Can I Ever Change?

“No matter who you are, no matter what you did, no matter where you've come from, you can always change,  become a better version of yourself.” ― Madonna

Have you ever asked yourself, “Can I ever change?” Have you ever felt that you have committed too many sins and have reached to the ‘point of no return’ that any change is impossible or that it is pointless to repent? Well…..I can safely say that EVERYONE has had that feeling at some point of time in their life. Believe it or not, that is actually the evil whispering of Lucifer a.k.a. satan, with the intention to discourage you from changing or repenting and putting doubts in your head.

                        Please know this. It is NEVER too late to change or repent for as long as you are still alive and kicking. Repentance is only too late when a person is at a brink of death.

“Hadhrat Umar bin Al Khattaab Radiyallahu ‘anhu has narrated that the Holy Prophet Sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam said: Verily Allah the Almighty will accept the repentance of his servants right until the last moments of his death
(Tirmidhi)

            One of the keys to affect change is to believe there is some good in you, not matter how small. It can be an atomic size of goodness but that tiny goodness can be nurtured into something big and great if you truly put your heart and soul in it.

            No sin is too big or too grave for God Al-Mighty to forgive. The only thing that we need to do is to sincerely repent and vow not to repeat the sin or wrongdoing again.

“Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri Radiyallahu ‘anhu has narrated that the Holy Prophet Sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam said: In the times before you there was a man who commited ninety nine murders, he asked for the most learned on the earth and was directed to a monk. He told the monk that he had killed ninety nine people and was looking for a path to repentance and if there was any chance for his repentance to be accepted. The monk replied in the negative and the man killed him making it one hundred murders. He again asked for the most learned on the earth and was directed to a scholar. He told the scholar that he has commited one hundred murders and was looking for a path to repentance and whether there was any chance of his repentance to be accepted. He replied in the affirmative and asked who stands between you and repentance? Go to such and such a land and there you will find people devoted to prayer and the worship of Allah. Join them in worship and do not come back to your land because it is an evil place. He left straight away and upon reaching halfway death overtook him; there was a dispute between the angels of mercy and the angels of torment. The angels of mercy pleaded that this man has come with a repenting heart to Allah. The angels of torment replied, he never did a virtuous deed in his life and he has commited one hundred murders. Allah sent an angel in the form of a human being and the contending angels agreed to make him arbitrator between them. He said,
measure the distance between him and the two lands and he will be considered belonging to the land to which he will be closer towards. Allah commanded the land which he left to move away and distance itself from him and the land to which he was going to come closer to him and narrow up on him. They measured and found that the land to which he was intending to go was closer by a cubits
length. In one narration it is mentioned that Allah ordered his body to move slightly from the chest. It was thus concluded that the angels of mercy may collect his soul.”
(Bukhari, Muslim)

“Hadhrat Abu Musa Ash’ari Radiyallahu ‘anhu has narrated that the Holy Prophet Sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam said: verily Allah the Almighty spreads open His arms of forgiveness every morning so the one who disobeyed Him during the day can repent to Him, and spreads open His arms of forgiveness throughout the night so the one who disobeyed Him in the day can seek His forgiveness and repent to Him and this will continue until the day the sun rises from the west.”
(Muslim)

            God Al-Mighty is ever so merciful and compassionate hence, when His slave seeks for His Forgiveness, He will surely forgive but on the condition that His slave is sincere. Our sins could be higher than Mount Everest but if we sincerely repent, then In Shaa Allah, all will be forgiven.

“It is He Who accepts repentence from His servants and pardons evil acts and knows what they do.”

(Surat Ash-Shura, 25)

            “On the authority of Anas (ra) who said:

I heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) say, “Allah the Almighty has said: ‘O Son of Adam, as long as you invoke 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 you then asked forgiveness from 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 it [too]. ” 

[Tirmidhi] 

Ultimately, to me, if a person truly wants to change, then ignore all the whisperings and push aside the doubts. Just do it! You will definitely encounter some obstacles in your way but remain steadfast. If your intention is true, then have faith that God will guide you. If a person does not want to change, then he or she will make all kind of excuses as to why they can’t. Like the Malay proverb, ‘mahu seribu daya, tak mahu seribu dalih’ which basically means, if there’s will, there’s a way’……….

            Bottom line is, change is possible only if a person wants it………………….