In the Name of God, The Beneficent, the Merciful, the Christian monks choose a monastic, secluded life in order not to indulge in sins; they often isolated themselves from the community and went to live in mountainous areas, caves and abandoned places. The Quran says: “…but monkery had been their own invention, we did decree…”, that is, this form of isolating yourselves from the rest of the society, was not sanctioned by God, it was their own heretical innovation. In Islam, however, we do not have such monasticism, we shouldn’t isolate ourselves from our community and we must not escape from the people. As Muslims we are all responsible and we ought to help one another; every enlightened Muslim should behave like that; in Islam being a Muslim and being responsible are correlative, and inseparable. Muslims ought to assist one another, to help heal the sick and to save those about to drown; these duties are not compatible with neglecting one’s commitments only to salvage his own soul! A Muslim tries to be virtuous; his virtues are his shield against all sins and, once so equipped, he tries to save sinful persons.
Well, is virtuosity the necessary means for victory or not. The answer is ‘yes’. When you mean to heal and save a sick person, if you constantly fear that his disease may be contagious, you will never succeed in saving the lives of people struck by certain viruses. He should have already made himself immune, he must be sure of that in order to save others, he could then do it easily and also be triumphant, yes be “God-fearing” that you attain salvation and be successful.
“And guard yourselves against the fire which has been prepared for the unbelievers.” And then we read: “Obey God and the Messenger that you may be blessed by mercy.” Well, one may ask: there is no difference between obeying God and the Prophet? Why does the book say: Obey them both? Was it not necessary to add the Prophet? No, because if it only said: ‘Obey God’ and did not mention the Prophet, well, these people who were against the prophet of Islam, would claim that we too ‘Obey God’; because some people do easily claim whatever they want, anybody may claim that we are servants of God too and we do ‘Obey Him.’
At the time of the Prophet, there were many claimants of serving God and obeying Him. Those who were his enemies and even fought against him as well as Christian monks and Jewish rabbis also claimed the same: “And both the Jews and Christian make the claim that we are God’s sons and beloved ones.’’ Their claimed status was even some degrees higher than our Prophet’s, because he said that he was only ‘a servant of God’; they claimed that they were God’s sons and daughters! They believed that obedience to God was theirs only! Well, the general public may have not thought so but their leaders and some elements who did not really obey God, pretended so. There are some people who, in their seclusion, do know what a horrible record they have and what they say to other people are utter lies but in public they pretend that they are good, honest, God-fearing servants of God. We must separate this group from the real worshippers of God Almighty. That’s why the Quran says: Obey God and the Messenger; both ‘God and His messenger’. Thus if the Messenger was not mentioned, then even the enemies of the Prophet would claim that they too did obey God; this point should have been made quite clear, that is, what is clearly meant by ‘obeying God’; those who claim to obey God, but do not follow the injunctions of God, those who do not respect the laws of God, how could they say that they obeyed God? I repeat, ‘Obey God and His Messenger that you may be blessed by His mercy’.
Now, what is God’s mercy, what is it meant by being blessed by Mercy of God. Here we should make a comparison between the Quranic expression and our layman’s interpretation. We suppose that if we are sinners, if we haven’t obeyed God, if we do not do our duties, our obligations and our commitments and if we do not respect what God has forbidden, then we only have one hope; what’s our hope? God’s mercy and compassion! We usually say this: May God have mercy on us. That’s what we often hear in the society. What use has God’s mercy? It’s useful, in our opinion, when we have not obeyed God and we have not fulfilled our religious duties, in such cases we say: we haven’t practiced what God has ordained, so may God have mercy on us! As if God’s mercy were a substitute for our inaction, irresponsibility and weak faith. But the Quranic verse is the opposite of such understanding, it says: you must obey God in practice, then you may be blessed by God’s mercy. God’s mercy is for a nation that fulfills its responsibilities. God has mercy on the people who obey Him and perform their duties. Should some 700 million Muslims just sit idle, do nothing and let oppressors and godless despots do whatever they like to them and wait for God’s blessings to rain upon them! That’s exactly what the enemies of Islam wish for.
Well, what is meant by obeying God and His messenger? It means the fulfillment of our obligations. The noble verse of the Quran says: The faithful, the believers are those who, when differences and contentions among them arise, come to you, they refer their affairs to you, the Prophet and when you issued an announcement or sentence “they cannot be believers until they come to seek your arbitration in their disputes, and have no hesitation in their hearts against your judicial orders…”. When you make such an order, they will not hesitate for a moment to carry it out without the slightest grudge in their hearts: “yusallimu tasliman”, they submit to your order. That’s how a true believer should be. If a nation, an umma or a community obeys God in such a way, then it will have the upper hand, then it will attain human growth, then it will overcome all sorts of servitude, then it will cut all chains at its hands and feet, and finally it will be blessed by God’s mercy and by God’s compassion, and I repeat the verse “Obey God and the Messenger to be blessed by God’s mercy”.
Next “And hasten in the race to win your lord’s Forgiveness…” Yes, it is a racing field, be speedy and overtake others in attaining ‘God’s Forgiveness’ and towards a Paradise “the width of which encompasses the heavens and earth” and it is “prepared for the god-fearing people”, for the virtuous and the pious. These are some signs to show you what real virtues are.
As you all know, many men compete with each other for some piece of land, for winning some auctions, for acquiring certain amount of capital, a company or a store, for any material privilege, yes, to get hold of these things, you are ready to compete hard, to leave others behind, even at the cost of trampling upon your honour and honesty. Now, certainly those who advise you not to employ your gifts, not to work hard and not to achieve anything, are only liars. Religion tells you, o human, speed up, compete, use your strengths and gifts, but it asks you: Towards what? You must drive toward some goal worthy of your humanity; you great human-being, the most perfect of what exists on earth, after the greatness of the Creator; you are the most sublime, despite your limited small body.
You great creature, do drive on, do compete, race faster, but towards what goal? Unto your Lord and towards God’s mercy and His paradise, towards that paradise which is superior to all skies and stars. One should think deeply about the Quranic verses in order to fully understand them. The Quran says: if you want to strive towards something, you must know that the heavens and the earth are very small compared with Paradise; to reach a higher goal, aim higher; God’s mercy should be important to you, it’s worthier that the heavens and the earth.
What is the exact meaning of God’s mercy and forgiveness? Let us cite some examples: say you have used some swear-words against somebody, then you may go to him and ask him to pardon you and he, may kindly say: well, I pardon you; you may go to some government office to pay certain amount of taxes that has been fixed for you, but you notice it’s too much, it’s not fair, you may beseech the officials or show them a letter of recommendation from some authority and the official may say ‘okay, we ignore the fixed amount, we approve of your excuse’. We notice such actions in our everyday life and we think that God’s mercy is also similar to such pardons! A person who has committed many wrongs and crimes, who has been most sinful and corrupt, could he, on the Day of Resurrection, when his face is full of tears, and claim that he has loved certain Imams? And then God would say: alright now that you are in such a miserable state, We forgive all your sins and wrongdoings! Is this the kind of mercy and forgiveness we expect from God Almighty? Of course, not.
I have often talked about God’s ‘ghufran’ (mercy and forgiveness) and I want you, brothers and sisters who had attended those meetings, to delve in your memories and remember those points about God’s ‘ghufran’. I have repeatedly said that this Quranic word means ‘healing, remedy and filling up certain vacuums. Let’s give some examples: if your body has suffered some injuries, or there is a cut in your arms or legs, the doctors give you some ointment, some medicine, vitamins or some injections, all these help bring together the separated parts of your flesh or a certain muscle, your whole body works towards healing that cut or injury. Now please keep this example in mind so that I could further explain what ‘ghufran’ really is.
Let us say that your soul, like your body, receives a blow or injury whenever you commit a sin. Why do we claim every sinful act is a blow at your soul? Because our souls are there to elevate to higher and more sublime stages and sins are those elements that prevent this elevation and exaltation. In the simile about your body, every sin strikes the soul and creates a cut, an injury and is a draw-back.
If you have seized other people’s property, if you have benefited from usury, if you have drunk intoxicated liquids, if you have made false or malicious accusations against others, well, by committing each of these sins, you have surely injured your soul and made it weak and vulnerable. This soul which was supposed to travel towards perfection, is now far from achieving this end. Here you are in need of ‘ghufran or maghfirat’.
How? As I said earlier, this shortage, this injury, this vacuum in the soul may be removed by compensation, by making amends, by doing good. The man, whose soul has been affected and injured by sins, could make up for them when he does elevate his soul. You may ask ‘how’?
Well, let me cite another example. You’re driving a car to reach a destination fifty kilometers away in 45 minutes, now if you’re stopped on the way for some reason, what should you do? Well, you drive a little faster; you shouldn’t just sit down where you were stopped and do nothing, because then you won’t reach your destination. Or, during a trip to some place, you have wasted your time in an inn on the way for fun, you can’t then say: oh God, I made a mistake, I am sorry. This won’t do because the mistake has already been made, you must move and drive a little faster in order to make up for the lost time; divine mercy works in such ways when you don’t sit idly by.
God Almighty does not say that because you have sinned, no matter how hard you try to do good, we shall never forgive you, God has no grudge against anybody because “Certainly I am Most Forgiving”. In fact He never said that because of your previous sins and wrong-doings, we shall never pardon you; on the contrary God announces that if those sins were compensated, He is ready to forgive you if you repent and conduct a righteous way of living. He says: “Certainly I am Most Forgiving” and that God could remedy all your ills and wrong-doings. But to whom will God have mercy? To “Those who do repent, and do believe, conduct a righteous living and shall remain guided”. Now what does repentance (tauba) mean? It means ‘returning’; one should return to strengthen his faith, to do good works and be true believers for talking is not enough, one must resort to action.
Therefore, God’s forgiveness comes to heal those injuries to the soul, when you remedy this, you’ll travelling towards perfection of the soul. It is worthy of men to struggle for their own good and to race on this path. This is most important for receiving ‘Maghfirat’. ‘Maghfirat’ does not mean that God Almighty, willy-nilly, would be kind to someone without his own effort to be included in divine compassion. But “Hasten in the race to win your Lord’s forgiveness and a paradise the width of which encompasses the heavens and the earth, which is prepared for the god-fearing, virtuous people”.
It is common for some people to say to others: you will be a resident of paradise. Well it is a pleasant wish and, if God will, you’re allowed to enter it, it’s many people’s desire. We do, in our prayers, often wish so, we even cite the characteristics and privileges of this Paradise in our prayers, such as Houris of paradise, its wonderful foods and the taste of special meat of its birds, etc. but God says: We have prepared it for the god-fearing, virtuous people; these are the ones who’ll benefit from the amenities and pleasantries of Paradise, not all people.
Please pay special attention to every word I quote from the Quran. Who are the god-fearing? The Quranic answer is: “those who freely give to charity both in prosperity and adversity”. This is one of the conditions of the god-fearing people. I have already talked about ‘Infaagh’ (giving in charity, alms-giving). This is different from other kinds of spending. Giving in charity means removing the real needs of others and filling certain gaps in other people’s lives. But those who spend millions for some apparently good goals which do not remove people’s real needs, are unfortunate persons whose spending are not ‘infaagh’ at all; they are the subject of this verse of the Quran “Say: shall we tell you who have lost their labour most? They are the people whose endeavours, in the life of this world, have gone astray and yet they think they have done good through their labours”. If you give 10 Rials to someone who has much more than that and does not need it, this is not ‘infaagh’, but if you give the same amount to a hungry person who could buy a loaf of bread with it, this could be ‘infaagh’. Sometimes, when there is prevalent hunger in the community, the giving of this amount to individuals is not enough, something more fundamental must be done. When a nation has dire needs, you must aim your ‘infaagh’ at those basic needs; otherwise you are just wasting your money. Therefore, ‘infaagh’ is the action of wise, virtuous people who understand what the basic needs are.
Then we have “those who restrain their anger” which means they do not act through their sentiments but always use their wisdom. Yet justified anger is something different; the Quran says “Muhammad is the messenger of God and his followers should be solid of heart against the disbelievers but most compassionate among themselves.” In other words, anger against those who have suppressed a nation, is justified, the Quran says ‘restrain your anger’ so that you could decide wisely and carefully against the enemies of Islam and the people wisely, not emotionally.
And then we read in the same verse “And those who forgive their fellow-men.” These are the people who forgive other people’s blunders, errors and even their sins. What can’t be passed over are sins not committed ignorantly or unintentionally; intentional sins or acts of enmity may not be forgiven and God may hardly pardon such sins. But blunders, errors, slippings and lesser sins, often witnessed in the behavior of ordinary people, could be forgiven. The verse goes on: “And God does love the doers of good to humanity”.
Now what are some other signs of the virtuous persons? Let me read another Quranic verse: “and those who, if they fall in sin or wrong their souls, they soon remember God and ask forgiveness for their sins.” This means that they should not remain in a state of negligence and inattention. There is a most surprising verse in the Quran about the utter importance of remembering God: “Surely when the god-fearing, virtuous people are tempted by a group of satans, they only should remember God and lo! They will be seers again.” Listen carefully, it says ‘a group of satans’, that is, in the wide sense of Satan, when they surround you, when they’re afflicting you with some temptations to lead you astray, only remember God, for the remembrance of God Almighty is the sharpest weapon in our hands against all sorts of satans, or a firm rope to save us from the depths of darkness brought about by our satanic enemies.
Yes, such is the remembrance of God; remembering God is truly invaluable. Thus when you do something wrong or sinful, if you remember God and repent and beseech God’s forgiveness, you may be pardoned, because even this asking for forgiveness, is not possible without God’s help and, of course, who else is there to forgive but God Almighty?
You try, you do your best and move forward in the right direction and God will bless you. It’s we who should make efforts, and God may approve of our efforts and endeavours. We should never omit actions and efforts from our worldly life. God says: “…Those who would not knowingly persist in anything they have done amiss.” And then we have: “their reward is their Lord’s forgiveness and Gardens with running streams as their eternal dwellings; what a fine recompense for workers of good deeds.” Here we notice again that reward and forgiveness is for those who practice and strive in the path of God. The question of action, struggle and doing something is one of the most important injunctions in the Quran.
In the course of these lectures, until the end of the holy month of Ramadan, one of the topics I shall explain and stress on shall be this very important question of deeds.
