Sin or Forgivness

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Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H. said: “Every child of Adam is a sinner and the best of whom are the repentant.” By virtue of such an inclusive statement all human beings fall within the sphere of committing sins. Nevertheless, the prophets escaped that scope.

At the very outset I would like to raise two questions:

What is sin?

Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H. said: “Righteousness is good morality and sin is that which causes discomfort (or pinches) within your soul and which you dislike people to become informed of”; [Sahih Muslim]

What is the most serious sin?

There is no doubt that the most serious sin is ascribing partner unto God or denying His existence.    In fact an increasing numbers of a phalanx either prior to or after committing a sin desperately inquires;’Is it a major or a minor sin? Will God forgive it or not?’  Such is not the right approach. To the contrary, the perception of sins should be moulded in full conformity to the Greatness of our Creator. In other words, a sin is not to be evaluated distinctively and the concept of God that one has disobeyed should be the criterion. God has set certain prohibitions. By committing any of them one has violated Allah’s rights i.e. a manifestation of a declaration of a challenge against Allah, the Al-Mighty.   Among the fundamental intellectual topics, the concept of original sin enjoys the old new discussion that has a paramount importance.People are in a whirl. Some accept while others deny.   

The doctrine of Original Sin has received considerable scrutiny, owing to the pervading influence of the philosophy of individualism. The chief dispute centres over the argument of whether an apparently innocent baby can be deemed subject to sin that he has nothing to do with. The dispute centres around distinctions between personal sin (i.e. freely willed, conscious and understood) and original sin (not the result of free will).  

The Qur’an recounts the story of Adam and Eve in a similar way to that of the Bible However, the blame of disobedience is directed to both of them and not just Eve. Eve has been utterly released of the blame with regard to convincing Adam to sin.  

This episode is depicted in the Qur’an in several places. Amongst them are:

2:36 “Then did Satan make them slip from the (garden),  and get them out of the state (of felicity) in which they had been. We said: “Get ye down, all (ye people), with enmity between yourselves. On earth will be your dwelling-place and your means of livelihood – for a time.”
7:20 “Then Satan whispered to them that he might manifest unto them that which was hidden from them of their shame, and he said: Your Lord forbade you from this tree only lest ye should become angels or become of the immortals.”
7:21?And he swore unto them (saying): Lo! I am a sincere adviser unto you.”
7:22?Thus did he lead them on with guile. And when they tasted of the tree their shame was manifest to them and they began to hide (by heaping) on themselves some of the leaves of the Garden. And their Lord called them, (saying): Did I not forbid you from that tree and tell you: Lo! Satan is an open enemy to you?”
7:23 “They said: Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If thou forgive us not and have not mercy on us, surely we are of the lost!”Adam and Eve were forgiven by God after they repented:
2:37 “Then learnt Adam from his Lord words of inspiration, and his Lord Turned towards him; for He is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful.”

Therefore, the idea that the sin propagates to their offspring is categorically refused by Muslims, citing verses such as: 6:164 “Say: Shall I seek another than Allah for Lord, when He is Lord of all things? Each soul earneth only on its own account, nor doth any laden bear another’s load. Then unto your Lord is your return and He will tell you that wherein ye differed. ” and 2:286 “Allah tasketh not a soul beyond its scope. For it (is only) that which it hath earned, and against it (only) that which it hath deserved.  That is to say, all children are born without sin and in the state of purity. Consequently none has been born at any distance from Allah.

At this point it should be stated that the term “original sin” does not exist in the Muslim dictionary. Adam and Eve committed a fault and repented to Allah and Allah forgave them. Adam and Eve prior to descending to the earth needed to learn a practical lesson that they could not have done without, namely man is liable to committing sins and Allah the Oft-Forgiving and Most Merciful welcomes whoever returns to Him. Allah taught Adam words in which he addressed His Lord without a mediator. Allah said: “They said, “Our Lord, we have wronged our souls and if you forgive us not, and bestow not upon us your mercy, we shall be losers. (7:23)”;. When man commits a sin he covers a distance away from the source of good, Allah and when he repents he returns to Allah and when he does a virtuous deed he draws neigh to Allah. When we commit a sin, four witnesses are established against us.  a) The place where we did the crime (i.e., scene of the crime).   “On that day, the earth will reveal all its secrets.” (99:4)   b) The organ we used to commit the crime. “When their ears, their eyes, their skin will testify against them.” (41:21)   “That day we seal up mouths, and hands speak out and feet bear witness to all that they did.” (36:65)   c) The Angels who record the deeds.   “The honoured writers know what you do.” (82:11)   d) “We record that which they send before them, and their footprints, and all things we have kept in a clear register.” (36:12)

In the light of the above mentioned situation the question arises. How are the sinners going to encounter their Lord? At this point it should be marked that Allah is Oft-Forgiving and Most Merciful.

In a Holy Saying, Allah said: “O Son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O Son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O Son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins as great as the earth, and were you then to face Me ascribing no partners to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it”; Related by At-Tirmithi   In another Holy Saying it is stated: “When Allah decreed the creation He pledged Himself by writing in His Book which is laid down with Him: My Mercy prevails over My wrath”;

It was narrated that in the days that Moses wandered with The Children of Israel in the desert a grizzly drought befell them. Together, they all raised their hands towards the heavens praying for the blessed rain. Then, to the astonishment of Moses and all those watching, the few clouds that scattered in the sky vanished and the drought intensified.   It was revealed to Moses that there was a sinner amongst The Children of Israel who had disobeyed Allah for more than 40 years of his life. “Let him separate himself from the congregation,”; Allah told Moses. “Only then shall I shower you all with rain”;   Moses called “There is a person amongst us who has disobeyed Allah for 40 years. Let him separate himself from the congregation and only then shall we be rescued from the drought”; That man, waited, looking left and right, hoping that someone else would step forward, but no one did. He knew he was the one.   If he stayed amongst the congregation all would die of thirst; yet, if he stepped forward he would be humiliated for all eternity.   He raised his hands with sincerity he had never known before, with humility he had never tasted, tears poured on both cheeks,”O Allah, have mercy on me! O Allah, hide my sins! O Allah, forgive me!”;   As Moses and The Children of Israel awaited the sinner to step forward, the rain poured. Moses asked Allah “O Allah, you blessed us with rain even though that sinner did not come forward”; And Allah replied, “O Moses, it is for the repentance of that very person that I blessed all of The Children of Israel with water.”   Moses wanting to know who was this blessed man asked; ‘Show him to me O Allah!’; Allah replied, “O Moses, I hid his sins for 40 years. Do you think that after his repentance I shall expose him? “;   In Islam it is a sin to think that Allah will not forgive you. Allah said: “Say: ‘O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of God: for God forgives all sins (except shirk): for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.’” (39:53)   “And it is He who accepts repentance from His servants and pardons the evil deed and knows what you do.” (42:25)   To think that the sins are too serious to be forgiven emanates from the non-due belief in Allah’s mercy and lack of belief in Allah’s forgiveness and weak performance of an important function of the heart i.e. hope. Allah said: “And my mercy extendeth to all things.”

A man sinned greatly against himself and when he drew neigh to his term, out of his firm conviction that If God takes possession of him He would punish him in a severe way in which He would never punish anyone else, he commissioned his children to cremate his body and crush it and scatter the ash into the sea. His children did what he asked them to do. But the Al-Mighty Allah restored his body and said to him: “What induced you to do that?” The man replied:”I was frightened of you.”; But Allah the Most Merciful forgave his sins for that. (Narrated by Muslim and Bukhari)   This man must have not heard the Holy saying in which Allah said: “A servant of Allah’s committed a sin and said: O Allah! Forgive me my sin. Allah said: My servant has committed a sin and he knows that he has Lord that forgives sins and punishes for them. Then he sinned again and said: O Lord! Forgive me my sins. Allah said: My servant has committed a sin and he knows that he has Lord that forgives sins and punishes for them. Then he sinned again and said: O Lord! Forgive me my sins. Allah said: My servant has committed a sin and he knows that he has Lord that forgives sins and punishes for them. Do what you wish, for I have forgiven you. (Narrated by Muslim and Bukhari)

At this point it should be marked that there is no doubt that treating people kindly has a profound impact on Allah’s forgiveness. This meaning has been reiterated by one of the Holy sayings in which prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H. ‘A man from among those who were before you when he was called to account nothing on the way of good was found for him except that he used to have dealings with people and, being well-to-do, would order his servants to let off the man in strained circumstances from repaying his debts. Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H. said: Allah said: ‘We are worthier of being generous than you. Let him off.’     Allah portrayed this meaning vividly saying: ‘Let them forgive and show indulgence. Yearn Ye not that Allah may forgive you’ (24:22)   In Islam there are thousands of gates of forgiveness through which people can have safe return to Allah, the Oft-Forgiving. Repentance is one of the widely-open gates of forgiveness through which Allah welcomes the returnees. In a prophetic saying it is reported that a man was in the dessert. As he was tired he slept for some time. When he woke up he did not find his camel on whose back he had loaded his provision. He searched for his camel. Upon his failure, he dug a grave awaiting his term. Then a nap overcame him. When he woke up he found his camel next to his head. He was so thrilled that he, by mistake said: “praise be to Allah. O Allah! I’m your Lord and I’m your servant” Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H. said: “Allah is more thrilled with the return of his servant than this man”    Allah portrayed this meaning vividly saying: “For Allah loves those who turn to Him constantly.”(2:222)   In fact Allah extends his hands at night times to accept the repentance of those who committed sins in the daytime and extents His hands in the daytime to accept the repentance of those who committed sins at night.

Obviously there are conditions for an accepted repentance, namely:

• Giving up the sin simultaneously
• Determination of not doing it again
• Feeling sorry

These three conditions should be met if the sin committed is related solely to Allah’s rights. However, in conformity to the Holy Saying in which Allah said: “My servants! I have forbidden oppression for Myself and have made it forbidden amongst you, so oppress not one another.” A fourth condition will be added if others’ right has been violated, namely rights should be restored.

On the basis of the above mentioned, one can comfortably say that Islam has exhausted every possible mean to save man from the clutches of sinning. The similitude of sins is sicknesses of the heart just like fever is a sickness of the body. People may catch a sickness and then get recovered and become healthy. Health is obedience to Allah and sickness is a sin form which when one repents he gets his good health back and maybe enjoys a better health. But some people do not recover and die in a state of chronic disease.  Thus are the people. They are of different levels. Some are at the peak and others in the middle and there are still others who are at the bottom.

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