The Final Pitch Of A Hopeful Sinner
The Final Pitch Of A Hopeful Sinner
Ramadan 27, 1444A.H.
Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatuLlah wa barakaatuh, dear sister. Trust that you are good, striving and thriving?
Thabit ibn al-Hajjaj reported: Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “Hold yourself accountable before you are held accountable and evaluate yourselves before you are evaluated, for the Reckoning will be easier upon you tomorrow if you hold yourselves accountable today.”
I will be honest with you, the thing I am least confident about is my deeds. I am super insecure about them, both their quality and quantity. Attempting to evaluate even a day or week is a pretty scary task, a really scary one. Let us not even go into my ‘projections’ if I were to do a thorough analysis.
However, amid my many shortcomings and never-ending slips, there is one thing I have confidence in, and that’s Allah's Mercy. He has covered my sins way more times than I can imagine, and has saved me from shame over and over again.
If He has covered my sins so many times, who am I not to hope that He will wipe out my shameful acts and make them seem like they never happened?
In the last 10 nights of Ramadan, we are encouraged to say this Du'a:
اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي
“O Allah, indeed You are the Pardoner, You love to Pardon, so Pardon me.” [Tirmidhi]
We however need to have an in-depth understanding of it to know how transformative it is, especially for our Hereafter. I love how it is explained so simply in this short read on Virtual Mosque.
Imagine being there on the Day of judgment, and not finding some major sins that haunted you your entire life. You know those ones that are so bad that you think about them every day? That is ‘Afuww, it means that your sins vanished! THEY NEVER HAPPENED!
Al-‘Afuww pardons His Servants by not calling them to account for their sins and by erasing their sins from their records. Not only does Allah pardon and remove our sins, but He (SWT) loves to Pardon, as is implied in the du`a’ above.
I don't know about you, but I'm not giving this up. There is NO WAY I am going to give up that amount of wiping and erasing with the baggage I currently have, NO WAY!
We both have some days to go, let us get to work!
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Whoever observes fasts during the month of Ramadan out of sincere faith, and hoping to attain Allah's rewards, then all his past sins will be forgiven."
RAMADAN PLAYLIST
I'm pretty convinced that any feelings of tiredness counts as the good kinda tired! We are almost there people. One final push in these last days, and in shaa Allah , that's it! (well, for now. 🤣). Don't believe me? Here is what our scholars have to say!
POST-RAMADAN WORKSHOP
It is that time of the year again! Our first physical event ever was a post-Ramadan workshop which we did in collaboration with the LEMU Youth.
We recognise how easy it is to fall into old habits post-ramadan, and that is why we are wasting no time with this one! Join us for a practical post-Ramadan workshop to make sure you don't lose those habits you struggled so hard to maintain.
It is a free event but registration is compulsory. Set your intentions and sign up! May Allah spare our lives till then and beyond.
REFLECTION OF THE WEEK
A. Siddiqui on Qur'an Reflect struck a chord in me when I found this short reflection she shared. It particularly made me wonder what I have been doing every Laylatul Qadr and what I might be doing during this year's if it hasn't graced us yet. May Allah count us among those who will make the most of this blessed night. You can check the reflection here.
RAMADAN DONATION
There's really not much to say when you see Dr. Haifaa on a banner with that powerful message. You already know how incredibly passionate we are about women's education. This is a cause near and dear to my heart. Please donate and help them reach their goal to change nations. May Allah bless you as you do.
The Ummfariha Network is a community near and dear to our hearts! They have provided a safe space for women to grow,heal and share and have supported over 350 women till date.
Please support them to reach their goal and give muslim women a chance to thrive.
Till next week in shaa Allah.
We leave you in Allah's care,
One of us at Ibadahplug.