Understanding sin and forgiveness
It is beneficial that we remind each other about what is required to avoid causing or being harmed.
Example, some people think that if they engage in corruption/crime, giving charity exonerates them.
Let’s use a practical example. A person benefits from corruption/criminality and makes enough profit to acquire a hardware or petrol station etc. When the business is profitable, they decide to give charity, build a Synagogue, Church or Mosque etc. to gain respectability in the community.
According to Muhammad the Envoy, on judgement day that person’s charity and effort will be fruitless as he will be cast into hell by the Creator. This is because everything was built on the original gaining of illicit money. In other words, illegal money cannot be cleaned with basic charity.
Should a person be in such a situation and want genuine redemption, they must give everything also profits that was accrued and return to the condition before they gained from the corruption/crime.
This is a powerful lesson for those who think they can negotiate/bargain with God using charity. If a person is unwilling to return illegal wealth including all profits, repentance is measured insincere.
The lesson is that a sin/error committed that harms other’s has long-term costs that does not vanish.
At least, the sins we commit against oneself that does not impact others remains between oneself and the Creator, provided you do not share this info with anyone else. Also, Islam teaches that we hate the sin not the sinner. Example, when a person has unusual sexual inclinations (gay) but is not “loud and proud” it is judged differently by the Creator. There is a major difference between those who struggle with unusual sexual inclinations and feels shame and battles this behaviour when compared to others that protests in the street promoting unusual inclinations “proudly”. According to the Torah, Bible, Quran, those who promote deviance will be punished with extreme prejudice.
Many do not know but Muslims are encouraged to resist/despise/hate the sin of homosexuality but a Muslim is not permitted to hate the homosexual as a person. We must remember that nobody is too good to become bad and nobody is too bad to become good. Everyone has chance for salvation until the last breathe. The Creator’s mercy far outweighs his punishment and this repeated often in all Abrahamic religious scripture. This is why we must always have hope and never submit to despair.
Cllr Yagyah Adams
Cape Muslim Congress