Regret

Assalaam-u-alaikum,

I hope I find you in the best of health and iman inshAllah. We are now in the last few blessed days of Ramadhan and I make du'ah that Allah Subhana-hu-wata'ala accepts all the good deeds that we have done and grants us Laylatul Qadr inshAllah.

I have been meaning to write this post for a while, so I thought I should take the opportunity to write it now. =)

Regret.

We have all experienced this emotion at one point in our lives I'm sure. And I'm also pretty sure that we will feel regret in the near future - we are only human and making mistakes are inevitable. The feeling of 'If only... I had done this/ hadn't done that' or 'If only... I had thought about it' and quite a common one, 'If only... I had listened!'.

Imagine, that your mother or father has asked you to wash their car. So you take the keys and you decide to reverse the car to make it easy for yourself, without their knowledge. Whilst reversing, you step on gas instead of break, smashing into a post behind you. The rear of the car has been damaged significantly. SubhanAllah, you are scared. What will you do now, what will you say to your parent/s? How will you face them, knowing that you have done such a foolish thing, knowing that any justification will not suffice? You wish so much, that you could turn back time. Imagine walking towards the front door of your house, thinking of what you have done, what you will say and the grief that it will put your mother/father through.

This is but a small example of regret, compared to the greatness of what we will all most definitely have to face in the Hereafter. And this is what I would like to delve into today. When we will stand in front of our Lord, with the account of our lives open, our hair grey with worry and our faces forlorn with fear. We will have no one to turn to for protection and nowhere to hide.

When we think of the Hereafter, most of us think about the Day of Judgement. But we forget about death itself, when we will come face to face with the angel of death and our souls will be taken out of our body - like a strand of hair being taken out of dough.

"Say: The angel of death, who is set over you, will take your soul. Then you shall be brought to your Lord. And if you only could see when the Mujrimun (criminals, disbelievers, polytheists, sinners) shall hang their heads before their Lord (saying): Our Lord! We have now seen and heard, so send us back (to the world), that we now believe with certainty. " Surah As-Sajdah Verses 11 & 12

But then, it will be too late. No matter how much our regret on that day, and no matter how much we plead and repent, we will not be given a second chance. No one to blame, but ourselves:

"And Satan says, when the matter has been decided: Allah promised you a promise of truth; and I promised you, then failed you. And I had no power over you except that I called to you and you obeyed me. So blame me not, but blame yourselves. I cannot help you, nor can you help me, I disbelieved in that which you before ascribed to me. For wrong doers is a painful doom." Suratul Ibrahim Verse 22

In Suratul Mulk Verses 7 to 11, Allah Azawajal describes to us the conversation between the gate keepers of hell and its inhabitants:

"When they are flung in it (the fire of hell) they hear its roaring as it boils up, as if it would burst with rage. Whenever a (fresh) group is flung in it the gaurdians of it ask them: Came there to you no warner? They say: Yes, verily, a warner came to us; but we denied and said: Allah has revealed nothing; you are in nothing but a great errror. And they say: Had we listened or had sense, we would not have been among the dwellers in the flames. So they acknowledge their sins; but far removed (from mercy) are the dwellers in the flames."

This is a reminder for myself before it is to you inshAllah; as long as we are alive, we have the ability to change ourselves. A second chance that is given to us again and again by Almighty Allah, to repent and attain rewards for doing good. None of us are perfect. We sin knowingly and unknowingly, we say foolish things at times, and hurt people with our actions and behaviour. We shouldn't let pride nor ignorance become the veil over our hearts; there is always space for change and improvement, with every aspect of our character and worship. Allah knows best.

So, let us take heed now inshAllah and save ourselves from regret after we die.

In these last few days, please increase your recitation of this du'ah:

"Allahumma innaka 'afuwwun kareemun tuhibbul 'afwa fa' fu 'annee

O Allah, You are the best forgiver, beneficient and merciful. You love forgiveness so forgive me." At-Tirmidhi

Lastly, whenever we feel the affect of this dunya playing on us, let us remember this ayat (verse) inshAllah, where Allah Subhana-hu-wata'ala tells us:

"Know that the life of this world is only play and amusement, pomp and mutual boasting among you, and rivalry in respect of wealth and children. (It is) as the likeness of vegetation after rain, thereof the growth is pleasing to the tiller; afterwards it dries up and you see it turning yellow; then it becomes straw. But in the Hereafter (there is) a severe torment and (there is) forgiveness from Allah and (His) good pleasure. And the life of this world is only a deceiving enjoyment."

That was from Suratul Hadid Verse 20.

Remember me in your du'ah inshAllah. May Allah Azawajal make us of the companions of the Prophet Sallallahu-'alaihi-wassalam in Jannah tul Firdous. Ameen.

Masalaama,

Samia