How Our Sins Impact On Our Lives

Ibn Qayyim provided one of the great descriptions of sins and the impact of sins in this life and after. Here is a very short summary of what he compiled about how our sins impact on our lives.

1.Sins deprive a person of provision (rizq) in this life. In Musnad Ahmad it is narrated that Thawbaan said: “The Messenger of Allah (SAWS) said: ‘A man is deprived of provision because of the sins that he commits.’” (Narrated by Ibn Maajah, 4022, classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah).

2.A sinful person experiences a sense of alienation (indifference) with his Lord, and between him and other people. One of the salaf had said that he could see the impact of disobedience to Allah (in some aspects of his daily life).

3.A person who commits sins sees that things become difficult for him. In any matter that he turns to, he finds the way blocked or he finds it difficult. By the same token, for the one who fears Allah, things are made easy for him.

4.Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Abbaas said: “Good deeds make the face light, give light to the heart, and bring about ample provision, physical strength and love in people’s hearts. Bad deeds make the face dark, give darkness to the heart, and bring about physical weakness, a lack of provision and hatred in people’s hearts.”

5.Sin breeds sin until it dominates a person and he cannot escape from it. Sin weakens a person’s willpower. It gradually strengthens his will to commit sin and weakens his will to repent until there is no will in his heart to repent at all… so he seeks forgiveness and expresses repentance, but it is merely words on the lips, like the repentance of the liars, whose hearts are still determined to commit sin and persist in it. This is one of the most serious diseases that is likely to lead to doom. He becomes desensitized and no longer find sins abhorrent, so it becomes his habit, and he is not bothered if people see him committing the sin or talk about him.

So, we can easily see that by engaging in sins, we are not only making the prospects of our after life (integral part of Islamic faith) bleak but sins can greatly and actively contribute to the difficulties of our daily lives.
Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “Whatever of good reaches you, is from Allah, but whatever of evil befalls you, is from yourself…” [al-Nisa’ 4:79]
Whether we encounter challenges in earning a living, in our family affairs, or other matters of life, the burden of sins greatly inhibits us from seeking the ultimate blessings of Allah and to have the potential of leading a good life in this world and the hereafter.

Similarly, once we see the connection of how expiation of sins can potentially help us in this life and next, we can better understand the dire need to seek forgiveness from Allah. Who would want to stay entangled in the web of challenges of this life and the potential to be punished in the hereafter? Even a little faith can help us see this connection and the better we strengthen our faiths, the more we will strive to rid ourselves from the burden of sins.

Based on how sins can have a detrimental effect on our lives, just imagine the impact that your life will have if all your sins were forgiven. What more would you need if Allah specifically chose you and forgave your sins? What more would you need when as a result of a reduced burdens of your sins, you have better chances of more provision (rizq) in this life? What more would you need if because of His blessings, Allah could help you by reducing your worldly complications? What more would you need if in the judgment day you have the potential to stand in front of Allah with fewer loads of sins?

And getting to that stage is not that difficult. All it takes is a sincere intention and actions in seeking forgiveness from Allah. On the authority of Anas, Allah the Almighty has said: “O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of 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 of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as its.” (al-Tirmidhi, 3540; classed as hasan by Shaykh al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, 4338)

 Similarly, it was narrated in al-Saheehayn that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “If a person commits a sin, then says, ‘O Lord, I have committed a sin so forgive me,’ He says, ‘My slave knows that he has a Lord Who may forgive sins or punish for it; I have forgiven My slave…’” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6953; Muslim, 4953)
Source: http://www.iqrasense.com