 Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. This morning at Fajr, I opened up my phone to see a text message from a very close friend. She sent me an image of a Facebook post from one of our teachers, the esteemed and honorable Sheikh Muhammad Ali Aqoubi, Hafidahullah, who said today in a post on Facebook, he said, tonight is the night of Nisf-ul Shaaban. It is the night of forgiveness, the night of having a pure heart towards brothers and sisters, the night of coming back to Allah, beseeching him to forgive us. And in order to receive his forgiveness, we need to prepare ourselves by forgiving all others. As I read the text and then re-read it, I thought to myself, subhanAllah, in just a few words, Sheikh Muhammad, again, Hafidahullah, perfectly and concisely covered the topic of forgiveness in Islam, which is what I was asked to speak about today, specifically on mastering patience by overcoming anger and forgiving others. What Sheikh Muhammad expressed so succinctly, yet powerfully in his post, is something that many people miss when the topic of forgiveness in Islam comes up. Instead of understanding that forgiveness of any person or group for any wrongdoing is not about being benevolent toward that person or group as much as it is about securing one's own relationship and standing with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. I get questions all the time from different people, Sister Hussain, how can I forgive someone who has hurt me, betrayed me, cheated on me, lied to me, abused me? What if I can't forgive them? Will Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala be displeased with me? How can I let go of the anger and resentment? What if I don't want to or feel ready to forgive them? I always respond the same way, your focus is misplaced because indeed the ego, the nefs, the greatest enemy of the human being deceives us, distorts reality and conceals the truth. It's the difference between what our scholars call the camel vision and the donkey vision. The camel is always looking ahead and above the donkey as myopic and limited to what's right in front and below. So instead of realizing the great opportunity for reward that stands between us and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when we are tested in our relationships, some of us get too focused on trying to expunge negative feelings from our heart, which isn't always easy to do. We're human beings after all, not robots. So in some cases, even after forgiving someone, the pain still lingers and takes time to dissipate and that's okay because we've already turned to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and put our trust in him and the process that he's laid out for us, which is fail proof, forgive others and in turn you will be forgiven. In other words, forgive others and reap the rewards and benefits that our generous Lord has in store for us. Do not worry about the lingering feelings and what can we possibly want more than that? More than the forgiveness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Why are we so focused on feelings which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala can remove from our hearts in an instant? He is al-mukalab al-quloob after all. We just need to submit to him and leave the rest to time. Even our beloved Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam who forgave more people who harmed him needed time in some cases because the pain of their actions were so severe. For example, after the conquest of Mecca the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam forgave many people like Abu Sufyan, Wahshi and Hind, all of whom caused him a great deal of pain and suffering before they made tawbah and sought his forgiveness. But with Wahshi especially, there was more distance because he was often reminded, when the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam would look at Wahshi, he was reminded of what he did to his beloved uncle Hamza radiallahu an during the battle of Ahud. So when we talk about forgiveness in Islam it is not about writing the wrongs of the other person, getting our just desserts as they say or withholding forgiveness as an act of self preservation or a defense mechanism. It is about returning to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It is about recognizing our own shortcomings, failures and infractions. First in our acts of disobedience and ghaflah which we're all guilty of and second in our harm towards others which we may not even be aware of. For example, how many of us sitting here today are guilty of direct disobedience of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? Knowingly disobeying our creator. Every hand should go up if we're being honest and taking a poll. How many of us disobeyed him even today? How many times have we hurt, slighted, offended or even abused someone through our words, our actions, our inactions? Whether we intended harm or not, perhaps we were insensitive or negligent, inconsiderate or dismissive. Sometimes we are aware of ourselves and sometimes it is our gross negligence that causes harm. Just spend one day in the masjid observing how children are treated and spoken to in the house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. A place where our beloveds of Allah suddenly prayed and played along children and never once disrespected them or treated them like they were nuisances. But how many of us look at them with scorn because they are being children, playing. And we feel more entitled to the house of Allah than them. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgive us. What I've always found fascinating about human nature is our tendency to see ourselves in the best light even when there is ample evidence to the contrary. But when we're reflecting on bad habits, vices and poor character, we never think of ourselves, do we? Rather we immediately think of others. If I shared a long list of bad qualities right now, how many of us would think of family members, friends, coworkers, neighbors, community members? And how many of us would think first of ourselves? Very few among us, we can be sure of that. For ourselves we wear rose-colored glasses, but for others we have magnifying glasses ready to call out every mistake and fault. This delusion of the self is why the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam warned us to be inwardly focused and self-reflect, tuba liman shagalahu aibuhu anu yubin nas. Blessed is he who is occupied with his own faults over the faults of people. The reality, dear brothers and sisters, is that we all fall short. Every one of us is fallible and we have accumulated many wrongs against our own souls and against others, whether we know it or not. And that's why we must understand that the act of forgiveness is not something that we do from a place of privilege, but rather from a place of humility and self-reflection because there's a great opportunity for tuba, rectification of the soul and drawing closer to our Creator. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala out of his infinite generosity and mercy for us has not taken many of us to task for all of our egregious mistakes, violating not only his laws and clearly defined boundaries of halal and haram, but also harming his creation. So isn't it time for us to think twice about holding grudges, withholding forgiveness and allowing rancor and resentment to consume our hearts? Isn't it time for us to see the hypocrisy and refusing to forgive others and demanding justice while we have yet to answer for our own misdeeds against our Creator and His creation? Forgiveness is a path to jannah, an act of belief, conviction and trust in one's Creator and a measure of strength. When asked, what is manhood? One of the great scholars, Al-Ahnaf Ibn Qays said, Al-Hilmu, and Al-Ghadab, Al-Affu, and Al-Qudra, forbearance at a time of anger and forgiveness at a time of power. And the perfect example of forgiveness at a time of power on multiple occasions, but especially during the Fatah of Mecca is the demeanor, disposition, and the grace of our beloved, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Ibn Abbas further added, Allah has commanded patients at a time of anger and forbearance and forgiveness at a time of being wronged. If one does so, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will protect them from shaitan and subdue their enemies such that they become like dear friends. And Ibn Al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, also said, forgiveness is more beloved to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala than vengeance, mercy is more beloved to him than punishment, grace is more beloved to him than justice, and giving is more beloved to him than withholding. So dear brothers and sisters, if you think forgiveness is difficult or impossible, it is because you are entrusting the matter to your own soul. We are deficient and cannot do anything worthwhile without Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So we must turn to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, especially on this beautiful night of Nis Shaban, and certainly between now and the month of Ramadan, Allahumma balighna Ramadan. And ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to help us to overcome our enoughs, to forgive others easily for his sake and to become worthy of his forgiveness. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us people of truth, even against our own souls and people of Tawba. And may he forgive us all. Ameen jazakum Allahu khayran wa s-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.