For today’s Friday Sermon,
the penultimate Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, the theme I have chosen is
on the Laila-tul-Qadr, as well as the Duah that our beloved Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) has taught us
on this occasion.
He taught this Duah to his wife Aisha (ra) so that she
and the entire Ummah could take advantage of this illustrious night in divine
forgiveness, and thus imitate him in the accomplishment of this great Duah. The Duah is as follows: “Allahumma Innaka Afuwwun tuhibbul afwa fa’
fu anni.” The translation of this Duah is as follows: O Allah, You are Forgiving, You love to forgive,
so forgive me.
So, let us see the words that our beloved Prophet (pbuh) used to beg forgiveness from Allah, and that according to him is the greatest Duah that one can recite during the duration of this blessed night.
“‘Afuww” is
the soul of this blessed Duah - ‘Afuww
is the name that qualifies the Creator, and also the attribute that qualifies
the Holy Prophet (pbuh). The Creator granted the reflection of His Light to His
beloved prophet (pbuh).
“afwa” includes:
1. Healing for all
sickness, whether bodily or spiritual sickness.
2. The grace of prayer,
and good deeds. He to whom Allah bestows the grace of accepting his prayer and
good deeds is indeed blessed. The blessings during the month of Ramadan, and
especially during the blessed night of Qadr, are beyond all the blessings one
can imagine receiving from Allah on earth. It should be remembered that prayers
said with sincerity of heart and with the fear and love of Allah are accepted.
Faith can enable the believer to break through satanic barriers and grant entry
into divine grace and His infinite forgiveness. Therefore, the believer must
make the necessary effort to reach this position where Allah answers his
prayers, and this prayer is one of the most suitable supplications to allow the
servant to access his Creator.
3. [So, “afwa”
includes] Divine forgiveness, for Allah’s forgiveness is beyond forgiveness.
This forgiveness is perfect, illustrious and complete.
4. And when we talk
about forgiveness, there is also the aspect of the purification of the heart
which takes place thanks to this internal cleansing that Allah triggers in the
heart and the entire soul of the believer. This purification is a cure for all
spiritual sickness.
“fa’ fu
anni” includes these four
indications:
1. The Forgiver – Allah
is the Forgiver, and He also encourages others too to manifest this attribute
in them.
2. One Who Loves to Forgive
3. The practical form
of forgiveness
4. That he who does not
forgive, who does not love to forgive, is therefore deprived of Divine Grace.
Allah is the only One truly
capable of forgiving and forgetting all of the sins of His servants provided
that they turn to Him in submission and ask Him for this forgiveness which is
both a clement forgiveness as well as a reforming forgiveness because any
forgiveness demands that the one who asks for it [that is, who asks for
forgiveness] must reform himself and not commit the same sin or the same fault.
Our Holy Prophet (pbuh) was the perfect model in human form of being both the
forgiver, and the repentant who asks forgiveness from the Creator. Although he
did not commit any sin, apart from a few human errors as Surah Abasa tells us,
he constantly asked the Creator for forgiveness, because he was afraid that God
would be displeased with him in one of his actions. Although he was the Seal of
the Prophets, and the favourite of Allah, as well as the perfect model for all
mankind, but he always acted in humility before his Creator. This is why he
effectively became the perfect model, because he is the best guide for us to
reach forgiveness, mercy and closeness to Allah.
So, the greatness of
the Creator and that of the Seal of the Prophets (pbuh) is that they forgive
and love forgiveness. The divine greatness is such that He grants what we
desire and grants much more than what we desire. He grants what is asked and
what is not asked. This Creator is far more forgiving and generous than one can
imagine. His attribute “‘Afuww” indicates this perfectly.
We must also keep in
mind that all the prophets since the dawn of time have invoked Allah’s
forgiveness, each in his own way, but the Duah
of forgiveness at its peak is that of Muhammad (pbuh). The miracle of this Duah is perfection. By asking for such a
Duah, it is as if one has asked for
everything, whether for this world, for the future life, for religion, for the
external and internal aspect. It is for this reason that the Holy Prophet
(pbuh) asked to read this Duah as
much as possible for the Laila-tul-Qadr, because he knows perfectly well
that Allah’s forgiveness also guarantees:
1.
Divine
Mercy,
2.
Protection
against the satans,
3.
Protection
from the pangs of hell,
4.
Inner
peace which will push the believer to walk in the right way despite the trials
on his way.
If a believer succeeds
in having all this, he secures himself a high place in the eternal garden of
Allah. And while reciting Surah Al-Fatiha and Darood Sharrif, he reassures or
reaffirms his commitment to follow the commandments of Allah and His beloved
Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh), and he meditates on the favours Allah granted
him during his life on earth, and the guidance He granted him to walk the
straight path so that he could attain a high spiritual position in divine
mercy.
This divine favour is
accentuated during the advent of a Messenger of Allah, of which Surah Al-Fatiha
and Darood Sharrif speak. When the illustrious Messenger comes, he comes in the
light of Allah and His perfect prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). He shines with
divine light, light that Allah grants him to bring lost souls back to the right
path, light that he uses to illuminate hearts not consciously but unconsciously
by his way of being, by his example and his gait or mannerism which also
reflects those of his master the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
Each of the prophets
has his own station, but the Holy Prophet (pbuh) has reached the highest level,
and all the Messengers who come after him are also bearers of this light of
perfection that only Islam can grant them - Islam as a Way of Life, and
Submission to the Creator. And so the aspect of forgiveness and the petition of
the repentant to receive that forgiveness are of great importance here. The
repentance of a prophet and that of another believer are not on the same level.
Although both seek forgiveness from Allah, but the prophet receives a special
light from Allah which qualifies him to purify others by granting them
forgiveness at his level. We can then see a divine manifestation in the prophet
himself [whether this humble servant or another prophet]. This forgiveness that
he manifests comes from Allah. He becomes what Allah wants of him.
So, whether during this
blessed century of Laila-tul-Qadr or the night itself which returns
every year during the last nights of the month of Ramadan, the believer is
called not to neglect the Salat, the reading of the Holy Quran, and
other prayers, while avoiding anything illicit. We must not think only of worldly
delights, but we must also worry about the Last Day, the day when we must
present ourselves before our Creator for the final account/ judgement.
This particular night
is beyond what we can conceive. Al-Qadr is destiny, power,
determination. Now God is also called Al-Qadir, Al-Muqtadir in the sense
of the One Who has all power, the One Who is infinitely capable. The Muslim
faith is based on giving no equal, no partner, no associate to God. Nothing
resembles Him. So His power, His ability has nothing to compare. The night of Al-Qadr,
each year, is when His orders are decreed to the angels, the fate of every
human being is thus determined. The believer turns to God, the Unique, on this
particular night, to invoke Him, seek His forgiveness, implore His mercy. Ask
for the best in this world, but especially that of the hereafter for the final
destiny of the believer is with his Creator.
It is sad that some
people only know how to read Surah Al-Fatiha and Surah Al-Ikhlaas. They don’t
make an effort to learn more Surahs. They would rather indulge in gossip while
indulging in fruitless conversations than enjoying the rain of Divine Light.
They become followers
of Satan, who tempts them to end the prayer. Respect is a primordial aspect of
our life: divine respect, respect for Salat, respect for the Holy Prophet
(pbuh), and for the companions of the Holy Prophet (pbuh), and respect for our parents,
among others. On the Day of Judgement, we will be accountable for our every
action (Whether you, and me included).
Fasting is not
abstaining from eating and drinking only; certainly fasting is to abstain from
trivialities and obscenities. So, if someone insults you or acts improperly
with you, then say, “Surely I am fasting; I am fasting.”
These words of the Seal
of the Messengers of God, Muhammad (pbuh), invite us to discard any emotional
reaction to a provocation. If someone has insulted us, and that too, a long
time ago, then let us choose a time other than the month of Ramadan to react and
demand reparation. Or we can also demonstrate forgiveness and leave the matter
in question in the hands of Allah because it is not in vain that the night of Al-Qadr
is known as ‘better than a thousand months’, an event that is beyond our
material understanding of space-time. As the Duah of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) indicates, Allah is “Afuww”
and to see a manifestation of this divine forgiveness on us, we must also know
how to forgive. Wisdom in the affairs of life and how we manage them
demonstrates the presence of Allah with us.
Let us always remember
that only God can change our destiny for the better. The Night of Al-Qadr
originally is the night when Allah sent down the first revelations of the Quran
on the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). He manifested Himself through the angel Gabriel
who entrusted His revelations to him. The Prophet (pbuh) could neither read nor
write and yet Allah chose him as the perfect model for all humanity, and as
well as for all the worlds.
Previously, among the
scriptures known to us, there are the Torah, the Psalms and the Gospels, in
their original forms, which were sent respectively to Moses, David and Jesus (pbut).
But over time their teachings have been interpolated and changed. Then the
Quran came as a light that enlightened the universe in order to bring man back
to the right path.
O Ummah [my Muslim brothers and sisters – as well as my disciples/ followers], enjoy this blessed month and as well as this blessed century of Divine Manifestation. The blessings of this century are worth more than a thousand months of blessings. Can you imagine living past eighty (years of age) and being so blessed every day and every second of your life? This is possible thanks to your connection with Allah and His Khalifatullah of this century. Do not deprive your souls of this blessing, for Allah has made you live in this century of Divine Manifestation. Live fully the dawn of this new day when the Holy Spirit is among you to teach you the Quran and guide you all through divine revelations. Blessed are all who take advantage of this divine light and change their lives for the better. Insha-Allah. May Allah forgive us all. Insha-Allah, Ameen.
---[Friday Sermon of 14 April 2023~22 Ramadan 1444 AH delivered by Imam-Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius].