KHUTAB II - 2. Forgiveness



2.  Forgiveness
 (6 June 03)
Brothers and sisters in Islam,
Allah says in the Qur’ān:
وَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا أَوْ يَظْلِمْ نَفْسَهُ ثُمَّ يَسْتَغْفِرِ اللَّهَ يَجِدِ اللَّهَ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا (النساء : ١١٠)
If anyone does evil or wrongs his own soul, but
 afterwards seeks Allah’s forgiveness, he will find
 Allah Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful (Q. 4:110).
Ibn ‘Abbas says that Allah offered repentance to Banī Ubayriq.  T.u‘mah ibn Ubayriq converted to Islam, then stole a coat of arm, became apostate and joined the idolaters. So, the verse means, if anyone (like Ṭ u‘mah ibn Ubayariq) does evil, namely steals, or wrongs his own soul, namely, associates Allah with idols, then afterwards seeks forgiveness, repents, then Allah will forgive him.
Al-D.ah.h.āk says that the verse was revealed for the case of Wah.shī who had killed H.amzah, the Prophet’s uncle in the battle of Uh.ud, when he was still an idolater. Then he came to the Prophet, saying, “Verily, I regret. Is there any chance for forgiveness for me?” Then the above verse was revealed.
These incidents are called أَسْباَبُ النُّزُوْل (the occasions which led to the revelation) of this verse. However, the meaning is general. Whoever commits any evil or wrong doing, (except shirk, then afterwards, the next hour, the next day, next year, next twenty years, associating Allah with anything else), disregarding how many and how big, no limit any time, while he is still alive, repents, the door of repentance is always open without waiting, Allah always forgives  Whenever we make any mistake, we repent to Allah. The Prophet himself who was protected by Allah from sin (مَعْصُوْم, infallible) repented one hundred times a day. He also used to say, “I ask your forgiveness of what I know and of what You know better.”
A person came to the Prophet complaining about his abusing his family. The Prophet advised him to keep repenting and asking Allah’s forgiveness, because this is a kind of treatment will soon change his behaviour.
In another verse, Allah says,
 إِنَّ الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْا إِذَا مَسَّهُمْ طَائِفٌ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ تَذَكَّرُوا فَإِذَا هُمْ مُبْصِرُونَ (الأعراف : ٢٠١)
  “Those who fear Allah, when a thought of evil from
 Satan assault them, bring Allah to remembrance, when lo!
They see (aright)!” [namely, stop it] (Q. 7:201).
A man called cIs.ām ibn al-Mus.t.aliq told the following story. “I came to Madinah and saw al-H.asan ibn cAlī [ibn Abū T.ālib] and I admired his good behaviour and pleasing appearance. Then the envy against him enraged, like the hatred that I had hidden against his father. So, I said: ‘You are the son of [‘Alī ibn] Abū T.ālib!’ and he said ‘yes’.  Then I abused him, as much as I could, he and his father. He looked at me tenderly and kindly and said, reciting the Qur’anic verses,
أَعُوْذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيْم ، بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيْم , خُذِ الْعَفْوَ وَأْمُرْ
بِالْعُرْفِ وَأَعْرِضْ عَنِ الْجَاهِلِينَ  (الأعراف : ١٩٩) . وَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا أَوْ يَظْلِمْ
نَفْسَهُ ثُمَّ يَسْتَغْفِرِ اللَّهَ يَجِدِ اللَّهَ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا  (النساء  : ١١٠(
‘I asked Allah’s protection from the accursed Satan. In the
 name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate. Hold
 to forgiveness; command what is right; but turn away from
 the ignorant.’ (Q. 7:199) “If anyone does evil or wrongs
 his own soul, but afterwards seeks Allah’s forgiveness, he
 will find Allah Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful”  (Q. 4:110).
          “Then he (al-H.asan) told me, ‘Take it easy! Ask Allah’s forgiveness for you and for me. Verily, if you ask for our help, we would help you. If you ask for our support, we would support you. If you ask for our advice, we would advise you.’ I felt remorse. Then he recited the verse,
قَالَ لَا تَثْرِيبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْيَوْمَ يَغْفِرُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ وَهُوَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ (يوسف : ٩٢)
He [i.e. Joseph] said “This day let no reproach be (cast)
 on you: Allah will forgive you, and He is the Most Merciful
 of those who show mercy” (Q. 12:92).
 [This was what Prophet Joseph said to his
brothers when he forgave them.].
“Are you coming from Syria?”, asked al-H.asan. When he said ‘yes’ he was warmly welcomed. He said that at that time there were no people on the earth he loved so much more than al-H.asan and his father cAlī ibn Abū T.ālib. 
Conclusion: With good character we turn people who hate us for any reason into friend and allies.

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