Since this is our last odd night going into what is/may be the last day for us, I decided to re-post this video. To remind myself and all of us, to turn to God to seek forgiveness and to know that God is always with us and willing to forgive all of our mistakes. Let us take these final moments to turn to God and seek forgiveness and renew our commitment to building our relationship with our Creator and being ambassadors of mercy to our societies.
Text Summary: Sometimes when we reflect on the mistakes we have made in our lives, the wrong doings that we may have committed we see them as being so huge or so much that there is no way to overcome them. Sometimes, people around us make us feel that because we’ve made mistakes that we are not good enough to be around them, that we have no right to be present in organizations or gatherings and that our voices and concerns are not legitimate. They push people away by their tone, their glances and their unspoken words/actions. Almost as if we were some horrible individuals and they were so perfect. At times the guilt can be so overwhelming that we can almost get lost inside it and we may feel as if we are not only unworthy in the eyes of people, but unworthy in the Eyes of God. This feeling however, is not what a Compassionate, Merciful Lord wants for any of us. Unfortunately, there may be people who want that for us, because their egos are so fragile, because they feel so poorly about themselves that they want to feel better than others. Other times, it’s because they forget their own mistakes and transgressions and so take a overly moral, “super-righteous” tone in their behaviour and actions.
In the end however, it must come back to- “What is my relationship with God?”.
It is important to remember that there is no sin/mistake/transgression for which God is not capable of forgiving us. When we reflect on a narration of the prophet peace be upon him in which he said that God would say to His servants- if you approached me with sins that would fill the earth and ask for forgiveness, I would grant you just as much forgiveness”.
You see, God does not expect us to be perfect. Whatever mistakes we’ve made, whatever wrong we have done, don’t think we are so far removed from God that God will not forgive us. Sometimes we have to humble ourselves and admit that we messed up. We all make mistakes but if we turn sincerely to God and ask for forgiveness, it is there for us, just like He is present for us always.
Does that mean we can intentionally go out and do wrong and say, “its ok, God will forgive me anyway”? No, we cannot. That would be making (trying to) a mockery of God’s Mercy. It means that we are human and we make mistakes and God knows that.
What did the prophet peace be upon him teach us? He said- replace a bad deed with a good deed. And if we are truthful with ourselves, we know that we have made many mistakes and so we need to be busy trying to do good for ourselves, our family, our community and the world around us.
This Ramadan, let us be mindful of God’s ability to forgive us and let us seek it actively. Let us also remember to try and correct our mistakes by putting forward as many good actions as possible.
