Do you hate someone? ; Do you hate someone? ; You haven’t spoken to him for a while? Have you been blaming him?
You’re not the only one. The Muslim Ummah today is diseased with this to the extent. That almost every Muslim knows another Muslim who he hates.
The Ummah is like a building with the Muslims as its bricks; brotherhood is the cement. Without forgiveness, you cannot have brotherhood.
OK then, he wronged you. He deceived you. He backbites you. He lied to you. But even in these extreme situations. The Qur’an and the Hadith teach us that we must forgive others (especially those who hurt us the most). Suppose we wish to earn the forgiveness of Allah on the day of Judgement. We have all committed many sins. Made many mistakes, and no doubt we have wronged others. We have deceived others, backbit-ed others and no doubt we have lied to others.
So what makes us focus on brothers’ and sisters’ errors while we remain unconscious of our own? Not forgiving is like living in arrogance and ignorance of our shortcomings.
Forgiving others
Forgiveness is linked with piety and God-consciousness. Is there anybody who is not without sin? Is there anybody who can be arrogant enough to say that he does not need to forgive and that he’s right to hate? Do we not know that Allah forgives those who forgive others? Therefore, we should realize the difficulties of others and forgive them. Allah says in the Qur’an:
وَسَارِعُوٓا۟ إِلَىٰ مَغْفِرَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتُ وَٱلْأَرْضُ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ
And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a garden [i.e., Paradise] as vast as the heavens and earth, prepared for the righteous.
ٱلَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ فِى ٱلسَّرَّآءِ وَٱلضَّرَّآءِ وَٱلْكَٰظِمِينَ ٱلْغَيْظَ وَٱلْعَافِينَ عَنِ ٱلنَّاسِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ
Who spend [in the cause of Allāh] during ease and hardship and who restrain anger and who pardon the people – and Allāh loves those who strive for excellence;
[AlQuran 3:133-134]
Allah loves us to have hearts that are ready to forgive. So do not hate.
What do we learn from the life of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) to hate someone?
If we look at the character of the Prophet (peace be upon him), we can see that he was always forgiving. And never showed enmity (nor hate) to anyone except those who waged war against him. There was an old lady who used to throw rubbish in his way every day. on one occasion she did not throw rubbish in the street. So he decided to go and see what the matter was. She was ill in bed. To her amazement, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came to see her and find out about her. She accepted Islam.
This is the example of the man whom we claim to follow. Thumamah, as the chief of his tribe, had killed many Muslims. On his travels, he was caught by the Muslim soldiers. And was taken to the Prophet’s masjid and tied to one of the pillars. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) commanded his companions to untie him and give him the best food. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was indeed mercy for the world.
We should similarly be merciful with each other. First, we should not do anything to upset our brothers and sisters because this is a part of mercy. And then we should forgive those who have upset or made us angry. We will never be a strong Ummah if we cannot forgive. And if we continue to reap hate in our hearts.
Some might say that forgiving is a sign of weakness and humiliation. And for them, it is better to be strong and preserve their honour. But honour in the eyes of Allah lies in forgiveness… 🙂
وَلَمَن صَبَرَ وَغَفَرَ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ لَمِنْ عَزْمِ ٱلْأُمُورِ
“But indeed, if any shows patience and forgives. that would truly be an exercise of courageous will and resolution in the conduct of affairs.”
[Surat Ash-Shuraa 42:43]
We must be firm against the devil and forgive our brothers and sisters to be strong. And in this way, maybe Allah will decide in Sha-Allah to forgive us for our many mistakes.
” …Honor in the eyes of Allah lies in forgiveness….”
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