Allahumma Series
Dua 18
اللْهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُعَنِّي
Allahumma innaka afuwwun tuhibbulafwa fafuannee
“O Allah, indeed, You are the Pardoner, You love to Pardon, so Pardon me.” [Tirmidhi]
A’isha radi Allahu `anha (may Allah be pleased with her) asked the Prophet ﷺ (peace be upon him), “If I knew which night is Laylat al-Qadr (the Night of Power), what should I say during it?”
The Prophet ﷺ told her to say: Allahumma innaka ‘afuwwun tuhibbul ‘afwa fa’fu ‘anni. (O Allah, indeed, You are the Pardoner, You love to Pardon, so Pardon me.) [Tirmidhi]
From all the dua’ of the Qur’an and Sunnah, the Prophet ﷺ specified this dua’ for the last 10 nights, showing us how profound it is.
One of Allah’s beautiful names, al-‘Afuww (the Pardoner), appears five times in the Qur’an;
four times with al-Ghafoor (the Most Forgiving) and once with al-Qadeer (the Powerful).
Al-‘Afuww comes from the root ‘afw, which means to hide, obliterate, or remove something. This meaning connotes ‘pardoning’, which is when one looks over another’s error and does not take them to account for it. Technically, it means Allah’s protection from trials and sicknesses for the believers (i.e., aafiyah, safety, and well-being).
In the Quran, its mentioned many times to seek repentance and forgiveness.
{…But turn all together to God in repentance, O you believers, so that you may be successful.} (An-Nur 24: 31),
{…you shall all seek forgiveness from you Lord. Then repent to Him.} (Hud 11: 3),
{O you who believe! Repent to God with a most sincere repentance.} (At-Tahrim 66: 8)
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the most beautiful, sincere, and perfect human being on earth, who was sinless by the Mercy and Grace of Allah he also asked for forgiveness. Then we sinful human beings need to seek repentance for our huge sins that we committed in the past or we might in the future.
Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: “By Allah, I seek Allah’s Forgiveness and repent to Him more than seventy times a day.” (Al-Bukhari)
Now let us see Difference between ‘Afuww’ and Ghafoor which comes in the Quran together in some verses.
On the Day of Judgment, we may find that many sins we committed are not in our record; this is ‘afw, which is when Allah completely removes your sins from your record as if you never committed them. When it comes to ‘afw, Allah (swt) says: وَيَعْفُ عَن كَثِيرٍ (And He pardons much. 42:34)
Al-‘Afuww pardons His Servants by not calling them to account for their sins and erasing their sins from their records. Not only does Allah pardon and remove our sins, but He (Allah subhaanahu wa taalaa) loves to Pardon (as is implied in the dua’ above).
Imam Al-Qurtubi indicates that this quality also indicates Allah’s mercy and brings ease on His creation.
Shaykh ibn Uthaymeen rahimahullah (may Allah have mercy on him) states, “Al Afuww’ is the One who has always been and always will be known for His Pardoning. He effaces the sins of His slaves, relinquishing the punishment of the deserving thereof.”
Al-Ghafoor comes from the root ghaffar, which means to cover, conceal, and shield. When Allah (subhaanahu wa taalaa) forgives a sin, it means that He covers it and conceals it.
Al-Ghafoor is the One who does not expose the sins of His Slaves. He shields and protects His Slaves from the consequences of their sins and still forgives, even though He is All-Aware of the wrong they committed.
When it comes to Al-Ghafoor, He will forgive the sins, but they will appear in your record. Allah (subhaanahu wa taalaa) says: إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَن يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَن يَشَاءُ“Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with Him; but He forgives anything else, to whom He pleases.” (4:48)
Al-Ghafoor is the One who forgives any sin regardless of the size, as long as one seeks sincere repentance. Al-Ghafoor even forgives sins when we don’t seek repentance; it is out of His Mercy that when a Muslim does certain acts, these acts will automatically have some or all of their sins forgiven.
The sins that Allah did not erase will appear in our record, but al-Ghafoor can still forgive them.
The Prophet ﷺ said, “There would come people amongst the Muslims on the Day of Resurrection with sins as heavy as a mountain, and Allah would forgive them.” [Muslim]
When al-‘Afuww and al-Ghafoor are paired together, it shows how Merciful and Compassionate Allah is. He Pardons much, and for those sins He does not Pardon, He will forgive and conceal if He Wills.
Relation between al-Afuww and al-Qadeer:
Al-Qadeer means the One Who has perfect, complete Power and Ability.
Why would Allah mention He is the All-Capable and pair it with the All-Forgiving?
When you think about the act of pardoning, it becomes more difficult each time. Pardoning someone once may be easy, but forgiving many times becomes annoying and frustrating. It is the nature of humans that we are revengeful and dominating.
Allah is the Highest Example, He is the One who is All Capable, The Perfect One, Compassionate, Loving, and Merciful who can constantly and consistently forgive. He does not want His Slaves to enter the Hellfire, and His Mercy encompasses all things.
Therefore al-Afuww and Al-Qadeer are paired; it is only Al-Qadeer who is able to pardon over and over again and loves to do so.
Why do we make this dua’ during the last 10 nights?
The scholars say that if this dua’ is answered, we will insha’Allah (if Allah wills) come on the Day of Judgment with our sins completely erased from our records. Ramadan is the month of mercy and forgiveness, so how successful will we be if we not only have our sins forgiven but also have them completely erased!
Allahumma innaka ‘afuwwun tuhibbul ‘afwa fa’fu ‘anni.
“O Allah, indeed, You are the Pardoner, You love to Pardon, so Pardon me.” [Tirmidhi]
We should never be sad or depressed and be in satanic trap that forces us to believe that we are sinful and cannot be forgiven. Sometimes He makes us think that we do not fit in the category of seeking repentance.
No, that is wrong, and this is what Satan wants us to believe. He does not want us to seek forgiveness from Allah, Satan wants us to believe that because we have committed so many sins, we have no right to ask for forgiveness or Allah is upset with us. But fortunately, this is not how Allah’s system of forgiveness works. Allah loves us beyond our imagination. In fact, Allah wants us to seek repentance and forgiveness and not once or twice but many times. He wants us to repent even before committing a sin (Subhaan Allah).
From Anas, radiyallahu ‘anhu, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, say:
“Allah the Almighty has said: ‘O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me, and hope in Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam were your sins to reach the clouds in the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I shall forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with an entire earth full of sins and were you then to face Me, without having associated anything with Me, I shall grant you an earth full of pardon.’”
[Recorded by Al-Tirmidhi, who said that it is a good and sound hadith]
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