Seeking Forgiveness of Allah (with Sign Language) - Shaykh Zakaullah Saleem

Lessons from History: The True Source of the Ummah's Strength

It is well known that an intellectual and a wise person always takes lessons from history, and if we really want to be successful then we need to look back at our history. The history of this Ummah, the Ummah of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, starts from its Prophet Muhammad Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم. If we study the history we come to know that the Muslim Ummah has never been victorious or in power against the enemies based on their number or based on their financial strength. It was never the case. Rather, if we look at the history and particularly the seerah of our Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم, we come to know that in most of the battles that took place during the time of our Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم, the number of Muslims were far lower than their enemies.

If we look at Ghazwat-e-Badr, Ghazwat-e-Uhud, Ahzab, and others, we come to know that the number of Muslims have always been far lower than the number of their enemies, yet they were successful, they were victorious, and they had power over them. In fact, whenever Muslims felt proud of their great number, they were defeated. Allah has told us this fact in the Quran. In Surah Tawbah, Allah says: O Muslims, O companions of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, Allah helped you on so many occasions, and particularly on the day of the battle of Hunayn, Allah helped you as well. And then Allah says: when your great number admired you and you thought that we are not going to be defeated today because of our great number — Allah says your great number did not benefit you anything at all.

During the battle of Hunayn, the number of Muslims were over 30,000 and they felt that we are not going to be defeated because of our great number. During the battle of Uhud we were all together just around 300 yet we were victorious against the enemies, so today we are in far greater numbers — today we are 30,000 — so we are not going to be defeated. But Allah said: your great number did not benefit you at all. It was only and solely because of the help and the assistance of Allah that eventually you were victorious.

This is only one example and there are so many other examples. The point is that Muslims have never been victorious over the enemies based on their great number, based on the strength of their finance or economy. Rather there was something else — and it was the strength of their Iman. The strength of their Iman was the greatest means of their victory over the enemies. This is something that we learn clearly from the history and particularly from the seerah of our Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم.

The Qualities of the True Believers

Allah praises those who are strong in their Iman in Surah Al-Anfal — that is named Anfal as the booties of the battle. Allah says in this surah:

Truly the true believers are the ones when Allah is mentioned to them — solely the word Allah, Al-Khaliq, Al-Malik, Al-Razzaq, the Sustainer, Cherisher, Lord, Creator — when it is mentioned to them, their hearts start trembling. And when His verses are recited to them, those verses of the book of Allah increase them in their Iman, and they solely rely and trust in their Lord. Allah says: they are the true believers.

Unless and until we have that strength of Iman, my dear brothers and sisters in Islam, we are not going to be victorious. How can we strengthen our Iman? How can we increase our Iman?

Seeking Forgiveness: A Command from Allah

One of the means that Allah has guided us to in the Quran is that every single one of us, without any exception, we need to beg Allah Dhul Jalal Wal Ikram for His forgiveness. Every single individual — and never think, and never fall into the trap of Shaytan, that your seeking forgiveness is not going to make any change or is not going to bring any benefit to the Ummah on the larger scale. Rather, the reality is that every single individual, every single one of us, if we were to truly repent to Allah and ask for His forgiveness, Allah can increase us in our strength and power right now today. This is something that Allah has confirmed in His book, and He has reminded us of this in so many places.

Look at some of the verses of the Quran. Allah says at the beginning of Surah Hud: this is a book that Allah has strengthened and made solid the ayat of this book, and then Allah has explained it. In the following verses Allah says: within this book you have been commanded that you must ask Allah for His forgiveness, then repent back to Him. Allah will allow you to enjoy the life of this dunya. You cannot enjoy the life of this dunya in humility — if you truly want to enjoy the life of this dunya, then repent back to Allah and ask for His forgiveness.

And then within this Surah — Surah Hud — the Surah that our Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم used to recite a lot, to the extent that he صلى الله عليه وسلم said: Surah Hud is the Surah that has made me come old in age. By reciting the verses of this Surah I have turned old and my hair has greyed, just because of reciting this Surah. Because in this very Surah, Allah has made mention of previous nations — the previous aqwam and the ummahs and their prophets — and how those ummahs were destroyed because of their arrogance and because of not repenting to Allah and because of not seeking forgiveness of Allah.

The Message of Prophet Hud (عليه السلام) to the People of 'Aad

Allah then starts the stories of the prophets: Nuh عليه السلام, then Hud عليه السلام, Salih عليه السلام, Shu'ayb عليه السلام. If we study only this particular Surah Hud, we come to know that Allah, when making mention of the people of 'Aad — the nation of Hud عليه السلام — says that Hud عليه السلام advised them. First and foremost he said:

Oh my people, oh my nation, oh my ummah — worship Allah alone and do not associate any partners with Him. And then he said: وَيَا قَوْمِ اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ — Oh my people, ask Allah of His forgiveness. ثُمَّ تُوبُوا إِلَيْهِ — then turn back to Him in repentance. يُرْسِلِ السَّمَاءَ عَلَيْكُم مِّدْرَارًا — Allah will send down the rain abundantly. And then Allah says: وَيَزِدْكُمْ قُوَّةً إِلَىٰ قُوَّتِكُمْ — this is what Hud عليه السلام promised to his nation, to his ummah. He said: if you ask Allah for His forgiveness, then Allah will increase you in your power — يَزِدْكُمْ قُوَّةً إِلَىٰ قُوَّتِكُمْ — and the word in this ayah indicates that Allah will add more strength upon the strength that you already have.

And they were so powerful, they were so strong — to the level that Allah said in the Quran in another surah, in Surah Fussilat:

As for the people of 'Aad, they were arrogant in the land without any right, and they used to say: مَنْ أَشَدُّ مِنَّا قُوَّةً — who is stronger than us in power and strength? And Allah says: أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّ اللَّهَ الَّذِي خَلَقَهُمْ هُوَ أَشَدُّ مِنْهُمْ قُوَّةً — did they not know that the One who has created them has more power than they have? They were so powerful, but Allah said, and Hud عليه السلام advised them: you need to ask Allah for His forgiveness, that Allah will increase you in your strength.

The Message of Prophet Salih (عليه السلام) to the People of Thamud

The same message was delivered by Sayyiduna Salih عليه السلام to his nation, Thamud, when he said:

Oh my people, worship Allah alone — do not associate any partner with Him. And then he said: Allah is the One who has created you from this earth and then He is the One who allowed you to settle in this land — فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ — now it is your duty to ask for His forgiveness.

The Message of Prophet Shu'ayb (عليه السلام)

The same message was again repeated by Shu'ayb عليه السلام when he said:

Oh my people, ask Allah — ask your Lord — for His forgiveness, and then turn back to Him in repentance. Indeed my Lord is All-Merciful and He is All-Loving.

Allah gave us this lesson in the Quran: if you want to be successful, and if you truly want Allah to shower His mercy and send down His help, His assistance, His aid to you — oh the Ummah of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم — then all of you, without any exception, you need to ask Allah for His forgiveness.

Allah has also ordered us in Surah An-Nur:

Oh the believers, you all need to repent to Allah so that you can be successful.

The Deception of Shaytan Regarding Repentance

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, one of the hurdles and one of the obstacles in the way of asking Allah for His forgiveness is that Shaytan whispers into our minds: "I haven't committed anything major. I haven't committed any major sin — so why do I need to repent to Allah? Why do I need to ask Allah for His forgiveness?" And this is nothing other than the whisper and deception of Shaytan. Shaytan wants you to stay away from asking Allah for His forgiveness.

But if you — on the larger scale, as a whole Ummah — if you were to ask Allah for His forgiveness, Allah will grant you success and Allah will send down His mercy, His aid, and His assistance, because Allah has promised you. It is not only that the one who commits sins needs to repent to Allah and needs to ask Allah for His forgiveness. Rather, as beings and servants and the creation of Allah, we are in need of asking Allah for His forgiveness regardless of committing major sins or minor sins.

Look at the example — the best example — of your Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم. The companions say that sometimes we used to count that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would ask Allah for His forgiveness in one sitting more than a hundred times.

And we are always arrogant to ask Allah for His forgiveness.

The Role of Salah in Seeking Allah's Help

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, in order to repent to Allah and in order to ask Allah for His forgiveness, we need to give up the sins that we are involved in — on a micro level to the macro level, to the larger level — from an individual up to the rulers. Every single one of us needs to ask Allah for His forgiveness.

And as we mentioned in last week's khutbah, one of the greatest means of asking Allah for His forgiveness and for His assistance is the prayer — is the salah.

Oh you who believed, seek the assistance and the help of Allah in patience and in salah. And the prayer requires great patience. If you truly want Allah to help you — to help the whole Ummah — then every single one of you has to be regular in your five daily prayers. And I am repeating the same message that I said last week: unless the whole Ummah becomes regular in the five daily prayers, the victory of Allah, the mercy of Allah, the help of Allah, the assistance of Allah is not going to come.

We need to learn from the history. The companions of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم were victorious against the enemies because during the day they used to fight in the way of Allah in the battles, and during the night they used to spend their nights before Allah. But as for us, if we look at the situation of our masajid — the house of Allah — for our prayers, we can count the numbers of the attendees of the masjid on the tips of our fingers. But when it is announced for the protest, you cannot count the number. And we think that through the protest we can be victorious.

Allah has made it clear in the Quran:

Do you people want to seek honour and respect from those who are already against you, from those who are your enemies? Do you want to seek honour from them? All the izzah and the honour is in the hand of Allah. You, as a Muslim, you need to connect yourself back to Allah — to your Khaliq, your Malik.

May Allah give us tawfiq and ability to rectify our mistakes and our errors. May Allah allow us to increase our Iman by being obedient to Him and being obedient to His messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم.

Unity of the Ummah: Return to the Book of Allah

My dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam, one of the reasons that the Muslim Ummah is facing so many trials and tribulations from the enemies is that we have lost the unity within the Ummah. Allah instructed us in the Quran, again in Surah Al-Anfal — the surah that talks about the rules and regulations and the qawa'id and the usul and the principles of fighting in the way of Allah. Within this surah, Allah says:

Oh you who believe, obey Allah and His messenger. And Allah says: when you encounter those who have disbelieved and those who have become your enemy and they have arrived to fight you, then be firm and steadfast. During the time of war you have to continue remembering Allah, even during that very difficult time — when you have the enemies right in front of you, you must remember Allah.

To the level that Allah said in Surah Al-Baqarah: if you are physically fighting against your enemies in the war and in the battle and you have no opportunity to face the qibla in order to perform your salah, then you cannot miss the prayer — continue praying while walking around in the war, while you have your enemies before you, while you are physically in the war. At that difficult time you cannot miss the prayer.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم during some battles decreased the number of the rak'at of the prayer, but he never missed them. If you are in a very difficult situation — especially when you are physically fighting your enemies in the war — instead of praying four rak'at of Salat-ud-Dhuhr you are allowed to pray only two. And even after that, if you cannot pray only two, you can pray only one. But you cannot miss the prayer — you have to pray.

And then Allah says in the next ayah: obey Allah and His messenger and do not dispute amongst each other, do not dispute one another — otherwise you will be defeated and you are going to lose your strength. And this is what is happening to us, from our family level to the level of the larger scale of the Ummah. We have lost the unity within the Ummah.

And we know that there are many people — some individuals and there are organisations even — who try to bring the Ummah together and unite the Ummah. But unfortunately their efforts are going to waste and they have no benefit, solely because of the reason that they want to unite the Ummah on something that Allah has not defined for us. If you want to be united, then unity can only be on the tawhid of Allah. If you cannot unite on the tawhid of Allah — Wallahi, I am certain, I say by Allah — the Ummah can never be united on anything. No matter how many efforts you make, how many organisations you found and create — by Allah, if the Ummah is not united on the matter of aqidah and tawhid of Allah, the Ummah can never ever be united on anything.

Other than the tawhid of Allah — and tawhid of Allah, where do we learn it from? From the book of Allah. Allah says in the Quran:

Hold on strongly to the rope of Allah — the rope of Allah is the book of Allah, the Quran. Hold on to the book of Allah altogether and do not be divided.

I ask you, my brothers and sisters — every single one of you — forget the rulers, because unfortunately whenever we discuss the problem of the Ummah we try to seek the solution from the top and we forget the bottom. This is a completely wrong approach. You need to start from the bottom and go to the top. Ask yourself, better yourself in Iman and in your connection with the book of Allah.

Allah told you — oh Abdullah, Abdulrahman, Muhammad, Ahmed — Allah told you, every single one of you: hold on to the rope of Allah. Have you held on to the rope of Allah? Ask yourself: how strong is your connection and your link with the book of Allah? You have spent your 30, 40, 50, 60 years in Islam, yet you are not able to recite a few verses of the Quran. How strong is your link with the book of Allah? In order to be united we need to turn back to the book of Allah and strengthen our link with the book of Allah.

May Allah give us tawfiq and ability to rectify ourselves. May Allah allow us to turn back to Him. And may Allah forgive our sins. May Allah forgive our sins.