Avoiding sin, however big or small it may be, is a habit that Islam tries to inhabit in all Muslims. We know that killing is a sin, so we avoid it. But, lying is also a sin, yet we continue to make up lies considering them smaller in rank. I believe that committing sins can easily become a habit, making them harder to avoid. For this reason I wanted to redirect all of you to the following Hadith:
"The believer sees his sins as if he is sitting at the foot of a mountain fearing that it might fall on him, while the sinner sees his sins as a fly that lands on his nose, he just waves it away." [Bukhari]
In this Hadith, the difference between the viewpoint of the believer and the sinner differ for several reasons.
The believer fears a sin like the weight of a mountain, because the heart of a believer is soft and illuminated. So seeing something that goes against what he believes will illuminate his heart, causes him distress and suffering. The metaphor of comparing a sin to a mountain shows the power of a single sin. If a mountain falls on you, you are unable to escape it or survive. Similarly, if a believer sins, that one sin will feel to him as burdening as the weight of a mountain. The believers' fear of Allah will cause him to do everything that he can to please Allah. Which is why, he will fear even the smallest of bad deeds, and his good deeds will never be enough.
On the other hand, a sinner's heart has become hard, and sins no longer hold value for him. Forgiving himself for doing a sin is as easy to him as waving away a fly. Overall, he lacks the fear of Allah in his heart, and doesn't aim to please Him.
So this Ramadan, lets try not to say the words "It's just a small sin". We should stop and think, not about the sin, but about Who it is that we've just disobeyed through the sin.
May Allah enable us all to reflect on ourselves and see even our smallest of sins as mountains, Ameen!
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