|
Forgiveness by Dr. M. Amir Ali, Ph.D.1 Question #1: How is forgiveness defined according to the Islamic tradition? (e.g. which words for forgiveness are used in sacred texts, what does the act of forgiveness entail?) The Concept of Forgiveness in Islam The concept of forgiveness in the Qur'an is expressed in three terms, (1) 'afw, (2) safhu, and (3) ghafara 'Afw means to pardon, to excuse for a fault or an offense or a
discourtesy, waiver of punishment and amnesty. Examples of usage in
the Qur'an are verses 42:40, 2:187 and 5:95. For more details see Lane's Lexicon2 and Hans Wehr's dictionary3, among others. The God, Allah4 is the ultimate power Who can forgive. Forgiveness means closing an account of offense against God or any of His creation. However, forgiveness must meet the criteria of sincerity. God, the All-Knowing, has the knowledge of everything including whatever a person thinks but does not express in words or deeds. An offense may be against (a) a person, (b) a group of persons or society, (c) other creation of God such as animals, plants, land, atmosphere, bodies of water and the life therein, and (d) God, Allah. Muslims understand that an offense against the creation of God is an offense against God. To receive forgiveness from God there are three requirements: If the above three conditions are met in sincerity, forgiveness from God is assured. Sincerity protects a person from repeating the same offense. If a person is sincere he will be helped by God not to repeat; in addition, God will change his punishment for the offense into a reward. If the offense was committed against another human being or society, a fourth condition is added and the order is changed. (1) Recognizing the offense before those against whom offense was committed
and before God. Sometimes there is a party against whom wrong was done but this party cannot forgive, that is the creation of God other than human beings. Examples of offenses against God's creation are torturing animals, killing them without justification (food is a justification), defoliation and burning of trees, poisoning bodies of water thus killing life therein, polluting air, destroying land without justification and so on. Some of these activities may be justified, for example, hunting for food is justifiable but hunting for fun is not. There are no particular words to say for asking forgiveness. However,
Muslims are taught many phrases and words to keep repeating daily asking
God's forgiveness. For example: There are many other similar phrases. Question #2: What is the theological basis for forgiveness according
to the Islamic tradition? Questions 2 and 3 are essentially the same. I would like to deal with the terminology used in the questions. "Islamic tradition" This term, "tradition", perhaps, applies best to those religions that do not have God-revealed books in their original languages and the religion is the outgrowth of teachings and writings of religious leaders who have come and gone over the centuries and new traditions developed. In case of Islam, the original revelation, the Qur'an, exists in its original language and the second source, Hadith (defined elsewhere in this article), remains intact. Islamic teachings, methods of ritual worship and elements of legal system remain the same as given by Allah through His Messenger, Muhammad (peace and salutations of Allah be upon him, henceforth denoted by superscript (S) ). However, some of the applications of Islamic systems may change with the change of technology or environment. Islam is a system of whole life, that is, there are guidelines for individuals, families, social life, economic system and political life of the people. In isolation, Islam as a system does not work too well. For example, the Islamic legal system does not work very well if its welfare system is not in place. The Islamic family and social system does not work very well if its moral system is not in place. Similarly, the Islamic economic system does not work very well if its political and legal systems are not in operation. Hence, you see the Muslim countries in a mess; they are following neither the western system nor Islamic. You cannot have legs of a deer, body of a lion and head of giraffe and expect such an animal to behave like all three or any one of the three. We cannot call such an animal a lion nor a deer nor a giraffe. The theological basis of forgiveness It is in the Qur'an and Hadith. Qur'an is the word of God revealed to Prophet Muhammad(S) and is in Arabic language. Translation of the Qur'an is not Qur'an because God did not reveal it in any other language but Arabic. A translation may contain the message of the Qur'an but it is the word of the translator not the word of God. Qur'an, in many places, needs explanation which is done by the Prophet Muhammad(S) and recorded in Hadith collections. Hadith contains reports of Prophet Muhammad's sayings, deeds and approvals and is the second source of Islamic knowledge and legal system. The Qur'an is divided into Suras and Ayas, loosely translated as chapters and verses, respectively. There are 114 chapters of varying length and each is assigned a name and a number in consecutive order. Translators use either Roman or Arabic numerals for numbering Suras. Verse numbers are given in Arabic numerals and numbered within the chapter in consecutive order. There are many Hadith collections and each primary collection goes by the collector's name. Within each collection Hadith are numbered consecutively. There are secondary collections of Hadith, meaning they are culled from primary collections and arranged according the topic; such collections go by the name given by the collector. It is much easier for untrained people to use secondary Hadith collections than the primary collections. A selection of teachings about forgiveness from the Qur'an and Hadith are given below. Allah forgives:
Explanation: Above verses are self-explanatory and need no explanation. Leadership must be forgiving:
Explanation: Allah approved Prophet Muhammad(S) for his leniency with his followers and taught him to pardon. In addition, Allah instructed the Prophet to counsel with the followers and once a decision in a given matter was taken, follow through with it and trust Allah for results. Following the example of Prophet Muhammad(S), Muslim leadership is required to adopt a similar course. General teachings of forgiveness:
Explanation: These teachings are about doing good to others openly or secretly and forgiveness to those who may have done wrong. Sometimes a wrong may arouse the worst impulses of anger but it is from Satan; seek refuge with Allah from Satan. There may be a case where the one wronged is someone you have been helping but his wrong may arouse your anger to stop helping him; in such a case, Allah is exhorting to continue to help and forgive his transgression. Family situations:
Explanation: In a family, some members may cause a lot of pain by their wrongdoing. Sometimes, a family member may cause others to do wrong and transgress which may cause one to commit a crime but it was not intentional. Allah is exhorting to adopt a forgiving attitude within the family. Murder:
Explanation: In case of wrongful murder the court will prosecute the accused but in case of a guilty verdict, heirs of the victim(s) have the authority to decide the fate which includes pardoning and freeing him. However, they are not allowed to torture the convicted murderer. It is the duty of the state to carry out the wishes of heirs of the victim. Teachings of the Prophet Muhammad(S) and his precedence:
Prophet Muhammad set an excellent example of a very forgiving person in his personal matters. He lived in his hometown, Makkah (erroneously spelled as Mecca) for thirteen years after his appointment as the Messenger and Prophet of Allah for mankind. During this period he was persecuted, his followers were persecuted and some were killed, and, finally, his enemies wanted to kill him. During first eight years in his adopted town, Madinah (misspelled as Medina), his enemies chased him, brought armies against him and he narrowly escaped. During twenty-some battles during eight years he lost many of his close associates and relatives by the hands of makkans and their allies. After the conquest of Makkah he declared general amnesty for those who did not take up arms against him during his entry in Makkah. Haykal wrote about a situation in which Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, head of the Makkan tribes and an archenemy of the Prophet Muhammad, finally gave in when he found no other alternative.
Haykal adds:
After the conquest of Makkah, the tribes of Taif15 and its surrounding area, called Hawazen attacked the Muslim armies in dark of the early morning while they were sleeping in their tents. Muslim armies lost a large number of their comrades and they were almost routed by the enemy. However, God helped the Muslim army under the leadership of Prophet Muhammad(S) and enemy was defeated. This battle is known as the Battle of Hunayn. The Muslim armies got a large quantity of war booty, however, the Prophet delayed its distribution hoping that the leadership Hawazen would come to him to make peace. He waited for ten days then distributed the booty. He gave largest amount of booty to the leaders of defeated Makkans who had joined him in the war against Hawazen. Each one of the Makkan was responsible for causing serious troubles for Muhammad(S) and his followers for almost twenty years. The news of his magnanimity and generosity spread, and finally, leaders of enemy tribes showed up in submission. Prophet Muhammad(S) took back the booty he had given to his old faithful followers and gave it to the leaders of defeated tribes of Taif and Hawazen16. Question #4. How important or central is forgiveness to the Islamic tradition? Forgiveness is selfishness. If one desires to be forgiven for his offenses he must learn to forgive others. Especially, if one seeks forgiveness from God, he should learn to forgive others for their offenses. If one desires that God overlook his weaknesses, he should learn to overlook weaknesses of others. Forgiveness is important for two reasons:
In the ancient world tribes and families carries on blood feud for generations because they could not forgive. Islam taught a middle path between turning the other cheek and never ending blood feud, that is, revenge to the extent harm done is allowed but forgiveness is preferred. Allah said in the Qur'an:
Both translations of the same verse are correct. One gives more literal meaning (Yusuf Ali) and the other gives more interpretive meaning (Muhammad Asad). It is allowed to take revenge of an offense only to the extent of damage done but not to be exceeded. However, there is a great probability of exceeding the damage, thereby, the victim becomes an offender. Forgiveness is a protection and brings great reward from Allah. Question #5. According to the Islamic tradition, should forgiveness be contingent upon repentance by the offender? If so, why? If not why? Are there other conditions placed on forgiveness? (e.g., frequency and severity of offenses) This question addresses to the definition and understanding of the concept of forgiveness. Forgiveness is not taking revenge nor desiring any harm to the offender for a particular offense. Forgiveness includes not asking God's punishment to the offender in this life or in the life hereafter. There could be a partial forgiveness, that is, one would not take any revenge in this life but reserves his rights to address to the God in the life hereafter; this is called patience. In case of repentance by the offender, it may bring complete forgiveness for him. The question #5 implies cases of clear-cut offense by one side against the other but real life situations are not always as clear. Two parties may disagree, sincerely, about the offended and the offender. In such cases arbitration and conflict resolution may be required. Allah teaches Muslims in the Qur'an:
If there is repentance, it will bring a better bond between the two parties. However, forgiveness does not require repentance by the offender. Question #6. Does forgiveness necessitate reconciliation? In other words, is it possible to forgive while deciding not to reconcile with the offender? Reconciliation is desirable but not essential to forgiveness. If the victim feels that the offender has serious character flaws and it is not in his best interest to reconcile he doesn't have to. Reconciliation is used in the sense that the offense is forgiven and forgotten as if it never happened, which could be in theory but not a practical concept. We all learn from our experiences and frequently we modify. Sometimes it is best for ones own sanity not to carry on normal relationship with certain kind of characters but one should not totally dissociate from Muslim brethren.
|