Names of Allah - Forgiveness 2 | Ramadan Series
(Continuing from part 2)
Combinations with Al-Ghafūr
As we mentioned earlier, the Name Al-Ghafūr occurs paired with Ar-Rahīm 72 times. It occurs with Al-Halīm 6 times, with Al-’Afūww 4 times, with Al-’Azīz twice and with Al-Wadūd once. Each of those pairings has a meaning worth pondering over. Here, we look at the last one. The Arabic language has about 10 verbs to describe love and ‘wadd’ means compassionate, caring and nurturing love (not sensual). Wadūd is the fa’ūl form again, describing one to does this to a perfect level. So when Allah says in Surah Al-Burūj that he is Ghafūr-ul-Wadūd, He is telling us that He covers our sins and protects us from their consequences out of His love for us. There is a tradition that says Allah is more loving to us than a mother who lost her baby in the heat of battle and then found her child crying in the battlefield.
Al-Afūww
The Name Al-Afūww (الْعَفُوّ) comes from the root word ‘afa in Arabic which means to erase or wipe out. It is also in the al-fa’ūl form: Al-Afūww is the One who perfects erasing or One who blots out completely. The word ‘afa is stronger in this meaning than gha-fa-ra. Allah SWT blots out sins completely; by His nature He continually accepts repentance and wipes out our sins.
Occurrences in Qur’an and Sunnah:
This name occurs just 5 times in the Qur’an, 4 times paired with Al-Ghafūr and once with Al-Qadīr.
Allah says in the Qur’an in Surah Ash-Shura concerning this Attribute of His:
وَهُوَ الَّذِي يَقْبَلُ التَّوْبَةَ عَنْ عِبَادِهِ وَيَعْفُو عَنِ السَّيِّئَاتِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تَفْعَلُونَ
And He it is Who accepts repentance from His servants and pardons the evil deeds and He knows what you do (42:25)
وَمَا أَصَابَكُم مِّن مُّصِيبَةٍ فَبِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَيَعْفُو عَن كَثِيرٍ
And whatever affliction befalls you, it is on account of what your hands have wrought, and (yet) He pardons most (of your faults).(42:30)
And finally, we have with us a concise and short dua’ meant specifically for the last ten days of Ramadan and especially for Layl-at-ul-Qadr. ‘Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: “I asked the Messenger of Allah (saws) O Messenger of Allah, if I knew which night is Layl-at-al-Qadr, what should I say during it?” And he instructed her to say 1:
اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوّ تُحِبُّ الْعَفُوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي
Allahuma innaka ‘afuwwun tuhibbul ‘afwa fa ‘afu ‘anni
O Allah You are the Most Forgiving; You love to forgive so forgive us.
Through this dua’ we are seeking tawassul through both a Name and an Attribute.
This (probably) forms the conclusion of this series. Ijtema.net will be back after ‘Eid inshaAllah.
We ask Allah to cleanse us and purify us of our sins in this blessed part of the blessed month of Ramadan and we ask Him to admit us into Jannat-ul-Firdaus out of His Mercy. Ameen.
Update: MuslimMatters has another excellent post on this Name and dua’.
Footnotes:
1. This is related by Ahmed, Ibn Majah, and Tirmidhi, who called it saḥīḥ.
A variant of this dua goes اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوّ كَرِيمٌ تُحِبُّ الْعَفُوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي Allahuma innaka ‘afuwwun karimun tuhibbul ‘afwa fa ‘afu ‘anni
References:
1. Aqeedah 102: Light upon Light. Shaykh Yasir Qadhi, AlMaghrib Institute. Chicago 2008.
2. Zekr
Jazakallah khair for these posts… I especially found the info about the significance of combining the Names of Allah very useful!