Khutbah: Having Balance in Having Hope in Allah's Forgiveness and Mercy

All praise and thanks indeed be to Allah. We praise Him, we seek His help and we seek His forgiveness. We take refuge in Allah from the evils of ourselves and from the sins of our actions. Whomever Allah guides, none can misguide. And whomever Allah misguides, none can guide. I testify that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah. And I testify that Muḥammad is His slave and messenger. May Allah's prayers and peace be upon him, and upon his family and companions.

O Slaves of Allah! I first and foremost advise you to fear Allah, remain conscious of Him and keep your duty to Him at all times. Obey Allah, for indeed he who obeys Him has attained success. And beware of disobedience, for indeed he who disobeys Him has attained ruin. But remember that we are human beings, and by nature we will make mistakes; we will slip up every now and then. The Prophet ﷺ said in this regard:

كُلُّ بَنِي آدَمَ خَطَّاءٌ‏ وَخَيْرُ اَلْخَطَّائِينَ اَلتَّوَّابُونَ

“Every son of Adam is a sinner, and the best of sinners are those who repent.” (Narrated by al-Tirmidhī and Ibn Mājah)

So whenever you commit a mistake, be assured that the door of Allah's Forgiveness is wide open.

Now then: Allah says:

وَمَن يَعْمَلْ سُوٓءًا أَوْ يَظْلِمْ نَفْسَهُۥ ثُمَّ يَسْتَغْفِرِ ٱللَّهَ يَجِدِ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا

“Whoever commits an evil or wrongs himself, then seeks Allah's Forgiveness, will find Allah as Forgiving, Merciful.” (Qur’ān 4:103)

So whenever you commit a sin, immediately ask Allah for Forgiveness, as Allah has promised not only Forgiveness for people who do so, but also Paradise, wherein they will live forever. Always keep in mind that the door of Allah's Forgiveness is open for every single sin, except for the person who dies upon shirk, the greatest of all sins. Allah says:

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَن يُشْرَكَ بِهِۦ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَن يَشَآءُ

“Indeed, Allah does not forgive that partners be associated with Him (i.e. shirk), but He forgives everything else less than that, to whomever He wills.” (Qur’ān 4:116)

Take note of that last part of that āyah. Because there are people who commit sins and then justify their sinning by saying, “Look, Allah is al-Ghafūr (The All-Forgiving) and al-Raḥīm (The Most Merciful) – He'll forgive what we're doing.” However, these people have misunderstood the concept of the Forgiveness of Allah. Yes, Allah is Most Merciful – more merciful than a mother is to her child. But don't forget also that Allah is also most severe in punishment. Remember that Allah's Forgiveness is only for whomever He wills, as stated in the āyah we just heard. Wouldn't it be a disaster if for all your life you disobeyed Allah, whilst saying to yourself, “Allah is Most Forgiving; He'll forgive me,” then when the Day of Judgement comes you discover that you were not one of those whom Allah had willed to forgive, and so as a result you were made to enter Hellfire? How devastating would that be?

So ensure that you have a balance between hope in Allah's Mercy and Forgiveness, and fear of His punishment. Yes, the doors of Allah's Mercy and Forgiveness are wide open. The Prophet ﷺ said that Allah ta‘ālā said – and pay attention to this:

يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ! إِنَّكَ مَا دَعَوْتنِي وَرَجَوْتنِي غَفَرْتُ لَك عَلَى مَا كَانَ مِنْك وَلَا أُبَالِي، يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ! لَوْ بَلَغَتْ ذُنُوبُك عَنَانَ السَّمَاءِ ثُمَّ اسْتَغْفَرْتنِي غَفَرْتُ لَك، يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ! إنَّك لَوْ أتَيْتنِي بِقُرَابِ الْأَرْضِ خَطَايَا ثُمَّ لَقِيتنِي لَا تُشْرِكُ بِي شَيْئًا لَأَتَيْتُك بِقُرَابِهَا مَغْفِرَةً

“O Son of Adam! For as long as you call upon Me and place your hope in Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O Son of Adam! Were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and then you were to ask forgiveness from Me, I would forgive you. O Son of Adam! Were you to come to Me with enough sins to fill the Earth, then you were to meet Me not associating a partner with Me, I would give you in return forgiveness likewise enough to fill the Earth.’” (Narrated by al-Tirmidhī)

Subḥān Allāh. How beautiful.

However, at the same time, don't use the excuse of "Allah is al-Ghafūr and al-Raḥīm" to justify your wrongdoing.

But nevertheless, as Allah says in the Qur’ān:

لَا تَقْنَطُوا۟ مِن رَّحْمَةِ ٱللَّهِ

“Don't despair of the Mercy of Allah.” (Qur’ān 39:53)

Keep in mind that He is saying that while having full knowledge of all the sins you have committed and will commit. Allah knows them all and He's still telling you to never lose hope. So why would you ever think that your sins are too great for Allah to forgive?

I end with the following two statements of Allah. One is a ḥadīth qudsī, where Allah says:

 يَا عِبَادِي! إنَّكُمْ تُخْطِئُونَ بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ، وَأَنَا أَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا؛ فَاسْتَغْفِرُونِي أَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ

“O my slaves! Indeed, you commit mistakes night and day, and I forgive all sins, so ask me for forgiveness – I will forgive you.” (Narrated by Muslim)

And the other is an āyah from the Qur’ān where Allah says:

قُلْ يَٰعِبَادِىَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا۟ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا۟ مِن رَّحْمَةِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ ٱلذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ

“Say, ‘O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the Mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives sins – all of them. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.’” (Qur’ān 39:53)