Steps to Forgiveness by Wisam Sharieff
1) Admit
If you commit a sin, admit that
you committed that sin. This is easier said than done because as human
beings we are prone to making excuses. If we are mean or rude to
someone, we would rather blame that person for making us mad than admit
that our actions our wrong. So we have to take responsibility of our
actions in order to receive any forgiveness
2) Apologize/Ask for an apology
After we admit we have done
something wrong, we need to make dua for forgiveness, we need to ask
Allah to forgive us. Allah is Al-Gafur, Allah is all forgiving and all
merciful, but Allah does not have to forgive us, we have to ask for
forgiveness. And when asking for forgiveness we need to be sincere,
sincerity is key, and it will tell in your actions.
3) Alter
After admitting and apologizing
for our actions we should alter our actions, and this is a prelude to
the last step. If we watched movies and ate lots of popcorn until 3 am
in the morning and missed fajr, we should alter that habit in order to
not miss fajr. If hanging out with a certain group of friends make us
backbite other individuals, we should stay away from that group. We
should enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil.
4) Accept
After admitting, apologizing, and
finding ways to alter our actions, we have to accept not to repeat the
same mistake. Of course as humans we will slip up, but we must try as
hard as we can to not repeat the same sin, over and over. So if we know
that we cannot stay up until 1 am and pray fajr, than we should not stay
up until 1 am because we do not want to miss fajr.
