Yesterday, I scared you about major sins, today I’m going to make you feel better Inshallah. Not so that you can commit major sins but so that you can recognize that don’t despair from the mercy of Allah. Allah forgives all sins as long as you don’t insist.

This is a hadith, it’s one of my personal favored hadith because it involves one of my favorite characters other than the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), a man by the name of Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him), a great companion of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

Abu Dharr’s character was one of the extreme righteousness. The Prophet says that this earth has not carried a man more truthful than Abu Dharr. That this is the most truthful man. This is a man full of faith on the inside.

What can happen to someone that’s full of faith and a person that is an ascetic is that they can start to look at those that don’t practice like them and not see the same things in them and not see that they are deserving of the same salvation that they have.

Abu Dharr says that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

There is no believer says ‘la Ilaha illa Allah’, who affirms the oneness of God, and then dies except that he enters into Paradise.”

And he said that: “When the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that I said, “even if he committed adultery and stole?”

The Prophet said:

“Even if he committed adultery and stole.”

He said: ‘I said it to him again, “even if he committed adultery and stole.”

The Prophet said:

“Even if he committed adultery and stole.”

He said: ‘I said it a third time, “Even if he committed adultery and stole?”

The Prophet said it to me a third time:

“Even if he committed adultery and stole.”

So he said: “I said it to him a fourth time, “even if he committed adultery and stole?”

The Prophet said:

“Even if he committed adultery and stole.”

Then the Prophet said:

“Even at the defiance of Abu Dharr, (even if Abu Dharr hate it).”

Even if Abu Dharr doesn’t want that to happen, Allah will enter that person into Jannah.

So Abu Dharr said:

“I walked away and I was saying, ‘ and even if Abu Dharr hates it, even if Abu Dharr doesn’t want that to happen, it’s going to happen’.

Abu Abdullah, in a comment in Al-Bukhari after the hadith narration, said:

“This is a person who before he dies he repents to Allah and bears witness to the oneness of Allah, Allah will forgive all his sins, he doesn’t have to be pecked down.”

And if you think about it with your faith, Satan wants to disconnect you from your Iman, that’s his goal. Before you commit a sin, he tells you don’t worry about it. After you commit the sin, he tells you ‘you have no chance of ever connecting back with your creator’.

So after a person has committed a major sin, they should know that they should come back to Allah and Allah will not disappoint them.

If you think about the hadith of the man that killed 99 people and then went to a worshiper and says to the worshiper again, “I’ve been worshiping Allah in this mosque this entire time and here you go coming to me and you’re asking if Allah can forgive you?”

So he says, “do I have any chance at being forgiven?”

He tells him: “No way, you have no shot.”

He hated that answer so much. He killed the worshiper. And then he went to a scholar after killing a hundred. He said: “Is there any chance of Allah forgiving me?”

He said: “Who can stand between you and the mercy of Allah? But you have to change. You got to stop killing people, you’ve got a compensate for what you’ve done, repent, move to this land, start your life over.”

Ana that man had enough good opinion of Allah, assuming goodness of Allah that he made his way to another land and he died on the way and Allah forgave him and entered him into Paradise just because he was making his way to that new land.

The lesson that the scholars say that that murderer assumed well of Allah; he knew that Allah would forgive him despite his past.

You have to keep that hope alive. That is how you disconnect yourself from sin. Allah says:

O my servants who have transgressed against themselves don’t despair from the mercy of Allah, Allah forgives all sins. (Quran 39:53)

But at the same time you need to change, you need to turn back to Allah, you need to reverse that course you are upon. Allah can forgive your sins.

If a person has iman, two more things:

1- Prophet Muhammad said:

My intersession on the Day of Judgment is for the major sinners of my Ummah, I will intercede for them.

2- The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

Whoever has an atom’s faith in their heart will eventually be protected, rescued and saved from the fire.

So low Iman is not equal to no Iman. A lot of time, Satan tries to get us to tank, low iman is not no iman. Having some faith is better than having no faith. Even if it’s an atom’s worth, turn back to Allah.

Don’t let Satan convince you that you’re doomed because of one time that you’ve committed that major sin, turn back and have a good opinion of Allah and He will accept your faith.

May Allah accept your iman and my iman. Ameen.