Sadia Dehlvi

The New Year is often a time for quiet personal introspection. It’s a good occasion to review our relationship with God. One way of knowing where we stand with God is to reflect on where God stands with us. Do we take time out to remember him? How do we behave with His creatures?
Prophet Mohammad said the bankrupt ones are those who despite good deeds of ibadah, worship, abuse one another, treat neighbours badly and lack good character. On the Judgment Day, one’s performance of civic duties and family obligations shall be taken into account. God promises to be compassionate and forgiving to those who are compassionate to His creatures.
The foremost names of Allah are Ar-Rahman and Al Rahim; The most merciful and most compassionate. In the Quran Ar-Rahman is mentioned about 57 times and Al Raheem around 115 times. In one of the prayers that the Prophet taught, he said, “O Allah, You are most Forgiving One, You love to forgive, so forgive me’’. We need to invoke Allah’s love, mercy and forgiveness all the time.
According to a well-known prophetic narration, God Almighty has 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 nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as its”.
Just as it is important to believe in God’s mercy, it is necessary to base human relations on forgiveness. We cannot expect Allah’s forgiveness unless we also forgive those who do wrong to us. Forgiving each other, even forgiving one’s enemies remains at the core of Islamic teaching. In the Quran, Allah describes the Believers as, “those who avoid major sins and acts of indecencies and when they are angry they forgive”. Later in the same chapter Allah says, “The reward of the evil is the evil thereof, but whosoever forgives and makes amends, his reward is upon Allah”.
Prophet Mohammad was the most forgiving of people, ever ready to forgive his enemies. Once when he went to Ta’if (a city in the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia) to convey the message of Allah, its people abused him and drove him away with stones. He left the city humiliated and wounded. While the Messenger took shelter under a tree, Archangel Gabriel informed him that Allah wished to destroy the people of Ta’if because of the way they treated His beloved Prophet. The Prophet prayed to Allah to save the people of Ta’if, because what they did was out of sheer ignorance. He said, “O Allah, guide these people, for they do not know what they do”.
When the victorious Mohammad entered the city of Mecca, he encountered his staunchest enemies. These people who had inflicted so much suffering on him and his followers expressed the wish to be treated nobly. The Muslim army readied for revenge, but the Prophet did not allow it saying, “Today, I shall say to you what Prophet Joseph said to his brothers, ‘You may leave. No reproach this day shall be on you. May God forgive you, He is the Most Compassionate’”. He even forgave Hind; the woman who commissioned the murder of his beloved uncle Hamza, mercilessly mutilating the dead body.
Islamic scriptures provide certain conditions for seeking forgiveness from God. Recognising the office, making a commitment not to repeat the offence, and seeking sincere forgiveness from God. However, if the offence has been committed against another human being or society, another condition is added. The offender must recognise the offence with those against whom the offence was committed, and seek forgiveness from them and God.
Prophet Moses had once asked, “O my Lord! Who is the most honourable of Thy servants to Thee”? God said: “He who pardons when he is in a position of power”. Constantly invoking God’s mercy leads to God consciousness and keeps one on the righteous path.

— Sadia Dehlvi is a Delhi-based writer and author of Sufism: The Heart of Islam. She can be contacted at sadiafeedback@gmail.com