Forgiving is to forgive who hurts you, to control the feeling of revenge or the feeling of hurting this person back inside you. Forgiving means forgiving this person in the Dunya, you don’t hurt him back, as well as on the Day of Judgement in front of Allah. It doesn’t mean you don’t punish him, but between you and Allah you don’t forgive him. It means you forgive him in all cases.
Forgiving doesn’t mean to not learn from your mistakes, rather you have to learn from this experience. The prophet peace be upon him said “A believer should not be stung twice from the same hole“. You should treat this person with cautious but not badly.
Allah described those who forgive as being good. He says: “Those who spend (freely), whether in prosperity, or in adversity; who restrain anger, and pardon (all) men; – for Allah loves those who do good” [Aal Emran 134]. He also says: “Whether ye publish a good deed or conceal it or cover evil with pardon, verily Allah doth blot out (sins) and hath power (in the judgment of values)” [Al Nisaa 149]. And in Surat Al Taghabun: “But if ye forgive and overlook, and cover up (their faults), verily Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [Al Taghabun 14]
Allah also says: “Let not those among you who are endued with grace and amplitude of means resolve by oath against helping their kinsmen, those in want, and those who have left their homes in Allah´s cause: let them forgive and overlook, do you not wish that Allah should forgive you? For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [Al Nur 22]. These previous Verse indicates that Allah may forgive those who forgive others. Forgive people so that Allah may forgive you.
Islam is a religion of peace that is why Allah encouraged people to forgive. The prophet peace be upon him said: “It is not halal for a Muslim to shun his brother for more than three nights, that is they meet, and this one turns away and that one turns away. The better of the two is the one who says the greeting first.” So shunning your friend for more than three days is forbidden. And to encourage Muslims to forgive the prophet peace be upon him described the one who will start greeting the other is the better.
Levels of forgiveness
There are three levels of forgiveness:
1st: to forgive while you feel angry. This is the lowest level. When someone hurts you on purpose, you feel angry and you have the opportunity to hurt him as well, but you chose to forgive him for the sake of Allah.
2nd: To forgive and don’t feel angry. You saw the act of the person who wants to hurt you, but you didn’t get angry, however you acted as if you didn’t see anything. In addition to forgiving him for the sake of Allah.
3rd: To forgive and to treat him with goodness. This is the highest level. You don’t only forgive and not only you don’t hurt him, but you also treated the one who hurt you with goodness. It needs a very strong faith to treat who hurts you with goodness.
Anas, a close Companion of Prophet Muhammad reported, “A Jewish woman brought a poisoned lamb to the Prophet, and he ate of it. When the woman was brought to him, people suggested, ‘Shall we kill her?’ The Prophet said, ‘No.’ I have recognized the effects of that poisoning in the Prophet’s throat ever since.” (Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood, Ahmad, and others). This is how the prophet peace be upon him treated who wanted to kill him. Of course the person who will want to hurt you, don’t want to kill you, he wants something less. Although, the prophet peace be upon him forgave her. This is one story of the prophet regarding forgiveness, there are many other stories.
Why should a Muslim forgive?
The first reason why we should forgive others is to please Allah. We should have this intention in all of our deeds. When you forgive you forgive mainly for the sake of Allah. Also it trains you to deal with Allah only, you do what pleases him and stay away from what makes him angry. You don’t see people, you see only Allah. Whatever the people do you just don’t care as long as Allah is pleased.
The second reason is to behave yourself. To learn how to control your emotions. Even if you feel really angry, you will control you anger and will kill the feeling of revenge that you have, so that you become stronger, and not easily broken. The first time you forgive you will feel really angry, after a while you will not have this anger and then when someone hurts you, you will just smile and say I don’t care and you will treat him with goodness.
The third reason, forgiving is a way of doing dawah without speaking. If people is dealing with someone who forgives, and always finds an excuse from who hurt him, they will definitely love him. Consequently they will knew that Islam is a religion of peace.Forgiving is ruled so that hatred is not spread among people. If hatred is spread the society will corrupt. Islam is a religion based on love and peace between people, this is why Allah promised who forgive great rewards.
The law of equal retaliation is prescribed by God upon people in the Quran and clearly demonstrated via His final messenger, there is perfect wisdom in it and it is an eternal principle.
Equal retaliation is a maximum prescribed by God, if someone punches us once, we can punch back once, however, at that point human law often seems to take over. They punch back again, and a brawl happens, until the strongest person is left standing. If someone punches you and blinds you, how do you limit your retaliation to just blinding them back, anger takes over.
I think there are very few people, who after being punched once, would walk away and ask a court to prescribe justice.
It keeps those considering criminal acts in check.
I think it stops good people from becoming criminals, I am not sure it can do any more.
there is no way i would let such an important command dissolve.
I believe the Quran also says it is better to forgive if you can, but please correct me if I am wrong.
Blessings
Eric
You will never look into the eyes of anyone who does not matter to God.
Equal retaliation is a maximum prescribed by God, if someone punches us once, we can punch back once, however, at that point human law often seems to take over. They punch back again, and a brawl happens, until the strongest person is left standing. If someone punches you and blinds you, how do you limit your retaliation to just blinding them back, anger takes over.
I think there are very few people, who after being punched once, would walk away and ask a court to prescribe justice.
I think it stops good people from becoming criminals, I am not sure it can do any more.
I believe the Quran also says it is better to forgive if you can, but please correct me if I am wrong.
Blessings
Eric
If people accept the laws of God and submit to His commands, they wouldn't be punching unjustly in the first place.
If however they reject God and therefore commit injustice, they deserve the wrath of God, but God has given them a chance to reflect theough the law of equal retaliation, if the wronged are unable to retaliate or are wronged again after retaliating equally, Allah will send His wrath upon the oppressors Himself.
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That is so. And whoever has retaliated with the like of that which he was made to suffer, and then has again been wronged, Allah will surely help him.
Verily! Allah indeed is Oft-Pardoning, Oft-Forgiving.
I have often left my right to retaliate or punish in the past due to recalling my own past wrongs and wishing for mercy, however, after noticing that the injustictice continues despite my trying to walk in God's path, and certain devils strive to lead me to crime just so they can continue in their crimes, i've understood the fact that the law of Allah must be implemented in order to ensure justice and sanity.
15.*And he entered the city at a time when its people were not watching: and he found there two men fighting,- one of his own religion, and the other, of his foes. Now the man of his own religion appealed to him against his foe, and Moses struck him with his fist and made an end of him. He said: "This is a work of Evil (Satan): for he is an enemy that manifestly misleads!"
16.*He prayed: "O my Lord! I have indeed wronged my soul! Do Thou then forgive me!" So ((Allah)) forgave him: for He is the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
17.*He said: "O my Lord! For that Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace on me, never shall I be a help to those who sin!"
From Quran - Al Qasas, Chapter 28.
Pharaoh indeed attempted to use Moses' long past crime in order to confuse him, however Moses clarified the truth and told him to look at the present situation and rectify:
18.*(Pharaoh) said: "Did we not cherish thee as a child among us, and didst thou not stay in our midst many years of thy life?
19.*"And thou didst a deed of thine which (thou knowest) thou didst, and thou art of the ungrateful (min al kaafireen)!"
20.*Moses said: "I did it then, when I was in error.
21.*"So I fled from you (all) when I feared you; but my Lord has (since) invested me with judgment (and wisdom) and appointed me as one of the messengers.
22.*"And this is the favour with which thou dost reproach me,- that thou hast enslaved the Children of Is3.*Pharaoh said: "And what is the 'Lord and Cherisher of the worlds'?"
From Quran As-Shu'araa, Chapter 26
I either accept the truth from Allah and accept His messengers, do my best to obey Allah and hope for grace for my failings, or i reject Allah and play about in falsehood and injustice whilst Allah toys with me, sends His wrath upon me, and throws my injustice back at me.
i prefer to accept Allah and submit to Him.
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is the most Forgiving. There are many names of Allah given in the Qur’an. Some of these names are related to His mercy and forgiveness. Let me mention some of these names:
Al-Ghafoor: The most Forgiving. This name occurs in the Qur’an more than seventy times. There are other names from the same root, such as Ghafir and Ghaffar. The meaning of the “ghafara” is to cover, to hide and from it comes the meaning “to excuse”, “to pardon”, “to remit” and “to forgive”. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala does all these things. In the Qur’an, it is mentioned that Allah does not forgive the Shirk (without repentance) but He may forgive every other sin for whomsoever He wills. (al-Nisa’ 4:116) We must turn to Allah to seek His forgiveness.
Al-’Afuw: This has another aspect of forgiveness. This name occurs in the Qur’an five times. Literally the word ‘Afw means “to release” “to heal”, “to restore”, “to remit”. Thus in relation to Allah it means “to release us from the burden of punishment due to our sins and mistakes”, “to restore our honor after we have dishonored ourselves by committing sins and making mistakes.” Sometimes in the Qur’an both names: ‘Afuw and Ghafoor come together.
Al-Tawwab: The Acceptor of repentance. This name of Allah is mentioned in the Qur’an about 11 times. Allah accepts the repentance of those who sincerely repent and turn to him. The word “tawwab” gives the sense of “oft-returning” which means that Allah again and again accepts the repentance. We make sins and mistakes then we repent, He accepts our repentance. Then again we commit sins and make mistakes and when we repent, He again very kindly accept us and gives us another chance.
Al-Haleem: The Clement. This name is mentioned fifteen times in the Qur’an. This means that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is not quick to judgment. He gives time. He forebears and is patient to see His servant to return to Him.
Al-Rahman and al-Rahim: The most Merciful and Compassionate. These names are the most frequent in the Qur’an. Al-Rahman is mentioned 57 times and al-Raheem is mentioned 115 times. Al-Rahman indicates that Allah’s mercy is abundant and plenty and al-Raheem indicates that this is always the case with Allah. He is full of love and mercy and He is ever Merciful.
The Qur’an teaches that Allah is a Judge and He also punishes, but Allah is not bound to punish. The justice of Allah, according to Qur’an is that Allah does not and will not inflict undue punishment on any person. He will not ignore the good of any person. But if He wishes to forgive any sinner, He has full freedom to do that. His mercy is unlimited and His love is infinite.
There are many verses in the Qur’an and sayings of the Prophet -peace be upon him- on the love, mercy and forgiveness of Allah. In one of the prayers that the Prophet taught, he said, “O Allah, You are most Forgiving One, You love to forgive, so forgive me.”(reported by al-Trimidhi and Ibn Majah). We need Allah’s mercy and forgiveness all the time. It is wrong to assume at any time that one will find eternal salvation without the forgiveness of Allah.
B. Human Forgiveness in Islam:
Just as it is important to believe in the mercy and forgiveness of Allah, it is also necessary to base human relations on forgiveness. We cannot expect Allah’s forgiveness unless we also forgive those who do wrong to us. Forgiving each other, even forgiving one’s enemies is one of the most important Islamic teaching. In the Qur’an Allah has described the Believers as “those who avoid major sins and acts of indecencies and when they are angry they forgive.” (al-Shura 42:37) Later in the same Surah Allah says, “The reward of the evil is the evil thereof, but whosoever forgives and makes amends, his reward is upon Allah.” (al-Shura 42:40) In another place the Qur’an says, “If you punish, then punish with the like of that wherewith you were afflicted. But if you endure patiently, indeed it is better for the patient. Endure you patiently. Your patience is not except through the help of Allah (al-Nahl 16:126-127)
In one Hadith the Prophet -peace be upon him- said that Allah has commanded him about nine things. One of them he mentioned was “that I forgive those who do wrong to me.”
The Prophet -peace be upon him- was the most forgiving person. He was ever ready to forgive his enemies. When he went to Ta’if to preach the message of Allah, its people mistreated him. They abused him and hit him with stones.
He left the city humiliated and wounded. When he took shelter under a tree, the angel of Allah visited him and told him that Allah sent him to destroy the people of Ta’if because of their sin of mistreating their Prophet. The Prophet -peace be upon him- prayed to Allah to save the people of Taif, because what they did was out of their ignorance. He said, “O Allah, guide these people, because they did not know what they were doing.” When he entered the city of Makkah after the victory, the Prophet -peace be upon him- had in front of him some of his staunchest enemies. Those who fought him for many years, persecuted his followers and killed many of them. Now he had full power to do whatever he wanted to punish them for their crimes. It is reported that the Prophet -peace be upon him- asked them, “What do you think I shall do to you now?” They pleaded for mercy. The Prophet -peace be upon him- said, “Today I shall say to you what Joseph (referring to Prophet Yusuf -peace be upon him- as mentioned in the Qur’an, Yusuf 12:92) said to his brothers, ‘No blame on you today. Go, you are all free.” Soon they all came and accepted Islam at his hands. He forgave even Hind who had caused the murder of his uncle Hamza -may Allah be pleased with him. After killing him she had his body mutilated and chewed his liver. When she accepted Islam, the Prophet even forgave her.
A very striking example of forgiveness we find in the Qur’an in reference to the most unfortunate event of “Slander of Sayyidah A’isha’”. Some hypocrites of Madinah accused her. They tried to put dirt on her noble character. One of the slanderers turned out to be Mistah, the cousin of ‘Aisha’s father Abu Bakr’s. Abu Bakr -may Allah be pleased with him- used to give financial help to this young man. After he slandered his daughter, Abu Bakr vowed not to help him any more. But Allah reminded Abu Bakr and through him all the Believers, “Let not those among you who are endued with grace and amplitude of means resolve by oath against helping their kinsmen, those in want and those who migrated in the path of Allah. Let them forgive and overlook. Do you not wish that Allah should forgive you? Indeed Allah is oft-Forgiving, most Merciful.” (Al-Nur 24:22) Abu Bakr -may Allah be pleased with him- came out of his home and said, “Yes, indeed, I want Allah’s forgiveness. He not only continued to help him but he gave him more. Islam emphasizes justice and punishment of the wrong doers, but it equally strongly emphasizes mercy, kindness and love. Justice, law and order are necessary for the maintenance of a social order, but there is also a need for forgiveness to heal the wounds and to restore good relations between the people. We must keep in mind that as much as we need Allah’s forgiveness for our own sins and mistakes, we must also practice forgiveness towards those who do wrong to us.
In the spirit of praying to a just and merciful God,
Eric
You will never look into the eyes of anyone who does not matter to God.
Allah has prescribed Islam as the just way of life for humankind, we accept the way of Allah in it's entirety in order to establish justice and truth, we should not pick and choose parts to justify the continuation of crimes whilst neglecting the parts which will help us to walk in truth and justice.
It is essential that we repent and live in obedience to Allah and not continue to look for EXCUSES to commit crimes.
you appear to be a very shrewd man, if only that shrewdness were employed in establishing truth and justice, you'd be successful in this world and in eternity.
we like the idea of an eye for an eye, but that just leaves two people blind
Greetings and peace be with you Eric H.
An eye for an eye must not be interpreted literally. If someone ruin your property, should you ruin his property too?. If a man beat another man's son, should the second man beat the first man's son too?. Of course not.
Punishment doesn't have to be same as the crime, but should be 'worth' in accordance to the crime, not more not less. Punish someone similarly as what he did could lead to injustice.
The first reason why we should forgive others is to please Allah. We should have this intention in all of our deeds. When you forgive you forgive mainly for the sake of Allah. Also it trains you to deal with Allah only, you do what pleases him and stay away from what makes him angry. You don’t see people, you see only Allah. Whatever the people do you just don’t care as long as Allah is pleased.
The second reason is to behave yourself. To learn how to control your emotions. Even if you feel really angry, you will control you anger and will kill the feeling of revenge that you have, so that you become stronger, and not easily broken. The first time you forgive you will feel really angry, after a while you will not have this anger and then when someone hurts you, you will just smile and say I don’t care and you will treat him with goodness.
The third reason, forgiving is a way of doing dawah without speaking. If people is dealing with someone who forgives, and always finds an excuse from who hurt him, they will definitely love him. Consequently they will knew that Islam is a religion of peace.Forgiving is ruled so that hatred is not spread among people. If hatred is spread the society will corrupt. Islam is a religion based on love and peace between people, this is why Allah promised who forgive great rewards.
An eye for an eye must not be interpreted literally. If someone ruin your property, should you ruin his property too?. If a man beat another man's son, should the second man beat the first man's son too?. Of course not.
Punishment doesn't have to be same as the crime, but should be 'worth' in accordance to the crime, not more not less. Punish someone similarly as what he did could lead to injustice.
The Aayah of the Qur'aan is literal. Allaah Ta`aalaa says:
"And We ordained therein for them: "Life for life , eye for eye, nose for nose, ear for ear, tooth for tooth, and wounds equal for equal." But if anyone remits the retaliation by way of charity, it shall be for him an expiation. And whosoever does not judge by that which Allaah has revealed, such are the Zhaalimoon (polytheists and wrong-doers)." [Soorah al-Maa'idah, 5:45]
This law of equal retaliation existed in the Sharee`ah of Moosaa عليه السلام and was mentioned in the Tawraah. This same law exists in the Qur'aan. There is much Divine Wisdom in it. In every injunction of Islaam, there is absolute wisdom. It is upon us to accept. We know that Allaah Ta`aalaa orders us only with that which is beneficial for us; therefore, there is most definitely benefit in this Hukm (ruling) of Islaam.
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