As human beings, sinning and
erring come to us naturally and at times persistently.
Frenzy gets the better of us and we end up committing sins
that we may feel ashamed of later. Though this is unbecoming
of us yet if we realize the blemish and immediately turn in
penitence to God and make amends, we have been given glad
tidings of forgiveness by the Almighty:
It is incumbent upon God to forgive those
who commit a sin while being overwhelmed with emotions and
then quickly repent. It is they who are forgiven by God. God
is All-Knowing and Wise. (4:17)
Sinning
continuously, at times, takes us deeper into sin and reduces
our inclination to seek forgiveness. If we continue to sin
after repeated repentance, we are overcome with frustration
and hopelessness. We think that since we are so incorrigible
and return to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree in spite
of frequent bouts of repentance, how can God forgive such a
habitual sinner? It may be worthwhile to note that
instilling hopelessness in us is one of the greatest weapons
of Satan. In Arabic, his name is Iblis which means one who
has eternally lost hope. Hence, he wants to make all his
targets lose hope like him. It is here that we need to stand
up after every fall and take hold of ourselves after every
transgression. We must never lose hope in God’s mercy even
if we sin persistently. The above verse of the Qur’an says
that every time a person repents after being overwhelmed by
emotions, God will forgive him. It does not say that this
clemency of God is not for persistent sinners.
What thus
needs to be understood is that it is not the sin which
counts as much as our attitude after it. Like lost sheep
that have wandered away from the herd, we need to get back
into the herd minded by the supreme shepherd.
Moreover, let
us not hate sinners; let us hate their sins. We ourselves
are no less sinners. Hating sinners will be like hating our
own selves. It also is worthwhile to note that however much
we may try, we cannot rid ourselves from sins entirely.
Saints we may become for a while but not forever. Even
saints can slip because to falter and err comes to us
naturally. So let us behave as humans.
Finally, in
choosing to become saints or sinners, let us choose to
become saintly sinners: whenever we sin, we should feel
embarrassed, repent before God and go on to make amends
wherever possible.
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