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Showing posts with label The Pardoner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Pardoner. Show all posts

Sunday 13 October 2019

99 Attributes of Allah: Al-Ghafur - The Ever Forgiving


Al Ghafūr (الغفور) - The Ever Forgiving, The Pardoner: This attribute of Allah is a fresh breeze for those who err and sin and are ever repentant for their dark deeds. And if they are sincere in realizing their mistakes and are truly repentant, they should be rest assured that Allah is The Forgiver of Sins and Faults. He is the Ever Forgiving and Ultimate Pardoner.


قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ 

"Tell them, (O Prophet): “My servants who have committed excesses against themselves, do not despair of Allah's Mercy. Surely Allah forgives all sins. He is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.”  [Surah 39. Az-Zumar: 53]

In Surah 40. Al-Mu'min: verse 3, the same attribute of Allah has been explained:


غَافِرِ الذَّنۡۢبِ وَقَابِلِ التَّوۡبِ شَدِيۡدِ الۡعِقَابِ ذِى الطَّوۡلِؕ لَاۤ اِلٰهَ اِلَّا هُوَؕ اِلَيۡهِ الۡمَصِيۡرُ‏ 

"the Forgiver of sins, the Accepter of repentance, the Stern in retribution, the Bountiful. There is no god but He. To Him are all destined to return."

In this verse the attribute brings hope and causes inducement, which has been mentioned so that the people who have led lives of sin, should not despair but should reform themselves with the hope that if they refrained from their behavior even now, they could still be redeemed by Allah’s mercy. Here, one should understand well that forgiving of sins and accepting of repentance are not necessarily one and the same thing, but in most cases Allah forgives sins even without the repentance. For example, a person commits errors as well as does good and his good acts become the means of forgiveness for his mistakes, whether or not he had opportunity to show repentance for the errors, but might even have forgotten them. Likewise, all the troubles and hardships and diseases and calamities that afflict man and cause him grief in the world, serve as penance for his mistakes. That is why mention of forgiveness of sins has been made separately from the acceptance of repentance. But one should remember that the concession of forgiveness of errors without repentance only refers to those believers, who are free from defiance and who committed sins due to human weakness and not persistence in pride and sin.

Allah is the Creator of all His Creations. He bestows upon them His countless bounties without any differentiation of who believe in Him or do not , who all worship Him as One True God, or those who add associates with Him. For He in His infinite ability to forgive, doesn't punish those who do not believe in Him. But for believers, He places restrictions to test their firmness in belief and faith and restricts them from eating some of His own creations:


فَكُلُوۡا مِمَّا غَنِمۡتُمۡ حَلٰلاً طَيِّبًا ۖ  وَّاتَّقُوا اللّٰهَ​ ؕ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ غَفُوۡرٌ رَّحِيۡمٌ
"So eat that which you have obtained - for it is lawful and clean--and fear Allah. Surely Allah is Ever Forgiving, Most Merciful." [Surah 8. Al-Anfal: 69]

For believers, Allah forbids meat of pigs and swines while all others devour on their meat. But for true believers, these are forbidden and believers restrain from eating swines and pigs willingly, with no questions asked for it has been so ordained by Allah.

The word Ghafur " غَفُوۡرٍ "is from the root gh-f-r which in classical Arabic mean (1) to cover, veil, conceal, hide, (2) to pardon, to forgive, to set aright, and (3) to cover a thing to protect it from dirt. It may be however noted that the root gh-f-r has given rise to three Beautiful Names that are all used in the Qur'ān: Ghaffār, Ghafūr and Ghāfir. However, only Ghaffār and Ghafūr were included in the list of 99 Names narrated by Tirmidhi.

Sheikh Tosun Bayrak portrays the differences between Ghaffār, Ghafūr and Ghāfir as: [2]
... al-Ghāfir, the veiler of our faults from the eyes of other men; al-Ghafūr, who keeps the knowledge of our faults even from the angels; and al-Ghaffār who relieves us from the suffering of continual remembrance of our faults.
نُزُلًا مِّنۡ غَفُوۡرٍ رَّحِيۡمٍ‏ 
"This is by way of accommodation from Him Who is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [Surah 41. Ha-Meem: 32]

Al Ghafur also means to cover, conceal, and shield. When Allah forgives a sin, it means that He covers it and conceals it. Al-Ghafoor is the One who does not expose the sins of His Slaves. He shields and protects His Slaves from the consequences of their sins and still forgives even though He is All-Aware of the wrong they committed.

The attribute Al Ghafur is synonymous to yet another attribute of Allah: Al-'Afūw, which also means the One Who erases sins and disregards acts of disobedience. This concept approximates the sense of Al-Ghafur, (the One Who forgives much. Al-Ghufran indicates a veiling (of the sin) whereas Al-'Afūw indicates an erasing, and the erasing (of sin) is more far-reaching (than the simple veiling of it). 

The last part of the last verse (286) of Surah 2. Al Baqarah is an all encompassing prayer for the believers which they must recite much to often to seek forgiveness of their sins for it is Allah, the Al Ghafur' alone Who can rid us of the burden of our sins and forgive us:


​​ۚرَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلۡنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهٖ​ ۚ وَاعۡفُ عَنَّا وَاغۡفِرۡ لَنَا وَارۡحَمۡنَا اَنۡتَ مَوۡلٰٮنَا فَانۡصُرۡنَا عَلَى الۡقَوۡمِ الۡكٰفِرِيۡنَ

"Our Lord! Lay not on us burdens which we do not have the power to bear. And overlook our faults, and forgive us, and have mercy upon us. You are our Guardian; so grant us victory against the unbelieving folk.”

This is an excellent example of The Ever Forgiving attribute of Allah as He Himself is telling them how to present their request for forgiveness and the granting of the request becomes virtually assured. Hence, this prayer greatly strengthened the hearts of the Muslims. Moreover, this prayer implicitly taught the Muslims not to allow their feelings to flow along undesirable channels. They should instead mould them into a prayer to their Lord.

In the verse above, it is also amply highlighted that mere forgiveness is not enough; we also need mercy so that we will not be humiliated and embarrassed. This mercy, which we want, is the manifestation of the name al-Ghafur and bears a meaning beyond pardoning.

The Arabic word astaghfirullāh  (sometimes written as astghfrallāh, estagfurullāh or estaferallāh) is from this same gh-f-r root, and is an invocation of Divine Protection having a range of possible connotations that include Allāh please forgive me, Allāh please hide away my faults, Allāh please watch over me and protect me from faults. [2]

May Allah forgive us of all of our sins and mistakes, committed knowingly or unknowingly and also help us to forgive those who have wronged us. For it is of no use asking forgiveness from Allah, but not forgiving those who expect mercy from us.

You may refer to our post "99 Attributes of Allah" for complete list of 99 attributes of Allah Almighty with meaning and explanation.

Photo | References1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
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Thursday 27 June 2019

99 Attributes of Allah:Al-'Afuw - The Pardoner


Al-'Afūw "العفو" is one of the 99 attributes of Allah. It describes the forgiving qualities of Allah for He is The Pardoner,  The Most Forgiving,  The Effacing, and of course, The Eliminator of Sins. 

No matter how faithful a believer may be, or no matter how much care does he take not to sin or hurt anyone, one is liable to sin. Even if one escapes physical form of sins, one may hurt someone with his loose tongue or may hurt him unknowingly. It is only afterwards one realizes what has he done and what harm has he committed not to himself but to the person who may not have deserved such and act from him.

It is then a true believer turns to Allah, the Master of the Universe, repenting and asking forgiveness. And Allah, the Al-'Afūw, the ultimate Pardoner, the Most forgiving and the Effacing, who forgives and pardons his subject, provided the repentance is sought with utmost sincerity with the promise not to repeat. 

But so much pardoner is Allah, the Al-'Afūw, who would still listen to His slave and pardon him yet again if he commits a sin again and seeks repentance. Allah in all His Might, may continue to forgive till the angel of death finally approaches the sinner, for then the time has really run out.

Al-'Afūw comes from the root ‘afw, which means to hide, obliterate, or remove something to forgive, pardon, to pass over, forgo, to obliterate all traces, efface, or to remove. This meaning connotes ‘pardoning’, which is when one looks over a another’s error and does not take them to account for it. Technically, it means Allah’s protection from trials and  sicknesses for the believers (i.e., aafiyah, safety, and well-being).

Al-'Afūw  (the Pardoner), appears five times in the Qur’an; four times with al-Ghafoor (the Most Forgiving) and once with al-Qadeer (the Creator). 
فَاُولٰٓـئِكَ عَسَى اللّٰهُ اَنۡ يَّعۡفُوَ عَنۡهُمۡ​ؕ وَكَانَ اللّٰهُ عَفُوًّا غَفُوۡرًا‏
For those it is expected that Allah will pardon them, and Allah is ever Pardoning and Forgiving. [Al Qur'an Surah An Nisa 4:99]
Another way to better understand this Attribute is to consider the metaphor which the classical Arabic dictionary, Taj al-Arûs, offers wherein 'afûw is said to be like the desert wind completely obliterating footprints in the sand. The same type of metaphor is used in the book, "Physicians of the Heart: A Sufi View of the 99 Names of Allah". The author states:
"Let’s begin with a physical metaphor that is part of the word’s root meaning: Afu til …. This is an image of the wind blowing across the desert vastness and completely erasing all the tracks in the sand. It is as if no one had ever walked there. Such a fundamental image in the root of the word shows us that with al-‘Afuw, you do not even notice the fault."
Al-'Afūw is also the One Who erases sins and disregards acts of disobedience. This concept approximates the sense of Al-Ghafur, (the One Who forgives much), an attribute with which Al-'Afūw has come four times in the Holy Qur'an, though the former is more far-reaching than the latter. Al-Ghufran, yet another attribute of Allah, indicates a veiling (of the sin) whereas Al-'Afūw indicates an erasing, and the erasing (of sin) is more far-reaching (than the simple veiling of it).

 إِن تُبْدُوا خَيْرًا أَوْ تُخْفُوهُ أَوْ تَعْفُوا عَن سُوءٍ فَإِنَّ اللَّـهَ كَانَ عَفُوًّا قَدِيرًا 
( 4: 149 )   If [instead] you show [some] good or conceal it or pardon an offense - indeed, Allah is ever Pardoning and Competent.

This verse embodies a moral directive of very high value to the Muslims. The hypocrites, the Jews and the polytheists were all bent on placing all kinds of obstacles in the way of the spread of Islam: They eagerly persecuted the Muslims and used all possible means, however malicious, against them. Such an attitude inevitably created anger and resentment. It was in the context of this storm of bitter feelings that God told the Muslims that He did not consider speaking ill of people as praiseworthy. No doubt the Muslims had been wronged, and if a wronged person speaks out against a wrong-doer, he is quite justified in doing so. Even though this is a person's right, it is more meritorious to continue to do good both in public and in private, and to ignore the misdeeds of others. For one's ideal should be to try to approximate to God's way as far as possible. God with whom one wants to be close is lenient and forbearing; He provides sustenance even to the worst criminals and seeks mitigating circumstances in even the most serious offences. In order to become close to God, one ought to be generous in spirit and full of tolerance.

Here it would be appropriate to differentiate between the two attributes: Al-'Afūw and Al-Ghafur:

On the Day of Judgment, we may find that many sins we committed are not in our record; this is ‘afw, which is when Allah completely removes your sins from your record as if you never committed them. When it comes to ‘afw, Allah (swt) says:
وَيَعْفُ عَن كَثِيرٍ
And He pardons much. (42:34)
Al-‘Afuww pardons His Servants by not calling them to account for their sins and erasing their sins from their records. Not only does Allah pardon and remove our sins, but He (swt) loves to Pardon, as is implied in the du`a’ above.

Al-Ghafoor comes from the root ghafar, which means to cover, conceal, and shield. When Allah (swt) forgives a sin, it means that He covers it and conceals it. Al-Ghafoor is the One who does not expose the sins of His Slaves. He shields and protects His Slaves from the consequences of their sins and still forgives even though He is All-Aware of the wrong they committed.

Al-Ghafoor is the One who forgives any sin regardless of the size as long as one seeks sincere repentance. Al-Ghafoor even forgives sins when we don’t seek repentance; it is out of His Mercy that when a Muslim does certain acts, these acts will automatically have some or all of their sins forgiven.

One of the oft quoted hadith attributed to the Prophet of Allah to explain the meaning of this very attribute of Allah is the one narrated by Hazrat Aisha (R.A) who once asked Prophet Muhammad (may peace be upon him): "O Messenger of Allah! If I realize Lailat-ul-Qadr (Night of Decree), what should I supplicate in it?" He (ﷺ) replied, "You should supplicate:


الْلَّهُمَّ اِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنَّي
'O Allah, You are The Forgiver, You Love Forgiveness, so Forgive me'.

Although Hazrat Aisha (R.A) asked the Prophet of Allah for a dua to be sought during the Lailat-ul-Qadr (Night of Decree) in the last ten days of the month of Ramadan, one must remember this small dua by heart and keep repeating it day and night for one does not know always whether he has hurt someone or committed a sin unknowingly. 

You may refer to our post "99 Attributes of Allah" for complete list of 99 attributes of Allah Almighty with meaning and explanation.

Photo | References: | 1 | 2 | 3 | Lailat-ul-Qadr (Night of Decree) |
If you like Islam: My Ultimate Decision, and to keep yourself updated on all our latest posts to know more about Islam, follow us on Facebook

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