Khutba on Tawba, the Start of the Journey

الحمد لله، الحمد لله الذي تقبل التوبة عن عباده المومنين، ويعفو عن سيئات عباده المستغفرين، نحمده تعالى ونستعينه، ونشكره تعالى ونستغفره ونستغيثه، نعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا، من يهد الله فهو المهتد ومن يضلل فلن تجد له وليا مرشدا، ونشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، له الملك و له الحمد، يحيي ويميت، بيده الخير، وهو على كل شيء قدير،  ونشهد أن سيدنا و مولانا محمداً عبده ورسوله، وحبيبه وصفيه، بلغ الرسالة وأدى الأمانة ونصح الأمة، النبي الأمي الذي أرسله الله بالهدى والدين الحق، بشيرا ونذيرا بين يدي الساعة، صلى الله عليه وسلم وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.

أما بعد! فيا عباد الله اتقوا الله حق تقاته ولا تموتن إلا وأنتم مسلمون. يأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله وقولوا قولا سديدا يصلح لكم أعمالكم ويغفر لكم ذنوبكم. ومن يطع الله ورسوله فقد فاز فوزا عظيما. اتقوا الله فيما أمر وانتهوا عما نها عنه وزجر.

One of the most interesting things about the Laylat al-Isra is how it began, its first steps. In the account of the journey reported by al-Bukhari, the Prophet said,

بَيْنَمَا أَنَا فِي الْحَطِيمِ…مُضْطَجِعًا إِذْ أَتَانِي آتٍ…فَشَقَّ مَا بَيْنَ هَذِهِ إِلَى هَذِهِ…يَعْنِي مِنْ ثُغْرَةِ نَحْرِهِ إِلَى شِعْرَتِهِ…فَاسْتَخْرَجَ قَلْبِي ثُمَّ أُتِيتُ بِطَسْتٍ مِنْ ذَهَبٍ مَمْلُوءَةٍ إِيمَانًا فَغُسِلَ قَلْبِي ثُمَّ حُشِيَ ثُمَّ أُعِيدَ

“While I was lying down in Al-Hatim, suddenly someone came to me and cut my body open from here to here (i.e. from the throat to below the lower abdomen). Then he took out my heart. Then a golden tray filled with iman was brought to me and my heart was washed and filled with it, then returned to its original place.” This was the very first thing that the Prophet experienced on the night of the Isra and Mi’raj, the first stage of the journey if you will, and it contains a very significant lesson for us. For even though, we will not go on a physical journey like that of the Messenger of Allah, his every step and his every breath are guidance for us. He was sent down as our iswa. Allah says,

لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو اللَّهَ وَالْيَوْمَ الْآخِرَ

the translation of which is, “You have a fine example in the Messenger of Allah, for all who hope for Allah and the Last Day.” Every action he did, every word he spoke, every state he possessed, it is all sunna, it is all part of what we are commanded to emulate. And while there are khasa’is, states, qualities and acts that are his alone, that does not mean that they do not too contain guidance for the discerning. The Night Journey is one such case. Believers do not just look at it as a weird and wonderful journey, they do not even look at it simply for what happened in it, but look at it as a metaphor for life, a metaphor for the journey of the slave to the Lord. Look at how Allah refers to it at the beginning of surat al-Isra,

سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَى بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلًا مِنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الْأَقْصَى

the translation of which is, “Glory be to Him who took His slave on a journey by night from the Masjid-al-Haram to the Masjid al-Aqsa.” Allah does not say, ‘His Prophet’ or ‘His Messenger’, but ‘His slave’, a quality we all share with him ﷺ. So the first stage of the journey of the slave to Allah is the cleansing of the heart, the removal from it of all that sullies it. For us, that means wrong action. How is such a thing accomplished? There is but one way and that is through tawba. A correct and sincere tawba that fulfils all its preconditions completely wipes the slate clean. Tawba is necessary for every one of us, no matter how right-acting. We are all human beings, and it is part of the condition of the human being to transgress. We are not angels, Shaytan swims in our blood and whispers in our ears, our selves command us to sou’. The Prophet said,

كُلُّ ابْنِ ءادم خطاء

“Every son of Adam sins.” This is true even of the awliya and ‘arifin, for when Imam Junayd was asked if an ’arif could commit zina, he replied, 

وَكَانَ أَمْرُ اللهِ قَدَراً مَقْدُوراً

“Allah’s command is a pre-ordained decree.” In other words, ‘Yes, it is possible.’  In some ways, for many of us, a wrong action can be the start of our path back to Allah. It can be a shock to the system, it can puncture our pride and over-inflated opinion of ourselves, our self-satisfaction, our ujb. For that feeling is one of the greatest barriers to progress – it makes you feel you have arrived when often you have not even set out, it makes you feel that you are the best you can be when you haven’t scratched the surface of your potential. It makes you lazy and complacent, and often the only way to get rid of it is for something to happen to shatter that illusion completely, for you to do something that shows you in no uncertain terms that you are not the perfect being you thought, you are flawed like the rest of mankind. Hence, wrong action. The Prophet said, 

رب ذنب أدخل صاحبه الجنة

“The wrong action a person commits may well be the cause of him entering the Garden.” The Companions were just as shocked to hear this as we would be. Surely, wrong actions weigh against us and lessen our chance of getting into the Garden. But they were thinking of a wrong action for what it is, for wrong actions are ‘wrong’ for a reason, they were not thinking of the effect it can have on the sincere slave. So they asked,

وكيف ذلك يا رسول الله

““How can that be, Messenger of Allah?” He replied, 

لا يزال تائبا فارّا منه خائفا من ربه حتى يموت فيدخله الجنة

“He continues to be repentant, fleeing from that wrong action and being afraid of his Lord until he dies, and that will take him to the Garden.” He becomes aware of the precariousness of His own position, and how his success or lack of it is all in the hands of Allah. If he cannot even stop himself doing wrong action, then how can what he does guarantee him anything. No, it makes no sense to rely upon his actions, for on their own they can never be enough. He must instead turn back to his Lord and rely on Him alone. He must instead make tawba.
Allah has storehouses full of mercy and forgiveness earmarked for the believers, and the only way they can access them is through tawba. Allah says in a hadith qudsi,

يا عبادِ إنكم تخطئون بالليل والنهار وأنا أغفر الذنوب جميعاً فاستغفروني أغفر لكم

“My slaves, you commit wrong actions by night and by day, but I forgive all wrong actions. So ask forgiveness of Me and I will forgive you.” Indeed mercy and forgiveness are two of His divine attributes, and He desires to make all His attributes manifest. And that requires people to do what makes those qualities necessary. The Prophet said,

لو لم تذنبوا لذهب الله بكم وجاء بقوم آخرين يذنبون فيستغفرون فيغفر لهم وهو الغفور الرحيم

“If you had not committed wrong action, then Allah would have taken you away and brought another people who committed wrong action and asked His forgiveness, so that He could then forgive them. He is the All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” 
This is not an encouragement to commit wrong action, rather it is simply an acknowledgement of our nature and shortcomings. The committing of wrong action is sometimes beyond our control, but what is within our control is our response. Do we let that wrong action define us and allow it to get its claws into us, dragging us ever downwards; or do we lie to ourselves and make excuses and act as if it never happened, telling ourselves that we are too pious to have done wrong; or do we ask for forgiveness, do we make tawba, For, by doing that, not only do we return to our Lord, but we increase in nearness to Him. The Prophet said,

وخير الخطائين التوابون

“And the best of those who do wrong action are those who make tawba often.” Tawba does not just wipe away those wrong actions, but transforms them into good actions. Allah says,

إِلَّا مَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا فَأُولَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ 

the translation of which is, “except for those who make tawba and have belief and act rightly: Allah will transform the wrong actions of such people into good.” This applies to every wrong action under the sun. No wrong action is too bad, you are never beyond the pale, you are never irredeemable. Even outright rejection of Allah, even kufr, may be returned from. Allah says,

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا

the translation of which is, “Truly Allah forgives all wrong actions.” This aya was revealed about Hisham ibn al-Aasi and others like him who were persuaded by their families to not make hijra to Madina, but instead to leave the deen. And as a result, they, and the rest of the Companions, used to believe that they were lost and had no way back. But then this aya was revealed. As soon as he heard these Words of Allah, Umar ibn al-Khattab wrote them down in a letter and sent it to Hisham. Hisham’s heart leapt for joy as he read them, and he made full tawba and set out for Madina immediately. Never lose hope in the Mercy of Allah.
We ask Allah to make us people of tawba and grant us His forgiveness. And we ask Him to purify our hearts and keep us safe in our journey to Him.

أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله لي ولكم ولسائر المسلمين من كل ذنب فاستغفروه إنه هو الغفور الرَّحيم.

الحمد لله الحمد لله رب العالمين، وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له وأشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله، صلى الله وسلم وبارك عليه وعلى آله وصحبه، والتابعين وتابعي التابعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.

أما بعد! فيأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله ما استطعتم واسمعوا وأطيعوا وأنفقوا خيرا لأنفسكم. يا عباد الله أوصيكم وإياي بتقوى الله وطاعته وأحذركم وإياي عن معصيته ومخالفته.

Now, while tawba may be the start of the journey, it is also the start of every stage of the journey. It is an ongoing process, not one that you do once and never revisit. It is not even necessary that you have committed a physical wrong action for you to do it, for the Prophet, who never committed wrong actions, not even minor ones, used to seek forgiveness of his Lord more than seventy times each day, for Abu Hurayra narrated that he ﷺ said,

والله إني لأستغفر اللَّه وأتوب إليه في اليوم أكثر من سبعين مرة

“By Allah, I make tawba and ask forgiveness of Allah more than seventy times each day.” At its heart, tawba is a simple process, for it is simply seeking forgiveness of Allah, but for it to be effective and have the desired response, it must meet certain preconditions, indicated in Allah’s Words,

يَأَيُّهَا الذِينَ ءَامَنُوا تُوبُوا إِلَى اللهِ تَوْبَةً نَصُوحاً

the translation of which is, “You who believe, make nasuh tawba to Allah.” This aya is addressed solely to the believers. Tawba is for them and them alone. Without belief, wrong actions continue to pile up and weigh against you, no matter how remorseful you feel. Allah says, discussing those who have no tawba,

وَلَا الَّذِينَ يَمُوتُونَ وَهُمْ كُفَّارٌ

the translation of which is, “Nor is [there tawba] for those who die as unbelievers.” The second thing the aya indicates is that the tawba must be nasuh, must be true, must be sincere. For it to be sincere, it must meet certain preconditions. Imam an-Nawawi said,

التوبة واجبة من كل ذنب، فإن كانت المعصية بين العبد وبين الله تعالى لا تتعلق بحق آدمي فلها ثلاثة شروط: أحدها: أن يقلع عن المعصية؛ والثاني أن يندم على فعلها؛ والثالث أن يعزم أن لا يعود إليها أبدا فإن فقد أحد الثلاثة لم تصح توبته

“Tawba is obligatory for every wrong action. If the wrong action the slave commits is between him and Allah and does not impinge on the rights of any human being, then it has three conditions. First, that he stop committing the wrong action, second, that he regret doing that action, and third, that he resolve to never do it again. If any of these three conditions is lacking, then his tawba will not be valid.”
Let us go through these, one by one. The first is that you immediately stop doing the wrong action for which you are making tawba. It is not tawba to ask forgiveness for stealing while continuing the whole time to steal. The Prophet said,

المستغفر باللسان المصر على الذنوب كالمستهزئ بربه

“He who asks forgiveness with his tongue while continuing to do wrong action is like someone who openly mocks his Lord.”
The second is regret. The Prophet said,

الندم توبة

“Regret is tawba.” Regret is thinking badly of the action and of the fact that such an action has come to be done by you. It is not to be confused with guilt, which is thinking badly of yourself and beating yourself up for having done that action. Guilt is blameworthy, it is having poor opinion of your Lord, it is holding on to one’s wrong actions, dwelling on them and making them a part of your psyche. Regret, on the other hand consists of acknowledging them and then letting them go completely. After your tawba, they are gone from your record and gone from your heart and mind, not even a trace remains. Al-Junayd said, “Nasuh tawba is to forget the wrong action and never again call it to mind, for the one whose tawba is accepted comes to love Allah. And he who truly loves Allah forgets all that is other than Him.” 
The third is making a firm intention to not go back. Asking Allah’s forgiveness for drinking while making plans to go out drinking the next weekend is not tawba, it is lying and hypocrisy.
There is a further condition that must be met when the wrong action is such that it impinges on the rights of other people, such as stealing or bearing false testimony, and that is that you rectify your misdeed. If you took money or property from someone, you must return it to him, if you slandered him, you must publicly apologise and take steps to clear his name. If you do not, then your tawba is not sincere, and there not valid or acceptable.
And without an accepted tawba, no Muslim can hope to achieve success, can hope to advance along the path. Instead of being regularly purified, his heart becomes filled with muck until there is no room left for his Lord. If we do not return to Him, then He will not return to us, and we will truly be abandoned, misguided and without home. We ask our Lord to place among the ranks of the Tawwabin, and make our tawba truly sincere and truly complete.

إِنَّ اللهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ، يَا أَيُهَا الذِينَ آمَنُواْ صَلُّواْ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُواْ تَسْلِيماً. 

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَبَارِكْ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ  أَجْمَعِينَ. وَارْضَ اللَّهُمَّ عَنِ الْخُلَفَاءِ الرَّاشِدِينَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرَ وَعُثْمَانَ وَعَلِيٍّ، وعن أم المومنين عائشة التي أمرنا الله في سورة النور أن ندافع عنها، وَعَنْ سَائِرِ الصَّحَابَةِ أَجْمَعِينَ، خُصُوصاً اِلأَنْصَارَ مِنْهُمْ وَالمُهَاجِرِينَ، وَعَنِ التَّابِعِينَ وَتَابِعِي التَّابِعِينَ وَمَنْ تَبِعَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ.

اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِ وُلَاةَ أُمُورِ المُسْلِمِينَ لِمَا يُرْضِيكَ وَلِاتِّبَاعِ سُنَّةِ نَبِيِّكَ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَهُمْ عَلَى الصِّرَاطِ المُسْتَقِيمِ، وَأَصْلِحْهُمْ يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ. 

اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى شَيْخِنَا، وَعَلَى أَمِيرِنَا، وَعَلَى جَمِيعِ أُمَرَاءِ وَزُعَمَاءِ المُسْلِمِينَ. 

اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى المُسْلِمِينَ فِي هَذِهِ المَدِينَةِ، وَوَفِّقْهُمْ لِمَا تُحِبُّهُ وَتَرْضَاهُ يَا أَكْرَمَ الأَكْرَمِينَ. 

اللَّهُمَّ أَعِزَّ الإِسْلَامَ وَالمُسِْلمِينَ، وَاخْذُلِ الْكُفْرَ وَالْكَافِرِينَ، وَانْصُرِ المُجَاهِدِينَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ. وَاجْعَلْ كَلِمََتَكَ هِيَ العُلْيَا وَكَلِمَةَ الْكُفْرِ هِيَ السُّفْلَى. 

رَبَّنَا ءَاتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقَِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ. 

إِنَّ اللهَ يَامُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَى، وَيَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ، يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَّكَّرُونَ، وَلَذِكْرُ اللهِ أَكْبَرُ وَاللهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ. وَقُومُواْ إِلَى صَلاتِكُمْ يَرْحَمُكُمُ اللهُ.