They used to do good deeds by obeying each and every order of Allah (to their level best) but were still not sure (humbly) if the “level of their sincerity” is enough to be acceptable in front of Allah (if it is free from show off, personal gain…etc.) so they used to pray with tears of repentance so that Allah (s.w.t) may forgive mistakes in their good deeds.
On the other hand, most of us these days do sins (intentionally) and then say with certainty, “Allah is all forgiving, He would forgive us”
Let us decide now which one is the way of a graceful and decent muslim.
^^Its hard to agree with last line. Its only Allah who can decide.
Btw as the time is changing attitudes as a human nation are changing. Gain in technological advancement made a human more independent and free to make his own choices. This takes away the fear of God. Thats why Iqbal said that the hardest thing to do in these days are, to be a good muslim.
Materialism is taking over spirituality and as the time will pass, it will get worse. May Allah save us. Ameen.
They are both graceful and decent ways of repentance.
I will expound on the second one.
The mere statement "Allah is all forgiving . He would forgive us" shows repentance.
It means that what I did was wrong and I am asking Allah's for Allahs mercy.
The only way of asking for Allah's mercy is not to Say that Allah I have sinned please forgive me.
In this case I am starting my dua of forgiveness by praising Allah by saying " Allah is all forgiving . " Then I have so much Strong eman on his mercy and him being mercyful that I am certain about Allah's forgiveness.
Keep in mind nobody does any shaitani act intentionally , it is his/her weak moment when shaitan empowers that person and he/she commits a sinful act. It stated with Hazrat Adam and Hawa , they were the first ones who were empowered by shaitan in their weak moment.
If I do a sinful act and then I do not say anything and pretend that there is no higher authority to whom I am answerable then you can say that my ways are deplorable.
I cant really say my forefathers were more religious than i am.what i know from mom is that her gradfather could hardly read quran and prayers.it was my moms dad and her generation that learned more abt our religion.so basically its hadayat ,Allah miyan jis ko chahe de.And still today i c ppl practicing religion just the way ppl b4 used to.And if u say that ppl in Prophets time were more of nicer ones then if u read the history u c them more sinful and misled:)
I think we have become very distracted by our society and influences and run away from the truth by justifying the need to progress and change at even the spiritual level. These days, we find ourselves questioning even the established fundamentals of Islam and twist them to our advantage.
This weakend Iman could be due to lack of values in a family set up where parents are now to busy to sit with their children and talk about Hadith and Taleem-ul-Haq, where moms are too busy discovering themselves and dads are too busy somewhere else. It could be because children don't have proper guidance, or maybe we are trying too hard to survive and don't stop to think about the end. I can't really say.
I know Allah is forgiving, but I hope he chooses to forgive me! I hope I can be proactive about this and not waste my life clinging to just the hope without the actions to back it!
NIksik how can you this is new? its not as ifhow islam was followed, interpreted, added-on to etc was fine until 1970s, 80's or 90's which are the decades that GS members are from.
On the other hand I believe that the generations are suffring from the confusion caused by their elders in mixing other cultures and religion.. whether it saudis against women driving, or our shaadi rasams, or issues with trouser and suits on religious grounds etc.
I would say that the more ecent generations are the ones improving their real understanding now that information is available more freely and easily and they can communicate easily and quickly woth many people who may even be miles away.
You are right too X2. There is a lot of work being done to improve the understanding of Islam these days. The overlap between culture and religion has contributed a lot to the actual interpretation and practice. My experience of course, is limited to what I see today, in families of my age group.
A few days ago, I attended a lecture by an aalima who was giving innumerable examples of homes which are being broken due the reasons I mentioned above. This lady runs an institute for women and she told us about how her institute is helping such families. I am also part of a group that is actively promoting Islamic education in muslim families that have become victims of this ignorance that has stemmed from this cultural overlap.
[QUOTE]
The mere statement "Allah is all forgiving . He would forgive us" shows repentance.
It means that what I did was wrong and I am asking Allah's for Allahs mercy.
[/QUOTE]
I think perhaps what he meant by this statement was people who do bad deeds and without feeling sincere shame and remorse for them and without making an effort to stop, continue to do bad deeds while feeling secure that Allah is Merciful and He will forgive us
Allah is Merciful and we could never imagine how much Mercy He has and we should never dispair or lose hope in the Mercy of Allah no matter how far away from Islam we have fallen -but at the same time we should not make a mockery of the concept of mercy and forgiveness. We all will make mistakes in our life, that is given. But whats important is to [1] recognize that we did wrong [2] feel shame and remorse for what we did [3] make sincere repentence to Allah and ask for forgiveness [4] do our best to not repeat this mistake [5] increase in good deeds to try to come closer to Allah
So in other words -follow up our wrong deed with something better. Ask forgiveness, try to stop doing that bad, and do a good deed. Sometimes a bad deed can actually lead us to become better Muslims -if it helps bring us closer to Allah through our sincere repentence and our effort to stop doing bad and do more good instead
The difference being -having just words vs. matching words with actions
On the other hand, we expect Almighty to firgive us for whatever sins we have committed. We expect that no matter what bad deeds we have, we DESERVE to be forgiven.
They used to do good deeds by obeying each and every order of Allah (to their level best) but were still not sure (humbly) if the "level of their sincerity" is enough to be acceptable in front of Allah (if it is free from show off, personal gain...etc.) so they used to pray with tears of repentance so that Allah (s.w.t) may forgive mistakes in their good deeds.
**On the other hand, most of us these days do sins (intentionally) and then say with certainty, "Allah is all forgiving, He would forgive us" **
Let us decide now which one is the way of a graceful and decent muslim.
split from difference between us and our forefathers [insulting STP]
I think perhaps what he meant by this statement was people who do bad deeds and without feeling sincere shame and remorse for them and without making an effort to stop, continue to do bad deeds while feeling secure that Allah is Merciful and He will forgive us
Allah is Merciful and we could never imagine how much Mercy He has and we should never dispair or lose hope in the Mercy of Allah no matter how far away from Islam we have fallen -but at the same time we should not make a mockery of the concept of mercy and forgiveness. We all will make mistakes in our life, that is given. But whats important is to [1] recognize that we did wrong [2] feel shame and remorse for what we did [3] make sincere repentence to Allah and ask for forgiveness [4] do our best to not repeat this mistake [5] increase in good deeds to try to come closer to Allah
So in other words -follow up our wrong deed with something better. Ask forgiveness, try to stop doing that bad, and do a good deed. Sometimes a bad deed can actually lead us to become better Muslims -if it helps bring us closer to Allah through our sincere repentence and our effort to stop doing bad and do more good instead
The difference being -having just words vs. matching words with actions
Beautiful reply. I couldn't have said it better. JazakAllah khair for explaining it in a better way. May Allah (s.w.t) bless you and your family with all the blessings of this life and hereafter.
They used to do good deeds by obeying each and every order of Allah (to their level best) but were still not sure (humbly) if the "level of their sincerity" is enough to be acceptable in front of Allah (if it is free from show off, personal gain...etc.) so they used to pray with tears of repentance so that Allah (s.w.t) may forgive mistakes in their good deeds.
On the other hand, most of us these days do sins (intentionally) and then say with certainty, "Allah is all forgiving, He would forgive us"
Let us decide now which one is the way of a graceful and decent muslim.
No i wouldn't agree with you. Our forefathers, and by forefathers iam assuming that you mean our dada pardada, were not as religious as they should have been. Atleast mine weren't, because from what i learned about them they were into deviant practices.
In my view, the present crop is much more alligned to the correct Islamic view and methodology. You see many more young muslims these days showing interest in Islamic education and making efforts in travelling and actually taking time out from their academic and work careers to learn Arabic, Quran and other Islamic Sciences. This was not the case in the time of our forefathers. Back then, the kid with the lowest IQ would be sent to study Islam and the rest would be kept to run the family business or pursue worldy education. You see more muslims these days joining the various Islamic organizations and work towards Dawah, something which practicially did not exist back then.
If some percentage of young muslims dont pray and they sin, then atleast you dont see them going to graveyards and to dodgy peers and committing acts of shirk and kufr.