Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih Al-Uthaymeen

Allah the Exalted said:
وَوَضَعْنَا عَنْكَ وِزْرَكَ
And We removed from you your burden
(Soorah As Sharh verse 2)
َوَضَعْنَا عَنْكَ
Meaning: We removed, pardoned, forgave, and disregard.
وِزْرَكَ
Your burden
Meaning: your sins
الَّذِي أَنْقَضَ ظَهْرَكَ
Which weighed down your back
Meaning that Allah the Exalted forgave the Prophet صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم his sins and mistakes to the extent that he was completely forgiven.
The result: Allah the Exalted forgave the Prophet صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم for his sins and He explained that these sins had been weighing down his back, meaning they had been hard and tiring upon him.
Thus if this was the sins of the Prophet عليه الصلاة والسلام then how about the sins of other than him?!
Our sins weigh down our backs. Our sins are hard upon us and tire us out but it is as though we are not carrying anything, it is as though we are not carrying anything at all; this due to the weakness of our faith, and our lack of insight. We ask Allah to encompass us with His forgiveness.
Some narrations have mentioned that the believer, when he commits a sin it becomes like a mountain hovering over his head.
As for the hypocrite, when he commits a sin it becomes like a fly that landed on his nose thus he swipes at it, meaning it does not concern him.
So the believer is concerned with his sins, thus he attaches importance to his sins until he can free himself from them by way of repentance and seeking forgiveness or by performing noble good deeds that will erase the traces of his sins.
And you; if you find your heart heedless concerning your sins then know that your heart is sick. Because it is not possible for the heart which is alive to be pleased with illness and the illness of the heart is sins.
As Abdullah ibn Al Mubarak, may Allah have mercy upon him said:
I found that sins kill the hearts
And they bring about humiliation by being addicted to them
And abandoning sin gives life to the hearts
And it is better for your soul that you disobey it
At any rate I say, it is obligatory upon us, and I direct this statement to myself and I ask Allah to assist me upon this before I ask Him to assist you. I direct this to myself before I direct it towards you. And I hope for Allah to assist us all.
I say, it is obligatory upon us to be concerned with our souls and to take them to account.
And if the merchant does not go to sleep until he reviews his book of sales; reviewing what he sold, what he spent and what he earned, then surely it is upon the merchant of the next life to be even more concerned because the commerce is greater.
The commerce of the people of this world, what does it benefit them?
Most of the benefits, if it benefits them, will only bring harm to their bodies.
This type of commerce causes a lot of anxiety and stress, if he loses merchandise this causes him stress, and if he is in his country in fear of the highway robbers or the thieves, this causes even more stress.
But the commerce of the next life is the opposite of this.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا هَلْ أَدُلُّكُمْ عَلَى تِجَارَةٍ تُنْجِيكُمْ مِنْ عَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ ، تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَتُجَاهِدُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ بِأَمْوَالِكُمْ وَأَنْفُسِكُمْ ذَلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ يَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَيُدْخِلْكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ وَمَسَاكِنَ طَيِّبَةً فِي جَنَّاتِ عَدْنٍ ذَلِكَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ
Oh you who believe! Shall I lead you to a bargain that will save you from a grievous torment?
That you believe in Allah and His Messenger, and that you strive (your utmost) in the cause of Allah, with your property and your persons: that will be best for you, if you but knew!
He will forgive you your sins, and admit you to Gardens beneath which rivers flow
(Soorah As Saff verses 10, 11, and 12)
Safety from the punishment, Allah forgiving him for his sins, and entrance into paradise. Gardens of Eden meaning gardens of eternity.
وَمَسَاكِنَ طَيِّبَةً فِي جَنَّاتِ عَدْنٍ
Beautiful mansions in gardens of eternity
Mansions which are beautiful in the manner in which they are constructed and beautiful in the material used to construct them.
Do you think the material used to construct the mansions in paradise is cement and gravel? No!
As the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, ‘Two paradises with gold utensils and everything in them is gold. And two paradises with silver utensils and everything in them is silver.
I swear by Allah, if a person were to remain prostrating from the time he reached puberty until he died, this would be a small price to pay for such a great treasure.
Or if there were no other reward other than the person being saved from the fire this would be enough.
Sometimes a person will contemplate and they will say, ‘I wish I was never born’.  Or, ‘It will be sufficient for me if I can be saved from the fire’.
Take for example Umar Ibn Al Khattab رضي الله عنه he said, ‘I wish I could have been an uprooted tree, I wish my mother had never given birth to me.’
This is because the individual is afraid.
He could think that he is safe now, because he prays and fast, gives charity, performs Hajj, and honors his parents and things like this.
But there could be in his heart—and we ask Allah for safety and security—some type of hatred that leads him to an evil end; and refuge is sought with Allah.
As the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
إِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ لَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ حَتَّى مَا يَكُونُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَهَا إِلَّا ذِرَاعٌ
Verily one of you will perform the actions of the people of paradise until there does not remain between him and it except for an arms span.
Meaning the time span before his death and it does not mean the span of his actions because all of his actions are in vain.
He, ‘performs the actions of the people of paradise according that what is apparent to the people while (in reality) he is from the people of the fire’; as appears in an authentic narration.
His statement: Until there does not remain between him and it except for an arms span; does not mean that his actions take him close to paradise. No, the meaning is, until he does not remain upon it except for a short period of his life and then he performs the actions of the people of the fire thus he enters it. But this is if the actions of the person were performed for the sake of the people.
As the Messenger of Allah عليه الصلاة والسلام said:
إن الرجل ليعمل بعمل أهل الجنة فيما يبدو للناس وهو من أهل النار
Verily a person will perform the actions of the people of paradise, according to what is apparent to the people while he is from the people of the fire.
If a person comes across this type of text he fears for himself. He fears showing off. He fears being impressed by himself. He fears from being presumptuous over Allah with his actions.
Thus we ask Allah the Blessed and Exalted to protect us and you all from the evil of our actions. Oh Allah we seek refuge in you from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our actions; we seek Your forgiveness and to You we turn in repentance.
Translated by Rasheed ibn Estes Barbee
Presented to you by Markaz Tawheed was-Sunnah in Durham, NC
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