"O you who believe! Turn to Allah with sincere repentance.. ." [Noble Quran 66:8]

Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri(May Allah be pleased with him )reported:Prophet of Allah (PBUH)said:

There was a man from among a nation before you ,who killed ninety-nine people and then made an inquiry about the most learned person on the earth. He was  directed to a monk. He came to him and told him that he had killed ninety-nine people and asked him if there was any chance for his repentance to be accepted. He replied in the negative and the man killed him also completing one hundred. He then asked about the  most learned person on the earth. He was directed to a scholar. He told him that he had killed one hundred people and asked him if there was any chance for his repentance to be accepted. He replied in the affirmative and asked, 'Who stands between you and repentance?Go to such and such land; there you will find people devoted to prayer and worship of Allah,join them in worship,and do not come back to your land because it is an evil place.'So he went away and hardly had he covered half the distance when death overtook him; and there was a dispute between the angles of mercy and the angles of torment. The angles of mercy pleaded, 'This man has come with a repenting heart to Allah,' and the angles of punishment argued, 'He never did a virtuous deed in his life. 'Then there appeared  another angel in the form of a human being and the contending angles agreed to make him arbiter between them. He said, Measure the distance between the two lands. He will be considered belonging to the land to which he is nearer. 'They measured and found him closer to the land (land of piety) where he intended to go, and so the angles of mercy collected his soul".

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

In another version: "He was found to be nearer to the locality of the pious by a cubit and was thus included among them". Another version says :" Allah commanded (the land which he wanted to leave)to move away and commanded the other land (his destination ) to draw nearer and then He said : now measure the distance between them.' It was found that he was nearer to his goal by a hand's span and was thus forgiven.

Commentary:

One comes to know from this Hadith that the gate of Taubah is open even for the worst of the sinners; And Allah forgives everyone provided he repents sincerely, the conditions for such repentance.

Does Islam degrades women?...By Sis.Amtul Mateen(IREF)

Five Reasons why Allah uses problems

Five Reasons why Allah uses problems

The problems you face will either defeat you or develop you – depending on how you respond to them. Unfortunately, most people fail to see how Allah wants to use problems for good in their lives. They react foolishly and resent their problems rather than pausing to consider what benefit they might bring.
Here are five ways Allah wants to use the problems in your life:


1. Allah uses problems to DIRECT you.
Sometimes God must light a fire under you to get you moving. Problems often point us in a new direction and motivate us to change. Is God trying to get your attention? “Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways.”


2. Allah uses problems to INSPECT you.
People are like tea bags…if you want to know what’s inside them, just drop them into hot ever water! Has God tested your faith with a problem What do problems reveal about
you? “When you have many kinds of troubles, you should be full of joy, because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience.”


3. Allah uses problems to CORRECT you.
Some lessons we learn only through pain and failure. It’s likely that as a child your parents told you not to touch a hot stove…. But you probably learned by being burned. Sometimes we only learn the value of something… health, money, a relationship.. .. by losing it.


4. Allah uses problems to PROTECT you.
A problem can be a blessing in disguise if it prevents you from being harmed by something more serious.. Last year a friend was fired for refusing to do something unethical that his boss had asked him to do. His unemployment was a problem – but it saved him from being convicted and sent to prison a year later when management’s actions were eventually discovered. “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good…”


5. Allah uses problems to PERFECT you.
Problems, when responded to correctly, are character builders. God is far more interested in your character than your comfort. Your relationship to God and your character are the only two things you’re going to take with you into eternity. “We can rejoice when we run into problems…they help us learn to be patient.. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady.”
Here’s the point:


God is at work in your life – even when you do not recognize it or understand it.
But it’s much easier and profitable when you cooperate with Him.

Who Forgives In The Last 10 Nights.....

Aisha asked the Prophet (saw) “What should I say on Laylat-al-qadr?” He replied,

Say, “O Allah, You are Al-’Afuww and You love to ‘afw, so fa’fu me” (Tirmidhi).

What do all these italicized words mean? The common translation of the supplication above is,

O Allah indeed you are a Pardoner, and you love pardon, so pardon me.

That’s it? The supplication for the last 10 nights, THE supplication we are supposed to focus on, is just to be ‘pardoned’ by “The Pardoner”? Isn’t there more to it?

Seems a bit strange, let’s look at it in more detail.

The linguistic meaning of ‘afuww is to leave, neglect (pardon), to wipe away, and to increase. ‘Aafiyah is Allah’s defense of His servant from things like disease and tribulation. ‘Afu is the one who possesses great ‘afw. 

The Name of Allah, Al-’Afuww, occurs in the Quran only five times (4:43, 4:99, 4:149, 22:20, 58:2). Four of these times, it is linked with Al-Ghafoor, and once with Al-Qadeer (4:149).

This Name implies that He ignores the sins of the servant. He knows the sins (you must know them before you can make ‘afw of them) but He does not call the servant to account for it. The servant is deserving of punishment, and Allah has full ability to punish His servants, but Allah does ‘afw for them. It is more than just pardoning or covering it up, it is wiping it away completely.

When the Name is paired with Al-Ghafoor, we see an extra level of forgiveness. Al-Ghafoor is the One who forgives no matter how large the sin.

When we look back at the original supplication, we see a more profound meaning. Allah is Al-Qadeer, with full power to do with us as He wants,

And if Allah were to seize mankind for their wrong-doing, He would not leave on it (the earth) a single moving (living) creature, but He postpones them for an appointed term and when their term comes, neither can they delay nor can they advance it an hour (or a moment). (16:61)

In spite of that warning, He wipes our sins away for us, no matter how major they are. Not only does He wipe them away, but He loves to wipe them away. SubhanAllah.

This is why we should make this supplication fervently, seeking for it to be answered in the night, in the most special of nights, seeking the forgiveness and mercy of Allah, humbling ourselves knowing the sins we have committed, and asking for Him to pardon us for our transgressions.