Laylatul Qadr: How Allah Can Forgive Your Entire Past in One Night

The Difference Between Maghfirah and 'Afw

That is why when Aisha رضي الله عنها asks the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, "If Laylatul Qadr, the Night of Decree, is to come, what should I ask Allah?" — He doesn't say, say رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي, "O Allah forgive me, conceal and cover my sins." He says:

"O Allah, You are the One who erases sins, You love to erase sins, so erase my sins." Format my hard drive — remove it of all traces of sins, so nobody knows, no effect is left, and I am like a newborn baby yet again.

Allah's مَغْفِرَة — غَفَرَ يَغْفِرُ — in Arabic, غَفَرَ يَغْفِرُ means to cover something. When you get fresh food from the oven and you cover it, this is called مَغْفِرَة — غَفَرْتُ الشَّيْء — you concealed it, you hid it, you covered it. When you take a dead body and you put it in the grave and then you put sand on top of it, or you cover the grave — this is مَغْفِرَة. You've covered it, you've concealed it, you've sealed it.

This is maghfirah. When Allah forgives our sins — غَفَرَ — He just conceals them, He hides them. We won't be affected by these sins on the Day of Judgment. We won't be asked about these sins. But if you go to the angel on your right and left shoulder, the record is still there. "Hisham backbited so-and-so" — the record is still there. Allah may have forgiven me, but it's still there. The angels know it happened. It's in my record. On the Day of Judgment, if you want to check, it's still there.

This is maghfirah. But Allah has concealed it, He's hidden it — so there are no consequences on you, no punishment on you. He has forgiven you.

The Higher Level: Al-'Afw

The next level after that is al-'afw. العَفْو is to clean something such that there is no trace left behind. Like if I were to bring some baklava to this masjid and I were to give it to this brother here — what's your name, habibi? Luqman. Luqman has a bite, he passes it, he passes it. When the plate comes back to me, will I know what was inside the plate? You will not even leave one crumb for me. You will do al-'afw — you will clean, no traces. This is al-'afw. Clean, مَسَحَ. Yes, some of you, when you eat mandi, you do this to the plate — nobody knows what was ever in the plate. This is al-'afw. To format, to clean such that there is no trace, no history, no record left behind.

So the lower level of forgiveness is al-maghfirah. Allah forgives your sins, but the earth still knows you did it. The angels still know you did it. On the Day of Judgment it's still in your book — but also in your book, Allah forgave it, so you're not going to see any punishment.

But al-'afw is the greatest extent. Allah erases the sin. The angels forget that you did it. It is no longer in your book of deeds. Nobody knows except Allah that you did it, and you will never be faced with its consequences ever again.

That is why when Aisha رضي الله عنها asks the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, "If Laylatul Qadr, the Night of Decree, is to come, what should I ask Allah?" — He doesn't say, say رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي. He says:

"O Allah, You are the One who erases sins, You love to erase sins, so erase my sins." Format my hard drive — remove it of all traces of sins, so nobody knows, no effect is left, and I am like a newborn baby yet again.

This is 'afw. And so Allah, one of His names is Al-Ghafoor — the One who consistently, constantly forgives and conceals the sins. And one of His names is Al-'Afuw — the One who not just forgives, not just covers it up, but cleans it so nobody ever knew it was there.

Before you ask Allah for مَغْفِرَة and رَحْمَة, first you ask Him for عَفْو. Because believers have to be ambitious — we have to ask Allah the maximum. We should never say, "O Allah, just forgive today's sins." No. Allah cleaned the whole plate for me.

فَاعْفُ عَنِّي — then وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا — then وَارْحَمْنَا. Ibn Kathir رحمه الله mentions: when we say to Allah, "O Allah, فَاعْفُ عَنِّي" — that means, "O Allah, clean the sin, the effects of the sin between me and You." When we say وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا, that means, "O Allah, cover the sin from the eyes of other people — don't let people know that I did this mistake." And then when you say وَارْحَمْنَا, that means, "In the future, O Allah, continue to have mercy on me — despite my history, despite my mistakes." أَنتَ مَوْلَانَا — You are our closest, loyal Protector.

Allah's Mercy and Forgiveness — For Whom?

What we learn from these names of Allah is that Allah's رَحْمَة — Allah's mercy — affects everyone: Muslim, non-Muslim, every human being, animal, plant, the wall — everything receives some portion of Allah's mercy. But forgiveness — is that for everybody? And for every deed? Are there deeds which Allah doesn't forgive?

Allah does not forgive that you make anything equal to Him.

And does Allah forgive everyone? He says — الله أكبر — إِلَّا مَنْ أَبَى — except the one who refuses. And what does that mean, "Ya Rasulullah, who would refuse?" He says Allah forgives everyone, and he quotes the hadith: إِلَّا مَنْ أَبَى — except the one who refuses Allah's forgiveness. Now, would anyone refuse that? The one who does not follow the way of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. Forgiveness of Allah comes to those who seek it and those who ask for it.

Istighfar and Tawbah

And so in the Quran, Allah talks about a third concept: al-istighfar — to seek Allah's forgiveness, to search for it. And He talks about another concept, very similar: al-tawbah.

Al-tawbah comes from the root word تَابَ يَتُوبُ — which means to return. If I'm driving in this direction and suddenly Google Maps tells me, "You made a wrong turn, you have to take a U-turn" — this U-turn in Arabic is called تَابَ يَتُوبُ: to make a detour, to make a U-turn. You're going in one direction, but you return back to the direction you were supposed to go in. This is the meaning of tawbah. You are going in the wrong direction, you're disobeying Allah, you're far from Him — but now you're going to make a U-turn back to Allah. This is tawbah.

The First Tawbah: Adam (alayhi salam)

The first example of tawbah in the Quran is the example of our father Adam عليه السلام. Allah tells Adam: "Don't eat from this tree. Everything else is halal, just avoid this tree." But Shaytan, our enemy — his job is to continuously whisper to us and distract us, and to make this one tree look like the best thing on earth, the best thing since sliced bread. And so Adam عليه السلام eventually falls into the mistake and he eats from the tree.

And Adam عليه السلام faces a consequence. Allah sends him from our original home of Paradise — that home that came without a mortgage, without a high price, Allah gifted to us — and He sent him to this earth, the place of tests and tribulations, the place where we have to prove ourselves.

Now, when Adam عليه السلام comes down, the first thing is he realizes his mistake. He realizes his mistake, but he doesn't know how to apologize. Nobody has ever apologized in the history of humanity just yet. Someone has to teach Adam عليه السلام how to apologize — the first apology:

Adam learned some words from Allah, and Allah accepted his repentance, his U-turn. إِنَّهُ هُوَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ — Allah is At-Tawwab.

Who is At-Tawwab? At-Tawwab means Allah will always accept your apology if you come sincerely to Him. But it doesn't just mean that. There's an additional meaning. The majority of linguists, the Arabic language scholars, said At-Tawwab means Allah inspires you to come back to Him.

You don't feel like you're drowning in your sins — in the nightclub, with a cigarette in one hand, in مُحَرَّمَات, looking at things you shouldn't be looking at, whatever it is that you're doing. You're drowning in it, you're immersed in it, you find no escape. One morning you wake up and there's some feeling in your heart that says, "I can't continue to live this way. I have to change." Who inspired you? Where did that inspiration come from?

And that is the beauty of Allah's mercy — He inspires us by putting fear in our hearts. Because if we think Allah is only mercy — all nice, everything is happy, everything is perfect — we become complacent, we get too relaxed. That's why Allah, whenever He introduces a consequence, a punishment, He always mentions there's also a reward if you can escape this deed.

Major Sins and the Promise of Forgiveness

In fact, when Allah mentions some of the worst deeds in the Quran, Allah says: those who don't worship another creator alongside Allah — shirk — and they don't murder, and they don't commit fornication, don't have intimacy outside of marriage. These are major sins; in fact, the first is disbelief.

If you do these things, Allah says there are going to be big consequences in the afterlife. Your punishment will be multiplied on the Day of Judgment, and you will stay there forever. How does that feel? You feel that fear? You feel that consciousness of Allah? You feel that consequence in your mind?

Now watch what Allah does:

Except for those who make a U-turn and return to Allah. Is that enough? Is it enough just to say, "Allah, I'm sorry, I did zina, I murdered"? Yes, it can be enough. But there are levels of repentance, there are levels of returning to Allah. And Allah's response, and Allah's mercy in your life, and Allah's forgiveness, and your happiness — it depends on how much you did, how much effort you made to come back to Allah.

The Three Levels of Returning to Allah

Now if you did the maximum — what is the maximum?

Number one, you did tawbah. You said, "O Allah, I'm sorry, I was wrong, I shouldn't have done this." Level one: إِلَّا مَن تَابَ.

Number two, وَآمَنَ — you renewed your iman. You revived, you refreshed your iman.

Number three, and then the most important thing: عَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا. It would have been enough for Allah to say وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا — "he did good deeds." But Allah says عَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا — He repeats the idea of action. See, returning to Allah is not just about saying sorry. It's about changing. That is the maximum level of repentance and return to Allah — to change.

The Transformation of Umar ibn al-Khattab

Let us take a real-life example of a person who really turned their life around: Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه.

Before Islam, he was known to be very friendly with the women. He was known to be a man of rage and anger — he had a temper. He was known to be a fierce man. In fact, one of the funniest stories about his life that he himself tells: he said, "One day I went out on a journey and I forgot my idol at home. But I had some dates with me, so I molded the dates into the shape of the idol and I prayed. Then later I got hungry, and I ate it." He ate his idol. And he laughs at himself. Imagine — this is what Umar ibn al-Khattab was. He was a man who would turn dates into a god and then eat it afterwards when he got hungry. This is the level of intelligence Umar ibn al-Khattab used to have.

Now let's fast forward thirty years to the end of his life. It is mentioned in Sahih al-Bukhari that a man came to Umar ibn al-Khattab to criticize and complain to him — to say to him, "You are not just, you are an unfair ruler, and Allah is going to punish you." A man came to his court just to say this to him. And Umar ibn al-Khattab's face went red.

And then someone reminded him. He said, "Ya Umar, Ya Ameer al-Mu'mineen — you are the leader of the believers. This man who has come to insult you and abuse you, he is an ignorant person. And Allah says in the Quran:"

"Be forgiving and command to what is good, and ignore the people who are ignorant — turn away from them, overlook their mistakes. And this man is from the ignorant. Ya Umar, Ya Ameer al-Mu'mineen, O leader of the believers — don't do anything to him, let him go."

Umar ibn al-Khattab begins to cry. Isn't he the powerful leader? Can't he get this man's head chopped off? What made him cry? The recitation of the words of Allah. How soft he became. How gentle he became. How just he became. This is the same Umar who ate his idol made out of dates. Twenty years later, this is what tawbah means ultimately — not just saying to Allah أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّه. Tawbah is to change. Tawbah is to transform.

Uthman ibn Affan رضي الله عنه — the same person who used to worship idols — fifteen years later, he reads the entire Quran in one rak'ah. This is what tawbah means.

Never Lose Hope in Allah's Mercy

Because when you know Allah's mercy is limitless — when you look at your criminal record and you look at how many black points you have and you think there's no hope for me — but when Allah says الرَّحْمَٰن, His mercy is unlimited. When Allah says:

"Say: O My slaves who have made crimes against themselves — do not despair, never lose hope in the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives every single sin." Every single sin.

The Greatest Promise: Sins Exchanged for Good Deeds

And so if we want more of Allah's mercy in our lives, then we have to show more effort in front of Allah. That is why we mentioned this ayah from Surah al-Furqan — Allah talks about people who do the most deadly sins: murder, fornication, shirk. But then Allah says: if they repent, and they believe, and they change their actions, they change their ways:

عَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا — doesn't just mean they do good deeds. الصَّلَاح، صَلُحَ يَصْلُحُ — is to fix something. When you go to your bike and your bike is rusting, it's brown, and you go and you put some WD-40 and some Pepsi-Coke and you scrub it and you clean it — أَصْلَحْتَ — you fixed it, you've rectified it. This is what islah means. عَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا means you fix yourself. It's not just about saying sorry to Allah, but changing your ways. You drop that cigarette addiction and you replace it with a miswak addiction. You drop that pornography addiction and you replace it with Sheikh al-Minshawi. You change. You replace.

And when you do that, Allah promises you something He has never promised anywhere else in the Quran. I told you about forgiveness — covering the sin. I told you about 'afw — erasing the sin completely from all records. There is something even greater than that:

Those who repent, they return to Allah, they apologize to Him, they refresh their iman, and they change their ways — they change themselves — Allah is not just going to forgive them. He is not just going to clean their sins. He is going to exchange their sins for good deeds.

Imagine somebody who murdered a thousand people, and they return to Allah and repent to Him and change their ways — and Allah gives them the reward of reviving a thousand people. Imagine somebody who memorized all the music albums of today, and they came to Allah and they repented and sought forgiveness and changed their ways — and Allah rewards them as though they memorized the whole Quran. He swaps your sins for good deeds. Imagine that. He doesn't just erase, He doesn't just forgive — He exchanges.

Today the exchange rate for the pound is not very good. But Allah's exchange rate will never disappoint you.

The Hadith of Boundless Forgiveness

If you want Allah to replace your sins with good deeds, then come to Him running. Change your ways. Change who you are. And Allah will always find room to forgive you. The Prophet ﷺ has said that Allah said to him:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3540 — graded Hasan Sahih)

"O son of Adam, if your sins reached in quantity from the ground to the sky, but then you came to Me sincerely — without doing any shirk with Me, without making anyone equal to Me — I would forgive whatever you did, and I would not care."

Is there anyone more merciful, more forgiving, more accepting, and more tolerant than Allah?

Conclusion: The Path Back to Allah

If we want to earn this mercy of Allah, I said one thing: tawbah — to return to Allah. Iman — refresh your iman. And then amal — change your ways. And you will see something phenomenal in your life. You will see miracles happen in your life.