Amar ma'rof nahi munkar - what have we done today?

format_quote Originally Posted by Flame

A sin that a Muslim commits that makes him feel repentant

This is getting interesting. What kind of sin can a Muslim commit that makes him feel repentant?

format_quote Originally Posted by ThisOldMan

This is getting interesting. What kind of sin can a Muslim commit that makes him feel repentant?

Any and every sin under the sun. Even shirk.

Such is the mercy and power of Allah's forgiveness offered to those who sincerely repent.

To sister Flame,

First you said this:

A sin that a Muslim commits that makes him feel repentant is far more loved by Allah than a good deed that makes him proud.

Then I asked this:

What kind of sin can a Muslim commit that makes him feel repentant?

And you answered this:

Any and every sin under the sun. Even shirk.

1. Are you saying that it is good to commit a sin, even shirik, because it makes you feel repentant?

2.Does that mean that you will deliberately commit a sin because it makes you feel repentant?

3. Would you, say, commit zina so that you can feel repentant?

Please clarify.

format_quote Originally Posted by ThisOldMan

1. Are you saying that it is good to commit a sin, even shirik, because it makes you feel repentant?

I was only trying to explain to you a saying of Ali (radhiallahu anhu). He said, "The sin which makes you sad and repentant is more liked by Allah than the good deed which turns you arrogant."

I'm not saying that it's good to commit sins. What I am saying is that any one of our sins could cause us to feel repentant. One can never know what set of circumstances might reach a person and cause him or her to repent. This can happen to anybody. I wonder if you have read the story of brother MustafaMc? He used to engage in shirk. But he repented of that sin when he did some reading and studying of the Qur'an.

A person may be a kafir today, but that doesn't mean that he'll remain one to the end of his days.

Similarly a person may be a Muslim today, but that doesn't mean that he'll remain a Muslim till the day he dies.

format_quote Originally Posted by ThisOldMan

2.Does that mean that you will deliberately commit a sin because it makes you feel repentant?

I'm saying that a person CAN feel repentant for a sin he committed. And that sin can be any sin. I'm not at all saying that sins make you feel repentant.

You will have to admit that a person cannot feel repentance or remorse if he never committed a sin in the first place. Repentance also comes in varying degrees, depending on the sin committed. Major sins can make people feel greater repentance. If a sin causes a person to repent in a high degree, it can have the power to change a man completely and straighten him out for the rest of his life.

format_quote Originally Posted by ThisOldMan

3. Would you, say, commit zina so that you can feel repentant?

Repentance comes AFTER the sin is committed. It comes as a feeling of remorse and great shame. And this can happen to anyone at any time.

There's the story of a woman who had committed zina (adultery) and she was pregnant because of it. AFTER committing the deed, her feeling of repentance and shame was so great that she couldn't bear it. She went to the Prophet (saws) and asked him (saws) to stone her to death (the prescribed punishment in Islam for adultery). I won't narrate the entire hadith here. But the point is, even the Prophet (saws) did the funeral prayer for this "adulterous" and "sinful" woman after she had been stoned to death. When the companions expressed their surprise over this, the Prophet (saws) silenced them saying that her repentance was equal to 30 of them. (Don't remember the entire hadith....so some things might not be accurate....I'll look up the hadith later when I get the time.)

JazakuLLah. I am learning new things with every passing day.

format_quote Originally Posted by ThisOldMan

1. Are you saying that it is good to commit a sin, even shirik, because it makes you feel repentant?

2.Does that mean that you will deliberately commit a sin because it makes you feel repentant?

3. Would you, say, commit zina so that you can feel repentant?

Please clarify.

Ibn al-Qayyim (r.a.) - Al-Waabilus-Sayyib minal-Kalimit-Tayyib ( p. 15)

One of the Salaf (Pious Predecessors) said: "Indeed a servant commits a sin by which he enters Paradise; and another does a good deed by which he enters the Fire."

It was asked: How is that?

So he replied: "The one who committed the sin, constantly thinks about it; which causes him to fear it, regret it, weep over it and feel ashamed in front of his Lord - the Most High - due to it. He stands before Allaah, broken-hearted and with his head lowered in humility. So this sin is more beneficial to him than doing many acts of obedience, since it caused him to have humility and humbleness - which leads to the servant's happiness and success - to the extent that this sin becomes the cause for him entering Paradise.

As for the doer of good, then he does not consider this good a favour from his Lord Upon him. Rather, he becomes arrogant and amazed with himself, saying: I have achieved such and such, and such and such . So this further increases him in self adulation, pride and arrogance - such that this becomes the cause for his destruction."

format_quote Originally Posted by Fighter

Ok so now I see what you mean by 3rd person perspective. But the example above, I wud wonder if the people playing chess were strangers or people u know well. It make a lotta difference. I wudn't go and tell strangers what to do. Plenty of chance that they be offended and next time they see u they be thinking ho boy I don't wanna be near that fella.

Actually, that example was fictitious because it was, well, just an example.

In real life, I did once come upon a group of men, all strangers to me, sitting on a small platform right outside a mosque as the athan was being made. They were playing cards. I didn't go close enough to see whether they were playing just for fun or for money. At that time, I didn't feel that I had the spiritual strength to tell them to stop playing and go inside the mosque to pray. All I had the spiritual strength to do was to say, in my heart, that it would have been much better if they stopped playing cards and went inside the mosque to pray.

Last night, I stopped at a roadside stall on my way to the mosque. There was an Egyptian jemaah staying at the mosque and giving talks on Islam. There were several men at the roadside stall. Some of them I have seen before. Some were total strangers. I gave them all salaam and invited them to go to the mosque to listen to what the brothers from Egypt had to say. I am not really sure if any of them went because I was seated in the first saf. I hope some of them did.

The brothers, four of them, had travelled all the way from Egypt to Malaysia, on their own expense, on a four-month da'wah mission. Of course, what they talked about was not totally new to me but it is good to be reminded about the meaning and purpose of Islam again and again.

Last night, one of the brothers talked about surah Wal-Asri. He reminded us that we would be wasting the precious time that Allah has given to each and everyone of us if we did not use the time to tell everyone about the truth of Islam and to tell it with patience. At the end of his talk, he invited all those people present to go out fi sabilliLLah. On the spot, seven brothers signed up for a three-day da'wah mission. They will be going out on the 20th of this month. Insha Allah.

Perhaps some brothers or sisters have some similar experiences to share? WaLLahu aklam.

In real life, I did once come upon a group of men, all strangers to me, sitting on a small platform right outside a mosque as the athan was being made. They were playing cards. I didn't go close enough to see whether they were playing just for fun or for money. At that time, I didn't feel that I had the spiritual strength to tell them to stop playing and go inside the mosque to pray. All I had the spiritual strength to do was to say, in my heart, that it would have been much better if they stopped playing cards and went inside the mosque to pray.

Last night, I stopped at a roadside stall on my way to the mosque. There was an Egyptian jemaah staying at the mosque and giving talks on Islam. There were several men at the roadside stall. Some of them I have seen before. Some were total strangers. I gave them all salaam and invited them to go to the mosque to listen to what the brothers from Egypt had to say. I am not really sure if any of them went because I was seated in the first saf. I hope some of them did.

There are two things that can damage the faith of a man. The following hadith informs us what those two things are:

Imam Tirmidhi and Nasa’i have related on the authority of Sayyidna Ka’b ibn Malik RA that the Holy Prophet SAW once said that ‘If two hungry wolfs are let loose in a herd of goats, they would not do so much damage to the herd as two traits damage the faith of a man. One is the love for wealth and the other is the aspiration for being praised and respected’. (Tabrani from Abu Sa’id al-Khudri, and Bazzar from Abu Hurairah).

-Maariful Quran, Surah Ash-Shuara: 26: 69-104, Volume 6, page 540.