In general, few people in life offer second chances — whether we fail an exam, mess up during an interview with a potential employer, or get caught breaking the law, it would be highly unusual to find a professor, an employer, or a law enforcement officer whom completely overlooks these mistakes. Rather, our failures leave an imprint on our permanent record and affect our future opportunities and relationships. The exception to this rule is between a believer and Allah ﷻ – there is no end to the number of chances that our merciful Lord offers His servants. Despite the number of times we may have neglected salah, ignored the Qur’an, misused our eyes, abused others, etc. – Allah ﷻ continues to shower us with opportunity after opportunity. In fact, Allah ﷻ finds excuses to overlook our faults – from one wudu’ to the next wudu’ the sins are wiped away, and similar is the case from salah to salah , from Jumu’ah to Jumu’ah, and from Ramadan to Ramadan. As if this was not enough, Allah ﷻ provides the opportunity of Hajj which wipes an entire lifetime of failures away.
During the last ten days of Ramadan, Allah ﷻ similarly extends His special mercy and offers two very special opportunities: (1) Laylat-ul Qadr, or the Night of Power, which is worth more than a thousand years of worship, and (2) Forgiveness on the last night of Ramadan in response to the work we put in during the month. Accordingly, our task is to turn to Allah ﷻ, admit our mistakes, and recognize that He has the ability to completely forgive us and revive our hearts, which were otherwise damaged beyond repair.
