God: Forgiveness In Advance By God Can God forgive an offence or a sin a person may commit even before it is committed? We know that God can do what He pleases. My friend speaks of a report, which suggests that God may do that. Please comment. When the question is put in this way, the instinctive answer is that it could not. Let me first start by giving a translation of the report. “Ali ibn Abu Talib, the Prophet’s cousin and companion, says: God’s messenger sent me with Az-Zubair and Al-Miqdad, with the instruction: “Go to Khakh Garden, where you will find a woman who has a letter with her. Take the letter from her [and bring it to me].” We went fast on our horses until we arrived at the place and found the woman there. We said to her, ‘Give us the letter you have.’ She said, ‘I do not have any letter.’ We said, ‘You shall give it to us or we shall have you undressed [to get the letter].’ She got it out of her hair. We took it to the Prophet, peace be upon him, and there was written in it: From Hatib ibn Abu Baltaah to some of the non-believers in Makkah. The letter gave them some intelligence of what the Prophet, peace be upon him, intended to do. “The Prophet, peace be upon him, asked him, ‘What have you done, Hatib?’ He said, ‘Do not judge me hastily, messenger of God. I used to be one of Quraish, although I do not belong to them. Those with you of the Muhajireen [i.e. people who came from Makkah to Madinah with the Prophet] have relatives of their own in Makkah who would protect their families and property for them. I thought that since I did not belong to any important lineage among them, I could do them some favor so that they would not harm my family. I assure you that I have not done that because of any lack of faith on my part, nor because I had entertained any thought of renouncing Islam.’ The Prophet, peace be upon him, said to his companions, ‘He has told the truth.’ Omar said, ‘Allow me, Messenger of God, to chop his head off.’ The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, ‘He had fought in the Battle of Badr. How would you know that God might not have approved the people, who had fought in Badr and said, Do what you like, for I have forgiven you.’” [Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim and others].” This incident took place at a time when the Prophet, peace be upon him, was preparing to launch an attack on the non-believers in Makkah after they had violated the provisions of the peace treaty, which the two sides had signed two years earlier. The people of Makkah took part in an attack launched by a tribe allied to them against a tribe allied to the Prophet, peace be upon him. The Prophet, peace be upon him, was keen to give Quraish, the major tribe in Arabia, which derived further distinction from the fact that it lived in Makkah, a lesson on how to respect its treaties. However, he was keen to achieve his purpose with minimum bloodshed. The Prophet, peace be upon him, took all precautions to make sure that the people of Quraish would be taken by total surprise. All mobilization efforts were completed in total secrecy. People were prevented from coming into Madinah and leaving it. However, it was one of the companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him, who thought of breaking the news to the people of Makkah, hoping that he would be able to hold this as a favor to ensure the safety of his immediate family in Makkah. That his action was sinful is beyond doubt. The Prophet, peace be upon him, had issued express orders to all his companions to maintain total secrecy. Moreover, it was a time when war could easily break out. It would have meant a great difference in both; the conduct of the battle and its outcome if the people of Quraish knew in advance of the Muslim army which marched towards Makkah and if they were taken completely by surprise. Yet Hatib ibn Abu Baltaah did not consider any of these aspects. He was only concerned with his own affairs and he feared for his immediate family. In view of his very serious action, Omar, a leading companion of the Prophet, peace be upon him, who was known not to mince words about the importance of abiding by the Prophet’s instructions, suggested that the man should be executed. He volunteered to do that if the Prophet, peace be upon him, approved. The Prophet, peace be upon him, reminded Omar that Hatib was one of the soldiers who fought in the Battle of Badr, the first major battle between the Muslims and Quraish. The Prophet, peace be upon him, further suggested that God might have forgiven those who fought in Badr. It is this, which leads to the question whether sins can be forgiven in advance. The normal situation is that when a believer commits a sinful action, he regrets what he has done and prays God to forgive him. If his repentance is genuine, then God grants him forgiveness. Moreover, forgiveness is hastened by doing a good deed of equal or more importance to the sin committed. Those who fought in Badr were true soldiers of Islam. They faced an enemy with much greater forces than their own. Furthermore, they were ill equipped for battle. Nevertheless, they fought hard and remained steadfast until they achieved victory. What this meant in practice was that those who fought in Badr achieved a degree of distinction which ensured the forgiveness of their past sins, and made them worthy of forgiveness of whatever sins they might commit in future. But the fact that they were worthy of forgiveness does not mean that they would inevitably be forgiven, unless God wills to forgive them. It is this to which the Prophet, peace be upon him, is referring in this Hadith. Those were people who had strong faith to ensure that they would sincerely repent any sin or future mistake. In the case of Hatib who had done a clear and serious mistake, his repentance would be on the same level. It is for this reason that the Prophet, peace be upon him, stopped Omar from harming Hatib or killing him. The Prophet, peace be upon him, was keen that any of his followers who slipped would go on to correct his error. This does not mean an automatic forgiveness of all future sins, but it is an indication that those particular people would have what it takes to be forgiven: i.e. genuine faith and the willingness to own to mistakes and rectify them. The Prophet, peace be upon him, did not mean that none of them would ever commit a mistake or a sin. Indeed, if any had committed any punishable sin, the Prophet, peace be upon him, would have inflicted the punishment prescribed by Islam on him. But the Prophet, peace be upon him, who always told the truth was also speaking the truth in this instance. Every single one of those who fought in Badr continued to do his Islamic duties with diligence and give whatever sacrifice was required of him until he died. That was sufficient to ensure God’s forgiveness for him, which is always the best guarantee for admission into heaven. (Source: Our Dialogue—Arab News, Jeddah)
Posted on: Sat, 05 Apr 2014 21:12:04 +0000
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