Why Did God Create Man to Sin?
Say: "O My slaves who have transgressed themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah, verily Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. — Qur’an 39[Az-Zumar]: 53
The concept of sin dates back to the earliest period of creation. Many of us know the story of Adam and why he was expelled from Adn in paradise. This is what some people call the original sin. However, Muslims do not believe the iniquity of the father is inherited by the son. For God will resurrect us as individuals, and the reckoning will be done single-headedly. Lo! It is in the nature of man to commit sins. And God in His supreme sublimity forgives all sins, no bloody sacrifice needed. So when you sin, do not rebuke yourself. For if you fail to sin, God will wipe you off the earth surface and bring forth another generation who will sin and seek forgiveness. Surprising? This is evident in the hadith viz;
Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “By Him in whose hand is my soul, if you did not sin Allah would replace you with people who would sin and they would seek the forgiveness of Allah and He would forgive them.” — Sahih Muslim
The goal is not to sin, but to seek repentance in humility while asking for His forgiveness and mercy.
The Gravity of Sins
Let no man take iniquity for levity. For there’s no sin before God that’s too little. The hadith only stresses on the importance of seeking forgiveness and repentance from the Merciful Lord. Islam doesn’t belittle sins. This is why you’d rarely find a faith with strict adherence to it’s metaphysics as Islam does.
After Iblis was expelled from jannah for his arrogance, he made a vow to mislead mankind. This was the origin of sin — to make humans go against the injunction of the Creator. So you can’t help it, you’d fall short to sin at some points in life. Man was created weak and as such he falls to become a sinner. However, the best of sinners are those who sincerely repent.
The Sternness of His Punishment
There’s this misconception by some Muslims, they keep on commiting sins with the psyche: Allah is “Al-Ghaffuru-r-Raheem” — The Oft-Forgiving, The Most Merciful. Indeed this is an attribute of God no doubt, but He’s not naive in describing Himself that way. That was why He made it clear thus:
Know that Allah is Severe in punishment and that Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. — Qur’an 5 [Al-Maeda]:98
It’s for reasons like this that He mentioned the severity of His punishment first. To serve as a deterrent and scare. And then He wraps it with his forgiveness and mercy to give hope and not despair.
The Devil’s Deception
It’s in the nature of the devil to make man sin through illusion. That was the first prank played on Adam. And ever since, the joker keeps getting Adam’s progeny. The trap is not in committing sins, that’s only a bait. Iblis' goal is that you commit sins and fail to repent. How many Muslims err with incessant hope that they’re going to repent. And the deception keeps coming with a whisperings like: I’m still young, let me enjoy my life. The sins acrue and before you know it the scale is full and the angel of death beacons.
Another trick we often fall for is the deception of iman. We sometimes think we have unshakeable faith and as such put ourselves to trial. A good example is being in seclusion with a woman whom you share no tie of kinship and aren’t forbidden from marrying. Worse indeed is when you claim to be 'in love' — the unexpected is bound to happen. For there has been no trial greater for men than that of women. Hence, beware!
The Infinity of His Forgiveness
One of the menace of the time we live in is how people quickly condemn others as apostates. If only we knew how merciful God is; then we’d never think He will not forgive us or others for transgressing. Did you remember the story of the man who murdered ninety-nine people, yet he sought repentance and God forgave him even before his repentance was completed? Have you not heard of the prostitute who showed kindness to an animal and God showered mercy on her? Let it be noted that Allah affirms that His Mercy supersedes His wrath. This is well illustrated in the hadith below;
From Anas, radiyallahu 'anhu, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, say: "Allah the Almighty has said: 'O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me, and hope in Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds in the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I shall forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with an earthful of sins and were you then to face Me, without having associated anything with Me, I shall grant you an earthful of pardon.’" [At-Tirmidhi]
Call to Action
It is an established fact that we will all sin. So it’s incumbent upon us to repent and seek God’s forgiveness when we err. Forgiveness is earned through repentance. And repentance begins with regret of the act, commitment not to return to it and utterance of istighfar. Remember, the best of mankind used to repent to Allah between seventy to hundred times daily. Then it’s expected of us to do this bare minimum or even more.
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