Forgiveness is a fundamental concept rooted within the teachings of Islam. It is most crucial for restoring the relational balance and healing between family members and within society. It sets up a mental process through which feelings of anger and resentment can be dealt with when the forgiver and the person forgiven seek reconciliation. Forgiveness also functions at another level—enabling reconnection with God for a seeker of spiritual healing. This suggests that there are two aspects of forgiveness in Islam—the first relates to the need for humans to find divine forgiveness for their own shortcomings, and the other concerns the need for humans to practice forgiveness between one another for the wrongs committed to others.
God is described in many verses in the Qur’an by names that relate to his mercy and forgiveness. He is called al-Ghafoor (the Most Forgiving); al-’Afuw (the one who restores or heals); al-Tawwab (the one who accepts repentance); and al-Rahman and al-Rahim (the Most Merciful and Compassionate). The Qur’an also indicates that God’s mercy and forgiveness overtake his justice. Although in the Qur’an, Suras 4:48 and 9:80 suggest that God does not forgive idolatry and apostates, in general, Islamic belief declares that God is more merciful and caring to His creations than a mother is to her infants.
This means that God created humans knowing that they can be heedless or liable to forget their duties and responsibilities—in fact, In-saan, the Arabic word for humans, derives from the word nasiya, to forget. As humans we are liable to make mistakes and are constantly in need of God’s forgiveness. This goes back to the time of Adam and Eve when they had disobeyed God, but did not know how to ask for forgiveness: “Then learnt Adam from his Lord words of forgiveness, and his Lord turned toward him, for He is Oft-Forgiving and Most Merciful” (Qur’an 2:37).
This negates the idea of original sin and, by extension, the doctrine of vicarious atonement that stems from it: “Say: ‘O my Devotees who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of God: for God forgives all sins (except continued association of Him with other partners/deities): for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful’” (39:53).
Just as it is important to seek the forgiveness of God for one’s shortcomings, it is equally necessary to practice forgiveness in one’s dealings with each other. Those that repent can expect to receive God’s forgiveness but must also be prepared to extend it to others. It is difficult to forgive those who have committed grave injustice, yet, the faithful are asked to try even harder to forgive their enemies and those that have committed the worst excesses. The Qur’an teaches that forgiveness is both required and necessary to deepen one’s piety. It also provides the basis for a new community of reconciled members—as when Muhammad declared a general amnesty upon reentering his native city of Mecca in 630, and from which he had narrowly escaped with his life less than a decade earlier.
Consider the following verses of the Qur’an: Believers are “those who avoid major sins and acts of indecencies and when they are angry they forgive” (42:37); “The reward of the evil is the evil thereof, but whosoever forgives and makes amends, his reward is with Allah” (42:40); “If you punish, then punish with the like of that wherewith you were afflicted. But if you endure patiently, indeed it is better for the patient. Endure you patiently. Your patience is not except through the help of God” (16:126-127).
Thus, although the door of restitutive justice/compensation is left open, it is considered more desirable to forgive.
