Quran Garden

Session 527

Chapter 3

Verses 193 & 194

Our Lord!  We have heard someone calling us to faith- 'Believe in your Lord'- and we have believed.  Our Lord!  Forgive us our sins, wipe out our bad deeds, and grant that we join the righteous when we die.  (Chapter 3: Verse 193)

It is as if you, with your heart and mind, should be aware of the signs in the universe that point towards the Creator even before the arrival of any heavenly messenger.  Your intelligence, intuition, and scientific data are the guide towards the power behind the universe. 

However, our collective knowledge stops short of knowing the truth of such power.  What is it?  Who is it?  We see the amazing universe and say: This magnificent, orderly creation can't exist without a creator.  The power behind it has awesome wisdom and capability, but it remains ambiguous.  The human mind cannot comprehend that this power is called God or what such power demands.  Thus, there must be a heavenly messenger who conveys such information.  

This is the mistake most philosophers and thinkers fall into.  They fail to recognize the limits of human thinking.  We know that knowledge is divided into two parts: a practical material part based on experimentation and a metaphysical part that searches beyond matter.  The latter is the maze of philosophers, full of misleading paths where no two schools of thought meet.  Why?  Because they are searching for the unknown that cannot be tested in a laboratory.  Whoever approaches the scientific experimentation of matter with integrity will get factual results from the laboratory.  Inert matter does not flatter or behave according to your belief system.  Thus, you do not find any difference in material sciences between a Chinese communist scientist and an American capitalist.  There is no capitalist chemistry or communist chemistry, and there is no Jewish electricity and a Christian one.  It is one chemistry and one electricity because it is the product of the laboratory and the result of material experimentation.  In fact, each camp tries to steal knowledge from the other through foreign spies that hack into universities and research facilities, governments that steal designs of planes and missiles, and eavesdrop on each other.

What about non-material fields, economic theories, and social and political sciences?  We find the opposite!  Each party sets up a wall to prevent opposing theories from penetrating the society.  Capitalists build barriers to stop communist propaganda.  Western universities teach completely different economic theories from those in the East.  Why don't the thieves and spies of material science steal non-material science?  Because they know that such fields are self-serving and based on whims and doctrines.  Whoever came up with such theories had either an incomplete knowledge of the present, a limited vision of the future, or was self-serving.  In material sciences, few scientists toil, and millions of people benefit.  In social and economic sciences, a few theorists get rich and famous, while millions suffer as their theories are implemented in society.  Thus, we should leave such knowledge to the Divine. 

Intelligent people know that behind the creation of the universe is a supernatural power.  You know this from scientific evidence, keen observation, and paying attention to your surroundings.  As a group of Bedouins walked in the desert, they came across a man looking for his lost camel.  He pleaded, "Help!  Have you seen my camel?" The first Bedouin asked, "Is it blind in the right eye?" The man anxiously said, "Yes!" The second asked, "Does it have a limp tail?" The man eagerly replied, "Yes!" The third then asked, "Does it limb as it walks?" The man exclaimed with joy, "Yes!  Yes!  That is my camel." The men told him, "Sorry, we have not seen it." The man looked at them in disbelief, became livid, and accused them of stealing his camel.  How else could they know such precise details?  They all went to a judge who demanded they explain how they knew the camel was blind in the right eye.  "Because the plants were only eaten from the left side of the road, so the camel that passed could not see the plants on the other side of the path."  The judge then asked, "And how did you know its tail was limp?" The second replied, "We saw the camel's droppings in a pile, so we knew it had no tail because a camel's tail scatters droppings left and right as it moves."  The judge nodded and asked, "And what about you?  How did you know it was limping?" The third replied, "I noticed the tracks in the sand.  They were light on the ground on one side and heavy on the other."

This brings us back to the verse.  Do not go through life with your eyes closed.  If you just pay attention, you can reach remarkable conclusions.  People who use their intelligence know that there is a Creator.  In fact, they become so eager to learn more about this magnificent power that when someone comes and says, "I am a messenger from this power, and its name is Allah," they rush to him because he solved the mystery that troubled them.  They say, "Our Lord!  We have heard someone calling us to faith- 'Believe in your Lord'- and we have believed." It is as if their mind was so preoccupied with knowing the Creator, then a messenger came and gave them peace.  

They continue with the supplication, "Our Lord!  Forgive us our sins, wipe out our bad deeds, and grant that we join the righteous when we die." Take note that the first thought of the faithful is to look inward for shortcomings.   

When we look at the teachings of the Quran, we find that "sin," translated from the Arabic Thanb, and "misdeed," translated from Saye'a, are two different things.  Sin requires forgiveness, while a misdeed requires expiation.  Sins are disobedience between the servant and his Lord, while misdeeds are actions that go against God's teachings in dealing with other people.  This is why the believers say, "Our Lord!  Forgive us our sins, wipe out our bad deeds." 

Keep in mind that when you commit a sin – in essence, you do not fulfill God's right- you are not harming God.  Who are you compared to Allah?  You are only harming yourself by adding punishment to your future.  Allah may forgive your sin, but misdeeds towards other people have to be rectified.     

Prophet Muhammad taught us the importance of treating each other fairly and justly so we do not face the consequences of repayment on the Day of Judgment.  He, peace be upon him, was sitting among the companions when he dozed off for a brief moment, and then woke up smiling.  Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated: "While the Messenger of Allah was sitting, we saw him laughing until his molars showed.  Umar asked: 'What's making you laugh, O Messenger of God?' He replied: 'I saw two men from my nation seated before the Lord of Glory on the Day of Judgment; the first man said: 'My Lord, bring me justice!  I want compensation from my brother who had wronged me.' God replied: 'Give your brother what is due to him.' The man said, 'But my Lord, I do not have any more good deeds or Hasanat left to give.'  The first man then suggested, 'He can carry some of my sins instead as compensation.'  As the Prophet was saying this, his eyes filled with tears, he said: 'Indeed, it will be a colossal day, a day when people will look to unload their sins.'  Allah said to the man who was wronged: 'Raise your head and gaze into Paradise.' The man raised his head and said: 'Lord, I see cities made of silver and palaces made of gold adorned with pearls.  Whose are these magnificent treasures?  Are they for a Prophet, a truthful one, or perhaps a martyr?' Allah replied: 'They belong to those who give what is due.' The man asked: 'My Lord, who can afford to give what is due for such treasures?' Allah replied: 'You can!  With forgiveness towards your brother.' The man said: 'My Lord, I forgive him.  I forgive him.' Allah said: 'Take your brother's hand and enter Paradise together.' Then Muhammad, peace be upon him, said: 'Fear Allah and mend your relationships, for Allah will mend the relationships of the believers on the Day of Judgment.'"

We supplicate "Oh Allah, whatever rights you have over me, please forgive.  And whatever rights other people have, please bear it for me."  The righteous supplicate, "Our Lord!  Forgive us our sins, wipe out our bad deeds, and grant that we join the righteous when we die.  Our Lord!  Grant us what You have promised us through Your Messengers.  Do not disgrace us on the Day of Resurrection; indeed You never break Your promise."

(Chapter 3: Verses 193 & 194)