Ramadan kareem

Tomorrow is the first day of Ramadan, and this is the time for forgiveness, charity, self control and self awareness (granted, it is always 'the time' as God doesn't have a 'Be back in 5 minutes' sign hanging around; but the month of Ramadan is unique). I think that I may, on an I-don't-know-how-often basis, blog something about Islam this month. I did this last year, but later deleted the blog entries.

Here’s something I’ve thought a lot about recently…

Humans make mistakes because we are the only creatures who – when given the choice -- accepted the responsibility of free will. All other creatures refused the responsibility because they understood the difficulty which they would face.

Like a baby, I have often times wanted to give back that responsibility; I didn’t want it, I didn’t want the ability and the will to choose to make a mistake. The internal consequences are sometimes too great to hold, and you feel like you want to peel your skin off in order to get away from yourself. This is, in essence, the meaning of ‘jihad’ (transliteration = ‘struggle’)…the struggle within, between ‘good’ and ‘evil’.

But…it’s the human condition, this capacity to go astray. The ability to fault is what makes us the more beloved.

Here's a quote from Qur'an xxxix, 53 Sura Zumar:

“But no soul need be in despair because
Of its sin: God’s Forgiveness and Mercy are
Unbounded. Turn to God in repentance
Now, for at Judgement it will be too late.
…
Say: “O my Servants who
Have transgressed against their souls!
Despair not of the Mercy
Of God: for God forgives
All sins: for He is
Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

You’re human and so you’ll make mistakes. That’s sort of the bottom line…and should make us feel a little better about our often times active engagement in stupidity.