It had been a very hectic day and I found it relaxing to watch my young daughter as she played with her toy. At a point, she mistakenly dropped the toy in a corner behind the bed. I expected that a she always did whenever this happened, she would cry until I picked the toy for her since her hands could not reach it to pick it up. I was however in for a surprise; she calmly kept trying until she was finally able not only to reach the toy; but to pick it from the corner herself! I found myself sharing in her smiles of triumph. Masha Allaah! She really was becoming older and wiser before my very eyes.
Feeling very mellow, I continued to watch her playing. Next thing I knew, she started throwing the toy into that corner and picking it up. It had become a new game to her! My mind went back to some months ago when she had been younger and would cry until someone helped her pick the toy from the corner. Now, I thought, she had become independent and did not need our help for that anymore. Of course, something more difficult would come up soon and she would need help for it until she could find her way with it. That is the way life is. It suddenly occurred to me that what I had just witnessed could be likened to our relationship with Allaah. When we commit a sin for the first time and realise it, we feel sober and sometimes go as far as crying for His forgiveness. This goes on a few more times till at a point, we become hardened and develop a thick skin to that sin. We would begin to see no big deal in it and may sometimes forget to ask for Allaah’s forgiveness.
This continues and we end up committing a greater sin. Of course, we start the cycle again and continue to discover new ways to disobey Allaah. A very good example of this is the issue of not observing Salaah at the correct times. Very often, when a person does not observe Salaah at the right time, he feels remorseful. If this happens again, he is still sober for a few more times but after a while, he would begin to see it as no big deal since he can still observe the Salaah later. He may however degenerate to a level where he would make no real effort to pray at the right time, observe it later or ask for Allaah’s forgiveness regarding this. Compare the above scenario to a situation where we know that we would either be beaten or punished when we do not run a particular errand at home or at the school. The fear of that punishment drives us to do as we are told. Are we that obedient to Allaah? Allaah says:
"And whoever does evil or wrongs himself but afterwards seeks Allaah’s forgiveness, he will find Allaah Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." [Q4:110].
We often fear human punishment more than that of Allaah simply because most times we feel the pain when we are punished by fellow humans but with Allaah, we do not Know what form the punishment will take. Let’s ask ourselves this question, who created the humans that we fear so much? Of course Allaah did! Why then do we fear our fellow human beings so much but give little regard to Allaah (subhanallah). Do we not realise that Allaah is the only One worthy of our fear? The forgiveness and Mercy of Allaah are truly great favours on us because they save us not only from punishment in this life but also from torment in the Hereafter. May Allaah assist us and make it easy for us to always turn to Him for forgiveness. Amin.
"Which of the favour’s of your Lord will you deny?" [Q:55].
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited