They said, “Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers.”
(A’raf : 23)
This is the dua made by Aadam and Hawwa (alai) after eating from the forbidden tree. Such a beautiful and comprehensive dua.
This was their immediate response after realising their mistake. They accepted and turned in repentance to Allah swt.
Explanation
” Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves…”
” Rabbana zalamna anfusana… “
- Zulm is to place something where it doesn’t belong. It’s misappropriation.
- A sin is zulm because Allah did not give us our faculties, skills and talents to disobey Him. We are to use these things to obey Him.
- To disobey Allah is to wrong and harm our own selves.
“… and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, …”
“… wa in lam taghfirlana watar hamna …”
- Maghfirah and Rahma are not the same thing.
- Maghfirah is to ask Allah to hide the mistake and overlook from it, to remove the sin. It is to ask for the forgiveness of past sins. This saves you from hellfire.
- Rahma is to ask Allah to replace the evil deeds with good deeds, due to the sincerity of the tawbah. It is to ask for the granting of good, protection from future sins. This grants entry to Jannah.
“… we will surely be among the losers.”
“… lana koonanna minal khasireen”
- They did Tawbah by magnifying Allah swt and acknowledging His Greatness.
- Who do we truly have besides Him?
Lessons
- Take full responsibility for your actions. Accept your fault and don’t try to shift blame onto others. Notice how Aadam and Hawwa(alai) didn’t even blame Iblis who lied and deceived them to make them eat from the tree.
- First step to fixing a problem – admit there is a problem.
- Zulm leads to loss in Dunya and Akhirah.
- To have success and be saved, we need Allah’s forgiveness and mercy. Ask for both in dua.
This behavious of Aadam and Hawwa(alai) was very different to that of Iblees when he disobeyed Allah.
They accepted their mistake, felt remorseful, didn’t give reasons to justify themselves, and were hopeful of Allah’s Mercy.
This was their regret for simply tasting the tree.
Do we have this regret when we sin?
Let’s strive to make this dua often! May Allah swt forgive and guide us all, Aameen!
Musings of a Muslimah 