The Day of Ashoura: A Second Chance?

Peace of Mind 

Indeed all praise belongs to Allah, we praise Him, seek His aid and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allah from the evil of our souls and evil of our actions. Whomsoever Allah guides there is none to misguide and whomsoever Allah misguides there is none to guide him.

O Allah send Your Mercy on Muhammad and his family as You sent Your mercy on Abraham and his posterity. You are the Most Praised, The Most Glorious. O Allah, send Your Blessings on Muhammad and his posterity as You have blessed Abraham and his posterity. You are the Most praised, The Most Glorious.

To Proceed,

 Surely, all of us hope that Allah will cover our sins.  Allah is bashful, keeper of secrets. He loves bashfulness and concealment.

 The prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Allah, Most High, is Hayeii³, Sitteer⁴, He loves Haya' (Bashfulness) and Sit'tr (Shielding; Covering)" narrated by Abu Dawoud, An-Nissa'ee, AI-Baihaqee, Ahmed, and in  Saheeh An-Nissa'ee.

 Surely, all of us hope that Allah all Mighty will erase our sins and forgive our bad deeds.

Remember the Day of Reckoning when you stand in front of Allah and look in your records, Don't you hope that the bad deeds you fear so much would be transformed into good deeds?

 No one is divinely protected from sinning except for Prophets and Messengers.

Thus we are all sinners and Allah all Mighty likes to forgive. 

Narrated by Al Imam Ahmad and classified as Sahih by Al Albani that the prophet peace be upon him said:  "If you didn't commit sins, Allah would have created others who commit sins to forgive them". 

For this reason, our Lord with His generosity gives us a number of opportunities to expiate our sins and to forgive our bad deeds. 

The opportunity this time is the expiation of sins on the day of �Ashura. 

What does expiation mean? 

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Fasting the day of `Ashura' (is of great merits), I hope that Allah will accept it as an expiation for (the sins committed in) the previous year" (Muslim).

Our first pause will be that fasting the day of �Ashura expiates the sins of the preceding year.

 Fasting one day in a right way expiates the sins of a year. This should be furthur explained. 

What does it mean to expiate the sins of a year?

In the Arabic language, expiation is "kafar" ... kafar in Arabic means �to cover'... To cover in the sense of concealing or shielding. 

He veils you. He covers the sins you fear the most to be prevailed on the Day of Judgment...  "The day when all the secrets will be examined."  At-Tariq:9.  Allah would say "As I covered and veiled your sins during the worldly life, I  will forgive them on the day of resurrection "

However, it is not only concealing; He will erase it as well.  So, the word expiation means �conceal and erase'. 

Can you realise the beauty in its meaning? 

Your sin will have no trace, no consequences. The sin will pass without blaming on the day of resurrection or during life time.

Fasting  this day right expiates the sins of a year. It will erase the sins of a year and conceals it. 

For this reason, we would like to fast the day of �Ashura in the best way ever.

To be continued ... Attain Allah's Satisfaction

Source: The Day of Ashoura: A Second Chance? .. written by Sheikh  Hany Helmy.

  (3) Hayeii: Allah is Bashful: He does not unravel the acts of disobedience committed by His servants.

 (4) Sitteer: Allah is Sit'teer: He shields and protects  against the uncovering of disobedient acts.