Explanation of the author's statement: The chapter on saying, "O Allah, forgive me if You will," in the Sahih from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Let none of you say..."

The Shaykh : What is the ruling on this phrase? Is it permissible or not? The meaning of "forgive me" is "conceal my sins from me and pardon me," because *ghufr* (forgiveness) means, yes, it is concealment and overlooking. As for his saying , this is a prohibition, as indicated by the certainty of the statement . We mentioned previously that this is by way of illustration. In the first phrase, it is deliverance from what is disliked: "Forgive me." In the second, it is the attainment of what is desired. Thus, the supplication covers everything that leads to the attainment of what is desired or the removal of what is disliked. It is not limited to these two words only; it is general for everything that is a benefit for the servant, whether by repelling a harm from him or by attaining something he loves.
Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, which is the beginning of today's lesson: . The *lam* is the *lam* of command, "let him be decisive." The meaning of being decisive in the request is that there should be no hesitation, but rather he should be decisive without hesitation and without condition. His saying means the request, i.e., let him be decisive in his request and not make it conditional by saying "if You will." Then he gave the reason, saying , meaning no one can compel Him to do what He wants or what He does not want. That is, no one can compel Allah to do something He does not want, so He does not do it, or to do something He wants, so He prevents Him from it. The meaning is clear. His saying is the reason for his saying "Let none of you say, 'O Allah, forgive me if You will,'" and for his saying . The way this serves as a reason is that the one who says "if You will" implies that there is someone behind Allah the Exalted who can prevent Him. So he says, "If it is Your wish, yes, then do it." But Allah Mighty and Majestic does not do a thing except that He wants it and wills it. No one can compel Him to will so that He does it, or to will so that He does not do it. The upshot is that this phrase, "O Allah, forgive me if You will," implies that it is as if someone behind Allah the Exalted, what? Compels Him to do it, so he says, "I do not compel you; if You will, forgive, and if You will, do not forgive." This is the reasoning.
The second reasoning is his saying, and in Muslim, , "Let him be earnest in his desire." This means he should ask for whatever he wants, whether little or much, and not say, "This is too much; I will not ask Allah for it." For this reason, he said , meaning that nothing is so great in His sight that He would withhold it and be stingy with it, Blessed and Exalted is He. Everything that Allah gives to anyone is not great in the sight of Allah. The resurrection, the creation of all beings with a single word, is great, or is it not? It is not great. Everything that Allah Mighty and Majestic gives to anyone of His creation is not great. "Nothing is too great for Him" means that nothing is so great in His sight that He would not give it; rather, everything is easy for Him. This is another reasoning. Because the one who says "if You will" seems to see that this is a great matter for Allah, so He might not will it because it is great in His sight. The analogy is that you say to a person from among the people—and the example is for the form, not for the reality—that you say to a person, "Give me a million riyals if you will." If you say to him, "Give me a million riyals," the thing itself might be great and weigh him down, so you say "if you will" to make the matter easier for him. But Allah Mighty and Majestic does not need you to say "if You will," for He, Blessed and Exalted is He, finds nothing He gives to be too great. Yes, everything that Allah the Exalted gives is easy for Him.
The third prohibition in this condition is that it implies the supplicant is self-sufficient regarding Allah, that the supplicant is self-sufficient regarding Allah. It is as if he says, "Give me this if it is Your wish, otherwise it does not concern me." Yes, and this indicates that this questioner is not earnest in his desire, not earnest in his desire. It is as if the matter does not need him in his view: "If You will, forgive, and if You will, do not forgive; it does not concern me." For this reason, he said, "Let him be earnest in his desire," meaning he should ask with great eagerness. The condition contradicts this, or does it not? Yes, it contradicts it, because the one who conditions the desired thing implies that he is self-sufficient regarding it, and this is a prohibition. The person who supplicates should supplicate to Allah the Exalted while feeling that he is in the utmost need of Him, and that Allah the Exalted is able to give him what he asked for, and that what he asked for is not great for Allah Mighty and Majestic, but is easy for Him. So, among the etiquettes of supplication, among the etiquettes of supplication, is that a person should not supplicate with this formulation because it has three prohibitions:
The first prohibition is that it implies that there is a compeller for Allah who compels Him to do a thing, so you say, "I do not compel you; if You will, forgive."
The second prohibition is that it implies that the person sees that it is great for Allah and big in His sight, so he says "if You will," otherwise I do not burden you because it is great, so he says "if You will" so that He does not strain Himself and fall into difficulty. This is another prohibition.
The third prohibition is that it implies that the person seeking is self-sufficient regarding Allah, as if he says, "If You will, do it, and if You will, do not do it; the matter does not concern me." Yes, for this reason, if someone said, "Would you like me to give you such and such?" and he said, "If it is Your wish," what does this indicate? Self-sufficiency, meaning it does not concern me whether you give it to me or not. For this reason, do not say "O Allah, forgive me." Rather, be decisive. So, among the etiquettes of supplication is that you be decisive and say, "O Allah, forgive me; O Allah, have mercy on me; O Allah, guide me to what You love and are pleased with," and the like. Be decisive without hesitation. But do you be decisive, or do you be decisive regarding the answer? If the matter returns to the power of Allah, then you be decisive, because Allah is able and He promised, "Call upon Me, I will respond to you" - ... unless your back hurts.
The student: ...

The Shaykh : There is no harm; there is no burden on the sick person. Yes. Now, what did I say second?
The student: Being decisive regarding the answer.

The Shaykh : I mean, if being decisive regarding the answer is in terms of the power of Allah the Exalted, then you must be decisive about it, because Allah is able and He said, "Call upon Me, I will respond to you." But in terms of your supplication, in terms of your own supplication, considering the obstacles you have, and the causes may not be available, then this person hesitates. But even so, he should have good opinion of Allah, have good opinion of Allah the Exalted, and that He, the Exalted, if He said , and that the One who guided you to supplication will bestow upon you the answer, because He is the One who guides first and last. You should have good opinion of Allah, especially if you have come with the causes of the answer and avoided the obstacles.
And among the obstacles is transgression in supplication, by a person supplicating for a sin or severing family ties.
And among them is a person supplicating for what is not possible by Shari'ah or by divine decree. What is not possible by Shari'ah, for example?
The student: Make me a prophet.

The Shaykh : He says, "O Allah, make me a prophet." This is not possible. Or by divine decree, what is an example of that? Kingship, is it possible? Yes? That a person supplicates to Allah the Exalted to combine opposites. Combining opposites is an impossible matter. So, transgression in supplication is an obstacle to the answer of the supplication. Rather, it is forbidden, and it is most like mocking Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He.
What is the relevance of this chapter to tawhid (the oneness of Allah)? The relevance of this chapter to tawhid is from two aspects:
First, from the aspect of lordship. Whoever does what implies that there is a compeller for Allah has not believed in the completeness of His lordship, because the completeness of the lordship of Allah the Exalted is that there is no one who can compel Him, and that He is not questioned about what He does, as Allah the Exalted said . Also, there is a deficiency in the aspect of lordship from another angle: that Allah the Exalted finds things He gives to be too great. So, in that, there is a blemish in His generosity and bounty. As for the servant, he implies his self-sufficiency regarding his Lord, and this is a deficiency in the tawhid of the person, whether from the aspect of oneness of worship or from the aspect of lordship, and even from the aspect of the names and attributes. This is the relevance of this chapter in the book of Tawhid. For this reason, the author (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned it in a chapter concerning the names and attributes, because this is a deficiency regarding Allah the Exalted. If you ask, "What is your answer regarding what came in the supplication of istikharah (the prayer for guidance in a decision), and what also came in the famous hadith ? And in istikharah you say , and so on?" If this is the case, the answer is from two aspects.
I did not condition that on the will of Allah. I did not say, “Forgive it for me if You will.” Rather, when I made the supplication, I asked You to decree it for me without saying “if You will.” But I do not know whether this is good for me or not, and Allah the Exalted knows. So I say, “If You know that this is good for me, then decree it for me.” Yes, if the wording of the hadith were “decree it for me if You will,” it would contradict this hadith. But since it was not, and the condition in it is for a matter unknown to me—I do not know if it is good for me or not—likewise, we say regarding the hadith for me, because a person does not know whether a long life is good for him or evil. For this reason, the scholars disliked saying to a person, “May Allah prolong your life,” because they said this is a supplication whose outcome is unknown; prolonging life may be good for him, or it may be evil. But you should say, “May Allah prolong your life in His obedience,” or “in obedience to Him,” or something similar, so that the supplication is good in every case. And on this basis, there is no contradiction in this hadith with the hadith of istikhara, nor with the hadith , because the supplication is definitive; it is not conditioned on the will. The prohibition is only for what is conditioned on the will.
But if he says, “O Allah, forgive me if You intend,” is that the same as “if You will”? Yes, it is the same thing. Why? Because the intention here is cosmic, so it means the will. Therefore, the difference in wording is not considered to have an effect on the ruling.

The questioner : Oh Shaykh

The Shaykh : Yes

The questioner : We can also say that the condition is from the perspective of what concerns Allah Mighty and Majestic.

The Shaykh : Yes

The questioner : In istikhara, it concerns the servant himself.

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner : That is, he said, “If it is good for me,” or “if life is good for me,” and this concerns the servant himself.

The Shaykh : But decree it.

The questioner : But there is, from the perspective of prohibiting a person, what concerns Allah Mighty and Majestic: “If You will.”

The Shaykh : No, even “forgive me” is like “decree it for me.” If he said, “Forgive it for me if You will,” it would be exactly the same. Even if he said, “If You know that this is good for me, then decree it for me if You will,” it would be prohibited, the same thing. Yes.

The questioner : The point of contradiction.

The Shaykh : We said that the first point is that this is conditioned on Your knowledge, and you do not know, so it is not conditioned on what is sought. You are not saying, “Decree it for me if You will.”
The second point is that the supplication of istikhara, “Keep me alive as long as You know life is good for me,” the good in it is unknown, it is not known. But as for “Forgive me and have mercy on me,” the good is known, the good is known. So why do you make it conditional? Yes.

The questioner : Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Yes

The questioner : The saying of some people, “May Allah prolong your life.”

The Shaykh : Yes, it is the same thing. If he says, “May Allah prolong your life,” tell him, “In His obedience,” in His obedience, meaning in obedience to Allah.

The questioner : ...

The Shaykh : And we, we always, when someone says, “May Allah prolong your life,” we say, “In His obedience.” Yes?

The questioner : ...

The Shaykh : It is the same thing, because “O long-lived one,” if it is a statement, we say, “You lied, you do not know if he is long-lived or short-lived.” And if it is a supplication, it may be good for him, or it may be evil for him. You say, “O long-lived one, I hope that you will be long-lived in obedience to Allah,” unless “long-lived” is addressing a person who is a hundred years old, meaning his life is long; that is correct. Yes, a statement would be a true statement. Yes.

The questioner : The ruling on the supplication.

The Shaykh : Which of them?

The questioner : This is the...