Allah, the All-Forgiver, the Perpetual Forgiver

Allah, the All-Forgiver, the Perpetual Forgiver

All praises be to Allah, the All-Embracing, the Glorious, the Helper, the Sufficient, the Ever Mighty, the Most Capable. I bear witness that there’s no god Allah the One, He’s no partner. He’s the Forgiving, the Affectionate, the Great. I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and messenger. His character is the Quran. He is honoured by Intercession and the highest paradise. A lot of peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, his family and companions. To proceed:
I advise you and myself of having the fear of Allah. Allah said in the holy Quran: (O you who have believed, fear Allah and believe in His Messenger; He will [then] give you a double portion of His mercy and make for you a light by which you will walk and forgive you; and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.) [al-Hadid: 28]
Conversation about Allah, the Glorious refines our hearts and increases our belief. The more the belief increases, the more the more the enthusiasm of the believer for the acts of obedience increases. Simultaneously, his hatred for the acts of disobedience increases. It’s has been reported in authentic hadiths about the assemblies of remembrance of Allah that angels encircle them, Mercy envelops them, tranquillitydescends upon them, Allah mentions them among those with Him and forgives them. We pray to Allah, the Generous for His favour. We’ll speak today about the name of Allah “Al-Ghafoor” (the Forgiver)
Brothers in belief, the forgiveness of Allah, the Glorious includes erasing sins and covering up the slave of Allah. One of the synonyms of the name “al-Ghafoor” is: “the One who forgives sins”. Allah, the Glorious said in a place in the holy Quran: (The forgiver of sin, acceptor of repentance, severe in punishment, owner of abundance. There is no deity except Him; to Him is the destination.) [Ghaafir: 3]
One of the synonyms of “Al-Ghafoor” is the name “Al-Ghaffar”. It’s appeared in five places in the holy Quran. One of them is the words of Allah, the Exalted: (But indeed, I am the Perpetual Forgiver of whoever repents and believes and does righteousness and then continues in guidance.) [Taha: 82]. Saadi said regarding the word of Allah “La-Ghaffaarun”: “it means the One who forgives a lot and does a lot of mercy.”
The name “Al-Ghafoor” has appeared frequently in the Quran. To be exact, it has appeared in ninety-one places. It’s been mentioned along with the Name “Al-Raheem” in seventy-two places as if the result has been connected with the cause. So, Allah,the Glorious forgives His slaves due to His mercy. “Al-Ghafoor” has also appeared along with “Al-Azeez”: (He created the heavens and earth in truth. He wraps the night over the day and wraps the day over the night and has subjected the sun and the moon, each running [its course] for a specified term. Unquestionably, He is the Exalted in Might, the Perpetual Forgiver.) [Al-Zumar: 5]. It’s because His forgiveness is out of Might and Capability, not out of weakness and inability. Therefore, people honour and think highly of the one who forgives out of capability!
The Name “Al-Ghafoor” has also come along with the Name “Al-Wadood”. Allah, the Glorious said: (And He is the Forgiving, the Affectionate.) [Al-Burooj: 14]. It contains glad tiding for the slave of Allah in as much as He forgives His slave and loves him. Allah, the Glorious told about Himself and said: (Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves.) [Al-Baqarah: 222]. A mankind may forgive without loving the forgiven person. He may forgive and aversion and estrangement may remain. As for the All-Forgiving, the Generous, it can’t be the case.
The Name “Al-Ghafoor” has come along with “Al-‘afw” (pardon). Allah, the Exalted said: (Indeed, Allah is ever Pardoning and Forgiving.) [Al-Nisaa: 43]. They both are synonyms and are common in the meaning of the lack of offense. “Al-Ghafoor” increases the meaning of the cover-up. The word “Al-Mighfar” (helmet) is derived from the same root. It’s a helmet that the soldier wears to protect himself and it covers him simultaneously as well.
Slaves of the Merciful, Allah called himself “Ghafoor” (the All-Forgiving) because He created slaves about whom He knew that they’d sin and seek forgiveness. According to a Sahih hadith: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "By the One in Whose Hand my soul is, were you not to commit sins, Allah would replace you with a people who would commit sins and then seek forgiveness from Allah; and Allah would forgive them". This hadith has been transmitted by Muslim. According to another hadith: Abu Huraira narrated:I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, "If somebody commits a sin and then says, 'O my Lord! I have sinned, please forgive me!' and his Lord says, 'My slave has known that he has a Lord who forgives sins and punishes for it, I therefore have forgiven my slave (his sins).' Then he remains without committing any sin for a while and then again commits another sin and says, 'O my Lord, I have committed another sin, please forgive me,' and Allah says, 'My slave has known that he has a Lord who forgives sins and punishes for it, I therefore have forgiven my slave (his sin). Then he remains without Committing any another sin for a while and then commits another sin (for the third time) and says, 'O my Lord, I have committed another sin, please forgive me,' and Allah says, 'My slave has known that he has a Lord Who forgives sins and punishes for it I therefore have forgiven My slave (his sin), he can do whatever he likes." This hadith has been transmitted by Bukhari and Muslim.
When Satan comes to you, sins become easy on you. So, say: O’ wicked, (Indeed, Allah loves those who fear Him.) [Al-Taubah: 4] and say to him: O’ banished one, (Indeed, those who fear their Lord unseen will have forgiveness and great reward.) [Al-Mulk: 12]. If you slip and sin, seek forgiveness as has been mentioned in hadith, and don’t be disappointed and don’t despair!
O’ friends, Indeed, when Allah, the Glorious mentioned the words of the Christians: ("Allah is the third of three.") [Al-Maaidah: 73], he followed it by saying: (So will they not repent to Allah and seek His forgiveness? And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.) [Al-Maaidah: 74].
O Allah, forgive us what we have sent before us and what we have left behind us, what we have concealed and what we have done openly, what we have done in excess, and what You are better aware of than we. You are the One Who sends forth and You are the One Who delays. There is none worthy of worship but You. (My Lord, forgive and have mercy, and You are the best of the merciful.) [Al-Mu’minoon: 118]
All praises be to Allah who said: ([O Muḥammad], inform My servants that it is I who am the Forgiving, the Merciful, And that it is My punishment which is the painful punishment.) [Al-Hijr: 49-50]. May the blessings and peace of Allah be upon His prophet who told about His Lord that He calls out at the last third of every night: (Is there any beggar of forgiveness so that he be forgiven?). Blessings and peace be upon the prophet’s family and companions as well. To proceed:
Allah, the All-forgiving has placed in many deeds the forgiveness for the sins out of His mercy. He placed it in Tawheed (Oneness of Allah), five prayers, walking towards them, sitting in the place of prayer following them and waiting for the next prayer after a prayer. He also placed the forgiveness in Jumu’ah, fasting in the month of Ramadan and performing (optional tarawih) prayers during nights of Ramadan and Qadr nights. Moreover, Allah also placed forgiveness in charity, pilgrimage and all supplications and good deeds. Sometimes, a person is forgiven due to a deed which he did not even calculate.
Slaves of the Merciful, believing in the name of Allah “Al-Ghafoor” (The All-Forgiving) has many effects on a person. One of them is: love of Allah and thankfulness to Him for His mercy upon His slaves and forgiving their sins.
Among these effects is: to open the door of hope for those who’ve run away from Allah. Allah, the All-Forgiving and Merciful said: (Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins.1 Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.")
Among the effects is increase in good deeds. Allah, the Glorious said: (Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds.) [Hud: 114]. According to a hadith: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "A prostitute was forgiven by Allah, because, passing by a panting dog near a well and seeing that the dog was about to die of thirst, she took off her shoe, and tying it with her head-cover she drew out some water for it. So, Allah forgave her because of that." This hadith has been transmitted by Bukhari and Muslim.
Among the effects of believing in the Name of Allah “Al-Ghafoor” is: A person frequently asks His Lord to forgive him, his parents and his Muslim brothers, and he’s thus habituated to seeking forgiveness. Seeking forgiveness is a healing for the heart and cause for erasing sin. Praying for forgiveness benefits even the one whose sins have been forgiven and that happens by elevation in his grades. According to a hadith: "A man will be raised in status in Paradise and will say: 'Where did this come from?' And it will be said:'From your son's praying for forgiveness for you.'" This hadith has been transmitted by Ibn Majah and Al-Albaani has declared it to be of Sahih grade.
Among the effects of believing in the Name “Al-Ghafoor” (All-Forgiving) is: having good thoughts and hope concerning Allah, turning to Him and being shy of Him. Among these effects is: Training the self on adopting the habit of overlooking the people’s mistakes and covering them up. Allah, the Glorious said about the righteous: (and those who pardon the people) [Aal-Imran: 134]. He also said: (and let them pardon and overlook. Would you not like that Allah should forgive you? And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.)[Al-Noor: 22]. According to a hadith:The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "There was a person who used to loan money to the people and he used to say to his servant: 'When an insolvent person comes to you, show him leniency so that Allah may forbear our faults.' So when he met Allah (i.e., when he died), Allah forgave him." This hadith has been transmitted by Muslim.
How beautiful it’s to practise forgiveness among ourselves: a relative should forgive another relative, a colleague should forgive another colleague, a teacher should forgive his student and a husband should forgive his wife.
The captive of mistakes, the one held ransom by calamities
With a lot of complaints and very little strength
Hopes for forgiveness from You, and You are
The One who’s Generous towards the disobedient and negligent
O’ my God, reward me, O’ my God, respond to me
Give me – O’ my God – strength for the best deeds

Then, send out blessings and peace…