Can Allah ﷻ forgive me?

بسم الله والحمد الله

والصلاة واسلام على رسول الله

By Iffat

Anyone that knows me knows I am an inherently confused person who is sure about very few things. That is to emphasize that if I tell you something with certainty then it must be something that I believe in vehemently and earnestly. We sometimes find that when one sins, even when they turn to Allah ﷻ, they still question, can Allah ﷻ forgive me?

Now the answer to the question in point is a resounding YES, Allah ﷻ is the Most Forgiving and the Most Merciful. Abu Huraira (rh) reported:

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ  said, "When Allah completed the creation, He wrote in His book with Him upon the Throne: Verily, My mercy prevails over My wrath."

- [Sahih al-Bukhari & Sahih Muslim]

Allah’s Mercy is greater than His Wrath as The Most Merciful says so Himself ﷻ:

"O My servants who have exceeded the limits against their souls! Do not lose hope in Allah's mercy, for Allah certainly forgives all sins. He is indeed the All-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

- [Surah az-Zumar - 39:53]

When we sincerely repent, Allah ﷻ embraces us with wide arms, He is always waiting for us. The very chance that He gives us to repent to Him means that He is eager to forgive. Sometimes you fail to realize that pushing yourself into the sea of despair, thinking that Allah ﷻ won’t forgive me, you are giving Shaytan the chance to win. Shaytan does not necessarily always win by pushing you into sins, no, he sometimes wins by convincing you that you are beyond Allah’s Forgiveness and Mercy. Don’t let him win. Shaytan has vowed to take you away from Allah ﷻ, your Rabb, Who has sustained you through every war life threw at you, Allah ﷻ was your ammunition. You didn’t ask for Islam, He gave it to you. If that’s not the greatest sign of love I don’t know what is. When you slip your Lord is waiting to pick you up. When you walk to Him, He comes running to you. Why? Because He ﷻ loves you more than any human being ever could.

I often think of Musa (as) who is the most frequently mentioned prophet in the Quran. His journey is a magnificent one where the display of Allah's Love and Mercy melts my heart. I listened to a clip by Shaykh Ali Hammuda the other day and subhan Allah. The very first thing I think of when I think of Musa AS is how much Allah ﷻ loved him, He gave him (as) the chance to speak to Himself. When we love someone we want to hear them, communicate to them. His (as) birth was a miracle, his journey to prophethood is an extraordinary one. There’s a verse in Surah Taha when I read its tafsir it blew my mind:

[And We favored you] when your sister went and said, 'Shall I direct you to someone who will be responsible for him?' So We restored you to your mother that she might be content and not grieve. And you killed someone, but We saved you from retaliation and tried you with a [severe] trial. And you remained [some] years among the people of Madyan. Then you came [here] at the decreed time, O Moses.

- [Surah Taha 20:40]

The phrase ‘wa fatannaka futuna’ translates to ‘and We tried you with a severe trial.’ Ibn Abbas (ra)  mentions a long list of the events that Musa (as) went through and they were very difficult on him. Musa (as) accidentally killed a person— the keyword is accidentally but he ended up killing a person. What did he do after that?

And he entered the city at a time of inattention by its people and found therein two men fighting: one from his faction and one from among his enemy. And the one from his faction called for help to him against the one from his enemy, so Moses struck him and [unintentionally] killed him. [Moses] said, "This is from the work of Satan. Indeed, he is a manifest, misleading enemy."

- [Surah al-Qasas 28:15]

Musa (as) didn’t fall into despair, isn’t that extraordinary? He was a prophet of Allah ﷻ, we stand nowhere close to him in taqwa and he accidentally made a huge slip. That’s what I learn from his story, that falling into despair would let shaytan win who is our clear enemy. What about the sins we end up doing in spite of ourselves, well we are not perfect and always going to slip, but sincere repentance is the key. Allah ﷻ forgave the man who killed 99 people and made it a century when told that Allah ﷻ won’t forgive him. Then he repented sincerely and the Most Merciful–my heart bows to Him, forgave him.

If you ever think you’re beyond forgiveness remember He ﷻ waits on the sinners, awaiting their repentance like a mother whose child has turned his back from his mother and the mother is waiting on him and nobody in the world can tell you that the mother will not embrace the child when he comes running to her. That’s just the love of a mother who has a drop of mercy in her from the ocean of the Most Merciful’s ocean of Mercy. Imagine what Ar Rehman’s Mercy must be like. Return to Him O seeker of Allah’s mercy, He is waiting for you with wide arms, ready to embrace you in His veil of Mercy and Forgiveness ﷻ.