Repent After Making Mistakes

As-Salāmu ‘Alaykum wa RaḥmatuLlāhi wa Barakātuh. A‘ūdhu BiLlāhi Minash-shayṭāni r-rajīm. BismiLlāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm. Wa ṣ-Salātu wa s-Salāmu ‘alá Rasūlinā Muḥammadin Sayyidi l-Awwalīna wa l-Akhirīn. Madad yā RasūlAllāh, Madad yā Sādāti Aṣḥābi RasūliLlāh, Madad yā Mashāyikhinā, Dastūr Mawlana Sheikh Abdullāh al-Fā’iz ad-Dāghistāni, Sheikh Muḥammad Nāẓim al- Ḥaqqānī. Madad. Ṭarīqatunā aṣ-Suḥbah wa l-Khayru fi l-Jam‘iyyah.

Our Holy Prophet salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says:

“Every son of Adam sins, and the best of the sinners are the repentant.” [Hadith] Our Holy Prophet salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says that the sons of ‘Adam always make mistakes. The infallible ones are Prophets. Only Prophets are infallible. The rest make mistakes and do wrong. But those who repent and ask forgiveness after making a mistake are the best people.

What we mean by mistakes is sins and wrongdoings. We must know this. The way of our Holy Prophet ﷺ is the way of Ahlu s-Sunnah wa l-Jama’ah. We accept this. The infallible ones are just Prophets. They are infallible and free from mistakes. The rest can make mistakes. All of us make mistakes. Sahabahs make them. Awliyas make them. Shaykh and Mashayikh also make them. It is possible. We all know this. Therefore, we don’t say we are infallible. Those who say so are not counted as Ahlu s-Sunnah wa l-Jama’ah then.

When a mistake is made, one must repent and ask forgiveness. And that mistake will turn into Thawab. If it a sin, when you repent, Allah ﷻ says:, “Yubaddilu Llāhu sayyiātihim ḥasanāt”, “For them Allah will replace their evil deeds with good.” (Qur’an 25:70). He ﷻ will change sins into Hasanat. There is wisdom and virtue in this for mankind. In order for mankind not to favor themselves, in order for them not to feel superior around people by saying, “I am Shaykh. I am Awliya. I am this and that”, Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla especially made this.

Those who are outside Ahlu s-Sunnah wa l-Jama’ah consider themselves as infallible. They show their words as the order of Allah ﷻ. Whereas what they do is neither in Qur’an, nor Sunnah, nor Hadith. They have gone astray. They are out of the way of our Holy Prophet ﷺ. They are people who are out of the way of Prophets, the way of Sahabah and Ahlu l-Bayt.

All of Ahlu l-Bayt follow the way of our Holy Prophet ﷺ. They can also make mistakes. Anyone after our Holy Prophet ﷺ can make mistakes. But they are the people who accept their mistakes. If there is some fault, they immediately quit it and say, “We did wrong. People on the way of our Holy Prophet ﷺ gave us advice and we returned to the right way”.

After our Holy Prophet ﷺ, Sayyidina Abu Bakr made Khutbah and said, “Correct me when I make a mistake.” Look at the greatness of the Sahabah. They say so for people not to make mistakes later. And people who show their words as the word of Allah ﷻ are mistaken. Following them harms people. May Allah ﷻ protect us. May we all be steadfast on this right way insha’Allah. May Allah ﷻ not let people be confused. May Allah ﷻ protect us.

Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq. Al-Fatiha.

Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani 29 November 2022/ 05 Jumada al-Awwal 1444 Fajr Prayer, Akbaba Dergah

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