18:58 - Allah Delays His Punishment : What are YOU doing about it?

The Imam of Masjidil-Haram wept tonight during qiyam (taraweeh) prayers when he recited this verse:

وَرَبُّكَ الْغَفُورُ ذُو الرَّحْمَةِ لَوْ يُؤَاخِذُهُم بِمَا كَسَبُوا لَعَجَّلَ لَهُمُ الْعَذَابَ بَل لَّهُم مَّوْعِدٌ لَّن يَجِدُوا مِن دُونِهِ مَوْئِلًا

“And your Lord is Most Forgiving, Owner of Mercy.
Were He to call them to account for what they have earned, then surely, He would have hastened their punishment.
But they have their appointed time, beyond which they will find no escape.”
(Surah Al-Kahf 18:58)

The reality is, we are guilty of committing sins all of the time, but unlike the judiciary system of this dunia, Allah doesn’t punish us immediately – out of His Mercy, He delays it to allow us time to repent from our sins and to turn back to Him.

But this offer is for a limited time only; to turn to Him by our “appointed time - beyond which they will find no escape”.

Now, just because we live an easy and comfortable life, doesn’t necessarily mean Allah is pleased with us. It could very well be that this period of comfort is proof AGAINST us – “After all this ease and comfort, all the time and health in the world to change towards the better, you still failed to do it!?”.

After all, let us not forget some examples in the Qur'an of people who lived comfortable and wealthy lives - Fir'awn, Qarun, Abu Jahl...

Every single one of us is guilty of committing sins; the only difference is whether we choose to repent from them, or just ignore them and make it a source of regret against us.

The Prophet (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam) said: “Every son of Adam sins; the best of sinners, are those who continuously repent (tawbah) to Allah” (Tirmidzi, hasan)

So this Ramadhan, let’s take this opportunity to :
 
1) Send our thanks and shukr to Allah that He hasn’t yet punished us for our wrongdoings, big or small.
 
2) Recollect the sins we are accountable for, and turn back to Him in repentance.
 
3) Appeal to the mercy of Allah to “just pardon us” for whatever other sinful acts we are guilty of, but unaware – and hope that through our good deeds & sincerity, Allah will be merciful to us and pardon us.

And great timing it is; since we’re just about on the half-way mark through the blessed month of Ramadhan, let us train ourselves to continuously make the du’aa that the Prophet taught A’isyah to make during the Night of Laylat ul-Qadr:

اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي
Allahmma innaka ‘afuwun tuhibb-ul ‘afwa, fa’fu ‘anni
“O Allah, You are pardoning and You love to pardon, so pardon me”
(Narrated in Ahmad, ibn Majah & Tirmidzi, sahih)

May Allah remove the arrogance and procrastination from our hearts to turn to Him in sincere repentance and seeking His forgiveness.. Ameen.