The Mercy of Allah in Regard to Forgiveness

The Mercy of Allah in Regard to Forgiveness

"O son of Adam, as long as you call upon Me and put your hope in Me, I have forgiven you for what you have done and I do not mind. O son of Adam, if your sins were to reach the clouds of the sky and then you would seek My forgiveness, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, if you were to come to Me with sins that are close to filling the earth and then you would meet Me without ascribing any partners with Me, I would certainly bring to you forgiveness close to filling it." In this Hadithi Qudsi, Allah gives hope to mankind more than any other narration. It displays the quality and attribute of Allahs mercy. Indeed, He is ar-Rahman, the Most Compassionate, and ar-Raheem, the Most Merciful. In this Hadithi Qudsi, Allah tells man of the greatness of His forgiveness and mercy so that no one would despair due to the amount of sins he may have committed. This is supported by the following verse of the Holy Quran: Say: O My servants who have transgressed against their own souls, despair not of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Surah az-Zumar 39:53) This hadith teaches us the importance of realizing Allahs mercy, having faith and hope in Him especially when making dua, calling to Allah alone for forgiveness, and the importance of repentance in the life and faith of a believer. Allah catches the attention of mankind by calling out, O son of Adam! This is a call to every human being. Why didnt Allah say, O mankind or O People? The significance of this specific call is because it was the first human being, Adam (alaiyhis-salam) who committed the first sin. Adam was an example to all humans of the consequences of sin and how to turn to Allah for forgiveness of ones sins. This gives hope that even after committing a violation, ones sins can be forgiven if one repents to Allah sincerely the same way that the father of mankind sinned, repented, and was forgiven by Allah. Allah calls out to His servants, a call of forgiveness, mercy, and compassion. For He knows that man was created weak and is prone to fall into sin. After calling out to mankind, Allah informs them that as long as they call on Him and put their hope in Him, He will forgive them and not mind. This statement alone can convince one to have hope and never to despair. When one calls out to Allah or makes dua, he is displaying his need and dependence of Allah. He is demonstrating his weakness to the fact that he has no power to do anything for himself. It is the essence of submission and servitude. It is also a recognition of Allahs attributes of kindness, generosity, forgiving and merciful nature, and His unlimited power and knowledge. Humans are never in a situation where they are not in need of Allah. A believer always turns to Allah to ask for guidance as well as to seek forgiveness of sins and shortcomings. Allahs says, Call on me and I will respond to you. One of the most important conditions of making dua is that one must completely trust that Allah will respond. One must also supplicate with sincerity, hope, and seriousness. One must not have any doubt at all on whether Allah will respond to ones call or if He accepts the dua. The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) said, Supplicate Allah while you are certain of a response. And know that Allah does not respond to a supplication from a heart that is heedless and inattentive. He also forbade that one say, Oh Allah, forgive me if You will. But he said, Instead, you should ask with will and conviction for there is nothing so great to Allah that He cannot grant it. When supplicating, one should truly seek Allahs aid and His forgiveness and demonstrate his need for Allah and submit to Him with fear and hope in receiving the desired response. Allah advises in Surat al-Araaf 7:56: And invoke Him in fear and aspiration (of hope). Indeed, the mercy of Allah is near to those who do good. Another important condition of supplication is that one must not become hasty and impatient and stop supplicating because he did not receive a response sooner or at all. The Prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) said, You are responded to as long as you do not become hasty and say, I supplicated and it is not being or was not responded to. And the final condition of ones dua being responded to is that one must make sure he is living off of halal and permissible means. Allah says, Put your hope in Me. Man was not created sinful, but he was created weak. He is prone to fall into the temptations of sin and the whispers of Satan and when he does, he should always remember to turn to Allah, call upon Him, and ask for forgiveness with hope in His mercy. Allah stated in a Hadithi Qudsi, I am with My servant as He expects of Me. The meaning of this is that Allah treats His servants the way he expects Him to. If one has hope in Allah and trusts Him, Allah will act accordingly to that servants beliefs and faith. And if he does not have faith and is in despair of his Lords mercy, Allah will act accordingly. Not having hope in Allah and despairing of His mercy is a great sin and an act of kufr. Allah quotes Prophet Yaqoob (alaiyhis-salam) in the Quran: Indeed, no one despairs of relief from Allah except the disbelieving people. (Surah Yusuf 12:87) One must be hopeful of Allahs mercy and forgiveness and fearful of His punishment. It is this fear that should lead one to seek Allahs forgiveness with hope. Allah says: Know that Allah is severe in punishment and that Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. (Surat al-Maaidah 5:98) In the above verse, Allah gives us reason to fear because His punishment is justly severe, as well as good reason to have hope, since He is the Most Forgiving and Merciful. There should be a balance between fear and hope and not too much or too less of one or the other. If there is too much fear, then a person may negate Allahs quality of mercy and ascribe to Him unkindness (Allah forbid!). There was a sect called Khawaarij, who worshipped Allah only in fear and held the belief that anyone who commits major sins was a disbeliever and would be thrown into the Hellfire forever. This is a gross extremism and straying from the correct path.