you shouldn't have seen. You say استخفر الله or say الله forgive me. You hear something that might not not حرام but just might be doubtful. You say يا الله please forgive me. I promise not to do it. In other words is in a constant state of استخفار. Consciously remembering and thinking of the things that might be wrong. من لازم الاستخفار. Constantly seeking forgiveness. الله سبحانه وتعالى promises three things for that individual. جعل الله له من كل ضيق مخرجة. الله will appoint a way out of every distress for that individual. Anything that worries you. الله will appoint a way out of that. And a relief from every anxiety. ومن كلهم من فرجة. A relief from every anxiety. You know you're in a difficulty. You're in a bind. You don't know how to get out of this. Make استخفار. Allah will pull you out of it. You're worried about something. You can't go to sleep at night. Make استخفار. Allah will create an opening. Right? Allah will grant you relief from every anxiety. ورزقه من حيث ولا يحتسب. And Allah سبحانه وتعالى will provide sustenance from where they least expected it. امام ابو داود narrates this. And another hadith. The Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم says. Whosoever says. استغفر الله الذي لا إله إلا هو الحي القيوم واتوبه إليه. I seek forgiveness from Allah سبحانه وتعالى. The one without whom there's none worthy of worship except him. اللذي لا إله إلا هو الحي القيوم ever living, all sustaining. واتوبه إليه. And I make toba to him. And I repent to him. The Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم says. This is by the way a hadith. And Allah سبحانه وتعالى says. Actually I apologize. This is not a hadith. قد سيد. The Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم says. That his sins will be forgiven. وإن كان قد فرر من الزحف. Even if this individual would have run away from a battlefield. Even if this individual would have run away. Running away from the battlefield is considered to be one of the major sins. You know when we talk about major sins. شرق is a major sin. Disobedient to parents is a major sin. A usury is a major sin. Usurping the wealth of orphans or anyone else's wealth is a major sin. Running away from a battlefield is a major sin. The Nabi عليه السلام says. If you simply say. أستغفر الله الذي لا إله إلا هو الحي القيوم واتوبه إليه. Allah would forgive all your sins even if it was a major one. And I want to close with another hadith. أناس رضي الله عنه. Says. That I heard the messenger. صلى الله عليه وسلم. Who said. قال الله تعالى. That Allah سبحانه وتعالى. Said. This is a hadith. قدسي. يبنى آدم. Oh son of Adam. Oh son of Adam. إنكما دعوتني ورجوتني. غفرت لك ما كان منك ولا أبالي. I shall go on forgiving you. As long as you pray to me. And aspire for my forgiveness. As long as you pray to me. And don't pray to anyone else. And as long as you aspire for forgiveness from me. And no one else. I shall continue to forgive you. Whatever your sins may be. Right. ما كان منك ولا أبالي. And doesn't matter to me. يبنى آدم. Oh son of Adam. لو بلغت ذنوبك عنان السماء. ثم استغفرتني. غفرت لك ولا أبالي. Oh son of Adam. I do not care. It doesn't matter to me. If your sins should pile up to the sky. And you seek forgiveness from me. I would forgive you. In other words. Even if your sins are so much. The ananas of the sky. They pile up all the way to the sky. غفرت لك ولا أبالي. I would forgive you. And it wouldn't matter to me. It Allah says. It wouldn't make a difference to me. You can't take anything away from me. By my forgiving you. It won't decrease in anything. It won't decrease in anything that I have. It's very simple for me to do. And then the Nabi عليه الصلاة والسلام. Says that Allah سبحانه وتعالى. Continues. يبنى آدم. إنك لو أتيتني بقرى بالأرض. خطايا ثم لقيتني. لا تشريكني شيء. لأتيتك بقرى بها. مغفرة. Oh son of Adam. If you come to me with an earth full of sins. And meet me. Come to me. On the day of judgment. Or in this world. Come to me. With an earth full of sins. And meet me. Not associating anything with me in partnership. In other words. Not having made any shirk. I will certainly grant you as much pardon. As that fills the earth. In other words. You brought an earth full of sins. To Allah سبحانه وتعالى. And you did not seek. You did not make any shirk. And you sought Allah's forgiveness. Allah would return that much back to you. And forgiveness. Brothers and sisters. As I mentioned earlier. We're going through the middle 10 days of Ramadan. And of course the entire month of Ramadan. And we seek forgiveness from Allah سبحانه وتعالى. No matter who we are. No matter what we've done. No matter what sin we might have committed in the past. Let us seek these nights. To seek forgiveness from Allah سبحانه وتعالى. Make Toba to him. To the best of our ability. Promise Allah that we won't commit that sin again. But at the very least. Seek forgiveness for that which has been done in the past. No matter how major or minor. Allah سبحانه وتعالى would forgive us. May Allah سبحانه وتعالى accept our fasting. And standing our prayers. And everything that we do in Ramadan. And make the rest of Ramadan. An easy one for us. Insha'Allah. بارك الله فيكم. جزاكم الله خيرا. السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته.