Life runs on the two wheels of Faith (Iman) and Hope (Ummid). Whatever imbalance, disorder, chaos or anarchy we witness in human society is owing only to not having Faith and losing Hope. Faith helps us realise the realities of life and face the hurdles and sufferings that might come in the course of life, of course with utmost courage and hope. It makes us realise, in our heart of hearts, that there is God, the Master and Sustainer, Almighty and Omnipotent, who can help us with the means that we may not even imagine as well as with that we may know. This hope further gives us strength to sail the boat of life smoothly.
In the course of life, man may commit sins and crimes. The Qur’ān calls this commission of sins and crimes ‘transgression’. Even at this point, there is no need to lose hope, for there is God to forgive our sins provided we realise our sins, make efforts to mend our ways and seek His Mercy and Forgiveness. Divine Mercy promises to erase every transgression, whatever it happens to be. The Qur’ān (39:53) says: “Say: ‘[Thus speaks God]: You servants of Mine who have transgressed against their own souls! Do not despair of God’s mercy: God forgives all sins; He alone is Much-Forgiving, Merciful’.”
In this entire process, what is of utmost importance is realisation of commission and omission; for this realisation paves the way for mending the ways and seeking His Mercy and Forgiveness, and ultimately for achieving success in life.
The Qur’ān (39:54) enjoins us to “turn towards your Lord and submit to Him before the suffering comes upon you, for then you cannot be helped.” And in the next ayah, God invites us to “Follow the best that has been revealed to you by your Lord before the suffering comes upon you of a sudden, without your being aware of it.” In both these ayaat, there is reiteration of the warning: min qabli ai yaatiyakumul ‘azaab (before the suffering comes upon you). This means that if one persists in committing sins and crimes, in rejecting Faith, without responding to the call of the conscience to realise the guilt, mend ways and seek God’s Mercy and Forgiveness, a time will come when there will no time to mend ways and seek His Forgiveness.
This means that the only way to success is to realise sins and seek Forgiveness of God, for despite a person’s repeated sins and crimes, going far into disobedience of God, all he needs to receive the Mercy and Grace of God that can revive all that is good in him is to repent. What he needs to do is to turn back to God and reschedule the course of life afresh.