The Forgiveness of Allah is Boundless

3-4-2018 | IslamWeb

Question:

assalamualaikum i believe that ALLAH is the only one worthy of worship because HE is the greatest , hence the right of ALLAH to be worshipped is equal to HIS greatness which has no bounds, so then to not give HIM his right is boundlessly wrong , upon these understanding i am not being able to understand the forgiveness of ALLAH as how can ALLAH forgive anything that is boundlessly wrong.kindly let me know of the answer and where am i going astray with regards to my way of thinkingjazakALLAH khair
Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger. {C}

There is no doubt in the Greatness of Allah Almighty and that He deserves to be worshipped, and there is also no doubt in the slaves shortcomings in their obedience to Allaah, as He is the Greatest, the Grand, and the Exalted.

Ibn Katheer said about the interpretation of the verse in which Allah Says (what means): {[He is] Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, the Grand, the Exalted.} [Quran 13:9]; "(Allah is) the Grand (Most Great), means that Allah is greater than everything." [End of quote]

Ash-Shawkaani said about the interpretation of the above verse: "The Greatest and everything else is inferior to Him." [End of quote]

However, Allah is Merciful to His servants, and He only ordained them to do what they are capable of doing and that which is within their human capacity. Allah Says (what means): {But those who believed and did righteous deeds - We charge no soul except [within] its capacity. Those are the companions of Paradise; they will abide therein eternally.} [Quran 7:42]

Allah commanded His sinful Servants to take the initiative to sincerely repent to Him and to seek His Forgiveness. In return, He promised them to accept their repentance and wipe out the sins which they had previously committed, no matter how grave or major their sins are.

Allah Says (what means):

• {And it is He who accepts repentance from his servants and pardons misdeeds,..} [Quran 42:25]

• {And whoever does a wrong or wrongs himself but then seeks forgiveness of Allah will find Allah Forgiving and Merciful.} [Quran 4:110]

• {Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful."} [Quran 39:53]

The Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) said: "Whoever repents from sin is like the one who has no sin." [Ibn Maajah]

The Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) also said: "Allah, the Exalted, has said: " O son of Aadam! As long as you call unto me and seek (forgiveness from) me, I will forgive you for all of the sins that you may commit and I do not care (how many they amount to). O son of Aadam! If you come to me with what is almost as much as the earth (in volume) in sins, but you meet me without having associated any partner with Me in worship, I will give you the same amount of forgiveness." [At-Tirmithi and classified as authentic by Al-Albaani]

The scholars stated that the sincere repentance is achieved by regretting the sin, and being determined to immediately stop doing the sin and not return to it.

The Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) informed us that people are unable to perform all acts of worship in a perfect manner, saying: “Adhere to righteousness even though you will not be able to do all acts of virtue [in a perfect manner]. Know that the best of your deeds is the prayer, and only a (true) believer is the one who maintains his ablution.” [Maalik, Ibn Maajah and Al-Albaani classified it as authentic]

The Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) also informed us that even the angels who are totally devoted to Allah’s obedience and do nothing else, admit that they do not worship Him as He should be worshipped, as he said:

"The scale will be placed on the Day of Resurrection. Even if the heavens and the earth were to be weighed in it, it would encompass them, so the angels would say: “O Lord, this scale is for who? Allah would say: "It is (to weigh the deeds) for whom I want from my Creatures?" Thereupon the angels would say: “How Exalted are You, o Lord, we have not worshipped you as you should be worshipped.” [Al-Haakim and others; and Al-Albaani classified it as authentic]

Ibn Al-Qayyim may Allaah have mercy upon him said in his book Madaarij As-Saalikeen:

"Whenever you see the reality of Ar-Ruboobiyyah (Lordship of Allah), and the reality of Al-Uboodiyyah [Divinity of Allah), and know Allah, and know your soul, and realize that your deeds are worthless -when compared with the Majesty of Allah- the True Sovereign, even if you were to bring with you all the deeds of all mankind and jinn, you would fear the outcome of your deeds. Allah only accepts the deeds out of His Kindness, Generosity, and Favor, and He rewards you as well out of His Kindness, Generosity, and Favor.” [End of quote]

Allah legislated for His Slaves to ask forgiveness after having performed an act of worship in order to make up for any deficiency that might have happened in their act of worship.

Ibn Al-Qayyim may Allaah have mercy upon him said:

"In general, this is the situation of this slave with his Lord in all his actions. He knows that he does not give proper due to the rank of Allah. After he concludes the prayer, he begins by saying Astaghfiru Allah (I ask the forgiveness of Allah) three times. Allah Says (what means): {And in the hours before dawn they would ask forgiveness.} [Quran 51:18] Al-Hasan may Allaah have mercy upon him said: “They extended the (night) prayer until (they reached) the time before dawn, and then they sat down asking for forgiveness from their Lord.

Allah Says (what means): {Then depart from the place from where [all] the people depart and ask forgiveness of Allah. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.} [Quran 2:199] Allah ordered the pilgrims to ask forgiveness after standing in ‘Arafah and Muzdalifah.

Allah also legislated for the person who performed ablution to say: "O Allah, make me of those who return to You often in repentance and make me of those who frequently purify themselves (physically and ritually).’ Therefore, one repents after having performed ablution, Hajj, the prayer, and the night optional prayer. So the person in these positions is obliged to seek repentance as clarified; he is always asking forgiveness and repenting, as the more good deeds he performs, the more he asks for forgiveness and repents.” [End of quote]

Allah knows best.

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