Recognise the sin before one can truly repent

By MD ASHAM AHMAD

We are now living in an increasingly secular environment where the word ‘sin’ is losing its meaning.

There are so many verses of the Quran that contain the command and encouragement to repent, and the statement that God loves those who turn unto Him in sincere repentance.

The Prophet himself, according to the well-known tradition, used to seek God’s forgiveness between seventy and one hundred times a day.

“One who has repented from sin”, said the Prophet, “is like one who has no sin.”

So, every Muslim is taught to ins­tantly repent from all sins, mortal or venial.

Repentance is not to be delayed since death is very imminent and no­­body would knowingly want to re­­turn to God without having repented for his or her sins.

No true Muslim will take sin lightly. To sin, according to the Quran, means to be unjust to one’s own soul; and God has declared that He does not like those who are unjust.

Nevertheless, to err is human, but to persist in error is satanic.

So the real issue is not sin, but in refusing to repent, which is the chief characteristic of Satan, the accursed.

Even though God is all-Merciful, all-Forgiving, and He commands His servants to repent, it does not automatically mean that He is going to grant forgiveness.

“Forgiveness is only incumbent on Allah toward those who do evil on ignorance and turn quickly in repentance to Allah … forgiveness is not for those who do ill deeds until when death attends upon one of them, he says: Lo! I repent now…” (al-Nisa’: 17-18).

There are conditions to be fulfilled before one can be said to have truly repented.

First, with regard to the past, namely, for all the wrongdoings one had committed, one must have regret or remorse.

Second, with regard to one’s present state, one must desist from sin immediately.

And third, with regard to the future, one must be determined not to repeat the same error.

The urgent desire to repent will only arise in the soul of one who knows with certainty that sins are destructive to the soul just as poison is to the body.

Only then will one sincerely regret one’s sin, cease and desist, and be determined not to repeat that sin.

Of course it is already assumed here that the person believes in God and in His perfect Attributes, and also in the Hereafter where ultimate judgement will take place.

True repentance, being an outcome of something profound in the soul, will not simply happen to just anybody.

It will only happen to someone who possesses true knowledge, namely, knowledge which yields certainty in the soul about the nature of the ultimate reality.

This knowledge is at the core of one’s consciousness and it guides one’s ethical judgements and behaviour; it is ultimately wisdom bestowed by God upon whosoever He desires from among His servants.

Ethics, as espoused by the religion of Islam, is ultimately grounded upon human conscience, and as such, knowledge and education are of paramount importance.

Today we are living in an increasingly secular environment where the word sin is losing its meaning, and perhaps in the near future will no longer become fashionable.

How would anybody ever think of repentance if one does not recognise what is a sin and what is not?

This is the necessary outcome of secular education: the true places of things in the hierarchy of existence are no longer recognised and acknowledged.

That kind of education would not give one any idea of what justice is all about, and what it means to be unjust to one’s own soul.

The three conditions mentioned are applicable if the sin committed is purely between man and God.

However, if the sin is between man and man, there is another condition to be met: one has to seek forgiveness from the person one has wronged and to repay whatever his or her due is.

God’s forgiveness, in this regard, is subject to the forgiveness of the victim and no amount of prayer and charity may deliver the transgressor from God’s wrath and punishment.

Islam maintains both a horizontal and vertical relation: every individual must maintain good relations with God but one must not take for granted one’s responsibility towards other human beings.

This is particularly true if one is holding the position of leadership.

The bigger the responsibility one holds the more susceptible one is to mistakes, wrongdoings and injustice; hence the call to repentance becomes even more relevant.

Unfortunately, it is not the habit of our leaders to seek forgiveness or apologise for their wrongdoings.

Only those too arrogant would not admit their mistakes even after being told and reminded repeatedly.

We can see this satanic attitude rampant in developing and third world countries.

Islam is a religion that advocates reform (islah) but no genuine reform is possible without first reviving the culture of repentance.

Repentance, according to the Quran, precedes reform.

To call upon Muslims to reform means to ask them to repent for their sins, i.e., to realise and admit their mistakes instead of continuously blaming others for their pathetic state of affairs.

To revive the culture of repentance also means to be open to criticism and to react to it in a positive manner: the manner exemplified by the conduct of the Rightly Guided Caliphs.

If the philosophy of repentance were understood and practised, the Muslim community should have been the most dynamic and progressive community.

- THE STAR