Abdulfattah Adeyemi – TURNING TO ALLAH
AI: Summary ©
The transcript discusses the importance of seeking guidance from Allah as a means of growth and achieving spiritual health. The "by the way" concept is emphasized as a way to restore energy and clarity in one's life. The "by the way" concept is also discussed, where individuals can use it as a means of reassurance and protection for their spiritual health. The "by the way" concept is emphasized as a way to achieve spiritual health and success. The "by the way" concept is emphasized as a way to avoid harms and failure, and as a way to return to the present and future.
AI: Summary ©
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us the opportunity to carry out.
Once more, my name is Abdel Fattah Adeyemi.
The topic is turning to Allah.
So we have the turning, we have the
tawna, we have the tawni.
We are the tawnis to almighty Allah.
Just like you have the tawnis, so we
are tawnis to Allah.
Turning to Allah is a fundamental concept in
Islam that encapsulates the idea of seeking Allah's
guidance, seeking Allah's mercy, seeking Allah's forgiveness in
all aspects of life.
It reflects a believer's commitment to maintaining a
deep personal connection with the creator in three
ways.
One, through worship, that's ibadah.
Two, through supplication, that's dua.
And three, through righteous actions, amal usoleh.
These are the three ways through which we
turn to Allah.
Worship, supplication, and righteous actions.
So this, our lecture, this discussion will explore
the different dimensions of turning to Allah.
Also look at the significance of this practice
in a believer's life, that's in the tawni's
life.
And the means by which one can turn
to Allah sincerely.
It's not just turning to Allah, but also
turning to Allah in all sincerity.
Turning to Allah is called tawbah in the
Quran.
And it generally means repentance, if we translate
it to English.
However, it also encompasses a broader idea of
seeking closeness to Allah through constant remembrance, prayer,
and conscious submission to the will of Almighty
Allah.
It involves both the hearts and the actions.
Meaning a sincere internal state of turning away
from sin and disobedience, and moving towards obedience
and righteousness.
Turning to Allah is not only what we
think in our minds.
It's not just an idea.
It is something we have to actively pursue,
and actively carry out.
Turning to Allah is a very essential aspect
of Islam.
It's a very essential aspect of Iman.
You are a believer, and turning to Allah
is what you do, every time.
It's a recognition of the tawni's dependence on
Allah, and the need for the mercy and
guidance of Almighty Allah at all times.
So it is a process of spiritual purification,
a process of growth, a process of helping
to cleanse the heart from sins and from
weaknesses.
Now let's look at some metaphors that may
help us to understand better what we mean
by turning to Allah.
It is like the compass and the traveler.
Just as a traveler relies on a compass
to traverse through unknown and challenging terrains of
life, a believer turns to Allah to find
directions in life.
The traveler knows that in the massiveness of
the jungle, where every tree and rock can
look the same, a compass is more than
just a tool.
A compass is a lifeline.
When you are lost, that is the lifeline
that will make sure you succeed and survive
in your journey.
The compass provides clarity in the midst of
confusion.
It provides a single point of certainty in
a landscape that can easily deceive you.
Without it, the traveler is prone to wander
in circles, lost and disoriented, trapped in an
endless loop of uncertainty.
And similarly, life is a very vast, unpredictable
journey.
It is filled with moments of confusion, moments
of doubt, moments of hardship.
Humans are being created into constant toil, constant
struggle.
So in this journey, our desires and our
fears and external influences can often mislead us.
We think we know, but we don't really
know.
We think what we see is real, but
it's not really real.
We think we have seen this tree before,
and yet we have never seen it before.
We think we have passed through this way
before, we have never passed there before.
It's just the trees and the rocks that
look similar.
A believer understands that just as the compass
always points to the true north, turning to
Allah provides the constant unwavering guidance that is
needed to navigate the moral and existential terrains
of life.
So this reliance in Allah is not born
from weakness, but from a profound understanding of
the nature of our existence.
The traveler does not doubt their capacity to
walk or their courage to face the unknown.
But they acknowledge the limits of human perception
and the need for a higher guidance, where
you cannot see and you don't know what
is happening.
In the same way, a believer does not
relinquish their free will or abandon their reason.
They recognize the human wisdom, no matter how
vast it is, they recognize that our wisdom
is limited in the face of life mysteries.
It is not everything we can wrap our
heads around.
Some things will elude us, some things we
know, some things we don't really know.
Until when it is time to make use
of the knowledge, then we realize that we
actually knew nothing.
To turn to Allah is to orient oneself
toward an absolute source of wisdom and truth
and to find a direction that transcends the
fleeting and the finite.
It is to understand that while we may
have the ability to choose our steps, we
need a compass to determine the right path.
And in a world that often feels like
a maze of endless choices and distractions, this
turning to Allah is an act of profound
humility and trust.
It's a declaration that while the road ahead
may be uncertain, the one who is guiding
us is not uncertain.
Allah can never be helpless.
In every situation, the traveler and the believer
are both seekers.
One is seeking a destination of this world,
and the other one is seeking the destination
of the hereafter.
And in their seeking, they find that the
journey is not about knowing every turn, but
about trusting the one who is holding the
map and guiding you.
And it's Allah that is guiding us.
Without the compass, the traveler is lost, and
without turning to Allah, the soul is directionless
and lost in the world's distractions and temptations.
That is one.
Turning to Allah, secondly, is like the sunflower
and the sun.
A sunflower instinctively turns its face toward the
sun.
It keeps following its path throughout the day
to receive light and nourishment from the sun.
It does not need to be taught that
this is how it should move.
It doesn't need to be taught that you
have to move toward the sun because it
is part of its being to do that.
The light bulb doesn't have to be taught
that you have to do light.
You don't ask a door, hey, what do
you do?
The door knows that it is to open
the way for people to come in or
to go out.
You don't ask a window, hey, what are
you doing there?
The window knows that part of its job
is to open up for fresh air to
come in and for people to be able
to see what's happening outside.
The sunflower knows in its own silent wisdom
that its life depends on this turning to
Allah.
Without the sun's light, it will wither, it
will fade, and it will be deprived of
the energy that it needs to grow, the
energy that it needs to bloom, and to
reach its fullest potential.
So this natural act of turning is a
testament to a profound truth about existence.
To thrive, one must align with their source
of life.
And similarly, the human soul, in its search
for meaning and fulfillment, instinctively turns towards Allah,
the ultimate source of spiritual life and nourishment.
So just as a sunflower follows the sun
across the sky, a believer orients their hearts
and soul towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
knowing fully well that in the light of
Allah, they feel the warmth of guidance, they
find the energy of purpose, and they discover
the clarity of truth.
So this turning is not merely a ritual
or a formality.
It is an essential act of alignment with
the divine reality that sustains all of us.
كَلَّا سَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ ثُمَّ كَلَّا سَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ كَلَّا
لَوْ تَعْلَمُونَ إِلِمَ الْيَكِيمِ You shall get to
know, and after that you will get to
know, you are going to know for reality
and for certainty that Allah is the source
of light, and Allah is the source of
guidance to all of us.
To turn away is to live in darkness.
To turn towards Allah is to live in
the light of Allah.
And look at the sunflower.
This is exactly how our eyes behave.
No matter how many glasses you wear, no
matter how much of an expert you are,
the eyes cannot see where there is no
light.
The eyes become useless if the light is
not present to make it to function.
So also our lives in terms of guidance
will become useless and we will be perpetually
in the dark, if not for the light
of guidance of Allah that helps us to
navigate our paths in life.
So if you don't follow the light, it's
as good as you have closed your eyes.
And when you close your eyes, it's as
good as you are going to tremble and
you fall into a pit, or at least
you go astray completely.
So tauba, turning to Allah is recognizing the
source of light and recognizing it and following
it and turning to it at all times.
Another example of turning to Allah is that
of the parent and the child.
When a child is hurt or afraid, they
instinctively run to their parent for comfort and
protection.
This simple, primal act carries a profound truth
about the human condition within it.
It reveals the innate recognition of a source
greater than oneself, Allah Akbar.
It is an entity of safety.
It's an entity of care.
It's an unconditional love.
In the fragile world of a child where
every shadow is a potential monster and every
stumble a potential catastrophe, the parent embodies a
fortress of reassurance and strength for the child.
But this impulse is not confined to childhood.
Even as we grow, as we mature, and
as we assume our independence, the essence of
this instinct remains buried deep within us.
So in terms of distress, when life's shadows
grow long and its path becomes uncertain, we
seek something greater than ourselves, a refuge that
promises understanding and compassion and security.
So this, indeed, is another way that just
as a child turns to the parents, then
we too must turn to Almighty Allah for
support, for reassurance, and for safety.
And perhaps in this simple, unthinking gesture of
a child reaching for a parent, we also
find a comparison for the soul's eternal longing,
a reminder that beneath the layers of pride
and pretense, we are still children searching for
home.
Many of us were just wanderers, wandering around.
And when we move forward, we like to
look back, to be sure our parents are
watching over us, to be sure they are
there to cheer us on, and to be
sure they are there to guide us not
to fall into pit or to touch what
is dangerous to us.
The way a child will move a step
and turn back to look at the parent,
that's the same way our souls instinctively like
to turn back to be sure and to
be reassured that we are safe.
Another way of turning to Allah in tawbah
is the lack of the parched land and
the rain.
A dry, parched land eagerly awaits the arrival
of rain to become fertile and green again.
In its barrenness, the land thirsts for the
skies to open and to pour down life
-giving water for itself, because it knows that
without this rain, it remains a cracked and
desolate expanse, lacking in color, lacking in growth,
lacking in vitality.
So the rain is not just a luxury,
it is a necessity.
It's an essential element that awakens dormant seeds
and turns the desert into a flourishing garden.
This conversion is a powerful metaphor for the
journeys of the human soul from desolation to
renewal, from desiccation to hydration, and from rot
to lustre.
And similarly, when the human soul is burdened
by sin, when the human soul is disturbed
by heedlessness, it becomes like that barren land
that is dry, that is cracked and lifeless.
In moments of spiritual neglect, the heart loses
its capacity to feel, to connect, and to
thrive.
The heart becomes a wasteland where doubt, despair,
and discontentment takes root.
Yet, as the land knows that rain is
its salvation, the soul, deep down, recognizes that
its true revival lies in turning to Allah,
through repentance and through worship.
And so, as humans, just like we know
that the dry land needs the rainfall, in
order for it to thrive again, we also
know that ourselves too, we need to be
restored by the rainfall of Almighty Allah, when
we turn to Allah.
And in that restoration, like the barren land,
after a long-awaited rain, the soul becomes
fertile, it becomes green and alive once more,
capable of reaching heights of beauty and purpose
it could never have imagined in its parched
state.
And Allah says, قُلْ أَرْعَيْتُمْ إِنْ أَصْبَحَ مَا
أُكُمْ غَوْرًا فَمَا يَعْتِيكُمْ بِمَا إِمَّا إِنْ Don't
you see, if Allah should take your water
away from you, who will give you another
water?
مَا إِمَّا إِنْ The kind of life-giving
water that you require.
Turning to Allah is what gives us that
water to rejuvenate us and revive us back
to life.
Just as rain changes barren land into a
lush garden, turning to Allah changes a spiritually
barren heart into one filled with faith and
tranquility.
And just as water revitalizes the body, turning
to Allah rejuvenates the spirit.
Let me give you another example of turning
to Allah.
It's like the phone and the charger.
Just as a phone needs to be plugged
into its charger to regain energy and function
properly, the human heart and soul must be
connected to their divine source through prayer and
supplication and remembrance of Allah.
The phone is a marvel of modern creation.
It's a powerful tool that is capable of
countless functions.
And among the functions, there are three main
functions of the phone.
Communication, exploration, and creation.
But all of this potential is rendered useless
when its battery runs dry.
No matter how advanced its technology is, without
a source of power to recharge it, the
phone becomes a lifeless object disconnected from its
purpose.
It doesn't matter whether it's iPhone 9 or
iPhone 10, iPhone 15, iPhone 20, if there's
no battery, it's not going to iPhone anything.
In much the same way, the human heart
and soul, although filled with boundless potential for
love, potential for wisdom, potential for creativity, potential
for growth, it requires a steady source of
spiritual energy, the one we refer to as
solar energy.
S-O-U-L-A-R.
Solar energy.
The energy to function at the highest capacity.
The energy does not come from the material
world.
The energy for the soul, the solar energy,
which often leaves the soul feeling drained, distracted,
and disoriented.
Instead, the solar energy comes from connecting to
the divine source.
Al-Khaliq, the creator.
Al-Ibari, the evolver.
Al-Musawwir, the designer.
Who alone provides the strength and the clarity
and peace that the soul craves.
No soul can be at ease without these
three things.
So, prayer, that is Salat.
Dua, supplication.
And Zikr, remembrance of Allah.
They are the means by which the soul
plugs in to this divine connection.
So, just as the phone must be actively
connected to the charger, the soul must be
consciously connected to Allah.
So, prayer becomes the charging point for the
soul.
A place where one finds renewal and refreshment.
And in the moment of prayer, the believer
aligns the heart with Allah and thereby restoring
the inner balance, disrupted by the chaos and
noise of daily life.
Remembrance, that is Zikr, is a constant trickle
of energy that keeps the heart alive, that
keeps the heart alert and aware of its
purpose.
Much like a phone in low power mode
sustains itself until it can be fully charged
again.
Dua is a call for help and guidance.
It's a reminder that we are dependent beings
in need of divine support to survive the
challenges of life.
So, in a world that constantly drains our
spiritual batteries through distractions, through anxieties and relentless
pursuit of worldly desires, this connection is not
just a comfort, it's a necessity.
It's a necessity.
Some souls have only three bars left in
them.
Some souls have just two bars of battery
life.
And some souls have just one bar remaining.
Will you allow it to run down completely?
Because if this happens, how will you receive
calls from Allah?
No wonder some people no longer get Allah's
messages, including the answers to their prayers, because
their batteries have run down and their phones
are not functioning.
All they have is just carrying dead phones
all around.
How will you receive messages from Allah?
In terms of our spirituality, without the spiritual
charging, the heart grows tired, the mind becomes
clouded and the soul feels lost.
The believer understands that just as a phone
without a charge loses its ability to function,
a heart disconnected from its creator loses its
ability to truly live.
Some people were expecting a very important call
in their lives, but their batteries have run
down.
How will they be called back from being
lost?
Some people were following the Google map to
a destination unknown.
Just as they reached the middle of the
way, the battery ran down.
The Google map connection is cut off.
There's nobody around to call for help, and
there's no person to speak to to give
the proper guidance.
Has that person not got lost completely?
Allah Akbar!
Reaching to Allah is what it is.
Turning to Allah is like charging one's spiritual
battery, giving the strength needed to survive the
challenges of life.
Now, let me tell you another thing about
Tawbah.
It's like the lost person and the guide.
A person lost in a dense forest without
a map or guide is surrounded by a
maze of uncertainty.
Every path seems the same, every rustle in
the leaves suggests danger, and every step deepens
a sense of confusion.
With the forest towering trees and tangled undergrowth,
the jungle becomes a tangle where fear and
doubt grow as thick as the climbing plants
that are under the feet.
Without a clear direction in life, the mind
is overwhelmed.
What am I going to do?
The mind is as anxious, turning over every
decision.
It is wondering if the next choice will
lead to safety or deeper into the unknown.
Imagine being at a cross path in the
jungle.
Every turn leads deeper into the unknown.
The world has its own complexities.
Things are not as simple as we think
they are.
There are temptations everywhere.
Some ethical questions don't come with ready answers.
And there are uncertainties everywhere.
You can't be too sure of anything, and
nothing is predictable.
Now imagine this world that is so vast
and impenetrable.
Choices can overwhelm us.
The burden of not knowing the right path
can weigh heavily on our hearts.
How can we find our ways if we
don't turn to Allah for guidance so that
we don't continuously and perpetually become lost?
Allah Akbar.
The believer or the tonili understands that Allah,
with his infinite wisdom and knowledge, is the
perfect guide through the forest of existence.
In the same way, we can never be
guided until we turn to Almighty Allah.
And then the broken object and the crashed
man.
When something valuable breaks, a cherished piece of
jewelry, or a family treasure, or an expensive
flower vase, or an important porcelain, we seek
out a skilled craftsman or expert who knows
how to restore it to its former glory.
In the hands of an unskilled craftsman, the
damage may worsen.
In the hands of the indifferent, the value
might be overlooked.
But in the hands of the craftsman, with
their deep understanding of the material, with the
tools and the techniques required, they see not
only the damage, but also the potential for
renewal.
And that is Almighty Allah, the craftsman of
our souls.
He knows where to apply pressure.
He knows where to be gentle.
He knows how to mend what is broken
so that it becomes whole again.
This process is not just a repair.
It is a restoration of worth.
It is a restoration of beauty.
And a restoration of purpose.
And similarly, when a human heart is broken,
whether by loss or by betrayal or by
sin or the weight of the world's disappointment,
or when a person feels spiritually shattered and
disconnected, it is not enough to turn to
the transcendent remedies of this world.
Distractions, temporary comforts, and superficial advice may offer
momentary relief, but they rarely address the deeper
features of what we are going through.
It is when we keep our broken life
with Almighty Allah, it is when we turn
to Almighty Allah, who knows every crack and
crevice, every place where pain has settled, and
every silent cry for relief.
It is when we turn to Him to
seek the touch of the One who not
only mends but also heals.
It is until then that we are properly
healed.
Many of us go around as broken individuals.
People don't even see your crack.
But you know very well that your heart
is bleeding because you have been broken by
life's disappointments.
Turning to Allah is going back to the
One who manufactured you in the first place
and He knows the right materials to mend
your broken heart.
This is another way of turning to Almighty
Allah.
So why should we turn to Allah in
repentance, in tawbah?
First, the concept of tawbah in Islam requires
that we must do certain things.
Number one, you have to stop the sin
right away.
Number two, you have to regret for the
past misdeeds you have done.
And number three, you have to have a
sincere apology to Allah.
And number four, you have to have a
resolution to avoid the sins in the future.
Those are the rudiments of tawbah as far
as Islam is concerned.
But you cannot do this tawbah unless you
remember what you are and remember what you
have.
We cannot do this except we know who
we are.
Having a dark side is something that is
sometimes not what it seems.
It could just mean that a person may
have dealt with sad things in life.
Deep inside a hidden box of sagas of
a troubled life, a life that is held
hostage from memories of betrayals and loss, some
of us shot some things within the chest
because we have been misunderstood a lot by
the people who should know us better.
Our hearts have got black because it represents
the life we've had to live.
The only life we know as ours, dark
as black, is our signature color.
As a nation, we have been lied to,
we have been deceived by politicians over many
years.
They have taken advantage of our naivety.
They have exploited our patience.
They kept us occupied with poverty and the
primal need for survival.
Over many years, we have had to adapt,
we have had to adjust, to wait, to
understand, to be patient, and to be silent.
So we have become dark-minded people, more
wicked, more inconsiderate, and more desperate.
Things no longer look bad to us.
Darkness has become generational.
Maybe as a people, we have been wicked.
Maybe we have been cruel and sinful in
our own ways.
Maybe as a family, husbands have been cheating
on their wives, and vice versa.
We have broken the trust.
We have broken the promise.
We have broken the vow.
Hypocrisy has painted us black, black and broken,
with broken homes, with broken children, with broken
lives, with broken hearts, with broken future.
As we are facing our lives, are we
actually, with everything we are going through, as
a nation, as a family, or as a
society, are we facing the consequences of our
own dreams?
We want to reap what we did not
sow.
We complain of hunger when we did not
plant food.
Our minds are conditioned to expect money in
our salary to drop from the heaven, such
that we only open our mouths, and food
will drop in from the sky.
Maybe that is what we were expecting, and
maybe that is what we need to turn
back to Allah from.
We seem to be getting it all wrong.
We become scared of our own shadows.
We see monsters reflecting every mirror that we
look into.
We are just like our leaders, just like
our leaders are like us.
We are all the same brothers, sisters, cousins,
relatives, spouses of each other.
Maybe it's just the way we express the
life we have been through.
It has been a hard life for all
of us.
Maybe we are mutating into strange creatures only
Allah knows.
So we learn to express it in that
way, like a ghost that is searching for
light.
Almost everything is black and dark.
Just like our faces and our hearts.
As individuals, we are all wondrous in the
gloom of our private lives.
We are all nomads in the darkness of
our journeys.
We are all monstrous in the secrecy of
our bodies.
However, that doesn't mean we don't have a
heart.
We are still kind when we have to.
We are still considerate.
We are still forgiving when we have to.
But we can also be funny.
We can entertain ourselves with the social media.
Yet this, our dark side continues to haunt
us.
We pretend to be happy.
Just get data and be watching skits of
comedies, of things that are funny.
Organizing comedy shows and creating things to make
us laugh.
Whereas, this dark side of ours is still
haunting us because our so-called happiness and
laughter are not real.
We are just making it.
We are just faking it.
We have done so many horrible things in
the dark, all of us.
We have hidden in the dark to eat
forbidden fruits, but denied in the morning.
We still do the things that cause us
fright Yet, in the shadows of the night,
we still do the things that the devil
will see and run from us and say,
Auzubillah.
There are certain things that even Shaitaan will
see us do and will say, Auzubillah, I'm
in a Shaitaan regime.
Because Shaitaan knows that even he cannot do
better than that.
People have cut off each other's heads for
morning rituals.
Children have killed their parents because of dunya.
Many people have robbed people.
Many have killed people.
Many have kidnapped people.
Many have maimed people.
And all of these things amongst us, and
Shaitaan will be wondering, These guys are superior.
And what may pain Shaitaan the most is
that the same us that do all of
these things will still criticize other people and
will still think it is some other people
that are bad, not us.
And even when we're entrusted with resources to
carry out acts of worship, to go for
Hajj, we still spend the morning without any
fear of reproach of Almighty Allah.
Now you see Shaitaan will see us and
say, Auzubillah, because of what we do.
We still hide away from prying eyes and
indulge in our secret lives.
We think we are safe when nobody can
see us.
But do we truly think we are free
from the blame of our iniquities and the
bane of our atrocities?
Do we fear the judgment of the light
such that we feel safe in our darkness?
Don't we realize that the actions that we
take in darkness can leave our souls forever
heartless?
Don't we recognize that the horrible things we
do in the dark can leave a permanent
and damning mark on our hearts and push
away the blessings of Almighty Allah?
So we cling to the darkness and we
find solace in the shadows as a place
where we can hide and shield ourselves from
judgment that the light may bring inside.
What drives us to commit these deeds?
Is it our wants of the primary needs
of life?
Or we can't find enough excess to feed
our greed?
Could it be because we are a mixture
of a lot of things?
We are a fusion of a lot of
things?
We are a synthesis of a lot of
things?
Aren't we a blend of combined concoction of
poison and serum at the same time?
As Allah not put the two inside us
for a purpose, some parts of our hearts
are dark with these black spots of iniquities
while some other parts reflect the bright spark
of the little righteousness that we have left
in us.
We are all sinners and righteous ones at
the same time.
Maybe as a people, we are a mix
of the good, the not so good, and
the not so good looking.
Maybe as individuals, we are all as good
as we are bad and we are all
as bad as we are good.
We are all dark as light and we
are all light as dark.
We are organism mixed in contrast.
We are complex beings with deep layers and
thick coatings with our contradictions within and the
conflicting influences of our certainties.
We often struggle to even understand ourselves and
that is why you will often think you
are a nice person.
You will think you are a nice person
until you get rich.
Then you will see that you are not
that nice.
Or that you will think you are a
just person until you become an authority.
Then you will see that you are not
that just.
You will think you know how to sort
things out until you become a president.
Then you will be shocked that your own
people are the ones that work against you.
Or you will think that you know your
people well until they divert the palliatives to
their own personal pockets.
Or you will think that you are not
oppressive until you become powerful.
Or that maybe you think you are not
corrupt until you are in government.
When others steal money, you call it corruption.
But when it is your turn, you call
it connection.
They say, how did you manage to make
this money?
You say, I have some connections in the
high place.
You will not call it corruption again.
Our personalities are a blend of disparities.
A tangle of light and shadow.
A twist of coils.
The good and the bad.
The happy and the sad.
The pleasure and pain.
The sane and the mad.
The love and the hate.
The brave and the scared.
The wise and the foolish.
The improvised and the real.
We try to keep a myriad of emotions.
The sweet and the sour.
The calm and the chaos.
The sun and the shower.
We mix everything together.
But it is in this dichotomy, this duality,
that we find the essence of our reality.
It is a struggle between darkness and light.
A human will always have to struggle with
the dark side of their lives.
So let us embrace our contrasting sides.
Our flaws.
And our strengths.
Our faults.
And our strides.
Because it is in this acceptance, this embrace,
that we can truly find our place.
Then we can make effort to turn towards
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Because only when we acknowledge the dangers of
our sinful ways, and the serious consequences, that
we can hope to overcome the afflictions of
what we have wrought upon ourselves.
We must all do the tawbah and return
to Allah.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, وَتُوبُوا
إِلَى اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ Quran
chapter 24 verse 31, surah Noor.
And turn to Allah in repentance.
Very significantly, is the chapter of light.
That Allah is calling us to turn to
Allah, جَمِيعًا.
Do tawbah to Allah so that you can
come back to the light.
أَيُّهَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ All of you that truly believe
in Allah, all of you that truly turn
to Allah, لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ so that you can
become successful.
The Quran frequently mentions attributes of Allah.
الْغَفُورُ, the most forgiving, and الْتَوَّابُ, the one
that accepts repentance.
He is الْغَفَّار, because we constantly offend him,
and so he constantly forgives us.
Repentance is when we step into the light
in purifying our souls.
Allah says, يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا O you
who believe, تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَسُوحًا O
you who believe, repent and return to Allah
in the best of all repentance, and the
best of all returning.
أَعْصَهَا رَبُّكُمْ أَنْ يُكَفِّرَ عَنكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ Maybe if
you do this, maybe your Lord is going
to remove from you, is going to erase
from you all of your sins.
وَيُخِلَكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي وَيُخِلَكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي And will
make you to enter into Paradise under which
تَجْرِي مِن تَحْجِيَ الْأَنْهَار under which rivers flow.
يَوْمَ لَا يُخْزِلْ لَا النَّبِيَّ That day is
coming when Allah will not disappoint the Messenger,
the Prophets of Allah وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُمْ and
all of those who believe with him.
What will Allah do to them?
نُورُهُمْ يَسَىٰ بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَبِأَيْمَانِهِمْ Their light will
be shining brightly in their left and their
right.
يَكُولُوا نَرَبَّنَا And our prayers then will be
O our Lord!
أَتْمِمْ لَنَا نُورَنَا Complete our light for us.
وَتُفْرِلْ لَنَا وَتُفْرِلْ لَنَا And forgive our sins.
إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ كُدِيرٍ Because You
have power over all things.
Did you now see the connection between the
light and the tawbah?
Between the light and forgiveness because Allah knows
that our sins are born out of the
dark sides of our lives.
And we need the light of Allah's forgiveness
when we turn to Him to remove us
from that darkness.
But turning to Allah and seeking the light
is not a one-off thing.
It's not something you just do and you
say you are done with it.
You have to keep groping.
Our task is to keep groping towards the
light of knowledge, the light of kindness, and
the light of love, the light of mercy,
the light of the Quran and Sunnah.
It's a symbol of all that is good.
It's a ray of hope in a world
that could be dark and dreary, that could
be bleak and cold.
But with the light of knowledge, we are
never alone.
Allah will say to us, I've got your
back.
I'm there with you.
So we bask in the radiance of tawbah.
We feel the grace of Almighty Allah and
we find our place in the embrace of
the light of Allah.
The light is more than just a glow.
It's a symbol of the things we know
are true and good and right and just.
And we learn to trust Allah and stay
in the presence of Almighty Allah with minimal
distraction.
And we have to keep performing good deeds.
The Quran says, Don't you know that
Allah accepts repentance from His servants and He
accepts the sadaqah, the good deeds that you
do.
And that Allah alone is the one who
forgives and accepts repentance most merciful.
Good deeds destroy sins just like fire destroys
dried firewood.
And we must do a lot of good
deeds for our repentance to be taken seriously.
We should also keep reflecting on Allah's names
and attributes because Allah is Al-Ghafoor Al
-Wadud.
And Allah says, Indeed, your Lord is wide
in forgiveness.
O you My servants that have wronged their
souls, Don't lose hope in the mercy of
Allah.
Allah forgives all sins.
Because All-Forgiving and Most Merciful And turn
to your Lord.
Allah didn't say, And turn to Allah.
Allah says, Turn to your Lord.
I am your Lord.
I am your nourisher.
I am your cherisher.
And surrender to Him.
Surrender the fact that you have your dark
sides that are pulling you away from the
light.
Surrender to Him just like the flowers surrender
to the sunlight, a source of nourishment and
life.
All before the punishment of Allah comes to
meet you.
And then you will not be helped by
anyone.
Hunger in the land, kidnapping, killings, corruption.
All of these sins, the simple solution will
have been for us to return back to
Allah and surrender to Him.
If we don't do that, we ain't going
nowhere.
And Allah says, And follow and obey the
best of the things we have revealed to
you in the Quran.
They all came from your Lord.
And before a sudden punishment afflicts you, and
it will catch you by surprise.
You will not know.
You will not see it coming.
So that none of you will not come
and search, crying foul.
And say, Oh Allah, why did I move
away from this side of Allah?
And will be like, ah, somebody cast a
spell on me.
Before that happens, ensure that you do what
is good, and you return to Allah.
According to Imam Ahmad, who recorded Abu Dhar
al-Ghifari, said that the Messenger of Allah
said, Allah says in one Hadith Qudsi, Ya
Ibadi, O you My servant.
Ya Ibadi, O you My servant.
As long as you are worshiping Me, and
you are begging Me, and you are praying
to Me, I am going to forgive your
sins on whatever thing you must have done
wrong.
Ya Ibadi, Ya Abdi, O you My servant.
Even if you come to Me, Allah Akbar,
even if you come to Me with sins
that are as big as this earth, so
long as you don't associate partner with Me,
I am going to come to you with
forgiveness that is as big as this earth
itself.
Allah Akbar Kabira.
So it is time.
It is time for Astaghfirullah.
It is time to seek forgiveness from Almighty
Allah.
The Prophet s.a.w. used to ask
Allah's forgiveness 70 times every day.
But the Quran asks us, Is it not
time?
Alam Ya'ni Alam Ya'ni Alam Ya
'ni Lilladhina Amanu An Takhsha'a Kulubuhum Bidhikri
Allahi Wama Nazala Minal Haqqi Wama Nazala Minal
Haqqi Wala Yakunu Kalladhina Qutul Kitab Wala
Yakunu Kalladhina Qutul Kitab Min Qabul Fatala Alayhimul
Amad Faqasat Kulubuhum Wakathirum Minhum
Fasiqun Is it not time for those who
believe that their hearts should melt for Allah
in the remembrance of Almighty Allah and what
we have revealed of the truth of the
Quran and they should not be like those
that were given the book before them Fatala
Alayhimul Amad and the consequences of their deeds
caught up with them Faqasat Kulubuhum and their
heart became harder Wakathirum Minhum Fasiqun and many
of them became farsik they became ardent sinners
Is it not time Is it not time
As the clock of life ticks away each
moment is silent witness to the passage of
days and years Is it not time There
comes a moment when the soul must confront
a question that transcends the mundane concerns of
daily life Is it not time The question
echoes not only through the corridors of time
but through the very heart of our existence
Is it not time to turn to Allah
in repentance Time is relentless and unyielding You
cannot press pause on time It marches forward
bringing with it the inevitable ebb and flow
of experiences, moments of joy moments of sorrow
moments of success and failure Each tick of
the clock is both a reminder of the
present and a testament to the past Today
is yesterday's tomorrow and as we traverse through
this uncharted journey of time there comes a
time when we must feel the truth of
our own spiritual state Is it not time
to pause and reflect on the path we
have taken Is it not time to acknowledge
the weight of our mistakes, the depth of
our shortcomings and the distance we may have
created between ourselves and Allah Just as the
seasons change and the natural world undergoes cycles
of renewal so too does the soul require
moments of reckoning and renewal Repentance is not
merely a reaction to guilt or regret It's
a profound reflective act of returning to the
essence of our being It is a recognition
that within the core of our beings there
are layers of imperfection and within the hearts
there are spaces yearning for healing It's an
invitation to reconnect with Allah, to realign ourselves
with the eternal truth and the guides that
sustain us In turning to Allah in repentance
in doing tawbah to Allah we acknowledge that
time is not just a linear progression but
a sacred opportunity for spiritual growth and progress
The moment of repentance is a bridge between
the past and the future.
It's a chance to mend what was broken
to forge a new path forward It's an
affirmation that despite the missteps and the tawbahs,
there is always a chance to return to
Allah to begin anew and to seek the
grace that's ever present and the forgiveness that
is present continues Each moment of repentance is
a connection of the past with the present
the finite with the infinite the sinner with
the forgiver It's an acknowledgement that regardless of
the passage of time there's always a divine
embrace waiting to receive us to heal us
to guide us towards a path of renewal
and grace and just as the night eventually
yields to the dawn so too does the
act of repentance herald a new beginning for
all of us It's a chance to emerge
from the shadows of past mistakes into the
light of Allah's guidance and compassion Allah is
the protective friend of those who are turnees
He brings them from darkness and put them
into the light So is it not time
to turn towards Allah with sincerity and humility
Is it not time to lay down the
burdens of guilt and remorse and to embrace
the promise of mercy and forgiveness So turning
to Allah is a comprehensive process and involves
the heart the mind and the actions It's
not a one time thing It's something that
we keep doing over and over So as
we consider the relentless march of time let
us ask ourselves Is it not time we
turn to Allah before we return to Him
May Allah grant us all the ability to
turn to Him sincerely and live our lives
in His pleasure O Allah In the quiet
of this moment we come before you Ya
Allah with your heart that is heavy and
humble Our souls were once radiant but we
have wandered through shadows and tunnels We have
turned away from your guiding light We stand
before you Ya Allah acknowledging the weight of
our transgressions and the distance we have placed
between ourselves and your Rahmah O Allah You
are the forgiver of sins and the healer
of hearts We lay bare our regrets and
seek refuge in your boundless mercy Each misstep
each moment of heedlessness has etched itself upon
our spirits Leaving us yearning for the solace
that only your forgiveness can bring We are
travelers in need of your guidance We are
lost in the confusion of our own making
We are longing to return to the path
that leads to your divine presence We beseech
you Ya Allah to cleanse our hearts from
the stains of our past mistakes Wash away
the shadows that have clouded our judgments and
renew within us a spirit of sincerity and
of purpose Let your light penetrate the depths
of our beings illuminating the path forward and
dispelling the darkness that has veiled our understanding
O Allah, please grant us the strength to
turn away from what leads us astray and
give us the wisdom to embrace what draws
us closer to you O Allah, instill in
us a resolve that is steadfast and true
a commitment to walk in the light of
your guidance and humility and determination O Allah,
help us to turn over a new leaf
as a nation as individuals as families, as
a society as an ummah Help us to
turn over a new leaf to start afresh
with a heart that beats in rhythm with
your will and a soul that finds peace
in your presence O Allah, you are the
guardian of the lost and you are the
restorer of the broken.
We seek your assistance in this journey of
renewal Surround us with your protection Shield us
from the temptations that seek to divest us
from your path O Allah, endow us with
the patience to persevere in our quest for
righteousness Let our actions reflect your teachings and
let our hearts remain ever faithful to your
divine love You are Al-Wadud, you are
Al-Gafoor In this moment of repentance O
Allah, we place our trust in your promises
and we surrender our wills to your divine
decree O Allah, accept our plea O Allah,
as a token of our sincere return to
you We are returnees and we are tourneys
to you seeking your face and your grace
May your grace envelop us May your guidance
direct us May your mercy embrace us as
we embark upon this new chapter in our
lives Forgive us, ya Allah and lead us
to a future where our steps are aligned
with your will and our hearts are serene
in your remembrance and our souls find their
ultimate fulfillment in your presence رَبَّنَا لَا تُوَاخِذْنَا
إِن نَسِيْنَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْنَا
إِسْرَا كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبِلِنَا رَبَّنَا
وَلَا تُحَمِّلْنَا