We all sin. We all make mistakes

8 min readNov 4, 2019

وَيَتُوبَ اللَّهُ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ۗ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا

And Allah will redeem the believers, men and women. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful

―Quran 33:73

We all sin. We all make mistakes. The biggest mistake we could make is to lose hope and dwell on our sins. Be quick to repent and get back on track. Never lose hope in the Almighty’s Mercy.

Do not lose hope in Allah’s mercy, for Allah certainly forgives all sins. He is indeed the All-Forgiving, Most Merciful. ―Quran 39:53

“Every son of Adam commits sin, and the best of those who commit sin are those who repent.”
―Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)
( Sunan Ibn Majah)

The nature of man is inclination to things that match his whims and frequently he neglect the rights of God by doing what God has forbidden. Part of God’s Mercy and grace is that He opened the door of repentance and forgiveness to the sinner. Allah God commands us to never lose hope in His mercy and forgiveness Even if we have committed many sins, Allah forgives all sins.

And indeed, your Lord is full of forgiveness for the people despite their wrongdoing.
— Quran 13:6

Will they not turn to Allah in repentance and seek His forgiveness? And Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
―Quran 5:74

for those who commit sins, and then repent afterwards and believe — your Lord, thereafter, is Forgiving and Merciful
―Quran 7:153

If one falls into sin, all that is required is sincere repentance followed by seeking God’s forgiveness . When a person sins he or she pushes themselves away from the mercy of God, however sincere repentance brings a person back to God.

Surely good deeds wipe out evil deeds.
— Quran 11:114

When Allah God sees the sincere repentance from one of the believers He not only forgives the sin, but He replaces the sins with rewardable good deeds. This is from God’s infinite mercy.

The door to forgiveness is always open:

your Lord — for those who did evil because of ignorance, then repented after that and corrected themselves — surely your Lord is, after all that, Most-Forgiving, Very-Merciful.
— Quran 16:119

“ Limitless is your Lord in His mercy… “
— Quran 6:147

God Almighty is full of love and kindness to His creation. All blessings and goodness in this world and the next are clear proofs of His Mercy.

Indeed, Islam teaches that God is more merciful toward us than our own mothers. How can it be otherwise, when some of God’s names and attributes include:
The Acceptor of Repentance;
The Compassionate;
The Loving;
The Forbearing One;
The Most Gracious;
The Most Merciful;
The Source of Peace;
The Source of Goodness;
The Most Generous;
The Bestower
These names all indicate that God is characterised by mercy, goodness and generosity. They testify to the vastness and perfection of His Mercy, which He blesses all of His creation.

This same creation is addressed by God, when He says, “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 the earth.” (Hadith)

Throughout life, people continually receive Allah’s blessings, be it good health, sight, hearing, nourishment, clean air, children, wealth and countless others. Some use their God-given gifts of intelligence and reasoning to acknowledge these blessings. Ultimately, everyone has the free will to acknowledge their blessings, use them in a manner ordained by Allah (the Lord of mankind) and worship Him alone.

The creation of human beings and all their faculties is a great mercy in itself. The fact that we can get out of bed, work, eat, play and sleep should make us grateful. Another mercy is the fact that He created us sinless and will not hold us to account until the age of maturity and decision making. This is in stark contrast to the “Original Sin” concept in Christianity. Forgiveness of sins is another example of Allah’s Mercy, as Allah knows we are imperfect and commit mistakes. The fact that believers commit sins does not mean that we should lose hope of Allah’s Mercy or that we have exhausted Allah’s Forgiveness. Even animals are not exempt from Allah’s Mercy. They have faculties of hearing and sight, are provided with sustenance and offspring, and are granted many other blessings. The Merciful Creator ensures that every creation is looked after — from the fish in the depths of the ocean, to the insects in the earth, and the birds in the skies — all are sustained by Him.

Indeed, the mercy of Allah is near to the doers of good.
— Quran 7:56

Surely Allah is Most Gentle, Ever Compassionate to people.
— Quran 22:65

indeed, I am the Perpetual Forgiver of whoever repents and believes and does righteousness and then continues in guidance.
— Quran 20:82

GOD’S INFINITE MERCY AND ABSOLUTE JUSTICE:
God is the Most Just Judge. At the same time, He is the Most Compassionate and the Most Merciful. “Your Lord has ordained mercy upon Himself’ ( — Quran 6:54), He assures us, declaring through His Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) that His mercy overcomes His anger. He also commands us, His servants, not to despair of His mercy. Therefore, our hearts should find comfort in knowing that no matter what sins we may have committed, our infinitely gracious Lord is able and willing to forgive them all if we turn to Him. For He knows every single thing about us: the frailty of our human nature, our physical and emotional makeup, the conditions under which we live, the difficulties surrounding us and our capacity to deal with them, the pressures and temptations we are subject to, the most subtle whispers of our hearts. And He assures us that: We do not burden any soul beyond its capacity, and with Us is a record which speaks with truth, and they shall not be wronged. ( — Quran 23:62)

Moreover, out of His mercy, God sends us, by day and by night, repeated opportunities to do good (and refraining from doing a possible evil is also a form of good). No matter how small a deed may be in our eyes, in God’s sight it may be important and a means of forgiveness or reward for us, as if He were just searching for reasons to show us mercy. In addition to all this, our Lord grants us still another divine mercy: that He judges our actions by our intentions-that is, by what we intend in our hearts rather than by what we actually do. The Prophet (pbuh) stated that if someone intends to do a good deed but does not carry it out, God writes one good deed for him. If he intends to do a good deed and actually carries it out, God writes for him a reward of between ten to seven hundred times, to many more than that. However, if someone intends to do a bad deed but does not carry it out, God writes one good deed for him, whereas if he intends to do a bad deed and actually carries it out, God writes only a single bad deed in his account: The one who brings a good deed, for him there will be [a reward of] tenfold like it, while the one who brings an evil deed will be recompensed only with the like of it, and they will not be treated unjustly. ( — Quran 6:160)

Islam teaches us that God is the most forgiving, and will go on forgiving, repeatedly. Part of being human is making mistakes. Sometimes the mistakes are made without deliberation or a bad intention, but sometimes we knowingly and deliberately sin and do wrong to others. Therefore as human beings, we are constantly in need of forgiveness.

Whenever a person commits a sin, he alone is responsible for that sin. Every person is responsible for his or her own actions. Consequently, no human being who has ever lived is responsible for the mistakes made by Adam and Eve. God says in the Quran:

And no bearer of burdens shall bear another’s burden.
— Quran 35:18

Adam and Eve made a mistake, they repented sincerely, and God in His infinite wisdom forgave them. Humankind is not doomed to be punished, generation after generation. The sins of the father are not visited upon the sons.

Then they both ate of that tree, and so their private parts appeared to them, and they began to stick on themselves the leaves from Paradise for their covering. Thus did Adam disobey his Lord, so he went astray. Then his Lord chose him, and turned to him with forgiveness and gave him guidance.
— Quran 20:121–122

If one falls into sin, all that is required is sincere repentance followed by seeking God’s forgiveness. When a person sins he or she pushes themselves away from the mercy of God, however sincere repentance brings a person back to God.

As for those who commit sins, and then repent afterwards and believe — your Lord, thereafter, is Forgiving and Merciful.
— Quran 7:153

Just because you fall or commit a sin, doesn’t mean you’re evil. It shows you’re human. But how you fix yourself thereafter is what matters most.

Then your Lord — for those who did evil because of ignorance, then repented after that and corrected themselves — surely your Lord is, after all that, Most-Forgiving, Very-Merciful.
— Quran 16:119

Adam and Eve sinned, they repented and God immediately forgave them. Since they were freely forgiven by their Lord, there is no burden of collective sin, passed on to the whole human race by our first ancestors, which affects every newborn baby as it comes from its mother’s womb, and from which all must be saved. Rather, each human being comes into this life with a pure, wholesome nature and a clean slate. As God proclaims,

We surely created the human being in the best of moulds.
( — Quran 95:4; also 20:50)

For it is our inner state and deeds that bring us near to or take us far from our Lord. Salvation is conferred by God’s grace and mercy, not through the sacrifice or vicarious atonement of any intermediary. And each individual’s accounting is directly with God.

Humankind, according to Islam is born in a state of purity, without sin and naturally inclined to worship and praise God. However, human beings are also given freewill and are thus capable of making mistakes and committing sins; they are even capable of committing great evil.

Since God is endlessly kind, loving, merciful, forgiving and the acceptor of repentance, the notion of Original Sin is a denial of His infinitely beneficent attributes, a negation of His Reality. Without question, the most generous, gracious Lord is able to freely forgive His servants without having to sacrifice the noblest of His creation in order to do so. And the Most Merciful repeatedly assures us that He forgives, out of His endless grace and compassion, whomever He wills. No matter what we may have done, His forgiveness is there for the asking.

And seek forgiveness from Allah. Truly, He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.
— Quran 4:106

-sources :
-1- The Mercy of Allah
via Islamic Pamphlets website https://medium.com/@Marytn/the-mercy-of-allah-god-862a3ec03d74 (available as Text and PDF version)

-2- Suzanne Haneef, Islam: The Path of God, pages 63–65. (PDF version)
http://www.islamicbulletin.org/free_downloads/new_muslim/islam_the_path.pdf so great book written by an American convert to Islam. I recommend it.

We all sin. We all make mistakes

Written by Fatima Karim

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