Asking for Allah's mercy....
I've been spending time thinking about accountability. And what I have come up with....is that responsible people sometimes take risks. When we take risks, we have to be accountable for what we've done. We don't sit around hoping that a miracle will happen.
And after meeting some really interesting people.....one person spoke up with something that just made a lot of sense to me. And I wrote that in the comment section of a previous post. Where I said....I took off my scarf and I'm willing to suffer the punishment. I'm not hoping for mercy.
Wouldn't the muslims be better off if they lived their lives like that? Have we all become part of a group that asks for mercy by hoping to the suspend the requirement of justice?
I mean...Allah is praised for His mercy, but he owes us no obligation of it. Will Allah offer mercy to everyone? If such is true, then why the talks of hellfire and punishments within it? Are we to believe that mercy will always be granted?
Allah says in the Quran....
“Your Lord hath inscribed for Himself (the rule of) mercy: verily, if any of you did evil in ignorance, and thereafter repented, and amend (his conduct), lo! He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful” (Quran 6:54)
What if you commited a sin knowingly?
Punishment should be clear. As if you are talking to your 3 yr old...... If you do THIS, then your punishment is THIS. It is what it is. Accept it or don't you?
(eg....If you commit fornication, your punishment is 100 lashes. Do you understand? You WILL be punished!)
I searched thru hadith for an idea of mercy and found many references.....here's a couple of them...
“God calls for mercy in everything, so be merciful when you kill and when you slaughter: sharpen your blade to relieve its pain” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari).
“(It happens that) I start the prayer intending to prolong it, but on hearing the cries of a child, I shorten the prayer because I know that the cries of the child will incite its mother’s passions” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)
I wonder what people expect as Allah's mercy? Just curious. Can we discuss this? Do we expect that all those who have fornicated will be forgiven for it, and will walk thru the gates of paradise with flowers scattered in front of them?
I found this online..."Mercy as a concept has come to mean GOD's withholding punishment from us out of kindness and love."
Is that what most of us are holding out for? Or perhaps we are thinking that instead of 100 lashes, that they'll only receive 50? What about the gossipers? Will they REALLY eat the flesh of their brother?
What do you see as mercy?
I'll say this.....that commiting what I know is wrong....and EXPECTING to be punished for it. And accepting that punishment....(but also hoping for mercy, yet ready nonetheless).....is a height of faith that some may not understand.....
So come on.....answer the Q.....What do you expect as mercy??
posted by Safa at 7:24 PM
12 Comments:
I think that Allah is merciful to those who are truly sorry and do not return to committing the same actions. However, I think it is arrogant to think that you can continue to do haraam because Allah will forgive you. A lot of men seem to justify their bad behavior this way.
11:13 AM
My concept of mercy is that God has a much larger capacity for forgiveness than we can comprehend - but there is accountability. We cannot go about willy nilly committing 'sins' and expect to 'get away with it'. Sometimes the 'punishment' is meted out here and now and sometimes it will be in the next life. The concept of accountability certainly seems to be a very foreign concept here (in Egypt) from what I have experienced. People seem to think that by simply saying their prayers five times a day all will be forgiven with no consequences - sorry - I do not believe that. The reason there is sadness is so that we can experience happiness, there are opposites so that we can appreciate the positives - when Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden - there was no opposition - until they ate from the tree of life - then they got to experience the opposite and learned to appreciate the positives. Not sure if this makes sense - but it does to me coming from my 'LDS' faith. I feel for the people who justify their bad behaviour thinking they can pull the wool over God's/Allah's eyes - they are going to be in for a real shock when they meet their maker. Not one of us living is impervious to sin - we are all sinners - little or big - they are not accepted by God - we just have to have faith that He will know what is in our hearts and judge us accordingly.
10:33 PM
Salaam;
I could be completely going off on a tangent here... but I believe that the only way to obtain forgiveness from one sins is by doing tauba.
I think there are 3 conditions to tauba. The first is to feel guilty for your sin and feel remorse, the second is to ask Allah SWA for forgiveness (as well as either pay rights; ask the person you hurt for forgiveness;etc); and the third is to make the intention of not repeating the sin. Therefore Insha Allah obtaining Allahs Mercy based on your sincerity.
Check out this website it answered a lot of my questions: http://www.slideshare.net/DrYunus/tauba-and-forgiveness-from-allah-swt-the-ultimate-hope-for-salvation
3:02 AM
The purpose of this life is to worship Allah (as stated in the Quran), and work towards earning good in this world so that we may achieve good (i.e., Jannah) in the next world. Allah talks about those who have taqwa in the Quran being the ones who are successful. Taqwa is defined by scholars as a state in which we swing between hope and fear. Hope for Allah's mercy but fear of His punishment. I don't think we should knowingly commit a sin and say we will accept the punishment believing that Allah will forgive us out of mercy. how different is that from Christians who believe that they can sin all they want, but as long as they believe in Jesus (AS), our sins are forgiven. It's not so easy as that.
Allah (SWT) will forgive us, when we seek His forgiveness. But there are conditions to Tauba as Tahseen said. And one of them is to sincerely feel remorse for committing the sin and sincerely trying to not return to that sin. The Prophet (S) who was sinless, used to ask forgiveness 70X a day. So if someone who did not sin at all felt the need to continually ask Allah's forgiveness, then what should our attitude be?
And the punishment of the Hellfire is not something to be taken lightly. Another hadith says, if we were to stick one finger into the fire, we would forget all the good that happened in this world. and if we were to stick a finger in paradise, we would forget all the bad that happened in this world.
1:29 PM
I can`t comment in extent on this as the "punishemnt" and mercy from my Gods and Godesses are completely diffirent from those found in the quran. I don`t find that the punishment fits the "crime", but I applaud you for a very interesting post and will read it egearly!
Hugs from late night Norway!
7:51 PM
Shabana - as a Christian I take exception to the comment that Christians believe that as long as we believe in Christ we can sin and there are no consequences - at least in my faith that is very erroneous - we believe that no sin is acceptable in God's eye and we have to repent - which is a three fold process - a) we have to acknowledge that we have sinned and depending on the gravity of the sin there are 'penances' that have to be 'paid' in this life b) we have to pray to God for forgiveness and c) we have to refrain from committing the sin again.
Sorry Safa for hijacking your comments section - but I could not allow that comment to stand.
9:34 PM
Well I use to be a christian and I was raised in a baptist church until the age of 12 and then I looked for something more "Deeper" and switched to a pentecostal.
The baptist church believed that once you were "saved" you were always "saved". I remember my father told me to ask if someone who was "Saved" died while being drunk would he go to heaven. The answer the pastor gave me was YES. He said it was better to repent and turn from the sin but nonetheless he was still safe. WHOAAAA! That threw me for a loop cuz I totally disagreed with that. But the pentecostals believe differently. They believed that Once you got saved it was a working process. You had to stay on the correct path, if you fall out of that path, you were no longer on the path to heaven and had to REPENT and TURN from your sin and get back on the path. If you didn't then for sure you were on the path to hell. There is only one path to heaven and many paths to hell. And if you commit sin knowingly and you don't repent and turn away from it, then for sure you on the path to hell.
And hell is for eternity, unlike what we muslims believe (except for not believing or joining partners with Allah) , that once a persons sins are punished he has a chance of being released from hell. NOPE not in mainstream christianty. Once in hell, you are there forever and there is no coming out.
NOW i am NOT speaking for the Catholic beliefs, just of MOST protestant church beliefs.
But the baptist and the pentecostal are both listed in the protestant category. But like all churches they differ in some beliefs.
There is so many denominations because the christian community is split in their beliefs such as this one, yet they are united in the fact that they all believe in Jesus as the son of God and as the Savior of the world.
Kindda like us muslims have different branches (Sunni, Shiite, Sufi Wahhabi, Kharijites, Ismaili Druze, Nation of Islam & etc). So many splits because of different beliefs.
Anyhow, this is off topic. Sorry safa.
5:27 AM
My knowledge of Christianity is what I was exposed to growing up in the Deep South. That is what the Christians I knew believed (i.e., all sins are forgiven as long as you believed and accepted that Jesus died for our sins). But I acknowledge that there may be various beliefs within the various denominations. I didn't intend to bring up debate about that point though, so sorry Safa.
8:16 AM
Assalamu `alaykum,
What do I expect as mercy??
Well...when I think about God and His greatness, His power, His majesty... and then I think about myself, my nothingness, my short comings... I feel like... so ashamed!!
He is SOOO amazing and generous. Imagine that in Islam, for e.g., every little action, from drinking a glass of water, to calling a friend, can be a source of reward from God if connected to the right intentions!
So whenever I think about all these wasted opportunities, how Allah swt is with open arms offering me all these opportunities to come close to Him and I am just heedless and don't take them... I understand why if I got hellfire Allah swt wouldn't owe me anything.
So as mercy I expect from Him to insha'Allah overlook my shortcomings, look at my struggles, look at my efforts, even though they might not have gotten great results, at my never-ending journey to find Him, etc, etc.
What you say about the last paragraph safa... I don't agree that much. You say "And accepting that punishment....(but also hoping for mercy, yet ready nonetheless).....is a height of faith that some may not understand.....".
If we have GREAT faith is because we love Allah swt in a way that's just... AMAAAAZING. That's what REAL faith entail. And think about it, if you commit what you know it's wrong, willfully and are not repentant about it...even though you "accept the punishment" then how does that equal to LOVE and true faith?
Imagine you LOVE your children SOO much (I'm sure you do!). Would you say... you know, I know it's wrong, but I will punch you and slap you until you get bruises. And I know you will punish me and call social services and I'll go to jail, but I'll take the punishment. Doesn't this sound weird?
I think it's the same when we willfully disobey God...
12:42 PM
Sometimes when reflecting about Allah's Mercy I think about my children really deeply. I always forgive them when they are well brats, I still love them and try my best to be good to them and over look their faults but what makes me angry the most is when I tell them to do something and not only they don't do it but they flaunt not doing it in my face and don't even have the good nature to apologise for it!! Oh man they are in for MY wrath for that! But when they are michevious and all that then say with real meaning "I'm Sorry, I wont do that again" Even though i KNOW they WILL do it again, I forgive them and give them sweets and things that make them happy because I know it was good of them to say sorry and I reward that.
Now I think most all parents agree with me on that point, now relate it to Allah. (In a way befiting HIM)
We keep sinning and sinning and Allah knows we will keep sinning but if we ask for sincere forgiveness He has stated He will Show us His Mercy. But if we are going to be petulant brats then we jsut deserve His Wrath. We all should hope for Mercy of Allah even if we are the biggest sinners because no one will know when one will be forgiven and wont be. It's a 50/50 chance but when you don't even hope for it it's 0% chance. So even for idiots like your ex, he may Hope for Mercy but there is a 50% chance he really wont get it.... and for sure on the Day of J. You will recieve your extra good deeds from what he has done to wrong you. He will Tip your scale towards good. I guess Hubby was good for soemthing eh? lol.
But seriously, though I keep repeating sin and know I might never be able to stop myself from sins I think of Mercy as a form of Allah's Love of His Creation. He is merciful to us because he knows our sinning nature and wants us to succeed in our path of worshipping Him. He gives us many many M A N Y chances.
I love my children until they die and I keep trying to forgive thei bad deeds. They will always be my children adn i will always be their mother.
Allah Created me and Until I die I will keep sinning and I pray Allah forgives my bad deeds. I will always be His Creation and He will always be my Creator.
6:10 AM
your post made sense to me.
doesn't make sense to knowingly do wrong and just put it on 'oh Allah is merciful'. thats like playing with the religion.
Also, have you shared your financial situation with some trustworthy family in canada? do you know anyone there that you can trust and go to for help in times like these.
11:47 AM
SubhanAllah I just had a thought and I know some of you might jump my back for saying this:
You're saying you don't mind Allah's Punishment yet you are crying that you have to make juice from Jello. You take off your hijab and prepare yourself for the Wrath of Allah then you find the stash and are given a big finacial problem.
So now I'm wondering if you still want Allah's wrath or mercy? Sometimes we are punished in unexpected ways, I'm not saying this IS a punishment from Allah or that you deserve your mom being an addict or anything like that but I'm just saying when suddenly a crisis comes up don't you want it solved immediatly? Or do you liek to keep floundering in misery? So when we want the Mercy of Allah we want him to fix our problems quickly and not to let us linger in misery.
I'm not judging you at all for your choices Safa. I'm just asking theological questions here just as you were out of pure curiosity.
Are you prepared to forgo Allah's Mercy even if taht means He punishes you perhaps by making you watch your children and family starve or suffer? Sometimes Allah trys us with our children and things most beloved to us to get us to change.
XOXOX Safa.
9:44 PM
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