Forget and Forgive

Man was created forgetful. This is a gift from Allāh ﷻ to allow us to forget the loss and suffering of this life. Some very few people Allāh ﷻ endows with memory in order to keep the religion. But a Muslim learns to let go of hurts and insults and forgive others. Islām is the religion of mercy.

Bismillahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim

Sultan Mawlana Shaykh Muhammed Adil ar-Rabbani ق

Sohbah of the 13th of July, 2021

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As-Salāmu ‘alaykum wa-raḥmatu Llāhi wa-barakātuh. 

A‘ūdhu bi-Llāhi mina sh-shayṭānir-rajīm. Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm. Aṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-Salāmu ‘alá Rasūlinā Muḥammadin Sayyidi l-awwalīna wa-l-ākhirīn. Madad yā Rasūla Llāh, madad yā Sādātī Aṣḥābi Rasūli Llāh, madad yā Mashāyikhanā, dastūr Mawlānā Shaykh ‘Abdu Llāh al-Fā’iz ad-Dāghistānī, Shaykh Muḥammad Nāẓim al-Ḥaqqānī. Madad. Ṭarīqatuna ṣ-ṣuḥbah, wa-l-khayru fi l-jam’iyyah. 

Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla created everything beautiful and everything with benefit. Allāh ﷻ created everything that is useful for people. One of them is to forget. The word “insān” – human being, comes from the word “nisyān” – to forget. It is a derivative of “forgetting”. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla created everything… Rare people have strong memory, not forgetting. 

In general, people forget. Some people forget very often, some a little but all of them forget. And mostly people complain about forgetfulness. But it is something Allāh ﷻ created for us. It is given for mankind’s benefit and in order to show their weakness. It is an attribute given to people by Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. People are able to continue living because of it. All the suffering and bitter moments seem unforgettable to a person in the beginning. They are very tough. He says, “How will I live with this”? And then slowly Allāh ﷻ covers it with forgetting from day to day, and life goes on. Otherwise, if a person remembered all the suffering and sorrow, he couldn’t carry them. He can’t carry and then gives up. 

Certainly, there are wounds that are unforgettable, but not like in the beginning. Whatever it is, the suffering it causes can’t be the same as on the first day. It fades away slowly and will pass. But the other tough times, in hunger, misery, or illness, people forget them when they end. They are over and life goes on. This is by the wisdom of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. You may not like some things but they are good for you, says Allah ﷻ. “‘Asá an takrahū shay’an wa-huwa khayrun lakum wa-‘asá an tuḥibbū shay’an wa-huwa sharrun lakum” (2:216). You don’t like some things and they are good for you. You like some things but they are bad for you. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla addresses mankind in Qur’ān ‘Aẓīmu sh-Sha’n. Certainly, one of these things that Allāh ﷻ gave us is forgetfulness. 

There is this and another thing. People who are mu’min forget bad things more often. This is from the beautiful orders of the religion which says to forget the badness done to you and not to forget the goodness. This is nice. Islām is like this. It is tolerant towards all people. Everything in the past is erased when someone reverts from kufr. It is forgotten then. But kuffār are not like this. Kuffār are vengeful, they don’t forget. It is the attribute of kuffār. The attribute of the mu’min is to forget badness and to start over when someone becomes good. May Allāh ﷻ let us always remember goodness and forget badness, in shā’a Llāh. 

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Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla He ﷻ make for us, create as a body, He ﷻ create for us also, attribute. One of attribute to human being, human being in Arabic named – insān. Insān meaning coming from “nisyān”. This is from meaning forgetting, “nisyān” – to forget. Insān coming from “nisyān”, this from word “nisyān” meaning whole human being they’re forgetting. Some of them they forget little bit, some more, some too much, but all of them they forget. 

There is of course, rare one of human being, not forgetting anything and this is also will of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla to make some people like this to make, if they’re Muslim, believer, to keep religion through them, through their knowledge to continue this. Because some of them when they read something they are can be saying without any mistake. This what happen when Mongol Genghis Khan or Hulagu coming to Baghdad and he destroyed whole library of Baghdad and killed Khalīfah. New Khalīfah was very sad and said, “Who? Why?” He was very sad. Someone come and tell him, “I can make this whole library. I know by heart, I can make it again.” So he make it in few years, whole this he was knowing. This also from Allāh ﷻ gift for Ummah. So there is some people like this, but this of course rare, rare as it is no, we say, al-nādir kal-ma‘dūm. 

So this is what, for human being, attribute to for be forget. It is good, necessary for people. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla create for us to forget in our life, what we have from beginning our life until young life or old life. Whole in this life, people suffering. Most of people suffering from something or many thing. So if not forgetting this, it will be their life impossible to live with all this suffering what they have, not forgetting. Like… because when something happen this what happen, sometimes small thing even, your whole day you become like unhappy and you lose your control yourself. You are not eating, drinking. Some of them more. So this one, people, before twenty years or before ten year or before one year even, people they forget and they be continue their life without thinking. What you think only nice thing before from old time. Bad thing most of people they’re not thinking, even if they are think, without… they forget most of them. 

Only you cannot forget big thing happen, but it is rare not so one. But real it will be very painful, very big thing. You said, “I will never forget. How i can continue my life with this pain, with this, loss?” when we lose many thing. But after little bit, little bit, also forget but of course not forget completely, but also your forget is enough to continue your life without problem. You used to this. But also from this attribute of forgetting, you, make you Allāh ﷻ day by day to forget this pain, to forget this loss what you… big thing. But other thing, you are never for… remember even many of these thing. Maybe what you remember from when if you are 60 year or 50 year – maybe five or ten big thing make you feel sad or unhappy. But it’s also you used for this and you said, “It is from Allāh ﷻ and it is like this, we cannot do anything.” So this is what benefit of forgetting. 

And for also some thing in Islām they said, “You must forget what they done for you, against you. Don’t remember this. Forget, forget and forgive, no need to remember.” But because Islām religion of mercy, also once somebody leave their old life and beginning for Islām, old life, all what they done, all of them this finish, forget. Like many of ṣaḥābah, they was before Islām, enemy and they killed too much, too many ṣaḥābah. Even these people they forgive and they forget this. This is Islām and this is how Muslim they must be. No… Kin (grudge). No grudge. But other, who are, they have not believer, they have this grudge and they not forget at all. Even they said, “After hundred year even, we’ll be take revenge from our ancestor. From thousand years ago, we also we get revenge.” So this is what nonbelievers… But Muslim they are forget and they forgive. 

This is we ask Allāh ﷻ to forgive us and to make us to forgive people, in shā’a Llāh. Wa-min Allāhi t-tawfīq, al-Fātiḥah.   

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