Ramadan the blessed month is a great opportunity for forgiveness, blessing, worship and obedience towards Allah. Muslims should use the period of Ramadan to seek forgiveness from Allah and also forgive those that have offended them in order to gain from the salvation of the Almighty Allah. This makes it a great time to ask God for His Forgiveness. It’s also a wonderful time to open our hearts and cleanse them of grudges and bitterness by forgiving others.
“The smart man is the one who takes stock of himself and strives to do that which will benefit him after death, and the helpless one is the one who follows his own whims and desires and engages in wishful thinking, (assuming that Allah will forgive him regardless of what he does and that he does not need to strive to good deeds).”
Allah says,
“And march forth in the way (which leads to) forgiveness from your Lord, and for Paradise as wide as the heavens and the earth, prepared for Al-Muttaqoon (the pious).”
“Those who spend (in Allah’s Cause) in prosperity and in adversity, who repress anger, and who pardon men; verily, Allah loves Al-Muhsinoon (the good-doers).”
“And those who, when they have wronged themselves with evil, remember Allah and ask forgiveness for their sins; — and none can forgive sins but Allah — and do not persist in what (wrong) they have done, while they know.”
[Aal ‘Imraan 3:133-136]
“And seek forgiveness of Allah; surely Allah is Forgiving, Compassionate.”
[Al-Muzzammil 73: 20]
“Say: “O ‘Ibaadi (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah, verily, Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful”
[al-Zumar 39:53]
“And whoever does evil or wrongs himself but afterwards seeks Allah’s forgiveness, he will find Allah Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful”
[al-Nisa’ 4:110]
“The repayment of a bad action is one equivalent to it. But if someone pardons and puts things right, his reward is with Allah. Certainly He does not love wrongdoers.”
[Ash-Shura 42: 40]
Allah being Al-Ghafour (the All-Forgiving) promises that He will forgive those who ask forgiveness. Part of being human includes committing wrongdoings and incurring sin.The fact that God talks about forgiveness shows how deficient human beings really are. Humans do commit error and do engage in wrong doings, but there is an important facet to this flaw in our own beings, that we may be completed by turning back to God and asking for His forgiveness.
Forgiveness is letting go of the need for revenge, any sense of bitterness or resentment and to let go of the past. While God does this with Perfection, it is in fact harder for us to forgive.
Another dimension of forgiveness is to forgive others and to ask for forgiveness too. Ramadan is the perfect time to do that as during the days of forgiveness, saying sorry becomes more light weight than usual.
The Prophet Muhammad (saws) said: Musa, the son of Imran once asked, “Oh my Lord! Who is the most honorable of Your servants? And He replied, the person who forgives even when he is in a position of power” (Baihaqi). Peace and blessings be upon the Prophet.
You may be right. You may be in that position of power mentioned in the Hadith above. But forgiving others, apart from positively affecting our health (less stress) and our minds (one less negative thing to focus on), is a necessary step to closeness to God.
Is there not something strange about asking for God’s forgiveness of our sins while withholding our forgiveness from someone who has hurt us?
So, O slaves of Allah, be among the people of good, following the path of your righteous forebears who were guided by the Sunnah of your Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), so that we may end Ramadan with our sins forgiven and our righteous deeds accepted.
Let us use this Ramadan to open our hearts to those who have wronged us and forgive them as we beg Allah to forgive us.
