This Ramadan, MuslimMatters is pleased to host the Institute Of Knowledge‘s daily Ramadan series: Keys to the Divine Compass. Through this series, each day we will spend time connecting with the Qur’an on a deeper, more spiritual, uplifting level.

Previous in the series: Juz 1 Juz 2 Juz 3 Juz 4 Juz 5 Juz 6 Juz 7 Juz 8 Juz 9 Juz 10 Juz 11 Juz 12 Juz 13 Juz 14 Juz 15 Juz 16 Juz 17 Juz 18 Juz 19 Juz 20 Juz 21 Juz 22 Juz 23

Juzʾ 24: Do Not Despair in the Mercy of Allāh

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين

 Allah ﷻ addresses the Prophet ﷺ in the verse that been been described as the most hopeful verse in the Quran. He says: 

﴿قُلْ يَـٰعِبَادِىَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا۟ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا۟ مِن رَّحْمَةِ ٱللَّهِ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ ٱلذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ ٥٣﴾

Say, [O Prophet, that Allah ﷻ says,] “O My servants who have exceeded the limits against their souls! Do not lose hope in Allah ﷻ’s mercy, for Allah ﷻ certainly forgives all sins. He is indeed the All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

 Allah ﷻ addresses the Prophet ﷺ and tells him to convey this to us because the Prophet ﷺ is a mercy to the worlds. One of the tasks of the Prophet ﷺ was to give us good news, so Allah ﷻ conveys this message of hope through the Prophet ﷺ. He says to us, “O My servants.” Allah ﷻ here is addressing us with this form of endearment. He’s calling us His servants. Human beings may make mistakes. They may transgress, but if we believe in Allah ﷻ, if we’re sincere, then there’s still hope for us. There’s always hope for us. Allah ﷻ is showing us that love, that care, and that concern that He has for us by saying My servants. He’s not saying, O sinful servants. He’s not saying, O evil people. He’s saying My servants. How does He describe them? Those who have transgressed against themselves. Those who have crossed the line. Do not worry. Do not cut yourself off from Me. There’s no sin that is so huge, so large, that I cannot forgive. Sometimes, when we sin, when we transgress, when we get into bad habits, we start getting depressed. We start thinking, how can Allah ﷻ forgive me? How will I be able to turn my life around, get closer to Allah ﷻ, and become a better person. But Allah ﷻ is telling us here, do not lose hope. Do not be depressed. Don’t think that Allah ﷻ’s love, His care, and His concern is so small that your sin is bigger than that. There’s never going to be a time in your life where the doors of Allah ﷻ’s Mercy are closed. Allah ﷻ in other places in the Quran describes his forgiveness and his Mercy as well. He says:

﴿أَلَمْ يَعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ يَقْبَلُ التَّوْبَةَ عَنْ عِبَادِهِ﴾

 Do they not know that Allah ﷻ is the one who accepts forgiveness who accepts tawbah, repentance, from His servants?

 Allah ﷻ says: 

﴿وَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا أَوْ يَظْلِمْ نَفْسَهُ ثُمَّ يَسْتَغْفِرِ اللَّهَ يَجِدِ اللَّهَ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا﴾

Whoever does evil or wrongs himself and then seeks forgiveness from Allah ﷻ, He will find Allah ﷻ Most Forgiving and Merciful.

Interestingly Allah ﷻ ﷺ talks about some of the worst people in the Quran—these people who will be in the lowest levels of the Hellfire—and He says even they have a chance for forgiveness. Allah ﷻ says:

﴿إِنَّ ٱلْمُنَـٰفِقِينَ فِى ٱلدَّرْكِ ٱلْأَسْفَلِ مِنَ ٱلنَّارِ وَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُمْ نَصِيرًا ١٤٥﴾

The hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of Hell, and you will find no one to help them.

After describing them in this way, that they’ll be in the lowest lowest pits of Hell, Allah ﷻ says that even they have a chance. He follows that up in the next āyah saying:

﴿إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ تَابُوا۟ وَأَصْلَحُوا۟ وَٱعْتَصَمُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَأَخْلَصُوا۟ دِينَهُمْ لِلَّهِ فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ مَعَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَسَوْفَ يُؤْتِ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًۭا ١٤٦﴾

except those who repent, mend their ways, hold fast to Allah ﷻ, and are sincere in their devotion to Allah ﷻ; they will be with the believers. And Allah ﷻ will grant the believers a great reward.

 “Except those who repent.” Just imagine, if these people have an opportunity to gain the forgiveness of Allah ﷻ; if these people have the opportunity to turn their lives around and be entered into Jannah, then what about you and me? What have we done that is as bad as that? Allah ﷻ is giving us this message of Hope. Sometimes we think that people will have a certain impression of us because we’re engaged in this sin or that sin. People may write us off, but Allah ﷻ will never write us off. Allah ﷻ is always willing to accept our forgiveness. We may be people that are engaged in all sorts of sins. We may be people who don’t pray on a regular basis. Maybe the only time we pray is on jumuʿah, on Friday. We may be people that all we do is fast in Ramadan, and maybe we’ve even missed fasts in Ramadan. It doesn’t matter what we’ve done; how far we’ve gone away from Allah ﷻ. The doors of forgiveness and turning back to Him are always open. Allah ﷻ wants you to come back. He wants to give you another chance, and He’s waiting for you. 

One day, Ibn Masʿūd (RA) was passing by a lecture that was happening. The speaker was giving a reminder, and he said to him, “O person that’s giving this reminder, why are you causing people to despair? Why are you causing people to lose hope in the mercy of Allah ﷻ? Then he recited this āyah, “Say, [O Prophet, that Allah ﷻ says,] “O My servants who have exceeded the limits against their souls! Do not lose hope in Allah ﷻ’s mercy.” 

 Allah ﷻ then continues saying, “ Allah ﷻ certainly forgives all sins.” Don’t say what about this one? What about that one? “Allah ﷻ forgives all sins.” All you have to do is turn back to Him. All you have to do is make tawbah. All you have to do is decide that you want to get a fresh start, and Allah ﷻ is there for you. The Prophet ﷺ describes the forgiveness and the mercy of Allah ﷻ in a ḥadīth qudsī. 

عن أنس بن مالك رضي الله عنه قال: سمعت رسول الله ﷺ يقول: قال الله تبارك وتعالى: «يا ابن آدم إنك ما دعوتني ورجوتني غفرت لك على ما كان فيك ولا أبالي، يا ابن آدم لو بلغت ذنوبك عنان السماء ثم استغفرتني غفرت لك ولا أبالي، يا ابن آدم إنك لو أتيتني بقراب الأرض خطايا ثم لقيتني لا تشرك بي شيئا لأتيتك بقرابها مغفرة» (رواه الترمذي)

He says, Allah ﷻ says: “O son of Adam, Indeed, so long as you call upon Me and are hopeful in Me, I will forgive you for what you did, and I do not care.” Allah ﷻ doesn’t care what it is, what you’ve done, but all you have to do is ask. All you have to do is have that hope, and not despair in his Mercy. “O son of Adam, if you’re sins reach the clouds in the sky;” if you have so many sins that as far back as you can think, as long as you can remember; you have been engaged in sins and disobedience of Allah ﷻ, then you seek forgiveness from me, I will forgive you, and I do not care. “O son of Adam, if you come to me with the amount of the Earth in terms of sins—an earth full of sins—then you meet me, not associating partners with me,” believing in me; having that base level of faith in Allah ﷻ, “then I will come to you with the equivalent in terms of forgiveness.” 

I’ll end with a statement of the Prophet ﷺ. Thawbān (RA) narrates that I heard the Prophet ﷺ saying, talking about this āyah, “I would not like to have the dunyā and what is in it in exchange for this āyah.” This āyah was so precious; this āyah of hope; this āyah of Mercy, this āyah of forgiveness was so precious to the Prophet ﷺ that he said there’s nothing in this world and what it contains that I would exchange for this āyah.

I pray sincerely that Allah ﷻ makes this month a month that we gain His forgiveness; a month in which we change our ways; a month where we turn back to him; a month where we admit our sins to Allah ﷻ and become better people.