Voice of British Muslim Women

Rabia Salim, Manchester

In Islam the topic of asking for daily forgiveness is a vast one.  Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah, (peace be upon him) stated the purpose of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community as a revival of Islam, and said: “Rather, a community is worthy of being called a true community when it puts the reality of Bai’it in practice.”  Bai’it is the pledge of allegiance that Ahmadi Muslims take when they enter the Ahmadi Muslim Community, and they aspire to live by it.

Our daily routine to ask for forgiveness is one of the practices of our faith.  The third condition of Bai’it gives an Ahmadi Muslim the reminder to ask for forgiveness.  This condition is “That he/she shall regularly offer the five daily Prayers in accordance with the commandments of God and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) and shall try his/her best to be regular in offering the tahajjud and invoking durud on the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa). That he/she shall make it his/her daily routine to ask forgiveness for his/her sins, to remember the bounties of God and to praise and glorify Him.”

Namely, where it says “that he/she shall make it his/her daily routine to ask forgiveness for his/her sins”, is the prescription for a Muslim to make asking forgiveness of God a daily part of life.  In Arabic seeking forgiveness of God is called istighfar.  Literally, this is a concept taught to us by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) and it is very crucial to all Muslims.  The fact that it is in one of conditions of Bai’it is a reminder to Ahmadi Muslims to include it into our daily routine.  Personally I find it therapeutic to recite istighfar in the morning.  In the evening, I find it useful to think of areas in the day that could be improved.

What’s noteworthy here is that the formal five daily Prayers have also been mentioned in this Bai’it Condition, the special pre-dawn prayer called ‘Tahajjud’ and the recitation of invoking salutations and blessings on the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings be on him) called ‘durud’.

I think the daily Prayers are also related to the topic of seeking forgiveness of Allah because the five daily Prayers are a disciplined, mindful and regular practice that keeps us tapped into the spiritual realm and the Almighty.  They give the worshipper an opportunity to bow down and ask sincere forgiveness for any wrongful acts.  They have been likened to washing yourself in clean water five times a day.  This reminds me of the Christian practice of baptism, which ‘washes away’ a person’s sins.

Tahajjud, or pre-dawn prayer, also allows us to ask for Divine forgiveness in perhaps a unique way.  The Promised Messiah (peace be on him) says one of the effects of offering this Prayer is it provides protection from commiting sin which,  is an added step to ward off sin.   Indeed, if everyday we repeated the same mistakes, without an effort to improve, it would be pointless.  When one starts offering Tahajjud, Allah grants one the yearning to get up, and in the quiet of pre-dawn, the prayers take on a different colour and give a worshipper increased spiritual strength to act mindfully in the upcoming day.

Of course durud is next, and it brings down Divine Grace in the form of light that lights up the supplicator, also warding off sin, because the more light exists in a person, the less room there is for dark, sinful acts.

Now, specifically for istighfar.  This supplication is two fold.  For a believer it is a prayer that asks God to pardon sins “I seek forgiveness of Allah”.  This prayer also protects the believer from future sins because it strengthens the love of God in our hearts, and it helps to ward off sins that arise within us in our private thoughts.  Eventually, a believer will be immersed in the love of God through istighfar.  It is also a spiritual exercise, like a physical exercise such as planks will strengthen someone physically, this prayer strengthens one spiritually.  Amazingly, it is an antidote against the poison of sin as our remedial side kicks in when the poisonous side tries to take over.  The current head of the Ahmadiyya Community, Mirza Masroor Ahmad (may Allah be his Helper) has said in his Friday Sermon of December 29th 2017, “man is weak and without the blessings of Allah can never become pure. Until man receives the help and succour of Allah he or she cannot progress in piety.”

It might seem like these things are understood by all Ahmadi Muslims but in practice, in our busy lives, it doesn’t always come to mind.  In fact reading the Bai’it Conditions often is crucial to remind us of our code of conduct.

In short, there are many tools given to us to achieve the different grades in nearness of God.  Indeed we have the opportunity between the five daily Prayers to keep communicating with God and ask for His forgiveness with the tools of Tahajjud and istighfar.  We have to ask God for forgiveness in order to stay near to Him.  A mother and her child go through cycles of displeasure and benevolence also, and in an ideal relationship, the mother forgives the child when the child shows remorse too. It is hoped that asking for God’s forgiveness gives us the status of His nearness.