MY LIFE PROJECT – WHO IS MY RABB?

The “MY LIFE PROJECT” encompasses five things we need to reach Allah!!

1. Al Insaan – Who am I?

2. Man Rabuuka? Who is my Rabb?

3. Who are my enemies?

4. What is my goal?

5. What must I do?

Insaan is imperfect...

Man Rabbuka is one of the questions in the grave, which we need to know

the answer in this life. Man rabbuka – who is the one reforming us? To

know Rabbuka we need to know ourselves and our faults. No one in this

duniya is perfect; perfection is only in the akhirat. Perfection is when we

rely on our Rabb to reform us!!! We cannot rely on ourselves to reform

ourselves, nor can we rely on anyone else to reform us, reformation is from

Allah. After knowing ourselves and our faults, we need to know who our

Rabb for our reformation. Reforming is knowing there are some faults, that

Allah is the One who knows about these and to rely on Him subhana wa

ta’ala,to make tawakul on Him to help us, because our Rabb is the

Reformer, the Nurturer, the Creator and He knows how to reform us.

Man Rabbuka – Surah Baqarah Ayat Number 37...

Last week, we talked about Ar Rabb from the story of the malaika and the

creation of Adam AS. Where Allah talked to the angels and we learnt that

because Hua Rabb - he is Rabb, He will create whatever He wills.

And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels: "Verily, I am going to

place (mankind) generations after generations on earth." They said: "Will

You place therein those who will make mischief therein and shed blood, -

while we glorify You with praises and thanks and sanctify You." He (Allah)

said: "I know that which you do not know."

From the ayat we know Ar Rabb knows whatever nobody knows. At the

end of the story, Allah created Adam AS, taught him the knowledge about

everything & then Allah commanded all the angels including Iblis to

prostate to Adam AS. All the angels except Iblis for prostrated. Then for a

time Adam AS and Hawa AS were living in paradise, Iblis whispered and

tempted them to eat from the forbidden tree by beautifying the sin of

eating from it, and then Adam AS was taken out from that beautiful place

and was sent to dwell on the earth. Adam AS committed a sin by disobeying

Allah. Always the first evil thought is from Shaitaan and later on is from the

nafs.

Why did Adam AS disobey Allah?

Because he slipped!!! Shaitaan beautified the sin.

Everybody has this imperfection, we will keep making mistakes, we are

very weak, and sometimes our weaknesses overcome us and we slip. This

is not a mistake, It is not wrong to make mistakes unintentionally and slip

as every human being makes mistakes. But what is wrong is when a slave

doesn't return back to Allah, to Ar Rabb to perfect him; when he doesn't

repent to Him after falling into a sin. Indeed, the best of those are who

when they sin, they repent to Allah. A sin weakens the human more.

Shaitaan is trying to make the human being have more imperfections and

this causes the insaan to go lower, it will have an effect, that’s why we need

our Rabb to perfect us, reform us.

How did Allah deal with him?

Then Adam received from his Lord Words. And his Lord pardoned him

(accepted his repentance). Verily, He is the One Who forgives (accepts

repentance), the Most Merciful

Prophet Adam AS committed a sin, he knew he was imperfect but he knew

he has a Rabb who is the only one who can reform and nurture him. He

knew that he had his Rabb, Who forgives and expiates the sin. Adam AS

really regretted and he confessed this sin. He slipped by falling into the trap

of Shaitaan, but he was truthful. Adam AS fled to Allah, when we flee to

Allah, Allah runs towards us. This is what Allah wants from us, to flee to

Him.

Fa ta laka – Being received, he knew he had committed a sin and he turned

to Allah and he received...

Wa talaktana – Being dictated, inspired by Allah on what to do, all we need

is that our hearts should to jump to Allah!!!

min rabihi - he received and was inspired from His Rabb. Ar Rabb is the

reformer and Nurturer. Any imperfection, our Rabb will complete it for us;

we need Ar Rabb to rectify us and make us better and better.

Ar Rabb hua

Muslah – The Reformer

Wal mudabbir- The Disposer of Affairs

Wal murabii – The Nurturer

Adam AS was the first man, he needed divine inspiration on how to deal

with this situation, i.e., when he committed a sin.

Min Rabbihi – the Rabb who always knows what we are going through and

the Rabb(Allah) who will nurture and reform us.

What did Allah inspire in him?

Kalimaat –Allah taught him the words, taught him how to repent.

Fata laka Adamu kalimaat – If we think about repentance, we will realise

that the words of repentance when a person sins is a reforming in itself. A

person is imperfect by himself, the sins make him more imperfect, and he

needs inspiration from Allah on what to say/do to repent. This is Rabb

(Fatalaka)

This was a special nurturing for Adam AS to teach him. This is how we can

see the care of Allah. To go to paradise a person needs to be purified, to be

reformed

Allah inspired in him the kalimaat at tauba –and guided him to the best of

words.

All goodness, guidance, types of nurturing is from our Lord. In this kalimaat

we can see two things:

1) Ei tara fi bindar – there is a confession to the sin, real regret and

admission to the sin and

2) Suwal Allah al magfirati –the proper way to ask Allah for forgiveness

How did Adam respond?

He accepted and took hold of this nurturing - He repented and in return,

Allah accepted His Repentance.

What is the proper way to ask Allah for forgiveness?

1) By confessing to Allah that we are indeed sinners, full of mistakes, and

unjust to our own self. Don't blame anyone but yourself!

2) at tauba -And beg and long for His Mercy and Forgiveness.

Surah Araf ayat 23:

They said: "Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You forgive us not, and

bestow not upon us Your Mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers."

What kalimaat did Allah inspire in Adam AS?

Kala rabana dhalamna – They started the repentance from Rabbana.

WhyRabbana? The Rabb is very important in asking for forgiveness from

Allah. The Rabb here is to reform, nurture, the One who takes care. The

person making mistake needs to be reformed by repentance. Allah inspired

both of them (Adam & Hawa); both of them shared the sin so both of them

needed to repent. The inspiration came to Adam AS and then both of them

said the words.

The way of repentance is by saying Rabbana, saying Rabbana meaning

Muslihna Murabina - our Reformer, our Nurturer; nobody can help us but

You. We made a mistake but we have a Rabb perfecting us, so we say our

Rabb, our reformer –Rabanna, none can forgive us, relieve us from this sin

except Ar Rabb. We need Rabanna this otherwise it would be too

depressing; we need to know He is the only One we can return to.

1)Rabanna dhalamna anfusana–They confessed, they said we ate from that

tree which You(Allah) forbade, they didn’t say the Shaitaan made us to it,

they said we did it and they said we have wronged ourselves.

This is one of the keys of repentance – to confess!!! We cannot blame

anybody but ourselves, this is how we can be a slave to Allah, and we need

to bow down and accept this otherwise the sin is that which can pull us

down and harm ourselves.

They didn’t blame anyone but themselves and then they said:

2) Wa in lam tag fir lana wa tar hamna – We made harm to ourselves. They

didn’t blame or accuse anyone but themselves, and they made a condition

of two things:

If you do not forgive us and

show mercy on us,

Saying if you don’t forgive us and be merciful la nakulana min khasireen we

will be among the losers!!! They needed two things very badly, and they

were asking like a condition. They were really showing their poverty to

Allah!!! This is Ar Rabb!!! Allah subhana wa ta’ala is stretching his hands all

the time towards the sinner!!! Allah wants us to go to Him when we wrong

ourselves.

A very importance aspect in repentance is magfirah. We need to be very

desperate to Allah. We need magfirah. When someone commits a sin, it is

like making something dirty, the magfirah is a way of cleaning.

They needed magfirah-forgiveness and rahmah – mercy!!!

Magfirah how? Through mahu thar masih –erasing the sins.

Mercy how? Through At taubah - that Allah accepts their taubah.

Therefore they were very desperate for forgiveness to erase the sin and

very desperate for mercy through at taubah. Both of them are needed

together to attain:

Al fala – the success, great success, winners (opposite of al khasireen – the

losers).

After the Kalimaat, how did Allah deal with Adam AS...

Fa taba alaih – Allah showed and inspired to Adam on how to repent, what

he needed to say. This is the Ar Rabb. Allah inspired the kalimaat to him. Ar

Rabb will guide us on what is the best you need for a situation. That

inspiration on what we need to say is from Allah. Allah gave Adam AS the

words to repent and then both he and Hawa said these words, they

confessed. When they made this dua, Ar Rabb fa taba alaih -Allah showered

them with the acceptance of the repentance. Allah is oft-forgiving.

Who inspired in him the way to repent?

Allah!!! That’s why taba alaih – meaning inspired in him two types of Taba:

alahuma taubah -the kalimaat and

Kaditallahu taubah - and then Allah accepted his repentance.

1) If a person is truthful & sincere, Allah will then inspire and guide them

what to say, and then

2) The person needs to accept the repentance.

W can’t do anything without Rabb. If a person is truthful and sincere, Allah

will show them the best way. The inspiration of taubah is Ar Rabb because

Allah inspires the taubah.

If the slave benefits from the nurturing he will say the words with sincerity,

meaning them and of course Allah will accept it.

Taba Allahui alal abdi – Who is the doer?

We can say Taba Abdi – it clearly means the slave repents but Taba Allahu

means something totally different. It means rajia – to return. The taba/doer

here is Allah!!! It is the actions of Ar Rabb.

Taba Allahu – Allah actually returns to that slave with mercy, and that He

accepts the repentance.

Why is Allah returning to you?

Fa taba allai – It is Allah who teaches the slave how to repent and it is Allah

who returns to him (al abd - that slave) who repented. Fata laka Adamu

kalimaat - this is the tarbiyah, the nurturing, it is painful but once He went

through it, he got:

Innahu at tawabu rahim – The acceptance and the mercy!!!

The Acceptance...

At Tawabu - Of course Allah will accept the repentance, because Hua Rabb.

Your Rabb is the One who keeps returning to the sinner who repents, the

One who is oft-forgiving. He is the One who inspires in that sinner to

repent. Then it depends on the person, if he takes the nurturing and accepts

it, Allah will accept his repentance.

Allah ya tuub Li man taba illalah– Allah will accept the repentance of the

one who repents to Allah. Sometimes when we sin or make a mistake, that

little feeling we have of wanting to repent/feeling bad is inspired from

Allah’s name At-Tawwab. Taaba in Arabic means to return and at- Tawwab

is the One who accepts all those who return to Him. If we accept the

repentance, do the actions, Allah will return to us and then there is the

mercy!!!

The Mercy...

Ar Rahim – Out of his mercy, He guides the sinners to accept the repentance

and out of his mercy He accepts the at-taubah.

Allah’s mercy here is associated with at – taubah

Allah is the most merciful to those who return to Allah, Allah will pardon

them overlook their mistakes and forgive them. this is Rahmatullilah!!!

Think about Ar Rabb, if we make a mistake, He will reform us. Adam AS was

the first man and Allah inspired him what words to use in the life. We have

faults and Allah will inspire the repentance in us, if we will accept the

nurturing and reforming and repent we will be nurtured and upgraded, if

we don’t accept, we will not be upgraded. If a person knows this is tarbiyah,

I need to accept, He will be ungraded and nurtured.

So always Alhamdulilahi Rabbi Al ameen. Nobody can deserve to live in

paradise without Allah’s reforming.

Allah wants to elevate us

Allah wants us to be elevated and enter Paradise. Only the ones pure and

reformed can enter it. So when you sin, use this as a bridge to return to

Allah. Don't ignore the pain and regret in the heart. This will only take you

behind. Accept it, and take action. Repent to Allah sincerely, and Allah - the

All Pardoning, the Most Merciful will accept your repentance.

We need His Forgiveness to cover our sins, and we need His Mercy to guide

us to repent, and accept the repentance.