Islam’s solution to prevent the repetition of sin

This article answers the question: “Given the ugliness of sin and the fact that the thought of ‎it is worrisome, what causes one to ‎repeat the perpetration of certain sins? What is the ‎solution of Islam to prevent the ‎recurrence of sin?‎”‎

News ID: 450569

Date: 08 August 2020 - 15:47

Question:‎

Given the ugliness of sin and the fact that the thought of it is worrisome, what causes one to ‎repeat the perpetration of certain sins? What is the solution of Islam to prevent the ‎recurrence of sin?‎

Response:‎

The Holy Quran, by giving insight to man, wants to inform him of the dangers and harms of ‎sin that hinder happiness, and to awaken his pure and divine innate nature, so that a spirit of ‎avoiding sin may appear in him. In this regard, he says: “…Eat of what God has provided ‎you and do not follow in Satan’s footsteps; he is indeed your manifest enemy.” [1] It is ‎understood from this verse that the awakened innate nature of man requires that man is ‎sitting at the table of the Lord of the Worlds and is making use of His blessings, he should ‎not obey his enemy and abandon obedience to God.‎

If man follows the steps of Satan and prefers his desires of his ego and lusts to the ‎command of the shari’ah, which prefers by reason and narration, this sinful act causes man ‎to be captured by the desires of his ego, then man sins knowingly and intentionally and will ‎no longer be able to forsake sin. He will no longer be able to forsake sin. Because the ‎captive has no will of his own and cannot carry out his will, the wisest thing to do is not to ‎let one’s intellect become entrapped from the beginning by committing sins and following ‎Satan. Imam Ali said: “Many a slavish mind is subservient to overpowering longings.” [2] ‎Therefore, whoever fears the position of his Lord and keeps his soul separated from his ‎ego, surely Paradise is his abode. [3] Despite the esoteric desires for the domination over ‎one’s ego and desires, the captivity of reason and man’s neglect of the remembrance of God ‎causes the repetition of sin.‎

Ways to prevent the recurrence of sin

it is narrated from the Safinah al-Najah (the Ship of Salvation) of humankind, Imam al-‎Husayn, that once a person approached him and asked him for help. He said: “I am a ‎disobedient man. I cannot hold out against sinning.” Imam al-Husayn said: “Do these five ‎things, then commit whatever sin you want. Eat from other than the sustenance that God ‎has provided you; Then commit whatever sin you want. Be independent of the support and ‎protection of God; Then commit whatever sin you want. Choose a place where God cannot ‎see you; Then commit whatever sin you want. When the Angel of Death comes to take your ‎soul, turn him away; Then commit whatever sin you want. When the angels who guard the ‎hellfire want to throw you in, don’t go; Then commit whatever sin you want.” [4] ‎

If a person pays a little attention and realizes that he is eating from God’s sustenance and ‎everything that he has – from the limbs, organs and physical and external blessing – is all ‎from God, and wherever he goes, he is in the kingdom of God and wherever he is, he is in ‎the presence of the Lord of the Worlds and He is the witness and observer of his actions. ‎‎(“Does he not know that God sees [him]?)” [5] And he should be aware that man must die in ‎any position and rank that he is in and he has no authority and will against the will of the ‎Lord of the Worlds and the Angel of Death and he should know that if he is ‎a sinner, he will be thrown into the fire whether he wants to be or not. Heaven and earth ‎cannot stand it and take these truths in the depths of their being and make them a habit. ‎Whenever he wants to commit a sin, these facts are reviewed for him and prevent him from ‎committing the sin. Loss of attachment to the world is a major factor in abandoning sin. In a ‎narration, the love of the world is considered the basis of every sin and sins are watered by ‎the fountain of worldly love. Not having attachment to the world also means that we do not ‎make it the goal of our work and do not use our efforts for worldly life but to make the ‎world a tool for the prosperity of our eternal life and the development of our human ‎personality. A little of it does not make us depressed and sad and a lot of it does not make ‎us revolt.‎

Imam Ali said: “Beware of disobeying God in solitude, because the witness (of that situation) ‎is also the judge.” [6]‎

There are many works in the books of narrations about sin, the mention of which is ‎effective in abandoning sin. The effects of sins in this world, the effects of sins in the ‎hereafter, the effects of sins on the descent of tribulations,‎‏ ‏the effects of sins on the cutting ‎off sustenance, the effects of sins on the cruelty of the heart, etc. For example, we narrate ‎a narration for a good ending, Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq said: “No vein will be cut, no feet will be ‎hit by a stone, no one will have a headache unless we commit sin and this is the promise of ‎God Almighty in his book, which says: ‘Whatever affliction that may visit you is because of ‎what your hands have earned, and He excuses many [an offense of yours].’ [7] What God ‎forgives is much more than he asks about” [8]‎

Some ways to stop oneself from sinning:‎

• Screening out of bad friends
• Choosing spiritual friends and accompanying them
• Making use of the works of pious and moral scholars and their pilgrimages
• Pilgrimage to holy places ‎
• Daily recitation of the Quran
• Immediate return from sins
• Use a self-reform program, including: setting out setting out conditions to do good ‎deeds and avoid bad deed every morning, daily meditation, nightly observation of ‎one’s deeds and inspection of their good and bad deeds, encouraging oneself to do ‎good deeds and punishment for bad deeds

Endnotes:‎

‎[1] ‎كُلُوا مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمُ اللَّـهُ وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ ۚ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ‎ ‎
Holy Quran 6:142‎

‎[2] ‎وكم من عقل أسير تحت هوى أمير‎ ‎
Nahj al-Balaghah, hadith number 211‎

‎[3] ‎فَالسَّابِقَاتِ سَبْقًا‎ ‎
‎“By those who, racing, take the lead”‎
Holy Quran 79:4‎

فَإِنَّ الْجَنَّةَ هِيَ الْمَأْوَىٰ‎ ‎
‎“His refuge will indeed be paradise.”‎
Holy Quran 79:41‎

‎[4] ‎عنه عليه السلام ـ لِرجُلٍ قالَ لَهُ : أنا رجُلٌ عاصٍ و لا أصبِرُ عَنِ المَعصِيَةِ ، فَعِظْني بِمَوعِظَةٍ ـ : اِفعَلْ ‏خَمسَةَ أشياءَ و أذنِبْ ما شِئتَ ، فأوَّلُ ذلكَ : لا تَأكُلْ رِزقَ اللّه ِ و أذنِبْ ما شِئتَ ، و الثّانِي : اُخرُجْ مِن ‏وَلايَةِ اللّه ِ و أذنِبْ ما شِئتَ ، و الثّالِثُ : اُطلُبْ مَوضِعا لا يَراكَ اللّه ُ و أذْنِبْ ما شِئتَ ، و الرّابِعُ : إذا جاءَ مَلَكُ ‏المَوتِ لِيَقبِضَ رُوحَكَ فادْفَعْهُ عَن نَفسِكَ و أذنِبْ ما شِئتَ ، و الخامِسُ : إذا أدخَلَكَ مالِكٌ في النّارٍ فلا ‏تَدخُلْ في النّارِ و أذنِبْ ما شِئتَ!‏
Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 78, p. 126, narration 7, chapter 20‎

‎[5] ‎أَلَمْ يَعْلَم بِأَنَّ اللَّـهَ يَرَىٰ‎ ‎
Holy Quran 96:14‎

‎[6] ‎اتَّقُوا مَعَاصِيَ اللهِ فِي الْخَلَوَاتِ، فَإِنَّ الشَّاهِدَ هُوَ الْحَاكِمُ‎ ‎
Nahj al-Balaghah, hadith number 324‎

‎[7] ‎وَمَا أَصَابَكُم مِّن مُّصِيبَةٍ فَبِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَيَعْفُو عَن كَثِيرٍ‎ ‎
Holy Quran 42:30‎

‎[8] ‎عَنْهُ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنِ اَلنَّضْرِ بْنِ سُوَيْدٍ عَنْ هِشَامِ بْنِ سَالِمٍ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اَللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ اَلسَّلاَمُ قَالَ: أَمَا إِنَّهُ ‏لَيْسَ مِنْ عِرْقٍ يَضْرِبُ وَ لاَ نَكْبَةٍ وَ لاَ صُدَاعٍ وَ لاَ مَرَضٍ إِلاَّ بِذَنْبٍ وَ ذَلِكَ قَوْلُ اَللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ فِي كِتَابِهِ : «وَ مٰا ‏أَصٰابَكُمْ مِنْ مُصِيبَةٍ فَبِمٰا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَ يَعْفُوا عَنْ كَثِيرٍ » قَالَ ثُمَّ قَالَ وَ مَا يَعْفُو اَللَّهُ أَكْثَرُ مِمَّا يُؤَاخِذُ بِهِ
Usul al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 269, narration 3‎