The Secret to Allah’s Forgiveness | Khutbah by Dr. Omar Suleiman

What is the tawbah that Allah never rejects? Many of us struggle with guilt, wondering if our prayers for forgiveness are actually being heard. In today’s khutbah, Dr. Omar Suleiman explains the spiritual mechanics of Allah’s forgiveness and why admitting your sins is the key to unlocking divine mercy.

00:00 Opening Praise and Salawat
00:27 The Prophetic Duʿa of Repentance
02:20 The Secret of Tawbah
05:26 Admitting the Sin Without Excuses
06:19 Regret vs Despair in Repentance
09:13 Adam vs Iblis: Blame and Divine Decree
12:57 Reopening Old Wrongs and Making Things Right
15:20 Recognizing the Only One Who Forgives
18:09 Closing Reflections and Duʿa

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

We begin by praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and bearing witness that none has the right to be worshipped or unconditionally obeyed except for him, and we bear witness that Muhammad is a Swanal Messenger. We ask Allah to send his peace and blessings upon him, the Prophets and Messengers that came before him, his family and companions that served alongside him and those that follow in his blessed path until the day of judgment, and we ask Allah to make us amongst them. Allah ma'am. Dear brothers and sisters, Abu Bakr al-Suddiq, and he rarely has narrations like this. He said that I asked the Prophet, Salatul Rasulullahi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, O Messenger of Allah, teach me a dua that I can start to say in my prayers. You know the person asking, and you know the person being asked, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. You know the status of Abu Bakr Suddi in the sight of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and his goodness. And he's asking the Prophet, give me a dua that I can say in my prayer. So the Prophet said to him, say Allah. Oh Allah, I have wronged myself tremendously. And there is no one who can forgive sins except for you. So forgive me with a mercy from you, and have mercy upon me. Verily you are the most forgiving and the most merciful. Now, we rarely have narrations like this from Abu Bakr al-Sadiq because of the time that he passed away. And these aren't the types of conversations that we typically have between the Messenger of Allah and Abu Bakr al-Sadiq. But the formula of that dua is incredible. And the Rinama talk about this idea of what is the secret of tawbah that the Prophet has embedded in all of the supplications that he taught to his companions. And how is it that no one is exempt from some of the parts of that formula? You know, when someone didn't really do anything wrong, but they ask you for some advice and you have to give them a million qualifiers and say, listen, it's not you. It's not like you did anything wrong. You're good. But for somebody else, if they wanted to say this, this is what they would say. But the Prophet is telling Abu Bakr to say, Innifsi gulman kihtira, that I've wronged myself tremendously. Without all of the qualifiers that, no, it's not you, Abu Bakr, and this is talking about other people in the ummah that have fallen to this. He tells Abu Bakr radiallahu ta'ala because there is at the core of this dua an essential ingredient to tawbah and something that perfectly captures the relationship between the servant and his lord. And that is that when a person sins, and we've been talking about this in the last 10 nights, they've forgotten either themselves or they've forgotten who their lord is, or it's a combination of the two. They've forgotten themselves, or they've forgotten who their lord is, or it's a combination of the two. Building on that idea of ladina nasullah ta'an salum and fusa. Don't be like those who forgot Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, so Allah caused them to forget themselves. And the first words that capture that essential ingredient of tawbah of not forgetting yourself is walam tu nafsi. I wronged myself. When Adam alayhi salam returned back to Allah along with his wife Hawa, Rabbana Walamna and Fusana, O our Lord, we wronged ourselves. And I'll just stop with that for a moment. When Yunas alayhi salam was in the bottom of the ocean, in the stomach of that whale, and he called out to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in darkness. There is no God but you, how perfect are you? I was amongst the transgressors. The only way that Adam alayhi and hera are describing themselves, and the only way that Yunas alayhi salam is describing himself, and the only way that the Prophet is teaching Abu Bakr as-Sadiq radiallahu ta'ala anhem, who is the best after the Prophets, to describe himself is that I wrong myself. With absolutely no qualifiers whatsoever. And so the first ingredient that the scholars mention is what the Prophet said, al-madmu-ta'uba. Regret is repentance. And the first part of regret is al-tiraf bizam. To recognize that you committed the sin and that there was absolutely no excuse for you to commit that sin, and that you should not qualify your regret in any way whatsoever by saying, Ya Allah, I was young, ya Allah, I was angry, ya Allah, but you know how this person was, Ya Allah, but you know what I was going through in this particular time. No. And nadmu tawbah, as the Prophet said, regret is repentance. It is absolute itiraf, absolute itiraf. To acknowledge what you did and to feel the regret for what you did. Now subhanAllah, you might be thinking, well, how does this not lead to a sense of self-hatred and despair? And the scholars say that because every single person at some point, every single person will come to acknowledge their sins. Some of them acknowledge their sins in this life, some of them acknowledge their sins in the next life. The only ones who should despair are the ones who delay their acknowledgement to the next life. And Allah even uses a different word for it altogether so that they don't get confused. The word is hasra. Nadim is a word of regret that I can still come back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with. Allah never mixes the two concepts. Because so long as you're still here, so long as you're still alive and able to acknowledge what you have done, the admitting of that sin, no matter how painful it is, no matter how big the sin was, no matter how shameful it was, no matter how long you abstain from repenting to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for it, no matter how many people you took on a ride along the way, as long as it's before you stop breathing, it can still be nadim, not hasra. Now the ulama mentioned that there could be hasra in this life as well, and that is the person who knows that they messed up, who acknowledges that they messed up, but acknowledges no desire whatsoever to come back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Yeah, I messed up, so what? It is what it is. I'm going to hell. It's okay. You know, subhanAllah, I was in a Muslim country, it was two months ago, and it was really sad to me. There was a non-Muslim that was considering becoming Muslim that was telling me about a Muslim friend that secretly drinks alcoholism. And this non-Muslim is saying that I told my Muslim friend, because it was Ramadan and they were drinking alcohol, wait a minute, it's Ramadan, don't you at least quit for that? And the Muslim was saying, you know, I closed the door on heaven for myself a long time ago. I already know that I'm going to hell. The non-Muslim who's thinking about becoming Muslim is telling you this, right? About a Muslim friend. That's a dramatic example, but you find people that will say, Yeah, I made this mistake in my life, but I'll live with it. Hopefully, all the other good stuff that I do will cover for it. That's an expression of hasra because there's no desire whatsoever to come back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with that sin. But the first part of this is walam tunafsi. Now subhanahu wa ta'ala, he compares this to Iblis to the devil. And how Shaytan said, Rabbi Bima Avwaitani, my lord, because you led me astray. And what does it mean when he says bima of waitani? What exactly is Iblis blaming? Is he saying that you led me astray because you led me to believe that I was going to be this certain creature with you and then suddenly you shot me down? Was he saying that, you know, I was getting up this whole time just to be smacked down because you led me astray by putting Adam alayhi salam in front of me? You know how much I hate people being in front of me, and you put Adam aislam in front of me and I couldn't handle that, Bima Avoytani? What was he blaming? What's the human equivalent of that? And subhanAllah, he says something in Madab J-Salakim, and I'll paraphrase it because it's a long section, which is really interesting. He said, Itajab al-Qadr. That what he's blaming is divine decree. Look at the difference. Adam alayhi salam, Adam alayhi salam acknowledged the sin, so Allah chose him and guided him. Iblis, itajab il-qadr. Iblis blamed the divine decree. You wrote this upon me. You wrote this upon me. So Allah Azza cursed him and broke him. See the difference? Adam alayhi salam, i'atalafabizam. He acknowledged it. So Allah chose him. Not just forgave him, Allah chose him and guided him. Iblis itajab al-Kadr. He blamed the divine decree. Bima katta alien. You wrote this upon me. You already knew this was going to happen. This was the grand setup. Not my choice in it. This was all the grand setup all the time was I was going to be a shaitana Rajim. So Allah cursed him and broke him, expelled him, made him Rajim, distant from him. So what's the human tendency that falls within them? The human tendency is not just that a person explicitly blames someone else for the sins that they've committed in life or for their sinful tendencies, like, yeah, but I ended up with this person, and I have this person, I have these people around me, and I was at this phase in my life. And had I not been in this particular situation, I would have done this. It's not just that. It's that a person says to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, I did not have enough incentive to stay away from committing that sin. You see, just as in Ramadan, we're paying attention to the blessings that we often take for granted, that even if there were certain elements in your life that pulled you towards that sin, there was always enough from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for you not to commit that sin in the first place. Adam alayhi salam did not say any of that. I wronged myself. You and Asa Alay Salam, Ya Allah, you know how annoying my people are. No. You know how hard of a time they gave me? No. Adam a Islam, you know how tempting the tree was? No. Abu Bakr, Ya Allah, you know my status with you. No. Every single person has to have that air tiraf with them, that acknowledging the sin. Now here's the next part of that. The Vilama mentioned that there are sins that go unrepented for in the past. They exist in the past. Now someone might be saying, well, wait a minute, isn't Ghufir Allah and then be he, Ramadan forgives everything, Layatul Qadr forgives everything? Yes, it may be that Allah forgave everything. But that coming to terms with something that you did is one of the greatest ways to finally come close to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and remove all of the barriers. The vulnerability of the nobi. Like, I don't care if I'm 70 years old and I think back to something that I did that was wrong when I was 30 years old, and Ya Allah, I never actually came to terms with them. Fakfirmi, forgive me for what I did. Forgive me for what I did. And when it comes to people and the conflicts that you have with people, how many of us have these unresolved conflicts that are sitting in our closet? And we're like, yeah, hopefully they moved on. And you know, there was some give and take care that took place. Let Allah do the giving for what you took. The giving for what you took of hardship. But if you can reopen that file and clean it, I mean, isn't it beautiful that you can go back and delete your history? No, you know what? I had some wrongdoings too. And as Ifmal, when he told the young boy that he poked, uh, you know, to pinch his ear. He said, pinch it, even though he was an old man, he said, I'd rather feel the avenging for that in this dunya than in the akhira. Let yourself acknowledge it. Like, you know, no, I was really wrong. What's the worst that can come out of that? You know what the worst that can come out of that is? In most situations? Wow, you know, thank you for apologizing. Maybe they did actually move on. Maybe they did actually move on. But you're building a relationship now, right? There's some khir that comes out of that, some goodness that comes out of that. The second ingredient that the Ridama mentioned. It's from the hadith of the Prophet that a person said, A person said, My Lord, forgive me for my sin. And what did Allah Azza say to the heavens? My servant knows that he has a Lord that not just holds accountable for sin, but forgives for sins. And no one forgives those sins except for you. You're the one who forgives those sins. Those who, when they commit those deeds and they remember Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and they seek forgiveness for what they do, who will forgive their sins except for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? My servant knows he has a Lord who forgives. So I forgave him. Because remember, in the first part, you forgot who you were. But in the second part, if you're not coming back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, you forgot who he is. And this part of wala yaqir dunulba illa ant, you think Abu Bakr doesn't know that, you think the Prophet doesn't know that, it's re-igniting that connection, it's reaffirming that you know who your Lord is, that not only did you not have the right to commit that sin, but that He's the only one that can pull you out of it. Because sometimes when a person falls, they start to think about what can I do to get myself out of this situation? And they think of all of these ways to get around it instead of facing it. And the reason why they don't want to face it is because they worry about the consequence. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala can remove that consequence in an instance if you know who He is, subhanahu wa ta'ala. Wallaya illaant. No one forgives those sins except for you. No one can pull me out of this except for you. And so, dear brothers and sisters, there are these two domains that are embedded, especially in these last ten nights, because that coming close to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala of knowing who He is and knowing who you are requires you to say, Oh Allah, I broke it, oh Allah, only you can fix it. Oh Allah, I broke it, oh Allah, only you can fix it. And those two things have to be embedded no matter how old you are, no matter how righteous you think you are, no matter how much you think you've been wronged in life, those ingredients have to be there in order for there to be a meaningful tawbah to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in these last ten and beyond. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, who is the only one, Al-Ghafur al-Rahheen, who can forgive us, to forgive us for what we have committed against ourselves and others. And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to put in us the pain of regret that inspires repentance, not the pain of remorse that inspires paralysis. And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to remove from us the barriers of ego and arrogance and self-righteousness that stop us from coming close to Him and stop us from removing that which has caused us to hurt other people as well. Allah Amin Aqul Qari was taqwa, Mussul inahu. Wa ilam tafir lana wa ta hamna andam, Allah Magu and Karim and Tahibur Afuranna, Allah Muhiridina, Robhamakamarabumasir, Rabana Hablan Azwajina with Ryatina, Korra, Wajan Matrina Imama, Allah Musul I Mustafa Afina Fi Mashabik Ardu, Allah Musul I Mustafa Afina Fi Sarasim with his Sudan with Kulima Khan, Allah Ma Alika bi Ajaien, Allah Ma Ari Nabani Mina Aja'i wa Khulatik, Allah Ma'hikwani Mina Vidwari Minim Wakur Janahwana Rain Sadimen, Hibadullah Allah Assam Itabu Kurba, Wayan Hamlin Fashai with Munikari War Bah, Yahul Kum Ala Kum Tara Karun Fakkur Allah Kur from Washkur and What A Vikor Allah Allah Yahna Hasan.