how often in our daily lives have we used this simple three word phrase "it's too late". it's too late to forgive you/him/her, it's too late to repent, it's too late to make things better again, it's too late to apologize and the list goes on. is it really too late ? I dont think so.
the only time when it really is too late is when we have stopped breathing. death is the only way of making this phrase realistic -"it's too late" . it's not too late for me to apologize to someone i have hurt unintentionally or intentionally, it's not too late for me to ask Allah to forgive me for all the sins i have committed, for every act of ungratefulness and for every disobedience to Him. It's not too late to forgive others who havent exactly been the nicest to us. Maybe we are still alive because we have been given a chance to realize that it's not late for anything, the fact that we are still breathing is a sign strong enough to make us realize that we can still undo our mistakes, still forgive the unforgiven,still ask for forgiveness from our Lord and still mend the hearts we broke.
Many a times we act too arrogant by saying that there is no way we are going to forgive xyz person. Irrespective of whether we receive an apology for their hurtful actions or not, do we really have the authority to withhold forgiveness? If we can be hard hearted enough to not forgive the people in our lives why then do we expect our Lord to forgive us? Especically when we continue hurting Him every hour of every day of our lives. No doubt He is all All-Forgiving the Ever Merciful but if we fail to adopt even a small fraction of mercy in our daily lives then we have no right to expect the same from others.
In a hadith the Holy Prophet pbuh state: Allah the Almighty has said: “O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as its.”
the Quran says :
Pardon them and overlook - Allah loves those who do good" (Qur'an 5:13)
"Those who control their anger and are forgiving towards people; Allah loves the good." (Qur'an, 3: 134)
Ja’far ibn Muhammad (may Allah have mercy on him) said, “For me to regret after having pardoned someone is more beloved to me than to feel regret after punishing someone.”
Many a times we feel that since we have sinned so much there is no way that Allah is going to forgive us (once again the philosophy of 'it's too late). But such thoughts are the work of the devil who tempts us and entices us into believing that we are not worth forgiveness. and this misconception moves us away from Allah and His worship as we tend to believe that no amount of worship can now undo what we did. Hence we give up on all attemtps at seeking forgiveness and we also give up on whatever worship we were previously involved in. Led astray by the devil at work we tend to forget that Allah loves it when His creations comes to Him repenting and begging for forgiveness.
Say: "O 'Ibadi (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah, verily Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. - surah Az Zumar ayat 53
Allah's mercy is no doubt vast and deep, beyond human comprehension. But it's the human aspect of forgiveness that needs to be reformed. blinded by our arrogance we hold grudges and threaten people with statements like " I will never forgive you.". Many a times we dont even mean it and we forgive immediately after our anger subsides but then often many of us make it a point to forgive only when asked for forgiveness. This is not a trait liked in the servants of Allah. We should learn to forgive others with an open heart with this thought in mind that our gesture of mercy will inshAllah shower Allah's mercy on us.
But then again apologizing to people by no means indicates that we are subservient to the one we are apologizing to. It does not stain our reputation or our worldly, materialistic status(if that even matters), Rather it's a simple action signifying our fear of our Lord Whose ultimate Mercy we seek, with this thought in mind that our humble attitude with His people will win us His Pleasure.
But we need to remember that Allah's mercy does not mean that we keep on displeasing Him with this certainty that He will forgive us.
Brothers and sisters lets all apologize to our parents,friends,siblings,spouses and anyone else on whom we have inflicted pain with our tongue and actions. lets all seek the forgiveness of each other in other to attain salvation and Mercy of our Lord. and lets not keep the forgiveness limited to smses and facebook statuses in ramadan and in the last 10 days of ramadan. keep the spirit of forgiveness flowing all year round and InshAllah we would be rewarded for it if not in this world then in the next one.
remember as long as we are alive it's never too late for ANYTHING. it's never too late to make things right and it's never too late to make several wrongs into one right.
May Allah bless us with the trait of forgiveness, and shower His mercy and forgiveness on us all..Ameen.
the only time when it really is too late is when we have stopped breathing. death is the only way of making this phrase realistic -"it's too late" . it's not too late for me to apologize to someone i have hurt unintentionally or intentionally, it's not too late for me to ask Allah to forgive me for all the sins i have committed, for every act of ungratefulness and for every disobedience to Him. It's not too late to forgive others who havent exactly been the nicest to us. Maybe we are still alive because we have been given a chance to realize that it's not late for anything, the fact that we are still breathing is a sign strong enough to make us realize that we can still undo our mistakes, still forgive the unforgiven,still ask for forgiveness from our Lord and still mend the hearts we broke.
Many a times we act too arrogant by saying that there is no way we are going to forgive xyz person. Irrespective of whether we receive an apology for their hurtful actions or not, do we really have the authority to withhold forgiveness? If we can be hard hearted enough to not forgive the people in our lives why then do we expect our Lord to forgive us? Especically when we continue hurting Him every hour of every day of our lives. No doubt He is all All-Forgiving the Ever Merciful but if we fail to adopt even a small fraction of mercy in our daily lives then we have no right to expect the same from others.
In a hadith the Holy Prophet pbuh state: Allah the Almighty has said: “O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as its.”
the Quran says :
Pardon them and overlook - Allah loves those who do good" (Qur'an 5:13)
"Those who control their anger and are forgiving towards people; Allah loves the good." (Qur'an, 3: 134)
Ja’far ibn Muhammad (may Allah have mercy on him) said, “For me to regret after having pardoned someone is more beloved to me than to feel regret after punishing someone.”
Many a times we feel that since we have sinned so much there is no way that Allah is going to forgive us (once again the philosophy of 'it's too late). But such thoughts are the work of the devil who tempts us and entices us into believing that we are not worth forgiveness. and this misconception moves us away from Allah and His worship as we tend to believe that no amount of worship can now undo what we did. Hence we give up on all attemtps at seeking forgiveness and we also give up on whatever worship we were previously involved in. Led astray by the devil at work we tend to forget that Allah loves it when His creations comes to Him repenting and begging for forgiveness.
Say: "O 'Ibadi (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah, verily Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. - surah Az Zumar ayat 53
Allah's mercy is no doubt vast and deep, beyond human comprehension. But it's the human aspect of forgiveness that needs to be reformed. blinded by our arrogance we hold grudges and threaten people with statements like " I will never forgive you.". Many a times we dont even mean it and we forgive immediately after our anger subsides but then often many of us make it a point to forgive only when asked for forgiveness. This is not a trait liked in the servants of Allah. We should learn to forgive others with an open heart with this thought in mind that our gesture of mercy will inshAllah shower Allah's mercy on us.
But then again apologizing to people by no means indicates that we are subservient to the one we are apologizing to. It does not stain our reputation or our worldly, materialistic status(if that even matters), Rather it's a simple action signifying our fear of our Lord Whose ultimate Mercy we seek, with this thought in mind that our humble attitude with His people will win us His Pleasure.
But we need to remember that Allah's mercy does not mean that we keep on displeasing Him with this certainty that He will forgive us.
Brothers and sisters lets all apologize to our parents,friends,siblings,spouses and anyone else on whom we have inflicted pain with our tongue and actions. lets all seek the forgiveness of each other in other to attain salvation and Mercy of our Lord. and lets not keep the forgiveness limited to smses and facebook statuses in ramadan and in the last 10 days of ramadan. keep the spirit of forgiveness flowing all year round and InshAllah we would be rewarded for it if not in this world then in the next one.
remember as long as we are alive it's never too late for ANYTHING. it's never too late to make things right and it's never too late to make several wrongs into one right.
May Allah bless us with the trait of forgiveness, and shower His mercy and forgiveness on us all..Ameen.
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