Malfuzat – Volume I — Page 3
Malfuzat - Volume I 3 such losses. This is the very indication in: إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ التَّوَّابِينَ Allah loves those who turn to him. When one repents, they become destitute and helpless and this is why Allah the Exalted holds love and affection for such a person, and includes them among the community of the righteous. Other nations do not consider God to be Merciful and Munificent. The Christians effectively hold God to be a tyrant and His son to be merciful, for the father refused to forgive sin, while the son gave his own life to have others forgiven. It is absurd for there to be such a stark difference between father and son. Father and son always carry a resemblance in morals and habits, but here the case is exactly the opposite. If Allah was not Merciful, man could not survive for even a moment. How can one imagine that He who has created thou- sands of things for the benefit of man, even prior to his performing any action, would disregard his repentance and good deeds? The Reality of Sin and Repentance The reality of sin is not that Allah first created it and then thousands of years later conjured up the idea of forgiveness. For example, a fly has two wings, one containing poison and the other its antidote. Similarly, human beings have two wings, one of sin and the other of shame, repentance and remorse. This is a gen- eral rule. For example, if someone were to violently beat a slave, remorse would overwhelm such a one. It is as if both wings move in unison. Poison is not with- out its antidote. Now the question is, why was this poison created in the first place? The answer is that although this is a poison, if harnessed, it possesses re- medial properties. If sin did not exist, the venom of vanity would: surge forth within man and lead to his ruin, but repentance prevents this from happening. Sin protects man from the calamity of arrogance and conceit. When the Prophet Muhammad would seek forgiveness seventy times in one day-despite being sinless how great an effort should we exert? Only one who is content with sin does not repent; an individual who considers sin to be evil will ultimately refrain from it. It is narrated in a Hadith that when a person weeps before Allah time and again al-Baqarah, 2:223