Authour: Khizar Hayat
“Every Muslim will fall into sin but the best of us are those who repent.”
In surah Az-Zumar, Allah SWT says to us:
I’ve chosen this ayah because I found it to be something very pertinent to the times we live in right now. When we go outside, we are surrounded by fitna everywhere we go. Sometimes its right in front of our eyes and advertised on massive billboards in front of us, other times its more hidden and we find it when we look deeper into the cracks of everything around us. And it is very easy for us to fall into it, no Muslim is going to be sinless, and we all have out own issues and our own journeys, which means that there are going to be bumps on the road. I knew brothers who have spent so much time stranded in sin and drawn in by the appeal of this dunya, but who are now some of the most devout and blessed brothers that I know. Abu Huraira narrates:
This shows that Allah SWT is merciful. We can spend so much time in sin and commit it often but because our lord is Ar Rahman Ar Rahim, he will forgive our sins. Does this mean we can just go out and do whatever we like, however? Of course not. With that intention, you risk so much. When you repent for your sins you need to make sure your repentance is sincere, that when you commit your sin you feel remorse and you feel guilt after doing it, you make dua that you try not to commit that sin again and you actively try not to. When you repeat a sin so much with that intention, you risk losing that and you risk losing that feeling of regret inside you, so much so you become apathetic and you cannot feel any guilt or shame in doing that sin.
So what does it mean to seek forgiveness?
When we seek forgiveness we need to meet the following criteria:
- Sincerity in repentance
- Giving up the sin
- Regretting the sin
- Resolving not to return to the sin
- Repenting in good time ie shortly after having committed the sin- as a mu’min our battle is about repentance as much as it is not committing the sin in the first place
Restoring people’s rights if the sin had to do with the rights of other people- on the day of judgement, the sins we’ve repented to Allah about where it involves us will be forgiven but if our sins transgress the rights of the people, we must ask the people involved for forgiveness.