Publisher's Synopsis
Praise be to Allah, the One Whom we ask for assistance and forgiveness.
We ask for Allah's refuge to secure us from our own evil selves, our
wrong doings, and misdeeds; for whomever Allah, His Almighty guides
and leads will never go astray, and whomever Allah, His Almighty
misleads will never find the right path. I, also, testify that there is no God
but Allah, the Only, who has no partner, and I testify that Muhammad is
His prophet and His slave At the Beginning of the Road: Paradise was the Goal
I was on the first steps of the path, the path of Islam, which was at my
early youth, gratitude and praise be to Allah. I used to consider paradise
as the place that I should be working for. Probably, not only my hope, but
also my feelings were that I deserved it! I had the feeling that the mere
idea of hell and the thought of escaping from it was not applicable to a
person of my hard work and prayers, for such a person as I am does not
belong there, by Allah's will, and will not enter it. Therefore, such a
person does not have to fear it or to keep on asking Allah to save him
from it. However, If he does so, then he is only following prophet Muhammad, Allah's peace and blessings be on him, and imitating him,
who himself asks to be saved from Hell, with the assurance that he is not
one of its inhabitants. I have often felt, when I used to ask for Allah's
forgiveness, that I haven't committed deeds that call for a so long regret,
or a so much sorrow; Allah has enabled me to give up, and apologize for
the sin that I have committed. This is repentance enough Muhammad, Allah's peace and blessings be on him, and imitating him,
who himself asks to be saved from Hell, with the assurance that he is not
one of its inhabitants. I have often felt, when I used to ask for Allah's
forgiveness, that I haven't committed deeds that call for a so long regret,
or a so much sorrow; Allah has enabled me to give up, and apologize for
the sin that I have committed. This is repentance enough Comprehending the Meaning of Sin
A number of items caused me to go over my previous thoughts and look
at the subject from a new perspective. The first reason that awakened my
awareness of my previous perceptions concerning heaven and hell, at the
start of my path, was my understanding of the meaning of sin, and that
disobeying Allah was an enormous matter. One of the reasons of
triggering such an understanding was a sentence by a virtuous man that
says: "Do not think of how small the sin is, but think of whom you have
disobeyed
I have found the proof of the previous sentence in the qualities of
the references and holly names of Allah, indicating His perfection, His
gifts, and His generosity upon His creatures. His right, also, to be truly
feared, obeyed and not revolted against, thanked and not denied the right
to be worshipped, and to be remembered and not forgotten. Who could perform all of those obligations, as they should be? I found out that Allah,
His Almighty, warns His creatures of His punishment, and punishes for
sins, tiny or great. I became certain that Allah's rights over His creatures
are mightier and bigger than all the duties He asks from them, and that all
are subjects to His Mercy and ready at His orders, and that His Almighty Why Is Sin a Serious Crime
Sin is indeed very great in itself for it is a rejection to an order
from God the One and Only, the Creator of the skies and earth, the
Creator of everything. He is the God and the Owner of everything. He is
the One to whom everything else is a subject. To Him everything is base
and low. He is the Domineering over His creatures.
