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In the name of All°h, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful

Topic of Discussion:
Discussion: Forgiveness and Pardon
Øad¢th #2
#26 [ Discussion #3
#37 ]
Lectures on Akhl°q given by His Eminence
Ayatull°h al-`U®m° al-Ø°jj ash-Shaykh N°•ir Mak°rim ash-Sh¢r°z¢ (may All°h protect him)
Translated by Saleem Bhimji – www.al-mubin.org – al-mubin@al-mubin.org

Topic: Forgiveness and Pardon

Text of the °ad¢th:

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TRANSLATION: “One day the Messenger of All°h (blessings of All°h be upon him and his family) was sitting
TRANSLATION
down and we saw him laugh until you could see the whiteness of his front teeth. We said to him, ‘O’ Messenger
of All°h! Why are you laughing?’ The Prophet replied, ‘Two men from my nation were in the presence of My
Lord when one of the two men said, ‘O’ Lord! Take my rights (that the other person owed me in the world) from
the other person (and give them back to me).’ All°h the Most High said (to the other person), ‘Give your brother
back his rights (which you took from him in the world).’ Then the second man said, ‘O’ Lord! There are no more
good deeds remaining (for me to give him) in place of the oppression that I did to him.’ The first person (who
had been wronged) then said, ‘O’ Lord then place all of my sins on his back.’’ At this point, the Prophet began to
cry and said, ‘That day is the day which the people will be in need of a person to place their sins upon.’ All°h the
Most High then told the person who was trying to get his rights back, ‘Lift your eyes up towards the Paradise and
tell me what you see?’ So then the person lifted up his head and saw that which amazed him from amongst the
goodness and blessings. The man then said, ‘O’ Lord! Who is this for?’ All°h (Glory and Greatness be to Him)
replied, ‘This is for the person who gives his worth over to me.’ The person replied, ‘O’ Lord! And who is the
one whose worth is that (that he can give it over to you)?’ All°h (Glory and Greatness be to Him) said, ‘You.’ The
man then said, ‘And how is that possible?’ All°h (Glory and Greatness be to Him) replied, ‘By you forgiving
your brother (you have given your worth over to me).’ The man then said, ‘Surely I have forgiven him.’ At this
time, All°h the Noble and High said, ‘So then take your brother by your hand and both of you enter into the

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Paradise.’ The Messenger of All°h (blessings of All°h be upon him and his family) then said, ‘Have consciousness
of All°h and sort out of the disagreements between yourselves.’”1 and 2

Commentary of °ad¢th:
In this ¶°d¢th, there are two very important points which we must pay attention to:

1. In the next life, there is no other way to repay the debts which were left behind from the material world and
there is no way to be absolved from any responsibilities that one was under (in this world) and thus, the material
rights that are on a person in this world are transformed into spiritual rights (in the next life).

For example, if in this world a person does not pay back his loans, then according to this verse of the Qur˜°n
which states:

“On the day when neither wealth nor sons will profit anyone…”3

on this day (Day of Judgment), one must repay his debts through his good deeds. If the person does not have any
good deeds, then he must accept the other person’s sins on his own record.

This is a very important issue that no matter how many good deeds a person possesses, when he enters into the
field of the Day of Resurrection, he will be as a penniless beggar – what else does he have to give to other people
except his good deeds?

No matter how few sins a person has on his record, on that day and in that great location, his sins will be
increased! How can a person possibly take on the responsibility of the sins of other people?

It is for this reason that while in this world, we must do an account of all of our acts and pay back any debts that
we have on us since if for example – All°h forbid – we have insulted a person then we must seek his forgiveness
and must repay that person since that which is even more important than the wealth of a Muslim is his honour
and dignity.

It has been mentioned in Bih°rul Anw°r that:

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“Surely the worst form of usury is the destruction of the dignity of a Muslim for no reason.”4

If we destroy the honour and dignity of a person in this world and do not make amends for it in this world, then
the amending of this sin will be taken from our good deeds (in the next world), and if we do not have any good
deeds with us, then we will have to take their sins upon us. Thus, not only would we have to bear the weight of
our own sins on our shoulders, but we will also have to bear the sins of others, just as it is mentioned in the
Qur˜°n:

1 Bih°rul Anw°r, Volume 74, Page 180

2 In this ¶°d¢th we see that the issue of the Day of Resurrection has been mentioned in the past tense and this may be
done since the present tense verb is used to denote an event that will sure happen in the future or also it may have been
done since it may be a form of revelation which came to the Prophet (blessings of All°h be upon him and his family).
3 S£rah al-Shuar°`, Verse 88
4 Bih°rul Anw°r, Volume 72, Page 222

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“They will bear their own burdens and (other) burdens along with their own, and on the Day of Judgment they will be
called to account for their falsehoods.”5

2. The station of forgiveness - and what a great status it is for the one who forgives others! It has been mentioned
in the a¶°d¢th that:

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“The price of Paradise is forgiveness”

It is not an honour or distinction for a person that if he sees another person doing a bad deed that he keeps this
act in his heart so that one day he can take revenge on that person, since this act of taking revenge is that of the
animals.

There are some people who consider taking revenge as being a proof of their courage and bravery and are of the
belief that if a person was to strike a blow to him, then he must strike an even harder blow to that person whereas
the opposite of this is true. If a person strikes a blow upon you, and you forgive him, then this is a sign of your
courage and that you have complete control over your soul and thus, a hostile and revenge-seeking person is not
one who will ever be successful.

In this relation, not only must we forgive the other person, rather even greater than this is that we must try and
destroy the difference that exists amongst the believers and if we are able to do this, we should then seek to
convert the entire society into one that is built upon forgiveness of others and not seeking revenge.

If this characteristic does not take shape within the society, the surely its opposite will, day by day, become more
and more common in the society which will result in the entire population being in disharmony, disunion and
dissension since such an issue will never come to an end and the only way that this can come to an end is through
forgiveness of others.

…and all praise belongs to All°h (Glory and Greatness be to Him), only the mistakes are mine

5 S£rah al-`Ankab£t, Verse 13

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