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

Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episode 8, Episode 9, Episode 10, Episode 11

Transcript

We begin by praising Allah SWT. We thank Him, We acknowledge that He is the only one worthy and deserving of all praise and thanks, and we ask Him to shower His most complete and abundant blessings and protection upon His noble Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, upon his noble family, upon his shining companions, and upon all of those that follow them until the end of time. We ask Allah to include us from among them. We ask Allah to teach us what will benefit us, to guide us through what He has taught us, and to increase us in knowledge and accepted actions 

 Today’s episode is on a verse found in the twelfth juz’ of the Qur’an in Surah Hud, which is the eleventh chapter of the Qur’an, verse number 114. It is narrated that during the life of the Prophet ﷺ there was a companion from the Ansar, the natives of Al-Madinah who came to the Prophet ﷺ with a confession. He said, “Messenger of Allah ﷺ, I went to the outskirts of Madinah with a woman and I messed around with her. I was intimate with her and I did everything with her short of zina, intercourse. So decree for me and judge for me whatever you will. He is basically asking for a punishment, compensation, or something that will expiate this wrongdoing of his.  

 Umar (radiallahu anhu) was present with the Prophet ﷺ when this companion came and told him that he was going to die. Umar (radiallahu anhu) commented, “ لَقَدْ سَتَرَكَ اللَّهُ لَوْ سَتَرْتَ عَلَىٰ نَفْسِكَ” Meaning, Allah has shielded you. He covered you. He concealed this sin from the eyes of others. You did this in the outskirts. No one knew about it. Allah allowed this sin of yours to be private, so why are you exposing yourself? Why are you making this public when Allah has blessed you by concealing this act from others? لَوْ سَتَرْتَ عَلَىٰ نَفْسِكَ If only you would have done this act, you would conceal yourself just as Allah has concealed you.  

 The Prophet ﷺ upon hearing this confession, initially did not respond. He ﷺ didn’t say anything. And so the man left the company of the Prophet ﷺ. But shortly thereafter, the Prophet ﷺ asked another person to bring him back. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam had just received new revelation from Allah the Almighty 

وَأَقِنِ الصَّلَاةَ طَرَفَي النَّهَارِ وَزُلَفًا مِّنَ اللَّيْلِ إِنَّ الْحَسَنَاتِ يُذْهِبْنَا السَّيِّئَاتِ ذَلِكَ ذِكْرًا لِلذَّاكِرِينَ

Establish prayer at both ends of the day and the early part of the night; Surely good deeds remove bad deeds. This is a reminder for those Who remembers.

This is Surah Hud verse number 114 which we find in the 12th juz’ah of the Quran. 

Someone who was present in that gathering stood up and said, “Is that for him specifically?” After the Prophet ﷺ finished receiving the revelation and he ﷺ  recited it to the companions, he stood up and he said, ‘Is that for that guy only? The guy who came and told you his confession. Is that for him specifically? Does it only apply to him solely?’ And the Prophet ﷺ responded, “No. Rather this is for all of humanity.” Anybody and everybody can take advantage of this opportunity.  

So we learn many things from this story. Firstly, we see just a glimpse of the humanity of the companions رضي الله عنهم May Allah be pleased with them. Yes, they are the greatest generation. Yes, loving, honoring, and respecting them is part and parcel of our faith. And yes, Allah has testified to being pleased with them in the Quran. But they were human beings. They made mistakes too. But what made them so special and far better than other generations is what they did after that mistake: how they followed up, how they grew, how they became better because of that. This companion was so worried about his sin that he rushed to the Prophet ﷺ to see what could be done. What punishment can I be given in this life, so that I don’t have to deal with it in the hereafter? He wanted to be held accountable for his sin.  

 And then we have the comment from Umar رضي الله عنه which teaches us another very important principle. Sins are meant to be kept private. We do not want to be individuals who are spreading and exposing the misdeeds of others or even the misdeeds of our own selves. If Allah has concealed a mistake of ours, we should not go and undo that concealment by publicizing it to others. We also learned that the Prophet ﷺ was not one to make, say, or do things in a heat of passion or instantly after a rush of emotion. He ﷺ was calm and deliberate. It’s possible that this man’s actions made him ﷺ feel disappointed. But he ﷺ didn’t do anything immediately. He ﷺ didn’t instantly react. He ﷺ just simply did not respond. He ﷺ was calm and waited. He ﷺ did not act in the heat of that initial emotion  

 That صدمة الأولى, first shock of emotion, upon hearing this information. Shortly thereafter, after this companion gave his confession, and the Prophet ﷺ did not say anything. Allah revealed one of the most hopeful verses in the entire Qur’an: 

وَأَقِمِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ طَرَفَىِ ٱلنَّهَارِ وَزُلَفًۭا مِّنَ ٱلَّيْلِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلْحَسَنَـٰتِ يُذْهِبْنَ ٱلسَّيِّـَٔاتِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ذِكْرَىٰ لِلذَّٰكِرِينَ ١١٤ 

Establish prayer ˹O Prophet˺ at both ends of the day and in the early part of the night.1 Surely good deeds wipe out evil deeds. That is a reminder for the mindful. (Qur’an 11:114) 

 Meaning, establish prayer at the two ends of the day: Fajr and Dhuhr being one end, Asr in Maghrib being the other end, and during the early part of the night, Isha prayer. Surely good deeds erase, remove, and completely get rid of bad deeds. The best of good deeds, of course, are in the five daily prayers, which this verse opens with. The Prophet ﷺ once asked the companions, “Have you considered that if there was a river by the door of your home in which you take a bath in every single day, five times a day, would there be any dirt or filth left on you?” 

 The companions responded, “No, there would be no dirt or filth left on this person”. So, the Prophet ﷺ highlighted that this is the analogy for the five daily prayers. Allah uses them to erase and remove bad deeds. Every single day we are presented with this opportunity to spiritually purify and cleanse ourselves.  

The Prophet ﷺ also said, mirroring the message of this verse, “ اتبع سيئة الحسنة تمحوها Follow up a bad deed with a good deed”. The good deed will erase the bad one. Whenever we find ourselves in the aftermath of a mistake, our immediate response should be, “Let me erase this by doing something good.” Immediately, we should find ourselves rush to donating some amount of money, praying a voluntary prayer, and or reading and reflecting on the Qur’an. 

 We are all going to make mistakes, every single day. That is our nature as human beings. But we can be the best of sinners as the Prophet ﷺ  termed it. This is by demonstrating to Allah that we want that second chance. We want to come back. An incredibly powerful way to manifest that desire Is by doing good deeds. First and foremost, let’s start with the five daily prayers. And then, we can do other additional voluntary good deeds as well.  

 The Prophet ﷺ promised that the law of this universe is that good deeds erase bad deeds. This applies to all of humanity. Allah has established this principle in the Qur’an. And the Prophet ﷺ has established that this applies to everyone, you and me included. 

 So let us take the opportunity, and train ourselves. Get into the mindset: When I do something bad, I’m going to follow it up. And again, of course, this is in the aftermath of a mistake. We shouldn’t go into a sin saying, “Let me just do this, and then I’ll do something good after.” That’s not the case here. What’s being said is when we accidentally find ourselves in a position where we did something we didn’t want to do, what we weren’t supposed to do, and now we’re trying to pick up the pieces afterwards, part of demonstrating that we really are sorry and we really do want to make up for it is by rushing immediately to good deeds. That will erase the bad ones. Let us train ourselves, get in that mindset, and focus on good deeds and rushing to those good deeds in the aftermath of a mistake, so that Allah can shower us with that generosity of gifting us a second chance. Every single time we slip, we ask Allah to help us apply this verse into our daily lives. We ask Allah to help us reflect deeply and consciously on the Qur’an.  

 We ask Allah to strengthen our relationship with the Qur’an and to help us continue making the most of this Ramadan, ameen.  

سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَبِحَمْدِهِ. سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ. نَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا أَنتَ نَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَنَتُوبُ إِلَيْكَ. وَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَلَى خَيْرِ خَلْقِكَ مُحَمَّدٍ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ. السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ.