رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِنْ نَسِينَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْنَا إِصْرًا كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِنَا ۚ

رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِ ۖ وَاعْفُ عَنَّا وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا وَارْحَمْنَا ۚ أَنْتَ مَوْلَانَا فَانْصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ

Seeking forgiveness

The best attitude that Allah Ta’ala loves at the end of an action is that he turns to Allah Ta’ala seeking forgiveness for the shortcomings of his actions. At the end of our Salaah it is Sunnah to supplicate before Allah Ta’ala by reciting,

اللهم انى ظلمت نفسى ظلما كثيرا ولا يغفر الذنوب الا انت فاغفرلى مغفرة من عندك وارحمنى انك انت الغفور الرحيم

O Allah, verily I have oppressed myself greatly, and it is only You that forgives sins, therefore You forgive me totally and shower Your mercy upon me, Verily You are Most Forgiving ,Most Merciful.

The greatest Ibaadat

Our Salaah is the greatest form of Ibaadat which was taught to us by Rasulullah Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam. The greatest teacher (i.e. Rasulullah Salallahu alaihi Wasallam) had taught Salaah to the greatest student on earth (i.e. Abu Bakr R.A). These great personalities would recite the above Dua at the end of their Salaah, and thereby confess to their wrong.

The performance of Salaah can never be an act of sin yet they sought forgiveness in the end of their Salaah which meant that they were unable to perform their Salaah in the manner it ought to be performed. We should always be aware of the undeniable fact and reality that our Salaah is deficient and defective. Our Salaah can never do justice to Allah Ta'ala. Who is there that can fulfil the rights of Allah Ta’ala? Rasulullah Salallahu alaihi Wasallam  used to say,

مَا عَبَدْنَاكَ حَقَّ عِبَادَتِكَ

We did not worship You as You ought to be worshipped

مَا عَرَفْنَاكَ حَقَّ مَعْرِفَتِكَ

We have not recognized You as You ought to be recognized.

We should actually say,

مَا عَرَفْنَاكَ حَقَّ مَعْرِفَةً

We have not recognized You even one bit

مَا عَبَدْنَاكَ حَقَّ عِبَادَةً

We haven’t worshipped You even one bit

What should we seek forgiveness for?

Really, what is the position of our Ibaadat? Therefore at the end of any action Allah Ta’ala loves that His servant repents and seeks forgiveness. We therefore end our Dua with Istighfaar. Another point is that we are unable to perform Salaah with concentration from the beginning till the end. This is almost impossible. If one is able to do so (with the grace and mercy of Allah Ta’ala) then it is a strange act. Our Sheikh Rahmatullahi Alaihi quoted a Hadith to the effect that the Salaah that is free from all forms of Wasaawis is the Ibaadat of the Jews and Christians. This indicates and shows that there will always be some form of whispers in the Salaah of a Mumin. We all desire that our Salaah should be filled with concentration and devotion, yet it has been said that such a Salaah is not the Salaah of a Mumin.

A Shia once told Hadrat Mufti Mahmood Saheb r that no Shia has ever become a Qadiani. It is only the Sunnis that become Qadianis. Mufti Mahmood Saheb Rahmatullahi Alaihi was always ready with the correct answers so he replied by saying, “Shaytaan is not a fool who would try to rob a house where there was nothing of value. Similarly a Shia is void of Imaan, so what would Shaytaan rob him of? Shaytaan is aware that the wealth is with the Sunnis therefore he will always rob them. If a person is troubled by these Wasaawis then it is a sign of Imaan. There are many people that are concerned of these Wasaawis that trouble a person in Salaah. These thoughts will always trouble a person in Salaah. However, it is incorrect to entertain these thoughts. Our Sheikh (R.A) beautifully said,

دل لگنا فرض  نہِں ہے

دل لگانا فرض ہے

Its not Fardh for the heart to connect

It is Fardh to get the heart connected

Practising upon 10% of Deen

It is recorded in the Hadith, if the latter part of the Ummat will act upon 10% of Deen they will be saved whereas the Sahaaba would be doomed if they has discarded 10% of Deen. Hadrat Thanvi (R.A) explained that this actually referred to Sifaat and not Aamaal. Aamaal refers to performance of five daily Salaah, etc. Sifaat refer to qualities such as sincerity, humbleness, modesty, lowliness, etc. We will never have the qualities of Sahaaba nor can we have the Ma’rifat of Allah Ta’ala like the Sahaaba. Similarly we are unable to achieve the Ikhlaas of Ibrahim A.S. The funds that were used in the building of the Baitullah were absolutely pure. The question of it being Halaal and Haraam did not even exist. There weren’t any labourers so the work was carried out by these two Ambiya Alaihimas Salaam. The fruit of their effort can be seen today that millions of people are making Tawaaf of the Baitullah. People desire to get a single glimpse of the Baitullah which include the Kuffar.

There are waves upon waves of the lovers of Allah Ta’ala making Tawaaf of the Baitullah. Amongst the people making Tawaaf of the Baitullah are great Ulema and philosophers. This shows that the love of the servants escapes the understanding of the greatest believers. All we observe is that there are all kinds of people that have gathered whether they are young, old, men, women, physically fit, lame, in wheelchairs or crutches, from all parts of the world. In spite of accomplishing such a great task, Nabie Ibrahim Alaihis Salaam makes Dua in the following words,

رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّا إِنَّكَ أَنتَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ

O our Rabb, accept from us verily You are All Hearing All knowing

A great lesson in the books of Tafseer

Our Sheikh (R.A) has taught us this lesson on several occasions from  the Tafseer Kitaab Ruhul Ma’aani written by Allama Aaloosi (R.A) that the verb used in this Dua which is Taqabbal (تَقَبَّل )

which is from the Baab of Tafa’ul which has the quality of Takalluf (i.e. even if the action is not worthy of acceptance then too You accept it.) For example, A person is not sick but he pretends to be sick. So “Takalluf” means that certain qualities do not befit a person but one acts as though it befits him.

Another example to understand this, a person is not an Alim but he behaves as though he is an Alim. So the Dua of Ibrahim Alaihis Salaam is that our actions are not worthy of acceptance but O Allah, You accept it from Your side. This is the type of Ibaadat and sincerity beloved to Allah Ta’ala.

We should also make Dua in the same manner, “O Allah, the Ibaadat that I had carried out in the month of Ramdaan is not worthy of acceptance but You accept it out of Your mercy. In the Quraan Sharif Allah Ta’ala mentions,

وَبِالْأَسْحَارِ هُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ

And at the time of dawn they would seek forgiveness

In this verse Allah Ta’ala praises the Sahaaba (R.A) who would seek forgiveness at the time of Tahajjud. Hadrat Aisha (R.A) asked Rasulullah Salallahu alaihi Wasallam, “Are these people such that have committed sins such as getting involved in fornication, lies, robbery, etc.? Rasulullah Salallahu alaihi Wasallam replied, “No, these people find themselves deficient in making the Ibaadat of Allah Ta’ala so they seeking forgiveness.”

Acts of worship that lead to pride

On the contrary if a person makes the Ibaadat of Allah Ta’ala and then develops pride then such a person is in danger. If a person remains in the Masjid for I’tikaaf and then develops pride then such behaviour is dangerous. If it brings about humility and humbleness or a person feels despondent that my Ibaadat is not worthy of acceptance then such Ibaadat is beloved to Allah Ta’ala.

ناز تقوی سے بہتر نیاز رنڈي
جاہ زاہد سے پھر اچھی ميری رسوائی

Better than the pride of taqwâ is the crying (in forgiveness) of the prostitute

Better than the pride of the one who abstains from dunyâ is my disgrace

A person that sells herself for whatever reason is certainly involved in a great sin. At the same time she weeps and humbles herself before Allah Ta’ala to forgive her, and she confesses to being a terrible woman. The poet says that such a woman is better than that person that has Taqwa yet he is proud upon his obedience. We should always remember that good deeds will bring along pride, this is one of the greatest dangers that the Ulema face. The more learned the Alim is the more knowledge he possesses. The more eloquent he is in his lectures and recites beautifully, the people praise such a person. As long as an Alim does not have anyone above him to attend to his spiritual rectification, pride will destroy such a person. Shaytaan will ultimately mislead a person in spite of his qualities.

The Kuffar seeking forgiveness

Mulla Ali Qari (R.A) has written, When the Kuffar used to make Tawaaf of the  Baitullah they would remove their clothing as they would claim that they were unable to make Tawaaf with the clothing in which they had sinned. However they did not take into account the sins they had committed in their skin, and with their bodies. This was the shortness of their understanding and an ill logical way of thinking. They would utter the words “Ghufranaka” which means that we seek Your forgiveness. Allah Ta’ala says in the Quraan Sharif,

وَمَا كَانَ اللّهُ لِيُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَأَنتَ فِيهِمْ وَمَا كَانَ اللّهُ مُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَهُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ

(However, Allaah did not do as they asked because) Allaah shall not punish them while you (O Muhammad Salallahu alaihi Wasallam) are among them (because punishment affects all present and a Nabi can never be made to suffer punishment) and Allaah will not punish them while (as long as) they (people among them) seek forgiveness.

Allah Ta’ala honours the Nabie to such an extent that He will not punish the people whilst the Nabie of Allah is amongst them. Can we then imagine that how much doesn’t Allah Ta’ala consider the Ahlullah,  the Ulema who are the inheritors of the Ambiya. Even the Kuffar will not be punished in the world because of the Nabie of Allah Ta’ala. Mulla Ali Qari (R.A) says,

اذا كان الاستغفار يفيد الكفار فكيف لا يفيد المؤمنين الابرار

When Istighfaar (seeking forgiveness from Allah Ta’ala) benefits the Kuffaar then how is it that it will not benefit the pious believers.

Therefore, at the end of any good deed we should make tauba and seek Forgiveness from Allah Ta’ala excessively as we were unable to fulfil the right of that action. We can’t even say that we have tried our best. All we can say that we are useless and therefore Allah Ta’ala should have mercy upon us. This is the attitude required for all our Ibaadaat, whether it be Ramdaan, Tilaawat, Salaah, etc. If the Ibaadaat of a person brings pride into him then this is like driving a rolls Royce or Ferrari but he is heading towards Jahannam whereas if a person carrys out the Ibaadaat of Allah Ta’ala which is not of a superior quality and thereafter seeks forgiveness then this is like a person driving 1920 model vintage but he is heading towards Jannat his destination.