When anyone is guilty in any of these ways, he must confess in what way he has sinned ... and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin, (Leviticus 5:5,6)
... Receive the Holy Spirit. If you (the disciples) forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven... (John 20:22,23)
If a person sins and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord's commands, even though he does not know it, he is guilty and will be held responsible. He is to bring to the priest as a guilt offering a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. In this way the priest will make atonement for him for the wrong he has committed unintentionally, and he will be forgiven. (Leviticus 5:17,18)
... The sin offering is to be slaughtered before the Lord ... The Priest who offers it shall eat it... (Leviticus 6:25,26)
What the Qur'an Says
And He it is Who accepts repentance from His slaves, and forgives sins, and He knows what you do. (Qur'an, 42:25)
And whoever does evil or wrongs himself but afterwards seeks Allah's forgiveness, he will find Allah Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Qur'an, 4:110)
And there is no sin for you in the mistakes that you make unintentionally, but what your hearts deliberately intend. And Allah is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Qur'an, 33:5)
Commentary
The Bible states that if a person commits a sin unintentionally, he is guilty and will be held responsible. In Islam, sins committed unintentionally are forgiven.
In Islam there is no confession except to Allah alone. The Muslim can ask Allah for forgiveness without the mediation of saints or priests. Muslim scholars do not have the authority to accept acts of worship or forgive sins on behalf of Allah. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) himself did not claim this authority. When Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) asked Allah to forgive some hypocrites, Allah Said to him in the Qur'an:
Ask forgiveness for them (O Muhammad), or ask not forgiveness for them; if you ask forgiveness for them seventy times, Allah will not forgive them. That is because they disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger, and Allah guides not those who are perversely rebellious. (Qur'an, 9:80)
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said to his daughter Fatimah:
" O Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad! Rescue yourself from Hell, I can benefit you nothing before Allah".
What's wrong with asking forgiveness for a sin you have committed unknowingly? The crucial point is that you can only feel sorry and repentant once you realise your mistake.
Notice the sentence "He is to bring to the priest as a guilt offering a ram from the flock ..." - clearly somebody can only do that once they have realised their error and/or it has been brought to their attention by another person.
I know of things I did before I became a Christian, not realising that those were sinful in God's eyes.
I wasn't able to repent until I realised that I had done wrong!
But once I did realise I didn't say 'well, never mind, I don't need to repent because I didn't know I was doing wrong' - quite the opposite, once I realised the error of my ways I sincerely wanting to ask God's forgiveness for it ...
Is that so unusual?
I hear from many Muslims here at LI, who equally asked Allah's forgiveness for sins they committed before they came to Islam and realised they had been sinning!
And of course God forgives sins which we ask his forgiveness for: "In this way the priest will make atonement for him for the wrong he has committed unintentionally, and he will be forgiven."
I repeat, the crucial thing is that we cannot be held responsible until the moment we know God's commands and realise that we have done wrong.
I am sure that there are Bible verses to that effect ... if I find anything I will post it here.
As another sideline, the role of the priests was merely to prepare and offer the sacrifice. They had no power to forgive sins! The authority to forgive sins is God's alone! Don't let anybody tell you that the Bible teaches otherwise! :X
Peace
Peace glo
Here I stand.
I can do no other.
May God help me.
Amen.
Come, let us worship and bow down •
and kneel before the Lord our Maker
[Psalm 95]
Yes indeed glo, only God alone can forgive sins, He is the Almighty, the Merciful and the Forgiver.
Sorry if i offended you. I really am.
Peace to you too!!
No, you haven't offended me, sister.
I just thought that posting just that one verse gave an inaccurate picture of the Christian belief ...
I realise that this thread is in the Basics of Islam section, and not the Comparative Religions one, so it probably shouldn't be debated here anyway ...
Just wanted to add my penny's worth, that's all ...
Peace
Last edited by glo; 06-30-2007 at 03:27 PM.
Reason: typo ... again!
Peace glo
Here I stand.
I can do no other.
May God help me.
Amen.
Come, let us worship and bow down •
and kneel before the Lord our Maker
[Psalm 95]
Hey there! Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.
When you create an account, we remember exactly what you've read, so you always come right back where you left off. You also get notifications, here and via email, whenever new posts are made. And you can like posts and share your thoughts. Sign Up
Re: Forgiveness
yeah, right..
Hide
Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks