Central Sermon (Khutbah)

One of the most beautiful gifts from Allah is the forgiveness of sins

If you hasten towards Allah’s forgiveness, towards Him pardoning your sins, you are hastening towards Paradise! The Most High says: ‘…and hasten to forgiveness from your Lord, and a Garden as wide as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the righteous.’ (Al-Imran, 133).

We, the servants of Allah, are all sinners. But we have a Lord who forgives sins. Knowing our Lord diminishes our inclination towards sin. Listen to this wonderful hadith: Abu Zar Al-Ghifari, may Allah be pleased with him, heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say in this hadith qudsi: ‘O My servants, I have forbidden injustice for Myself, and I have also made it forbidden for you, so do not be unjust to one another! O My servants, whoever I have not guided is misguided, so seek guidance from Me and I will guide you! O My servants, you are all hungry except those I have fed, so ask Me for food – I will feed you! O My servants, you are all naked except those I have clothed, so ask Me for clothing, and I will clothe you! O My servants, you sin day and night, and I forgive all sins, so ask Me for forgiveness, and I will forgive you! O My servants, whatever you do, you cannot harm Me nor bring Me any benefit! O My servants, even if all humans and jinn, from the first to the last, were as righteous as the most pious among you, it would not increase My power in the slightest! O My servants, even if all humans and jinn, from the first to the last, were as corrupt as the most corrupt among you, it would not diminish My power in the least! O My servants, if all humans and jinn, from the first to the last, gathered in one place and asked Me for everything they desired, and I granted them all their requests, it would not decrease what I possess any more than a needle dipped in the sea would diminish the water! O My servants, it is only your actions; I will record them all, then I will give each what they deserve. So, whoever finds good (hajr), let them be grateful to Allah, the Most High, and whoever finds evil (sherr), let them blame no one but themselves.” (Muslim)

No one has persisted in seeking forgiveness without every detail being made easy for them. Ibn Abbas reported that the Prophet of Allah, peace be upon him, said: ‘Whoever constantly seeks forgiveness, Allah will provide him a way out of every difficulty, a solution to every worry, and will provide for him from where he does not expect.’ (Abu Dawood and Ibn Majah)

There are words that, through istighfar, lead you to Paradise if you recite them morning and evening with conviction. These words are the best istighfar.
Shehdad b. Aws reported that the Prophet of Allah, peace be upon him, said: ‘The best istighfar is that the servant says: “O my God, You are my Lord, there is no deity but You, You created me and I am Your servant, I uphold my commitments to You as much as I can, I seek refuge in You from the evil I have done, I acknowledge Your blessings upon me, and I confess my sins to You, so forgive me, for no one forgives sins except You.”‘
If these words are sincerely said in the morning and evening, and the person dies on the same day before sunset, they are among the inhabitants of Paradise. If these words are said at night with firm conviction, and the person dies before dawn, they also become among the inhabitants of Paradise. (Bukhari)
Let us reflect on the strength of the words of Omar, may God be pleased with him: ‘If lightning were to fall from the sky, it would not touch those who seek forgiveness.’

The istighfar before bedtime, which erases all sins, is mentioned in the Musnad hadith collection. In the hadith of Atiyya reported by Abu Said, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: ‘Whoever, as he lies in his bed, says: “I seek forgiveness from Allah, there is no god but Him, He is Al-Hayyul-Qayyum – the Living and the Sustainer – and I repent to Him!”, Allah will forgive his sins…’ Forgive us, O Lord!”