A bucket with many holes. Patch it!

In the Name of Allah,

All praise is due to Allah, the one who Forgives.

Update on Masjid: We are still pursuing a location for Musallah, and a land for Masjid. Nothing confirmed yet, but there is hope on both front, Alhamdulilah. 

"Those who avoid the greatest sins and indecencies, except for oversights, (will find that) surely your Lord is ample in forgiveness. (Al-Najm 53:32)"

(Those who avoid great sins and Al-Fawahish (immoral sins) except Al-Lamam), Al-Lamam means, small faults and minor errors. (Ibn Kathir)

I have seen people put a lot of emphasis on good deeds, and most of the effort is toward optional deeds. For example, Taraweeh in Ramadhan is not Fardh, but you will see that people will be fighting over each other to get a spot in the Masjid. Now, there is goodness in that, but what happens when we do these optional good deeds one month, and commit major sins throughout the year. I mean major sins like paying interest, shaving our faces, illegal relations, breaking promises, etc...

I would like to present a visual that may help understand what my point is. See, our life is like a bucket that is empty in the beginning, and gets filled with our good deeds. More we perform Salat, fasting, Hajj, dhikr, and other good acts, more liquid gets added to the bucket. However, if we commit a sin, a hole is punched in the bucket and the liquid starts leaking. Bigger the sin, bigger the hole would be. So, if a person performs a lot of good acts, a continuous stream of liquid will be pouring in, but if they are also performing a major sins continuously, the wholes are being punched in the bucket.

Imaging the bucket that has some holes, and we try to fill it with liquid. After a few minutes, it will be empty. This is the situation of ours, when we commit sins on the regular basis. Moreover, These holes can be repaired with repentance, but that require desisting that sin, promising not to commit it again, and asking forgiveness from Allah. Above verse makes it clear that emphasis should be on avoiding major sins. Goal is to reach our death with a few drops of liquid in our bucket that will carry us through the accounting, InshAllah.

We should make an oath today that we will chose one major sin that we commit regularly, and we will avoid that sin this year, and will not repeat it again. Just pick any. This is better than praying optional Salat in Ramadhan and in the late night. People who think that good deeds will wash up their sins are mistaken, and will be standing on the day of judgement day with a pile of sins that can not be voided, and good deeds that have been leaked out from the holes. In other words, it is better to skip Taraweeh, then driving for Taraweeh in a car financed with interest loan.

A few days back, Imam made an emotional plead for people to stop watching TV programs that  may have some fahash (indecency)  in it. He is correct in saying that, but I doubt that any of them would cancel the cable right after that speech, because it is just not practical. In fact, I spoke to a few of them, and they agreed it was not possible. A leader should bring the follower to the truth, and not beat them with it, because they will consider it so impossible that  they will ignore it.

What I suggest is weening strategy. Don't stop sinning completely, because one can not. Rather find an activity that is less sinful and try to replace with it. For example, if you have cable at home, don't force yourself and your family to stop watching all American channels, because women are not covered in them. Rather, cancel the subscription of movies, and cut down on number of movies watched per month. Slowly but progressively implementing reforms will lead to long lasting avoidance of sins.

This is the Sunnah of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH). We do not control our nafs right now, and we should not declare war with it, because it will win, rather compromise with it, and bring it under control with wisdom. And, Allah knows best.

It has been narrated on the authority of Abu Masa that when the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) deputed any of his Companions on a mission, he would say: Give tidings (to the people) ; do not create (in their minds) aversion (towards religion) ; show them leniency and do not be hard upon them. (Sahih Muslim #4297)

JazakAllah Khairin

A struggling sinner
AbuArman Jumani