Ramadan Reflections 1444/2023 Part 27

Allah - Al-’Afuww - The Pardoner

In the Name of Allah, The Entirely Merciful to all and the Specially Merciful to the believers. 

Indeed, ˹it is˺ We ˹Who˺ sent this ˹Quran˺ down on the Night of Qadr*. And what will make you realize what the Night of Qadr* is? The Night of Qadr* is better than a thousand months. That night the angels and The Spirit descend, by the permission of their Lord, for every ˹decreed˺ matter. [There is] peace that night until the break of dawn.

[Surah 99 Al-Qadr*, Verses 1-5]

*Qadr - Glory/Power/Decree/Measurement 

Aisha (RA) reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would exert himself in worship during the last ten nights of Ramadan more so than any other time. She also reported: I said, “O Messenger of Allah, if I know which night is the Night of Decree, what should I say during it?” The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Say: O Allah, You are pardoning. You love to pardon, so pardon me.”

He is Allah or Ar-Rahman - these two names encompass and overarch over all of His other Names and Attributes.

“Say, "Call upon Allāh or call upon the Most Merciful [Ar-Raḥmān]. Whichever [name] you call - to Him belong the best names." 

[Surah 17 Al-Isra/The Night Journey, Verse 110]

Allah is Ar-Rahman and Ar-Raheem - The Entirely Merciful (to all of creation), The Specially Merciful (to the believers). 

Allah is Al-Kareem - The Giving, Beneficent, Honourable, Forbearing, Kind, Gentle, Gracious. 

Allah is Al-’Afuww, - The Pardoner. He pardons willingly and without constraint; pardons in surplus; blots out, erases and effaces the sins and shortcomings completely, as if they never happened, with no trace of it left behind in the books of records. 

Imagine yourself walking on a pristine beach and your sins are the footprints that you have clearly left behind you; now imagine that a powerful wind comes along and blows that sand away, removing any and all trace of every single one of your footprints, as if it were never made in the first place. That is the meaning behind Al-‘Afuww - The Pardoner. 

When we make this duaa tonight, we need to focus more on who Allah is (without any limitations whatsoever) and less on who we are (with our manifest limitations as forgetful human beings). It’s important to understand the power of duaa of complete and manifest pardon and to ask with utter humility (awe and reverence to Allah) and  balanced with utter hope and certainty, that it will be accepted from us and we will be pardoned and we will come out of this month with high a status of Taqwa, Shukr and Rushd and complete pardon bi’iznillah.

Allah, Al-Kareem, says….

“O man! What has made you careless about your Lord, Al-Kareem (the Generous), Who created you, fashioned you perfectly and gave you due proportion? In whatever shape He willed, He put you together.” 

[Surah Al Ghashiyah/The Overwhelming Event, Verses 5-8]

Allah, Al-’Afuww says… 

“Indeed, Allah is oft-Pardoning (afuww’) and oft-Forgiving (gaffoor)…”

[Surah An-Nisa/Women, Verse 43]

“For those it is expected that Allah will pardon them, and Allah is ever Pardoning(‘afuww) and Forgiving (gaffoor).”

[Surah An-Nisa/Women, Verse 99]

May Allah accept our intentions, words and deeds, and pardon all shortcomings and blameworthy aspects of who and what we are.

Ameen. 

والله أعلم