It Is Never Too Late

[Peace]

Stories of Repentance
Malik Ibn Dinar
The Man Who Prayed To Know His Destiny
​

Translated By Sr. Maryam ​

Malik ibn Dinar (may Allah be pleased with him) was a pious and obedient imam. No body imagined that he had once been a harsh and disobedient man. The story of his repentance shows us that no body is too bad to be accepted.

Ibn Dinar was one of the most oppressive people. Because he used to be an unjust and alcoholic person who also practiced usury, he was disliked and avoided by people. He had a little daughter whom he loved profoundly. After her death at the tender age of three, he, distraught and engulfed with sadness, drank until he lost his consciousness.

On that night, he had a dream that he was witnessing the Day of Judgment, and that a horrendous snake was chasing him. Terrified and unable to escape, Ibn Dinar saw no one but an old man toward whom he ran seeking help. The old man was too weak to help him, but he pointed toward another direction, in which Ibn Dinar ran until he found himself at the edge of a cliff leading to Hellfire.

Horrified, Ibn Dinar ran back to the old man and begged for rescue. The old man cried and told him, "I am weak, just as you see. I cannot help you." Then he told Ibn Dinar to run in another direction, which Ibn Dinar did. As he was running, the snake was so near to him that it almost seized him. All of a sudden, he saw his young daughter, who came to her father' aid and rescued him from the snake.

Overjoyed, yet still in a state of great fear due to what had just happened, Ibn Dinar took his daughter's hand and sat with her as they used to sit together when she was alive. Then the daughter posed the following question to her father: O my father:


[SIZE=+0][FONT=Verdana, Helvetica]( [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica]Has not the time yet come for those who believe that their hearts should be humble for the remembrance of Allah and what has come down of the truth? ) [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica](Al-Hadid 57:16 )[/SIZE][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
"O my daughter! Tell me about that snake," Ibn Dinar said. His daughter said, "It was the evil deeds that you kept accumulating to the point that they have almost eaten you up. Do you not know, my father, that the deeds one does in the world will meet one embodied on the Day of Judgment? As for the old man, that was your good deeds, which are so few and weak; therefore, they wept your situation and their inability to offer you any help, and, if it had not been for the fact that your little daughter died at a tender age, those few good deeds that you did in the world would not have benefited you in the least."

Ibn Dinar then woke up, crying out, "O my Lord, right now [I repent]; right now, my Lord! Yes, it is due." So, he got up, performed wudu' (ablution), and headed out to perform Fajr Prayer in the mosque, seeking to repent and return to Allah. Upon entering the mosque, he found the imam reciting the very same verse recited by his daughter in the dream.

Indeed, Almighty Allah is All-Aware of those who wish to turn back to Him, and out of His boundless mercy, He gives them continuous opportunities enabling them to seek His forgiveness and draw close to Him.

After his repentance, Ibn Dinar became known for his perseverance in Prayer and his earnest, weeping supplication throughout the night. He used to say, "O Allah, only You know who will be the inhabitants of Paradise and who will be the inhabitants of Hellfire. So, to which party shall I belong? O Allah, let me join the inhabitants of Paradise and do not make me among the inhabitants of Hellfire."

Ibn Dinar changed from a person known for his oppression, alcoholism, and great negligence in his relationship with Allah, to a leading pious scholar. After he had been a disagreeable figure, people to this day continue to love him, remember him fondly, and ask Almighty Allah to have mercy upon him. Once an individual whose actions could have made him merit Hellfire, Ibn Dinar turned into a person who, we hope, will dwell in Paradise eternally.

That was the story of Ibn Dinar and his sincere repentance unto his Lord, the All-Merciful Creator. Now, what about you and me? What types of persons are we at this very moment? Will we change for the better? Indeed, we should waste no time in pursuing this goal and should seek Allah's help so that we may attain it.

Ibn Dinar said:


I read in some of the books of wisdom that Almighty Allah said, "Indeed, I am Allah, the King of kings. The hearts of kings are in My hand. [For] whoever obeys Me, I will put in their [the kings'] hearts mercy and compassion toward them, and [for] whoever disobeys Me, I will put in their hearts wrath upon them. So, do not busy yourselves with insulting the kings, but instead, repent unto Me, and I will put in their hearts compassion and sympathy for you. [Safwat At-Tafaseer, Vol. 1, p. 419]
Let us turn back to Allah, repent unto Him, and work on our individual relationships with Him. Only then can the whole Ummah, in sha' Allah, remain steadfast and reap the fruits of repentance.

islamonline.net

 

[Sahar]

His story is indeed beautiful. God mercy be upon him.
Thanks Peace for this reminder. Allah is very beautiful and the most merciful...I thank Him for being my God....

 

[Sajdah]

May Allah be pleased with him....Masha'Allah very beautiful story, Jazaki ellahu khayrn sister Peace.
Indeed Allah is the forgiver, and the acceptor of repentence. So may Allah forgive our sins, and accept our repentance.

 

[Peace]

His story is indeed beautiful. God mercy be upon him.
Thanks Peace for this reminder. Allah is very beautiful and the most merciful...I thank Him for being my God....

Alhamdulillah! His being our God is the greatest of bounties we have :yes:

 

[Peace]

May Allah be pleased with him....Masha'Allah very beautiful story, Jazaki ellahu khayrn sister Peace.
Indeed Allah is the forgiver, and the acceptor of repentence. So may Allah forgive our sins, and accept our repentance.

Ameen ya Rab!!

 

[Peace]

Deserting Sins: Obstacles and Opportunities ​

by Prof. Shahul Hameed​

Consultant to IslamOnline.net — India Before we can speak of deserting sins, we need to have a good idea of what we mean by "sins." From the Islamic point of view,a sin is a conscious and willful act that violates Allah's rights (i.e. His commandments) or the rights of a fellow being.

On the other hand, we cannot consider a person to be a sinner if he or she is forced to do something prohibited against his or her own will.

Likewise, acts done because of some illnesses, such as insanity or obsessive-compulsive disorder, are not sins. This is because human accountability is an important aspect of justice as envisaged in Islam. And no one can be truly held accountable for an action he or she has no power to resist or avoid, because Allah does not lay more burden on a human than he or she can bear.

Islam teaches that sin is an avoidable act that harms the perpetrator's own soul, so there is no "original sin." This means that there is no innate or inherited nature that prompts a person to disobey Allah; that is to say, it is a person's choice whether to sin or not.

Indeed, Islam has a unique view on the subject of sin, one not shared by other religions. According to the Qur'an, Adam and Eve, the first pair of humans, were allowed to live in the heavenlyParadise to enjoy a happy life, but they had been warned not to approach a particular tree so that their happy life would not be disrupted.



But Iblis (Arabic for: Satan) led them into temptation and made them slip into sin. Consequently, they were expelled from Paradise, and thereafter, their destiny was to live on earth until the Day of Judgment. Both Adam and Eve knew of the seriousness of the sin they committed, and so they repented, and Almighty Allah accepted their repentance and forgave them.



This story given in the Qur'an tells us how imperfect we, the children of Adam, are. And at the same time, it is made clear that the humans are created with a capacity for realizing their lapses and amending themselves.



Almighty Allah, by narrating this story in the Qur'an, makes us aware of the fact that He is Compassionate and Merciful to His creatures, particularly to those who repent and return to Him.



This story also brings to light the idea that humans are susceptible to being influenced by external circumstances. But this does not mean that they are without freedom of choice. Indeed, they are endowed with freewill and intellectual faculties. This makes them responsible for their choices and actions, while freeing them from the burden of hereditary or instinctual sinfulness.



Islam teaches that Almighty Allah does not leave humans helpless in the constant struggle between the forces of good and those of evil; rather, He guides them through His books and Prophets.
​

It is evident that all kinds of traps and pitfalls surround us in every walk of life. Unless we are careful, the chances are that we may fall into them. So, we need to take great care. In other words, the obstacles to leading a life of virtue are numerous, and there is no wonder that many people continue to lead a life of sin in spite of all the admonitions given in the Qur'an and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

Today, as ordinary humans, we find ourselves in the midst of a non-Islamic or even anti-Islamic culture that is deliberately hyped up and flashed about even in the Muslim countries. Even the educational systems, which are expected to train and groom the future generation into good Muslims, do not serve the purpose, particularly because their objectives are spelled out by "experts" from outside who do not share our commitment to our distinctive culture and worldview. The net result is that any Islamic schooling the children might have received in their early life is subverted.

Apart from the adverse social situation, there are also certain inner psychological conditions that serve as stumbling blocks to most people who want to eschew sins and lead a life of virtue. For instance, consider the people's inclination to gratify their prurient impulses by any expedient means available. This, in fact, may encourage them to deviate into the unsavory by-lanes of life. In such a case, it is only religion that can keep them safe.

A Muslim should steer clear of all sins, major and minor ones. The major sins are those acts that have been clearly forbidden by Almighty Allah in His Qur'an and by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in his Sunnah.

Allah, the All-Merciful, says,
[If you eschew the most heinous of the things that you are forbidden to do, We will cancel out for you your (other) evil deeds and will admit you (to Paradise) with a noble entry.] (An-Nisaa' 4:31)

[Thosewho avoid the greatest sins and indecencies save the oversights (will find that) surely your Lord is ample in forgiveness.] (An-Najm 53:32)

Steps to Avoid Sins

First, we need to have a sincere desire to desert sins altogether and to start leading a life of virtue.

Second, we should realize our own weaknesses, particularly in the matter of avoiding the pitfalls of life, and so we should earnestly seek the help and blessing of Almighty Allah in our efforts.

Third, we should, as far as possible, keep away from all the circumstances that can tempt us toward sinful actions.

Fourth, we should strive to concentrate on virtuous thoughts and actions and to turn our minds away from the temptations that pull us toward sin.
Fifth, we should seek the company of Allah-fearing people and regularly attend sessions and lectures that instill taqwa (Arabic for: piety and fear of Allah) into our hearts.

Such efforts on our part will, hopefully, help us leave off the lapses in our life and attain a level of virtue that pleases Almighty Allah, insha' Allah.

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Professor Shahul Hameed is a consultant for IslamOnline.net. He was previously the Head of the Department of English, Farook College, Calicut University, and the president of the Kerala Islamic Mission in Calicut , India. He is the author of three books on Islam published in the Malayalam language. His books are on comparative religion, the status of women, and science and human values.