This Deen is not a Deen of despair.

A man came to the Messenger of Allah in complete heartbreak, trauma, desperation and real pain and he shouted out, ‘MY SINS HAVE DESTROYED ME! MY SINS HAVE KILLED ME! He said this over and over. So many of us feel like this man.

The Prophet ﷺ told him to sit down with him and to say, ‘O Allah, Your forgiveness is far greater than my sin. I have more hope in Your mercy than in my deeds – The Prophet ﷺ told him to repeat it and then said, ‘Stand, for Allah has forgiven you!’ – Our Beloved came to give humanity hope.

Rasūlallāh ﷺ said, ‘A slave committed a sin so he said, ‘O Allah, forgive my sin!” Allah said, ‘My slave has committed a sin and he knows he has a Lord who forgives sins and holds him accountable.’ Then the slave returned to his sin and he said, ‘O Allah, forgive my sin!’ Allah said, ‘My servant has committed a sin and he knows he has a Lord who forgives sins and holds him accountable.’ Then the servant returned to his sin once again and he said, ‘O Allah, forgive my sin! Allah said, My slave has committed a sin and he knows he has a Lord who forgives sins and holds him accountable, so do what you will for I have forgiven you.” If you committed the same sin seventy times in a day and you turned back to Allah sincerely each time – He would surely forgive you.

No matter what you have done and how many times you did it – don’t give upon on Allah. The door is open. This Deen is not a Deen of despair. In these times, there is no greater sin after associating partners in Allah than losing hope to Allah’s Mercy.

Shall I face the Qibla with my back towards the blessed resting place of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ

Imam Mālik (rahimahu Llah) was asked by the Khalif Abu Ja’far al-Mansūr:

Shall I face the Qibla with my back towards the blessed resting place of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when making du’ā?

Imam Mālik (rahimahu Llah) replied,How could you turn your face away from him ﷺ when he is your means (wasīla) and your father Adam’s means to Allah on the Day of Rising? No, rather you should face him ﷺ and ask for his intercession so that Allah will grant it to you, for Allah said, ‘If they had only, when they were unjust to themselves, come to you and asked Allah’s forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah Oft-Returning, Most Merciful (Q4:64)’.

– Narrated by Qādī ‘Iyād in his Shifā’ (2:26-27) and Tartīb al-Madārik (1:113-14) with an authentic chain, Imam Subkī in his Shifā’ as-Siqām (Ch. 4, 7), Qastalānī in his Mawāhib Ladunniya, Ibn Bashkuwal (Qurbah pp. 84), and other

Seek seclusion, no companion remains!

Ahmad b. al-Hasan al-Tirmidhi said,“I heard Abu Nu’aym al-Taymi, the freed bondsman of the Talha family, say, ‘What most amazes me is the statement of ‘A’isha (Allah be pleased with her) which resembles the statement of [the poet] Labid:

Gone are those men in whose shelter one can live,And I remain behind, in posterity, that resemble a leper’s skin

However I say:

The real people have gone and so we’ve become,

In their wake, among the base.

Among people, we reckon them many

But when examined, lo they’re not even human!

Every time I desire something from them

Before I can ask them they bring me despair

They cried to me till I wished I was amongst them

Keeping my head down, withdrawn

– From the book “The virtues of seclusion in times of confusion”

Contentment

Maurice Bucaille, the well known French physician, said that what attracted his interest in Islam was how North Africans in France faced death. As a physician exposed to disease and death, he observed many of his own country men not knowing how to die or handle death.

The fear of death is natural. Reflexively, one protects himself from it. The Prophet (peace be upon him) encouraged believers to desire a long life for two reasons: to make up for past iniquities or to increase good deeds.

The one who remembers death is ennobled by certain characteristics. One of them is contentment and lack of covetousness. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Contentment is a treasure that is never exhausted.” He also prayed, “O Allah, provide for my family with what suffices them and grant them contentment with it.”

[Purification of the Heart]