Seek forgiveness continuously [25:65]

Continuing with the portrait of Ibad ur Rahman, verses 65 & 66 from Sura Furqan outline another quality:

[25:65] And they who say: O our Lord! turn away from us the punishment of hell, surely the punishment thereof is lasting

Servants of the Ibad ur Rahman are in continuous touch with their own humanity, with their propensity to make mistakes, to offend, to fall short and to choose evil over good in the moment. They are deeply aware of their own shortcomings due to the nature of being human.

They also recognize that every action has a consequence and that the Hereafter is a place of accountability. They understand that while this world often hides the true impact and consequences of our actions, that in the Hereafter the impact will become apparent.

Theirs is a prayer of humility: they rely not on any good works which they may have done, but on the Grace and Mercy of Allah. They realise that while Allah [swt] is infinitely Merciful, that the courtesy of the Ibad ur Rahman is that they do not take this Mercy for granted.

In spite of their worship, they do not rest and think how pious they are, nor do they take their salvation for granted, they know that with all their best effort, they cannot do justice to His Mercy, they know that if they attain Salvation, it will be, not because of their worth but because of His Mercy. And so their attitude is one of constant striving and seeking of forgiveness and mercy rather than having the attitude of self-satisfaction and the feeling that they have arrived. The condition that believers are asked to attain is to be in a state between hope and fear. Fear of the result of our actions balanced with the hope in His Mercy.

Seeking forgiveness constantly was part of the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet [saw]. He used to seek forgiveness every day, after every gathering, at the end of every Salaat, and generally showed how important it was to turn to Allah constantly.

Hadith tells us that that person is fortunate who on the Day of Judgement opens his book of deeds and finds under every sin he committed, a stamp of forgiveness. We can facilitate this by asking for it regularly. Just as we clean our body, our home, our possessions, we can keep our hearts and souls clean by having a regular practice of seeking forgiveness [istighfar].