Pardon Is the Way of the Lord of Might, Between Plotting and Seizing

Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on 13 August 2026 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

The Doctor opened his khatira with a supplication that Allah fulfill our needs through His mercy, kindness and generosity, then returned to what had been recited in the prayer, the words of the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him: ﴿أَفَأَمِنَ الَّذِينَ مَكَرُوا السَّيِّئَاتِ أَن يَخْسِفَ اللَّهُ بِهِمُ الْأَرْضَ﴾ (Then do those who have plotted evil deeds feel secure that Allah will not cause the earth to swallow them?).^[1]

The Strength of the Human and the Strength of Allah

He said that a person sometimes acts with a sense of his own strength, not knowing that the strength of Allah is above him, overpowering him and overpowering the whole universe, which is in origin part of His making, glory be to Him. The One who created first creates second and third and last, until He wills, glory be to Him. But people's arrogance puts them in a kind of insolence, we seek refuge in Allah, and insolence drives the servant to tyranny over others.

Examples of this exist throughout the whole world: you see people who domineer over the earth, think strength is in their hands, and make light of the condition of humankind, so the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, shows them His might. It is as if Allah, Mighty and Majestic, created creation in two kinds: one receives His favor, bounty and blessing in this world and the next, and the other receives His punishment in this world and the next. So when He, glory be to Him, says: ﴿مِنْهُم مَّنْ خَسَفْنَا بِهِ الْأَرْضَ وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ أَغْرَقْنَا﴾ (among them were those whom We caused the earth to swallow, and among them were those whom We drowned),^[2] He is showing us some of the examples by which He can dominate His creation.

Between Punishment and Pardon

Domineering over the earth is not a trait of the people of faith; rather, the people of faith are those who deal with what is to come. And he paused at the words of Allah Almighty: ﴿وَلَوْ يُؤَاخِذُ اللَّهُ النَّاسَ بِظُلْمِهِم مَّا تَرَكَ عَلَيْهَا مِن دَابَّةٍ﴾ (And if Allah were to seize people for their wrongdoing, He would not have left upon it any creature),^[3] for the pardon of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, spans what lies between the first text, ﴿أَفَأَمِنَ الَّذِينَ مَكَرُوا السَّيِّئَاتِ … أَوْ يَأْتِيَهُمُ الْعَذَابُ﴾ (Then do those who have plotted evil deeds feel secure … or that the punishment will come upon them), and the second text, and you ask: which group are these?

You are before people who plot evil. And plotting, in truth, is not merely evil occurring to a person's mind, but arranging, planning, carrying out, following up on the effects, and so on. As for the other group, they are people who, when they err, seek pardon from Allah, and He pardons them.

And he connected this verse with the words of Allah, Blessed and Exalted: ﴿لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ﴾ (Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity; it will have what it has earned, and it will bear what it has incurred), and what is the motto of this soul that Allah does not hold to account and does not burden beyond its capacity: ﴿رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِن نَّسِينَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْنَا إِصْرًا كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِنَا﴾ (Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred. Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us).^[4] Among what the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, had imposed on those people was that when one of them erred, he was taken to account for his error; then pardon came, and it is the way of the Lord of Might, glory be to Him, and the way of those who worship Him as well.

The Conclusion

The conclusion on this matter, or on what came to mind, and we ask Allah to return our thoughts to good and keep them far from evil as long as we live: that we are in the hands of Allah's mercy. Whoever seeks salvation seeks the mercy of Allah, asks Allah for pardon, and turns to Him in every place and at all times. And whoever senses arrogance in himself and takes on sin, the outcome of his affair before his Lord is destruction; for neither the people of ʿĀd or Thamūd, nor Pharaoh and his soldiers, were more disobedient to the Lord of Might, glory be to Him, such that He would not make them taste His might and punishment. Yet the mercy of Allah Almighty is gentle with the weak, the poor, those who seek forgiveness, those who turn back, those who take refuge in Him, glory be to Him, exalted in His majesty.

He concluded with a supplication that Allah make us among them, not lift our heads from prostration before Him, and not afflict us with an arrogance that takes charge of our destruction in our world and our hereafter. Amen, O Lord.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Naḥl, verse 45; the speaker did not recite the remainder of it in the khatira. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: From Sūrat al-ʿAnkabūt, verse 40, rendered by the speaker to this extent. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Naḥl, verse 61. ^[4]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Baqarah, verse 286.