Let the Past be the Past

Everyone has a past. We are all humans, not angels. So making mistakes is human and it is what makes us, us. A great example of this, is Prophet Musa (as) who has a past of his own, although a mistake, it was something done in the past that was not praiseworthy. If a Prophet of Allah, a servant chosen by God, made a mistake in his life, what would make anyone think that we wouldn’t? What gives us enough arrogance to believe that there is even the possibility of the perfect human being?  There really does not need to be a page written to get this point across, everyone is going to make mistakes and everyone is going to have something lingering in their past. This is what gives us the building blocks to change, knowing that we are not perfect it is what gives us the basis to grow and become a better person. And we can never let our past become out future. We have to remember that Allah is Ar-Rahman, Ar-Raheem, and there is nothing we can do that we cannot build from. We cannot reach a state in which we have passed Allah’s mercy, so although, we make mistakes, we can go from the worst of sinners to the best of believers. 

Ummar ibn Khattab is considered one of one hundred most influential people to ever live. “He was a pioneering figure in the Islamic world. He was a leader, a statesman, a pious and God conscious Muslim who showed respect for all individuals including non-Muslims and he ordered the Muslims to treat non-Muslims with respect. He showed us how to apply the Quranic injunction "there is no compulsion in religion. Under the leadership of Umar ibn Al-Khattab Islam spread widely not by the sword but by virtue of its beauty, simplicity, transparency, openness and the leadership provided by him.” But this  is the same man who tried to kill the Prophet (sws) and would kill Muslims just because they are Muslims yet he grew to become one of the most influential men to ever live and not by just Islamic standards, but world-wide. He went from the worst of sinners to a man promised Jannah. There is not a sin that we cannot rise from and become the inhabitants of Jannah. We pave our own paths and are the leaders of our own future. 

One very important thing to focus on when discussing the topic of having pasts and change is how, we, as individuals treat others who are trying to turn around, and are trying to return back. And the best way to look at this, is from the Story of a woman that lived during the time of the Prophet (sws), named Hind. Hind was one of the elites in the Quraysh, coming from a family of royalty. Her family was one of the biggest opposers of Islam and when the Prophet (sws) made the message public, her family was one of the foremost in opposition to the message. During the Battle of Badr, Hind's family was fighting against the Muslims and in battle, Hind's father, brother, and uncle all were killed. When Hind's husband came home and told her that, she was furious. She hated Islam, and she hated the Prophet, and she hated the message. At the next battle, the Battle of Uhud, she hired an assassin named Wahshi to go and assassinate the Prophet (sws)'s uncle, Hamza (rA) whose sword was the one that had killed her family in the Battle of Badr. Wahshi goes onto the field during the battle, and kills Hamza (rA) but even after that, Hind is still so full of hate that she goes on to the battlefield and starts stabbing the body of Hamza (rA). Some narrations say that she cut his nose off, cut his ears and his tongue, took his intestines out and even started chewing them just to show how much she hated him. Awhile later, during the conquest of Makkah, Hind's husband converted to Islam after the Muslims offered him protection, which made Hind extremely furious that she publicly humiliated her husband. That same night, however, she noticed how even though they, as the enemy of Muslims had caused so much grief to the Muslims, now that the Muslims were back in Makkah, there was so much peace and quiet. The next day she cloaks herself and goes to the Prophet (sws) and confesses that she wants to accept Islam. 

And what does the Prophet (sws) do? He welcomes her to Islam happily and tells her about the rites and duties of being a Muslim. This was the same women that had chewed out and killed his uncle but look at the way he treats her, with so much kindness and respect, without ever mentioning anything of the past. Even Wahshi, the assassin who Hind had hired, the Prophet (sws) would send him letters telling him to become Muslim. Look at the way the Prophet embraces people who had done such great sins, yet welcomes them and not once undermines them. This is the way we should treat people. If we know something about someone, we know how they were back in the day, and now we see that they are truly trying, instead of pulling them under again, instead of talking about them and pushing them away, we should always be welcoming towards everyone. When we see a Muslim that is truly trying to return back an change their ways, we should not be the "Haram Police" or the make snide, rude remarks once they start and integrate into the masjid or try to start something good. Instead, we should help them, facilitate their journey back to Allah, and make sure that we try always keep our arms open to our brothers and sisters in Islam. 

Everyone makes mistakes, everyone has a past. But just like that, everyone has the potential to change and turn back as well. And when that does happen, we should be the facilitators for people to turn back and we should help people rather than hinder their journey.