RABBANA DUA : SURAH AL IMRAN : 3:147
رَبَّنَا اغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَإِسْرَافَنَا فِي أَمْرِنَا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا وَانصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ
Our Lord! forgive us our faults and our extravagance in our affair and make firm our feet and help us against the unbelieving people.
CONTEXT OF DUA:
💎 The battle of Uhud, when muslims suffered defeat due to a mistake made by the archers who left their position despite the order by Raool Allah SAAW to remain in their position at all costs.
💎The consequence was a surprise attack by the mushrikeen. Muslim army as a result was defeated and suffered heavy losses. 70-75 muslims were martyred.
💎 In the previous Ayah to this dua Allah SWT comforts the believers and tells them about the previous prophets and worshippers. He SWT explains how they despite extreme trials did not become weak and lose heart.
REFLECTIONS
💎 In this dua Allah SWT is teaching us the attitude of a sincere worshipper.
💎When they face trials, calamities and hardships they don’t fall into despair. They immediately look within their hearts and reflect upon where they went wrong. They don’t blame others. They hold themselves accountable for their actions.
💎They turn to Allah SWT for forgiveness from their sins. Even when they are unaware of their mistakes they always look inside first. They do self-check and constantly work on bettering their own behaviour. Why? Because they know that forgiveness opens the doors of Mercy and the first step to seeking forgiveness is acknowledging their mistakes.
💎 Zunoob are minor sins. They are seeking forgiveness for minor sins. Sometimes if we make a mistake the guilt of that sin makes us less productive or gets in the way of us moving on in life. We get stuck in an experience and that’s not good for us. That is why we seek maghfira, a cover, protection from Allah to wipe clean our mistakes so we can be energised again and move forward.
At times of difficulty continue persevering and don’t give up. Constantly seek forgiveness and turn to Allah SWT for guidance, Analyse the lessons and messages in the hardships. There is always a teaching in it for us IA
💎 Then they seek forgiveness for Israaf. Israaf means extremes. Israaf means excessiveness, to leave the balance and moderation. Some scholars say this refers to major sins. So basically being out of control and not understanding that limits are good for us.
💎 Islam teaches us balance neither do too much (gulu: means more than you’re supposed to do) and neither do too little( taqsir: less than you’re supposed to do.) Eg if I decide I’m going to fast everyday for the rest of my life I won’t be able to sustain it. I might do things with zeal initially but then I would suffer burn out. If I decide instead of 5 prayers I’ll just read two then this is Israaf too because I’m doing too little and it’s not enough, and it’s not balanced.
💎The limits set by Allah SWT give us the balance we need to function at our best.
For example Rumi Rahim Allah He explains balance by the following:
“Your hand opens and closes, opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralysed. Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as birds’ wings.”
💎 We find keeping a balance in life difficult eg sometimes we are very efficient and organised, the next week the house is upside down and nothing gets done. So we should be grateful that Allah has given us routines, order and organisation in our lives.
💎 They then ask Allah to firm up their feet. To keep them steadfast. The only way we could remain firm is with the help of Allah. When Allah strengthens our hearts upon Tawheed we are able to do anything. We are empowered through Allah SWT.
💎 To remain focussed and firm in whatever we do we need patience. To develop patience we need to avoid three things:
Wahn
Wahn is weakness of the heart, lack of motivation and lack of determination. During difficulties understand that difficulties are part of our human experience. When we strive in Allah’s way we are bound to face opposition and challenges. For example waking up for Fajr prayer early morning and then having to go to work eg in Ramadan whilst fasting. Without hard work and sacrifices we cannot achieve anything in life. These qualities are required to succeed in achieving ones goals.
Physical weakness : zauf
💎 Allah says His servants did not show weakness despite being tired. They didn’t surrender, nor did they give up.
💎 But we should know our limits. Don’t tire yourself to the extent that you don’t have the strength or energy to carry on. Give yourself your Haq (right) of resting too.
Negativity:
💎Must have positive resistance and face the challenges as they arise. Problem solving gives us confidence in accomplishing our goals.
💎Don’t start panicking. If you panic you can’t take the steps required to deal with the situation and the emotions will take away clarity of thinking.
💎Avoid negativity always, tell yourself Allah is with me and He is the best of helpers and planners.
So take guidance, never give up and do not fall into despair. Always believe that everything is from Allah SWT and the one who tests us also knows what’s best for us and He is the best of planners. We should concentrate on perfecting our attitude as a sincere worshipper and keep doing the good work Insh aa Allah. May Allah grant us ease in this dunya and the hereafter and save us from trials ,we are unable to bear. Ameen.
