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4^th day of Ramadan

TAWBA

FORGIVENESS

The Prophet said: “Verily, when the servant commits a sin, a black stain appears on his heart. If he abandons the sin, seeks forgiveness and repents, then the stain will disappear. But if he doesn’t and returns to the sin, the black stains on his heart will multiply and, in the end, his whole heart will be covered with those black stains.”¹³

Tawba is to turn back, to return to our true being, to those parts in us which are turned to the spirit and which we have lost sight of as a result of our mistakes and our forgetfulness.

At-Tawwāb comes from the root t-w-b from which the following words and meanings are derived: to regret, to feel remorseful, to turn away from, to turn to, to mend one’s ways, to forgive, to turn to God again. Remorse is purification; it means to find one’s way home again after getting lost.

Remorse is also an inner transformation of one’s attitude. It is to change the ego’s cry, “What is God doing to me!” to the call of the soul, “What is God doing through me!”

It is this deep confession that without Allah’s mercy and compassion, we are weak and bereft of all capability “for man has been created weak” (4:28); this deep realisation opens our hearts to Allah and we become receptive to His mercy.

Tawba is like purifying water, which is why its most beautiful expression is tears that wash away all mistakes.

A Sufi by the name of Samad once said, “Although I regret my mistake, I feel elevated because my limitations have enabled me to experience the incredible beauty of Your forgiveness.”

Indeed, the Sufis say that the most essential qualities of the Divine nature are mercy and compassion. Were there no errors, mistakes or sins, that which matters most for Reality, namely Allah’s mercy, raḥma, would have no field in which to express itself.

In the Qur’an, life is described as a test. Endless processes give us the possibility to overcome the limitations of our ego, to dive into our true being and to connect with Allah’s compassion, wisdom and love.

Allah constantly moves us between His majesty and His beauty: “and the latter We tried with blessings as well as with afflictions, so that they might mend their ways.” (7:168)

If we remain stuck only in the material world, if we give free rein to our moods, our illusions, our desires and our will, we will not be able to find peace.

Remorse is to make space in our hearts for God’s will. This process takes us away from self-pity and from the role of victim to which our wounded self tries to pull us, time and time again, and it leads us to a sincere bond with Allah. It is the path towards both deep trust and responsibility.

HERE I STAND, O ALLAH,

ARMED WITH ALL THE ABILITIES YOU GAVE ME TO FIND YOU.

OPEN MY HEART SO THAT I MAY EXPERIENCE YOUR GUIDANCE

AND YOUR LOVE WHICH NEVER FAILS TO TOUCH ME.

HELP ME SERVE YOU AND STAY AWAY FROM DISOBEYING YOU.

NONE BUT YOU DO I BESEECH.

It is human to make mistakes, to sin. What matters is that we do not persist in them and pass them off as convictions, be it in our own eyes or in others’.

Ramadan is the month of blessings and absolute mercy, the month of forgiveness and the month of rueful return to God.

So often do we turn away from Allah, so often do we, in our complacency and our distraction, forget the deep meaning of our existence, and argue with our fate when we fail to get what we wish for and what we picture for ourselves.

When does God forgive us if not during the gracious month of Ramadan? For good deeds are accepted in Ramadan and bad deeds pardoned.

Tawba is to set out for God and discover the blessing which He has placed in you – for you and for all of creation. Find your blessing and offer it as a gift in the name of Allah.

PRACTICE SUGGESTED FOR TODAY

The Divine Name At-Tawwāb is the One who accepts repentance, the One who leads to the return. This Divine Name helps you to forgive.

When you are capable of forgiveness, when you can forgive those who have upset or hurt you, at least partly, or when you can forgive yourself, you can feel the quality of this Divine Name in you.

Admit when you have been unjust, resolve not to do it again, use your bad conscience to strengthen your intention not to repeat the mistake or injustice, and seek inner purity by trying to make up for it. Put it in God’s hands.

In this way, you will be able to forgive both your own and your fellow human beings’ carelessness. On the outside, act so as not to forget that which you have regretted and thus not to repeat it, whilst remaining free of all reproaches on the inside!

Whenever you have allowed yourself to become too distracted by your hunger, your thirst, your wishes and your illusions, repeat Yā Tawwāb.

DID YOU KNOW…

The Prophet Yunus (Dhu-n-Nun, Jonah), peace be with him, urged his people to worship only Allah and to ascribe no partner to Him.

Yet his people accused him of lying and would not listen to him. When he could no longer summon the necessary patience, he left his people in anger.

Before leaving his people, he announced that Allah’s punishment would befall them three days later. Once they became aware of their attitude and of His impending punishment, their hearts filled with remorse, tawba. They called upon Allah, humble and crying, and in His mercy, Allah removed the punishment from them.

The people of the Prophet Yunus are the only people who converted in their entirety.

The Messenger of Allah said, “No one makes the supplication which Dhu-n-Nun made while he was in the belly of the whale, without Allah responding to him:

lā ilāha illā anta subḥānaka innī kuntu min aẓ-ẓālimīn’ There is none worthy of worship but You! Limitless are You in Your glory! Indeed, I have been of the transgressors. (21:87)”¹⁴