The Honour of Prophets — Page 33
33 this verse, for he is also among the believers who believed in the Holy Prophet; and so, undoubtedly he too would be a mudhnib. The Christians ought to reflect over this point. In short, these verses demonstrate with absolute clarity that dhanb as it appears in this context, does not mean sin, but rather refers to human frailty, which is not blameworthy. It is essential for human nature to possess such weakness; and the reason it is termed dhanb is because the nature of man is characterised by deficiency and flaw, so that he may always remain dependent on God and continue seeking His strength to suppress his weakness. There is no doubt that the weakness of human flesh, if not attended to by divine strength, is bound to lead to transgression. So that which leads to dhanb or sin is metaphorically called dhanb as well. It is a well known and familiar practice in expression that the very symptoms which cause certain ailments are sometimes given the name of those ailments themselves. So, weak ness in human nature is also an ailment and its remedy is istighfar. Thus, the Book of God uses the word dhanb to connote the weakness of the flesh, which testifies to the fact that man possesses a weakness in human nature. As such, Allah Almighty states: