Preoccupied with Profound Self-Scrutiny and Gratefulness for Allāh’s Concealment of Their Sins

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Abdullah ibn Shawdhab, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

Some people gathered and began recalling which of Allah’s blessings is the best. One man said, “That which Allah has concealed for some of us from others”. He said: “They considered that this speech carried greater weight “. [1]

Umar Bin Abdil Azeez, may Allah have mercy upon him, said to Khalid Bin Safwan, may Allah have mercy upon him, “Admonish me”. Khalid said:

“O leader of the believers! There are a people who have been deluded by Allah’s concealment of (their sins, flaws, etc.), and the good praise (received) has put them to trial; thus, do not allow the ignorance of others (about your reality) to override what you know about yourself. May Allah protect us and you from being misled by Allah’s concealment of (our sins, flaws, etc), and from being pleased with the praise (received), falling short and neglecting that which Allah has obligated to us, and inclining towards (vain) desires.” He (Umar) wept and stated, “May Allah protect us and you from following (vain) desires”.

Imam Al-Qahtani, may Allah have mercy upon him, stated in his Nuniyyah:

And You (Allah) have placed love for me within the hearts….And the affection from You is through mercy and kindness.

And You have spread – amongst the people – good about me… And conceal my acts of disobedience from their eyes.

And you have made my good mention amongst the people common (or widespread)…until you made them all my brothers.

By Allah, if they knew the repugnance of my secret affairs (or inner self)….The one who meets me would have refused to give me Salaams.

And they would have turned away from me and loath my companionship…And I would have brought disgrace upon myself after being honoured.

But you conceal my faults and deficiencies…And you dealt with my sins and transgression with forbearance (i.e. gave me an opportunity to repent).

So all praise and commendations- by way of my thoughts, limbs and tongue- is Yours…. [End of quote]

We ask Allah:

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ العافِيَـةَ فـي الدُّنيا والآخِرَةِ، اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ العَفْوَ والعافِيَـةَ فـي دِيني ودُنْـيايَ وأَهْلِي ومالِي، اللَّهُمَّ اسْتُـرْ عَوْراتِي، وآمِنْ رَوْعاتِي،
اللَّهُمَّ احْفَظْنِـي مِنْ بَـيْنِ يَدَيَّ، ومِنْ خَلْفِي، وعَنْ يَمِيـنِـي، وعَنْ شِمالِي، ومِنْ فَوْقِي، وأَعُوذُ بِعَظَمَـتِكَ أَنْ أُغْتالَ مِنْ تَحْتِـي

O Allah! I ask You for well-being in this life and the Hereafter. O Allāh, I ask You for pardon and well-being in my religion, my worldly affairs, my family and my wealth. O Allah! Conceal my [faults, shortcomings etc] and safeguard me against everything that will bring me fear and sorrow. O Allah! Protect me from in front, from behind me, from my right and my left, and from above. And I seek refuge with Your Magnificence from being swallowed up from beneath me.

This great supplication begins with one asking Allah for [العافِيَـةَ -wellbeing] in the worldly life and the Hereafter. Nothing can be equal to wellbeing, for whoever is granted well-being then indeed he has received his complete share of good. Seeking [العَفْوَ -pardon] necessitates that one is forgiven his sins and they are wiped away. As for [العافِيَـةَ – Well-being], it is safety Allah bestows on a servant of His- protects him against every punishment and trial, by averting evil from him, protecting him against calamities and ailments [sicknesses], evil affairs and sins. So, the Messenger, please and blessings of Allah be upon him, asked for wellbeing in the Dunya and Aakhirah, as well as wellbeing in his religion, worldly affairs, his family and wealth.

Well-being in one’s religion is protection against everything that will bring dishonour [or disgrace] to one’s religion or deprive him of it.

Well-being in the world is to seek protection against everything that will harm the person in his worldly affairs, such as calamities or trials, severe poverty and ailments.

Well-being in the Hereafter is to seek protection against the extreme hardships in the Aakhirah and its various punishments. Well-being in one’s family is that they are protected from trials, calamities and tests; wellbeing in one’s wealth is that it is protected from drowning, burning, theft etc…

اللَّهُمَّ اسْتُـرْ عَوْراتِي

O Allah! Conceal my faults, shortcomings etc

وآمِنْ رَوْعاتِي

And safeguard me against every affair that will frighten me and bring sorrow upon me.

اللَّهُمَّ احْفَظْنِـي مِنْ بَـيْنِ يَدَيَّ، ومِنْ خَلْفِي، وعَنْ يَمِيـنِـي، وعَنْ شِمالِي، ومِنْ فَوْقِي، وأَعُوذُ بِعَظَمَـتِكَ أَنْ أُغْتالَ مِنْ تَحْتِـي

O Allah! Protect me from in front, from behind me, from my right and my left, and from above. And I seek refuge with Your Magnificence from being swallowed up from beneath me] – Meaning: Asking Allah to protect you against destructive things and evils which a person is exposed to from the six directions, for indeed evil can approach from the front, behind, the right, the left, above or below, and he does not know which direction calamity will suddenly come upon him. [3]

[1] Hilyah al-Awliya 6/131

[2] Tahdheeb Al-Hilyah 2/485

[3] An Excerpt from Fiqh Al-Ad’iyah Wal Ad’kar 3/32-33