Don't Lose Hope, Turn Back Before It's Too Late

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Don't lose hope in Allah's mercy. Allah is extremely forgiving, always merciful. Allah's mercy is that He leaves the door of forgiveness open for you. So you made a lot of mistakes but that doesn't mean that Allah's love and compassion is gone. When a mother shuns her son and says "You disappointed me, you've hurt my feelings" and she is angry with him, even after all of that when the son comes back crying and says, "Mom, I'm sorry. I messed up!" even if he comes back 10, 20, 30 years later, does the mother still cry and hug him? Yes, because they were tied by the womb (raham). And the womb is one creation of Allah.

Allah the Exalted said, 'I Am Ar-Rahman. I created the Raham (womb) and derived a name for it from My Name...' (Hadith Qudsi)

That bond of love is always there between Allah and the slave, it never goes away. That's what opens the door for forgiveness.

وَكَانَ بِٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَ‌حِيمًا ﴿٤٣ ...

And He is ever Rahim (merciful) to the believers. [Qur'an, Al-Ahzab 33:43]

قُلْ يَـٰعِبَادِىَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَسْرَ‌فُوا۟ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا۟ مِن رَّ‌حْمَةِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ‌ ٱلذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْغَفُورُ‌ ٱلرَّ‌حِيمُ ﴿٥٣﴾ وَأَنِيبُوٓا۟ إِلَىٰ رَ‌بِّكُمْ وَأَسْلِمُوا۟ لَهُۥ مِن قَبْلِ أَن يَأْتِيَكُمُ ٱلْعَذَابُ ثُمَّ لَا تُنصَرُ‌ونَ ﴿٥٤


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." (53) And return [in repentance] to your Lord and submit to Him before the punishment comes upon you; then you will not be helped. (54)

[Qur'an, Az-Zumar 39:53-54]

How then should you go about getting hope in your life? Turn back to Allah spiritually. All this while, it is as though you have walked away from Him. You didn't think Allah is with you wherever you are. You didn't remember Him all day, all night, all week, all month, maybe the last 30 years. You've been ignoring Him. Now, turn back to Him. Realize He is here with you.

هُوَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَ‌ٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْ‌ضَ فِى سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ ثُمَّ ٱسْتَوَىٰ عَلَى ٱلْعَرْ‌شِ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا يَلِجُ فِى ٱلْأَرْ‌ضِ وَمَا يَخْرُ‌جُ مِنْهَا وَمَا يَنزِلُ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَمَا يَعْرُ‌جُ فِيهَا ۖ وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ‌ۭ ﴿٤

It is He who created the heavens and earth in six days and then established Himself above the Throne. He knows what penetrates into the earth and what emerges from it and what descends from the heaven and what ascends therein; and He is with you wherever you are. And Allah , of what you do, is Seeing.

[Qur'an, Al-Hadid 57:4]

Imagine, if there are three of you sitting together and two of you are talking and one is completely being ignored, is that offensive? Every time we are sitting in a gathering, Allah is there. If you ignored Him all this time, then it is offensive. Anybody else would walk away and would never again keep your company.

How about engaging in sins--backbiting, stealing, lying, fornicating, disrespecting your parents...disobedience after disobedience? Imagine doing that in front of your boss or your teacher? Wouldn't that be disgusting?

But don't lose hope. Your Lord is still willing to listen.

Give yourself up before His punishment comes your way and you don't even have a clue what's going on. Don't bring your pride. Allah's forgiveness is extreme up until a point. Don't be lazy, don't keep falling short of His expectation, don't be heedless, don't be defiant, because you will regret it if you wait till that point. It would be too late then.

وَٱتَّبِعُوٓا۟ أَحْسَنَ مَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُم مِّن رَّ‌بِّكُم مِّن قَبْلِ أَن يَأْتِيَكُمُ ٱلْعَذَابُ بَغْتَةً وَأَنتُمْ لَا تَشْعُرُ‌ونَ ﴿٥٥﴾ أَن تَقُولَ نَفْسٌ يَـٰحَسْرَ‌تَىٰ عَلَىٰ مَا فَرَّ‌طتُ فِى جَنۢبِ ٱللَّهِ وَإِن كُنتُ لَمِنَ ٱلسَّـٰخِرِ‌ينَ ﴿٥٦

And follow the best of what was revealed to you from your Lord before the punishment comes upon you suddenly while you do not perceive, (55) Lest a soul should say, "Oh [how great is] my regret over what I neglected in regard to Allah and that I was among the mockers." (56)

[Qur'an, Az-Zumar 39:55-56]

Of all the revelations that have come, follow the Qur'an. Then take from the revelation that call to ihsan (excellence). For example, when you learned something from Ibrahim, Yunus, Yusuf, Ya'qub, Musa (peace be upon them), put it into your life. When you learned a du'a, put it into practice. Whatever you do, do it at the level of ihsan.

May Allah grant us excellence in worship and make us of those who are oft-repentant and who purify themselves. Ameen.

إِنَّ ٱللَّـهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلتَّوَّٰبِينَ وَيُحِبُّ ٱلْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ ﴿٢٢٢ ...

... Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves." (222) [Qur'an, Al-baqarah 2:222]

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam.

And Allah knows best and He alone grant success.

Wassalaam