Naima B. Robert – Gentleness Episode 04 A Sister’s Ramadan
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AI: Transcript ©
Welcome back to A Sister's Ramadan. It's your
sister, Naeema B. Robert, and I'm honored that
you've joined me today.
This show is all about answering one central
question,
how can we as Muslim women use this
Ramadan
to grow, and to heal, and to renew
and replenish our iman?
The purpose of this show is to share
5 skills that are essential
for personal growth and healing,
and how we can use the rituals of
Ramadan
to get us to our goal. Insha'Allah,
this show will offer you a perspective that
will be beneficial
long after this month has passed.
In today's show, we will be looking at
the power of Istighfar
and the importance of letting go.
I do not need to tell every single
one of you that the reality of this
life is that it's a journey.
No matter where we find ourselves,
we know that we are always progressing onto
a new stage.
And every one of us is always
in one of 3 states.
We have either been tested,
we are currently being tested,
or we are going to be tested.
No one can escape this no matter how
wealthy they are, no matter how happy they
are in the moment.
This is the reality for every one of
Allah's creation.
Abu Hurayrah radiAllahu anhu
reported that Allah's Messenger sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
said,
the world is a prison for a believer
and a paradise
for a non believer. SubhanAllah.
Allah SubhanAllah says,
do the people think that they will be
left alone because they say, we believe
and they will not be tested?
And we indeed tested those who were before
them.
And Allah will certainly make it known the
truth of those who are true,
and will certainly make it known the falsehood
of those who are liars. SubhanAllah,
La Deen.
Now,
if we know the reality of this life
is that we will be tested,
And even when we have grasped Iman,
even when we are practicing this deen, that
we will go through tests and trials,
Know this,
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala created us
humans
weak,
with the ability to triumph
and the ability to fail.
And so,
if this is the case, then I want
every one of us to realize that
failing a test is not the end of
your story.
We will not pass every test.
We will not be able to tick every
single deed.
That's simply a part of how we are
made. We are not angels.
The angels do Allah's bidding. They have no
free will, they do Allah's bidding, that is
their nature.
As human beings, as you know, we have
the ability to choose.
We have
the gift of discernment which means that
we can choose to do good or we
can choose to do the wrong thing.
But why I'm bringing all of this to
your attention is that you,
yourself,
may feel like you failed certain tests.
Maybe you haven't held yourself to the standard
that you always thought you would. Maybe you
have fallen.
But my dear sister, my reminder to you
is this,
the goal
is to keep returning to Allah
no matter how many times we fall.
And that's why,
the aspect of our Ramadan
that I would like to share with you
in this episode,
is that of Istighfar,
seeking Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la's forgiveness.
I'm sure we are all aware of the
benefits of Istighfar, but I wanted to remind
us again because it so happens in our
day to day lives that things happen so
fast, we get used to things, we may
get, get into the habit of doing certain
things to the point where we don't even
feel that we need to make Istighfar anymore.
So I want to remind us all of
the benefits of seeking Allah's forgiveness regularly.
Well, the first is that it's obeying one
of Allah's commands. Allah commands us to seek
his forgiveness.
Another benefit which of course is one of
the most important benefits certainly for our akhirah,
is that when we seek Allah's forgiveness,
he forgives us. He is Ar Rahman,
Ar Raheem, and as long as we are
sincere
in our seeking of forgiveness and we do
what we need to do to make up
for that, Allah's forgiveness is something that we
can look forward to and count on.
Another beautiful
gem from the Istighfar is that Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala promises abundance and mercy
to those who ask for forgiveness.
And of course,
asking for forgiveness and being forgiven is our
entry ticket into paradise, insha'Allah.
And so, my question to you is this,
if you look at your day to day
life, if you look at your life over
the past 3 months, 6 months, even a
year,
is there anything that you need to ask
Allah's forgiveness for?
What would it mean for Allah to wipe
that deed off your record?
For you not to be held to account
for that deed.
It could be something small, it could be
something major.
Whatever it is,
the first thing I ask you to do
is acknowledge
that this is something that
needs to be forgiven. That Allah's
forgiveness on this affair, whatever it is, is
something that you want.
And then take the steps necessary
to humble yourself
and ask for Allah's forgiveness.
SubhanAllah.
We live in a world
where our desires
run the show,
and we are constantly being encouraged
to fulfill our desires, to make ourselves happy
by any means necessary.
And what happens is that we become numb.
We become
desensitized
to our sins. I'm going to call it
out.
We become used to sinning, we become desensitized
and we no longer feel
that shame or that embarrassment that we felt,
maybe at the beginning.
And so,
if this resonates with you,
you're not alone.
But my reminder to you and my plea
to you
is, dig deep,
find the humility
that is within you,
as a slave of Allah,
Someone who needs Allah's forgiveness,
who cannot survive without Allah's forgiveness, and does
not want to reach the end of her
life without Allah's forgiveness. Find her,
and then make istighfar
from a place of sincerity and humility,
and true need and recognition of Allah's power,
and use this Ramadan
to get those sins cleared off.
Now in terms of a personal skill,
this is a superpower
that you may not be aware
of, and it is simply the power of
letting go.
What do I mean by letting go? Well,
I spoke about Istighfar and about asking for
Allah's forgiveness.
And I want you to do that.
But another thing that I'm going to invite
you to do which is
almost as important for you,
is for you to forgive yourself.
Many people
will make istighfar
and will continue to hold onto the guilt
and the shame from whatever it is that
they did. So it starts to affect the
way that they move in the world, even
though they've made istighfar.
Now letting go of that baggage of shame
and blame allows you to show up for
yourself and all your relationships.
And
not only do I want you to learn
how to let go of those things that
you did once you've made your istighfar to
move beyond it,
I would like to invite you also to
let go of other people's wrongdoings.
Now I know what some of you are
thinking,
that person does not deserve my forgiveness, they
have not asked for my forgiveness, I am
not going to forgive that person.
And my reminder to you is that
the person who suffers when you hold on
to the resentment and the anger and the
frustration
or the pain
is you.
And letting go,
forgiving that person for the sake of Allah
frees you.
And we want to return to Allah
and we expect his mercy.
So I invite every one of you, even
if it sounds like a selfish purpose,
let go for the sake of Allah and
let go for your own sake.
JazaakAllah Khayran for joining me for this episode.
If you benefited from anything that I shared
then Alhamdulillah, Allah kullihal.
Please do
send us your comments, let us know what
you thought and what benefit you took from
this, and be sure to use hashtag Sisters
Ramadan, and don't forget to tag Iman channel
and myself, Naeema B. Robert.
SubhanakAllahumaraba
no bihamdik, ashhaduallallahuilahaillahaillahaandwasstaghfruka
wana2builake.
And don't forget to join me on the
next episode when we will be discussing the
importance of tadabbur
and the power of choosing your own emotional
home.