HOW WILL YOUR TAUBA BE REALLY ACCEPTED?

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakaatuhu!!

 

Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah . Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful." [Surah Az-Zumur-53]

Every single Muslim must know how to do sincere Tauba. Tauba is much more than seeking repentance physically through prayers or istighfaar. It's about how you seek repentance through your body parts especially your heart. Although repentance should also be sought from constant istigfaar through tongue and lots of nafeel prayers to wipe of your evil sins by your limbs.

Narrated by Anas bin Malik RadiAllahu Anhu that the Prophet Muhammad Sallalaahu alaihi wasallam said,"Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His servant than anyone of you who loses his riding beast in a barren land, and it was carrying his food and drink; he despairs of ever finding it, so it comes to a tree and lies down under its shade, having given up all hope of finding his riding beast;then whilst he is there like that, suddenly he sees it standing near him, so he takes hold of its reins and because of his great joy he says, "O Allah, You are my slave and I am Your Lord!"-i.e,. he makes a mistake because of his great joy." (Sahih Muslim 4:2104)

Tauba consists of much more than a verbal exercise. In fact the condition of the heart of the repenter is the foundation of Tauba which is motivated by humility. Humility inspires the following conditions; This is the quote or saying of Sheikh Uthaymeen (Rahimullahu Alaihim):

1. Tauba should only be made because of the fear of Allah, bashfulness for Him and in honor of His Majesty i.e., no personal motive be pursued when making Tauba. (Fear of people or loss of some worldly gain shouldn't be reason why you repent)

2. Absolute shamefulness and sincere regret over past sins. (One shouldn't be proud of their sins rather he should hate his past acts and do not ever wish them to happen again)

3. The repenter should stop inward and outward sins immediately. 

4. He should make a firm resolution to not repeat that same mistake again in the future. 

5. He should do Tauba before he dies or before the sun rises from west because then it'll be too late for repentance and he will not be given any chance to repent. 

[But repentance is not [accepted] of those who [continue to] do evil deeds up until, when death comes to one of them, he says, "Indeed, I have repented now," or of those who die while they are disbelievers. For them We have prepared a painful punishment. 4:18]

May Allah give us the tawfeeq to repent to Him sincerely and forgive all our sins. Ameen 

Jazakumullahu khairan for reading! Make sure you rate, share and follow my blog for more posts! 

Ask me anything regarding this topic here. Thank you for reading. Please feel free to send me the link of your blogs and comment below if you have similar views. 

- Manal Mirza

REASONS FOR LACK OF GOOD DEEDS

Assalamualaikum Waramatullahi Wabarakaatuhu!

I would like to share one really important ayat with you all that could solve possibly the root cause of why we lack in doing good deeds or why we are lazy and do not seize the opportunity in doing good deeds, or do something that is beneficial for our deen.
Most commonly, we are living our daily lives in heedlessness without any purpose. We are doing what we are doing without worrying the least about aakhirat. We cook, eat, sleep, work, pray and back to sleep. So let me state what this ayat states. 

Whoever desires the harvest of the Hereafter - We increase for him in his harvest. And whoever desires the harvest of this world - We give him thereof, but there is not for him in the Hereafter any share. [Surah Al-Shoora- 20]

Whatever little good deeds we do, we must have an intention to get its reward in the Hereafter. Some of us complain about how we always pray, we always read Qur'an but Allah only afflicts us with troubles and adversity, never did we see anything good in our lives. This mentality arises when we don't do all the worship and good deeds sincerely for the sake of Allah or to attain its ajar in the Aakhirat. 
We must learn to accept the decree of Allah and remember that this world is a jail for a mo'min and paradise for a kafir. What else would you derive from this ayat? This is why you see celebrities and disbelievers getting everything in this world because that's why they are sowing their seeds for, to harvest its product in the dunya, to get all the riches and fame. But what they don't have is the peace and contentment in their hearts. Tis blessing only a true believer is blessed with which Allah gave him as a result of his sincere good deeds, he understands the wisdom of Allah behind every calamity and adversity. 

If a mo'min comes to know the reward of his good deeds in the Aakhirat, he would regret for any of his duwas of good to be accepted in the Dunya. Such is the reward of Allah!

Whoever desires the harvest of the seeds (good deeds) which he sowed in his field (lifetime) to achieve the reward in the Hereafter, it is for him whom Allah will increase. He will increase his reward by 700 times and more, just because of his strong intention. Not only that, He will increase him with more opportunities to do good deeds and therefore more rewards. A mo'min receives reward from Allah in this dunya with 'more ability to do good deeds'. This is a mo'mins reward. 
If you are not doing enough good deeds right now, it can only mean that you are sowing your field with the intention to harvest the fruits in the dunya and overtime, Allah snatches the tawfeeq of doing good deeds away from you which makes you sin immensely and then the shaitaan makes your sins beautiful to you.

Those who have the passion to do good will only get the tawfeeq to do good deeds. 

We usually don't do good deeds when we face trials because that's where shaitaan has an upper hand over a sad believing soul and for shaitaan, the sad believer is an open target to be tricked by him into making the believer believe that all his good deeds are nothing but a waste; all that comes to him from doing good deeds is nothing but trials and tribulations. 

Hasn't this thought ever cross our minds when someone we truly love hurt us after all the good we did to them, and in retaliation we get upset and start refraining to do any form of Ehsan for them? We start asking ourselves; why should I be the one to mend ways first? Why me? What good did it bring me except of sadness? Didn't this thought ever cross our minds? Yes, it did, because all we expected while doing those good deeds was expect its reward and goodness from this world

Which is why Allah says in the above ayat, "And whoever desires the harvest of this world - We give him thereof, but there is not for him in the Hereafter any share" 

That person will not receive any share from the Hereafter and if Allah wills He will give them what they want in the dunya only a little or even nothing. 

Allah has given us opportunities but it is we who need to avail those opportunities. 

Lessons learned from this ayat:
1. Purify your intentions before committing any good deed sincerely for the sake of pleasing Allah and to expect its reward in the aakhirah. With this sincerity, Allah will increase us in rewards and give us the ability to do more good deeds. 
2. A mo'min's 'ibaadah' will only be rewarded in the aakhirah, but what about the worldly acts like earning money, marrying, upbringing children, seeking education? If we try to purify our intentions to please Allah and expect whatever good that comes from these worldly acts in the Hereafter, then Allah will definitely increase you in every goodness, regardless of whether in this dunya or the aakhirat!

Question for my readers:
What draws you closer?
a) a great job offer or an opportunity that benefits you immediately with some worldly gain or experience OR
b) a good deed or a profession in Islamic education that may not benefit you that much in the dunya at all but brings you much peace at heart? 

Those who have passion to do good for the religion of Allah will not sleep or consider their aamal as enough for them. No good deed is enough for a mo'min. He keeps striving till his very last breath to earn good deeds for the sake of Allah and to expect its harvest in the Hereafter. 

Jazakamullahu khairaa for reading. 

Ask me anything regarding this topic here. Thank you for reading. Please feel free to send me the link of your blogs and comment below if you have similar views. 
- Manal Mirza