The Reality of Forgiveness

I read a beautiful narration a few days ago. it was about how Allaah shows mercy on us just because we've shown mercy to others.

We've read in the Qur'an that Allaah loves those who pardon others. 

But i want to share three points here;
First point is that Allah is just. He will judge us all and give us all what is due to us. This means for anyone who has been wronged even in the slightest bit, There will be a compensation for it.
This justice also establishes that when we wrong others we have to go and seek their forgiveness in order for it to be wiped off of our slate. 

He would forgive you, after you disobey Him if you seek forgiveness, when you repent to Him after transgressing His limits, when you realize and turn back to Him after being unjust to your own self,...But...when it has to do with someone else's rights...you have to go sort it out with them first...seek their forgiveness first...
Which is why backbiting and slander are really really big deals, & so dangerous.

The Second point, is that Allaah actually enjoins us to forgive one another. He says in the Qur'an "Let them forgive and overlook..." & He links it to earning His own forgiveness "Do they not wish for Allah to forgive them?"
In another Ayaat He tells us that Jannah has been prepared for those who "Swallow their anger and pardon men..."

And now we understand from the first two points that Allah is just. That if you are wronged by someone you are entitled to compensation. A very juicy one at that; for you can imagine, coming on the day of judgement, when everyone is in need of what little Ajr (reward/good deed) they can lay their hands on or somewhere to offload some of their truckload of sins, only to find that so & so wronged you and so you're going to have some of their Ajr or they can take some of your sins away as compensation. Interesting bargain isn't it?

But we also understand that Allah is encouraging us also to forgive, so much so that He tells us, dont we want His forgiveness? As though forgiving others is tied to His own forgiveness & literally the more we forgive others, the more He forgives us! And on top of that He tells us that He loves & has prepared for those amongst us who take to this virtue of forgiveness, His Gardens of Paradise beneath which rivers flow...Now you may agree that This is by far a better bargain, for no amount of the good deeds you will get from others on that day can measure up to this...

And the Third point is; As Muslims Our faith is infact incomplete until we love for one another what we love for ourselves. We're not considered true believers, until we possess this quality.
None of us would want to go in front of Allah having to give away our good deeds because we wronged someone who never forgave.
None of us would want to be dragged into the pits of Hell with faces ripped apart and skins torn and melted by the intense heat which is way more severe than any form of heat or fire we've come in contact with on this earth.

The mere sight of the blazing fire is horrific and Petrifying. Perhaps you cannot think of a single person right now that you would wish to be thrown into it, no matter what they must have done to you...or can you? Especially if all they needed was your forgiveness of that one deed lift their scale a little higher (May Allah protect us all from the fire).

So if not, why not? Why not forgive whole-heartedly because you would love to be forgiven and too. Why not forgive to save your heart from the disease of hatred and vengeance, to complete your faith and to unshackle from all the things you would or wouldn’t do because you haven’t let go/forgiven? Why not forgive them more and more so that Allah will keep forgiving you? Why not make this beautiful bargain to earn the Love and acceptance of Allah?

So this is the reality of forgiveness.
And i put it to you that it's not the easiest thing on earth for us humans. Infact, forgiveness they say, is not actually when you pardon those who deserve it, those who had sought for it, acknowledged their mistakes with remorse and apologies. Nope, for them you almost feel obliged to let go.
But its when the person(s) are not sorry, when they hurt or wronged you on purpose, when they do not even acknowledge what they have done, when you're tempted to say "I leave you to Allah", or "Let Allah show him/her the consequence of his/her action", when at this critical moment you choose to let go. You have practised forgiveness.
You have earned yourself the mercy and love of Allah as He has promised. 

Because leaving it to Allah, you know what that means. It means they'll have to pay for it. That's the Justice of Allah. But He loves you more and appreciates it if you don't make them pay for it. Just like He would love it when someone else doesn't make You pay for all the things you've done to them. And that's the All-encompassing mercy of Allah.
So think about it :) 

May Allah grant us the beautiful virtue of forgiveness and may He forgive us all and grant us the ability to love for one another what we love for ourselves♡ Allahumma Aameen.

Choices Versus Chances

I chose, and it was my decision, my effort and thus my success

I chose…and it was my decision, my failure…my fault.
Or not?

A Decree, they say. It was only as He had willed. So what does this mean? I had nothing to do with it? I’m entangled yet set free…

“No calamity befalls on the earth or in yourselves but it is inscribed in the Book of Decrees (Al‑Lawh Al‑Mahfooz) before We bring it into existence. Verily, that is easy for Allaah.  In order that you may not grieve at the things over that you fail to get, nor rejoice over that which has been given to you. And Allaah likes not prideful boasters” [al-Hadeed 57:22-23]

I’ve been thinking for almost all my life about this concept of preordainment, the obvious paradox we often contend and fail to understand.

So it’s been written already, does that mean I have no control? If so, then why am I to blame for some of the wrong things I do? They say what is yours will come to you no matter what, so can I just sit here and wait?

Thinking about this got me to the point where I just told myself “you know what? just go with the flow, have tawakkul, do what is right and just believe…” and then it hit me.

I have come to understand and my understanding may not be as deep or as sound but it cleared the fog. The Question is not whether we have control or not, but how much control we have.

When we ask the question, “why are we to blame for the wrong things we do, when it was already written?” The answer is because we made the conscious decision to choose that option, among the choices we had. We had no control over the chances of being in such situations, but we had every control over what our choice of actions would be. And though its already written, we do not know what has been written.

Similar to this is the case of the one who goes for a job interview. The definite chances are he could be successful or unsuccessful in the end of it. Other chances include; having a male or female interviewer, having an interviewer in a good or bad mood, having a lenient or strict interview, being asked easy questions or complicated ones, and the list goes on… The individual has absolutely no control over the chance presented to him, But, he has every control over the choice of action or reaction he makes. If he is faced with a female interviewer for example, and the chance that she extends her hands for a handshake is presented to him, then his choice could be to shake or not to shake. And if his choice of action ultimately results in a success or a failure, would it be logical to hold himself responsible? Here is where tawakkul comes In play…

I usually tell my friends, Allaah would never make your means to getting what is right for you, the wrong path. By this I mean, you will never have to do anything wrong to get what is right for you, and if you are on the verge of losing something and all you have to do is that one wrong deed, which Allaah has forbidden, then forget about it. It cannot be what is khayr (good) for you, I believe.

So assuming this man did not shake the lady, at the expense of His job, then He was never meant to get it, and Allaah had just tested Him or used that as a means to keep that job away, to make way for a better one. That I can say is a step-by-step outplay of His preordained decree.

“No calamity befalls on the earth or in yourselves but it is inscribed in the Book of Decrees (Al‑Lawh Al‑Mahfooz) before We bring it into existence. Verily, that is easy for Allaah.  In order that you may not grieve at the things over that you fail to get, nor rejoice over that which has been given to you. And Allaah likes not prideful boasters” [al-Hadeed 57:22-23]

In an alternate situation, if he agrees to do this one wrong deed, and gets the job but later encounters problems or worse still (wa iyadhubillah), is called to account and punished by Allaah, then its safe to say, He had the choice and chose that action by his own self and through his own logical thinking, thus, deserving the punishment.

The same goes for everything else in life. We have no control over the kind of people we meet; the chance of meeting a rude or nice person on the way, the chance of meeting a poor old lady, or a young vibrant lad, the chance of bumping into that person who just had a bad day or the one who just got the best news of their life!, But, we have every control over our choices of actions, how we treat them and the memories of ourselves we leave in them.

We have no control over the families into which we are born; the chances of being born into an elite noble family, or a modest poor home, the chances of having righteous family members, or rebellious siblings, the chances of being orphaned at an early age or having our parents still alive, But, we have every control over the kind of people we become, the kind of relationships we have with the people in our lives, the characters we adopt, the lessons we implement…

And lastly, we have no control over the time death would visit us, the place, the situation, but we have every control over the condition of our heart, the deeds we take back to our Lord, the state in which we return…These are our choices and Allaah is most Just and Merciful.

May Allaah make us of those who return to Him in the best of states, with Imaan in our hearts and Shahadah on our Lips; Muslims…Mu’mins…Muhsins…Allaahumma Aameeen