Jihad: A Gateway to Allah’s Forgiveness

By Fahad Ansari

The Day of Arafah.

The greatest day of the year.

The day on which over 2 million Muslims from the four corners of the earth, from every strata of society, representing every nation, race and ethnicity that exists, will gather on the Plain of Arafah, indistinguishable from one another, dressed in two simple plain white garments, beseeching Allah for His infinite forgiveness.

For there is no other day, throughout the entire year including Ramadan, in which Allah frees more servants from the eternal Fire of Hell, than on the Day of Arafah.

At that moment in time, nothing else matters. Nothing.

In that place, nobody else is relevant. Not a soul.

There is only the servant standing before the Master.

Amidst the sweltering throngs, he is in complete solitude with his Lord, renewing the covenant of servitude he originally entered into after the creation of Adam (as). This is the moment when the soul recalibrates its compass to ensure it remains destined to arrive in its final abode - Paradise.

Allah, the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth, proudly watches these wretched souls in their exhausted and unkempt state, with their hands raised in sheer desperation, and boasts to the inhabitants of the celestial world: “Look at my servants who have come to me disheveled and dusty.”

The virtues of this glorious day however are not the sole preserve of those fortunate enough to have been invited by Allah to His house and the rewards of forgiveness and salvation can be attained by any believer ready to seek forgiveness on this day.

For seven years, the Prophet (saws) marked this sacred day as a day of fasting, worship and supplication, a tradition that remains with us for those not making the pilgrimage. Indeed the reward for fasting on this day is nothing less than the expiation of one’s sins for the year gone by and the year to come.

The Most Profitable Transaction

But what is the key to earning Allah’s forgiveness?

Allah the Most Merciful of those who show Mercy, does not leave us pondering on the answer to such a fundamental question.

In Surah Saff, itself revealed in response to a question by the companions as to which was the most beloved deed to Allah, He tells us of the most profitable transaction known to man.

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ هَلْ أَدُلُّكُمْ عَلَىٰ تِجَـٰرَةٍۢ تُنجِيكُم مِّنْ عَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍۢ ١٠ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ وَتُجَـٰهِدُونَ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ بِأَمْوَٰلِكُمْ وَأَنفُسِكُمْ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ خَيْرٌۭ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ ١١ يَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَيُدْخِلْكُمْ جَنَّـٰتٍۢ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ وَمَسَـٰكِنَ طَيِّبَةًۭ فِى جَنَّـٰتِ عَدْنٍۢ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ٱلْفَوْزُ ٱلْعَظِيمُ ١٢

“O believers! Shall I guide you to a transaction that will save you from a painful punishment?

[It is to] have faith in Allah and His Messenger, and struggle in the cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives. That is best for you, if only you knew.”

He will forgive your sins, and admit you into Gardens under which rivers flow, and provide you splendid homes in the Gardens of Eternity. That is the ultimate triumph.”

Allah reveals to us that if we desire His eternal forgiveness, protection from the Fire, and entry into Paradise, then all we must do is to believe in Him and His Messenger and exert ourselves fully in His cause with our wealth and our very beings. In other words, Allah expects from us sacrifice and to follow up our words with action.

Allah even adds a sweetener to the deal promising us what He knows we want in this life – His assistance and a quick victory over our enemies.

وَأُخْرَىٰ تُحِبُّونَهَا ۖ نَصْرٌۭ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ وَفَتْحٌۭ قَرِيبٌۭ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ١٣

“[He will also give you] another favour that you long for: help from Allah and an imminent victory. So give good news to the believers.”

At a time when there are no words left to say, when the tears have run dry, when our cries continue to go unheard and when resistance has been criminalised, Allah reassures us that His support will come and that the genocidal enemy is on the brink of defeat.

Replicating the Struggle of Ibrahim (as)

Critically, this is linked to our part of the bargain – waging jihad for Allah’s cause with our wealth and our lives.

The modern scholars of jihad have recognised that the media and advocacy sphere of any war constitutes a key battleground between the parties. For those of us unable for legal reasons to participate in the military resistance against genocide, it is incumbent upon us to exhaust our human and financial resources in promoting the Palestinian narrative, debunking Israeli lies and creating an environment in which voices against genocide are not stifled by bad faith complainants.

The past 9 months have already witnessed hundreds of individuals being investigated and sanctioned by their schools, universities, employers and professional regulators for raising their heads above the parapet to speak out against the genocide. They have been smeared in the press, have had their reputations besmirched, their privacy invaded and their lives turned upside down. Jobs have been lost, livelihoods destroyed and families left ostracised.

Inevitably, some have asked whether the sacrifices made have been worth it and whether they would have been better off remaining silently complicit. But such people fail to understand that creating doubts about struggling for Allah’s cause is the same strategy that shaytaan employed to try and prevent Ibrahim (as) from following the commandments of Allah. It was his refusal to follow those satanic whispers and instead continue undeterred on the path of sacrifice that resulted in his standing on the right side of history, no matter how unacceptable he might have appeared to the society he lived in. Every time he strove to speak out against injustice and obey Allah, Ibrahim (as) was shunned and ostracised by those around him and the influential sectors of society.

Those brave souls who have stood up against the genocide epitomise this courageous attitude of the very symbol of sacrifice himself, Ibrahim (as). Attacked and targeted by the system so that everything they hold dear has been seized from them, they too will stand on the Day of Arafah seeking Allah’s forgiveness.

Dusty and disheveled.

Stand up for justice. Make your Arafah count.

CC Image courtesy of Al-Jazeera English on Flickr