The Path to Forgiveness: Insights From Hadiths

Path to Piety

Paths to Forgiveness

Part 4

Mawlana Muhammad Nawaz Attari Madani

Allah states in the Quran:

وَ سَارِعُوۡۤا اِلٰی مَغۡفِرَۃٍ  مِّنۡ رَّبِّکُمۡ وَ جَنَّۃٍ عَرۡضُہَا السَّمٰوٰتُ وَ الۡاَرۡضُ ۙ   اُعِدَّتۡ  لِلۡمُتَّقِیۡنَ ( ۱۳۳)ۙ

“And hasten towards forgiveness from your Lord and Paradise which is as vast as the heavens and the earth; it has been prepared for the Righteous.”^[1]

The contemporary and acclaimed Tafsīr Ṣirāṭ al-Jinān states that “this verse encourages people to hasten to Allah’s forgiveness and Paradise by repenting from sins, fulfilling Allah’s commands, doing good, and being sincere.”

The following five hadith describe ways in which we can seek Allah’s forgiveness and pardon.

1.   Those who perform Hajj and Umrah are the guests of Allah. If they supplicate, He accepts their supplication. If they seek forgiveness, He forgives them.^[2] 

2.   Prophet Dāwūd عَـلَيْـهِ الـسَّـلَام asked, “My Lord! What do those people that come to Your Sacred House for Your visitation deserve from You?” Allah replied, “Every visitor has a right on the one he visits. They have a right that I grant them well-being in the world and forgive them when I meet them in the Hereafter.”^[3]

3.   When the day of Arafah comes, Allah reveals a unique mercy in the sky. He then displays His pleasure regarding the people of Arafah before the angels. “Look at my servants,” He states. “They have come to Me with dishevelled hair, covered in dust and having journeyed from afar. I make you witnesses I have forgiven them.”^[4]

4.   Whoever passes away travelling to Makkah for Hajj or on the way back, he will neither be questioned nor accounted and will be forgiven.^[5]

5.   If four people who closely neighboured a deceased Muslim bear witness that they saw good from him, then Allah states, “I have accepted your knowledge concerning him, and have also forgiven his sins which you do not know of.”

Sayyidunā Ibn ꜤAbbās رَضِیَ الـلّٰـهُ عَنْهُمَا explains:

I was performing ṭawāf with the Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم when I heard a person saying, “Dear Allah! Forgive so-and-so!” The Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم asked, “Who is that person?” The person replied, “My neighbour. He asked me to supplicate for him.” The Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم then announced, “Your neighbour has been forgiven.”

In a similar narration, the person was mentioned to have said, “Dear Allah, forgive me and so-and-so!” The Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم asked, “Who is so-and-so?” “My neighbour”, the person replied, “he asked me to supplicate for his forgiveness.” The Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم announced, “You and him have both been forgiven.”^[6]