Dear all,
Today is my dad's birthday and I thought it would be great to release the article on this special day. Please keep my parents in your duas for good health and peace. This month, we will explore the following verse. رَّبِّ ٱغْفِرْ لِى وَلِوَٰلِدَىَّ وَلِمَن دَخَلَ بَيْتِىَ مُؤْمِنًۭا وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنَـٰتِ وَلَا تَزِدِ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ إِلَّا تَبَارًۢا “My Lord! Forgive me, my parents, and whoever enters my house in faith, and ˹all˺ believing men and women. And increase the wrongdoers only in destruction.” [Quran, Surah Nuh, 71:28] This is another verse from the Glorious Quran that emphasises the importance of parents who have tirelessly raised us to be who we are today; it is our responsibility to treat our parents with goodness. We all should be seeking forgiveness (istighfar) and repentance (tawbah). There is no one without any faults; the difference between a person wanting to change and one who continuously does wrong is identifying the error and what to do about it through remorse expression in our words and actions. "Truly, Allah loves those who repent, and He loves those who cleanse themselves." [Quran, Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:222] Our Beloved Prophets (may Allah have mercy upon them all) have sought forgiveness; Allah (The Most High) has appointed them as role models for humanity to follow. Our parents teach us right from wrong and to treat all with goodness but one factor we need to consider is who do we befriend? The company we associate ourselves are helping us to do good or wrong? “The true friend is only he who regards his friend in three situations: ordeal, absence, and death.” [Nahjul Balagha] The scholars such as Al-Dahhak (may Allah have mercy upon him) said: 'my home' is a reference to 'my masjid'. There is nothing wrong in understanding the supplication (dua) of Prophet Nuh (Noah) (peace be upon him) to Allah (The Most High) that whoever enters their house is a believer whether alive or passed away. Some scholars, for instance, As-Suddi (may Allah have mercy upon him) that the phrase destruction is to destruct this life on Earth and the Hereafter through our actions and behaviour. Mujahid (may Allah have mercy upon him) referred to the destruction as a form of loss; losing this life and the Hereafter. However, it is important to have a fine balance, where there should be respect and understanding between human-to-human interactions regardless of religion because of the following hadith: On the authority of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him), the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should speak good things or keep silent. Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should be courteous and generous to his neighbour. Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should be courteous and generous to his [travelling] visitor.” [Hadith, al-Bukhari and Muslim] The mentioning of the Last Day is a form of motivation which pushes us all to strive to aspire and improve ourselves before being questioned about our actions. Thus, we should all seek forgiveness and aid one another from straying and guidance towards righteousness because we all have shortcomings. Through the dua of Noah, we can understand the importance of dua, being conscious and controlling ourselves. One of the respected scholars said: “Belief is what settles in the heart and manifests itself on one’s limbs”. May Allah allow us to have faith, rectify ourselves and continue to do righteous deeds and guide us away from wrongdoing Insha’Allah! References Imam Nawawi (2022) ‘Islamic Manners’ Available [online] https://40hadithnawawi.com/hadith/15-islamic-manners/ Quran.com (2022) ‘Tafsir ibn Kathir’ Available [online] https://quran.com/71:28/tafsirs/en-tafisr-ibn-kathir
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