The Heart Makes A Mistake For A Moment — And The Mind Punishes It For Years:
Making mistakes and Falling short are undoubtedly part of human nature and no one will be Free of shortcomings in his obedience to Allah — or Free of mistakes or Forgetfulness or sins.
All of us Fall short, commit sins, and make mistakes. Sometimes we turn to Allah and sometimes we turn away From Him. Sometimes we remember that Allah is watching and sometimes we become negligent. None of us is Free of sin, and we will inevitably make mistakes. We are not infallible.
Allah says:“O you who believe! Turn to Allah with sincere repentance! It may be that your Lord will expiate From you your sins, and admit you into Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise) the Day that Allah will not disgrace the Prophet (Muhammad) and those who believe with him.
Their Light will run Forward before them and (with their Records Books of deeds) in their right hands. They will say: ‘Our Lord! Keep perfect our Light For us [and do not put it off till we cross over the Siraat (a slippery bridge over the Hell) safely] and grant us Forgiveness. Verily, You are Able to do all things’”.
(Al-Tahreem 66:8)
"And if Allah were to impose blame on the people For their wrongdoing, He would not have left upon it [i.e., the earth] any creature, but He defers them For a specified term. And when their time has come, they will not remain behind an hour, nor will they precede [it].” (Qur’an 16:61)
This verse teaches us that time is a mercy of Allah (swt) – He could bring us to account here and now For our deeds but He has bestowed us with the blessing of time so that we may take heed and change our ways, so that we remain steadfast to the path of Allah (swt).
As the verse addresses, every mortal creature has sinned and wronged their Nafs (soul), however, the Fact that we are bestowed the ability and opportunity to reflect on our actions and sincerely repent now, is a blessing which we should be thankful For and take advantage of.
You can be Forgiven and be Freed From both guilt and punishment through sincere repentance and effort not to repeat those misdeeds.
Allah (swt) promises:“Say, ‘O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah Forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful’.”
(Qur’an 39:53)
It is important to acknowledge that this life is a test and the Qur’an, through addressing the unparalleled experiences of the Prophet Muhammad (saw), acknowledges the trials & trauma that can burden the hearts of Believers.
One example of this can be Found in Surah ad-Duha (”the Morning Brightness”), a source of solace and hope in times of difficulty. This Surah of the Qur’an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (saw) when even he, an exemplary character, Felt despair. Through this Surah, Allah (swt) directly comforts and reassures:
“Your Lord has not taken leave of you, [O Muḥammad], nor has He detested [you]. And the Hereafter is better For you than the First [life].” (Qur’an 93:3-4)
Do the people think that they will be left to say, “We believe” and they will not be tried? But We have certainly tried those before them, and Allah will surely make evident those who are Truthful, and He will surely make evident the liars.” (Qur’an 29:2-3)
The Qur’an directly links Iman (Faith) to Amal-us-Salihaat (good deeds), encouraging us to be proactive and productive in demonstrating Faith inwardly and outwardly.
Therefore, we should seek out help via permissible avenues to address our moral weaknesses and traumatic experiences so that we can constantly improve in preparation For the Hereafter – which is ultimately the purpose of this life.
We may not have chosen to endure the negative experiences, but we can choose whether we allow them effect us or whether we use those experiences to get closer to Allah (swt), and help others who have endured similar or worse experiences.
One does not have to do this alone, Allah (swt) is Al-Shafi (The Healer) and we should seek out this Shifa For our bodies, hearts and minds.
So,the point is that — when a person commits a sin, the devil puts the thought in his heart that he is very sinful and when such a person prevents himself From repenting, he keeps himself in constant mental agony.
While we believe that if a person repents immediately after committing a sin and intends to leave that sin, then Allah(swt) is pleased with the repentance of His servant.Indeed, Allah(swt) is Forgiving.
May Allah(swt) include us among His Obedient Servants and Forgive our sins. (Ameen).
JazakAllah (May Allah reward you with goodness) For reading.