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didn’t start with the sinner, but it was God’s mercy. The sinner was lost and God found him, guided him and forgave him. One may think, “I’ve done so many things in the past and failed to repent. How is it that, after all these years, I could face God with such a blackened record?”
But, God has told us that we can repent even if we exceeded the limits (39:53). But it’s important to do so now, not wait until death comes. Thus, as long as one sincerely turns to God seeking His forgiveness, then one can believe God when He says He will forgive us. God is the Pardoner, the Forgiver. Furthermore, there is no sin (except killing a believer on purpose or maintaining idol worship until death) too great for God’s immense mercy and forgiveness. Therefore, it is never too late to repent and reform. The following verses assure us of His immense mercy upon us.
[21:87] And Zan-Noon (Jonah, “the one with an ‘N’ in his name”), abandoned his mission in protest, thinking that we could not control him. He ended up imploring from the darkness (of the big fish’s belly): “There is no god other than You. Be You glorified. I have committed a gross sin.” [21:88] We responded to him, and saved him from the crisis; we thus save the believers.
[53:32] They avoid gross sins and transgressions, except for minor offenses. Your Lord’s forgiveness is immense. He has been fully aware of you since He initiated you from the earth, and while you were embryos in your mothers’ bellies. Therefore, do not exalt yourselves; He is fully aware of the righteous.
We need to imbibe the following qualities in us while repenting to God a firm repentance: A) Leaving the sin forever, B) Regretting wholeheartedly for committing the sin and C) Resolving never to return to the sin again.
We know God will never let us down, because He is the Most Faithful, the Pardoner. We must never forget that God is Omnipresent. We should never forget that He has chosen us from the billions to receive guidance and learn about righteousness. He has given us the wisdom to distinguish between right and wrong. It is due to His immense mercy that we understand the correct meaning of His scripture. We must also not forget that this is the last chance we have to make it to the eternal Paradise. It is now or never. When you stand for your Salat, think that it is your last Salat every time, then the level of your reverence will reach new heights.
Let us pray to God to give us strength and reverence to earn maximum blessings of God and grow our soul enormously. I once again repeat that God is the only Pardoner.
[42:25] He is the One who accepts the repentance from His servants, and remits the sins. He is fully aware of everything you do.
[4:99] These may be pardoned by GOD. GOD is Pardoner, Forgiver.
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To qualify to be a Submitter is to truly live in accordance with the will and pleasure of God. The Divine Commandments give an all-inclusive guidance to the believers to enable them to lead a respectable, content and flourishing life and more than enough to make it to Paradise, God willing. They cover all our aspects from birth to death. We must read, ponder and reflect and then awareness, knowledge and guidance will flow to us.
[15:85] We did not create the heavens and the earth, and everything between them, except for a specific purpose.
The end of the world will come, so treat them with benign neglect.
[51:56] I did not create the jinns and the humans except to worship Me alone.
We must understand that there is accountability in a life after death, and this is one of the most fundamental and essential doctrines in the Quran. We generally are more allured by the life in this world although the Quran repeatedly tells us that the Hereafter is timeless.
[87:16-17] Indeed, you are preoccupied with this first life. Even though the Hereafter is far better and everlasting.
The disbelievers and unbelievers who deny the existence of God also obviously refute the possibility of any afterlife and thus any accountability. They may perform great charities and virtuous acts but will do so not for the earning of God’s pleasure but because of some philosophical motivation or simply because it makes them “feel good”. They may have no reward in the Hereafter. The Quran clearly says [11:15-16] Those who pursue this worldly life and its material vanities, we will pay them for their works in this life; without the least reduction. It is they who gave up their share in the Hereafter, and, consequently, Hell is their lot. All their works are in vain; everything they have done is nullified.
To God belongs our ultimate fate in the Hereafter. Our deeds will be exposed. God has given us the criteria for our award or retribution on the Day of Judgment. This would apply to all communities that have come before us and are to follow. [2:134] Such is a community from the past. They are responsible for what they earned, and you are responsible for what you earned. You are not answerable for anything they have done. So, the revelations are very clear as to what the recompense is depending on our good or bad deeds. All bad comes from us and all good comes only from God (4:79). Hope and contentment flow from a steadfast faith in God and an equally unwavering belief of a future life for works performed correctly in this world.
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