Ayah 59:70

[Sardar Miyan]

Thanks Bro JAI

[Irfan]

Peace all,

The following reply that I poste this morning was posted to the wrong thread.  Here it is again:

I agree with the responses given by Bros Miyan and Siddiq.  The critical verse to understand 25:70 (which used the derivative of the root verb  "baddala =switch) is to understand its cognate verse 11:114 (which uses the root verb "dhahaba =takes away) and the verse 28:54 that uses the root verb "dara'a = to avert):
28:54 "Twice will they be given their reward, for that they have persevered, (and) they avert evil with good." Notice the "doubling of the award, one for persevering and the other for averting evil with good.
Even if the meaning of the “Sayyi’ah” is “sin”, still the verse 6:60 allows the “sinner” to offset the balance of sins in his favor by a margin of 10:1.
[6:160] Whoever does a righteous work receives the reward for ten, and the one who commits a sin is requited for only one. No one suffers the slightest injustice
This is an excellent question. Sometime ago, an imam candidate at our local mosque delivered a sermon about "Divine forgiveness". He gave an example of a 90-year man who was reported to have sinned all his life but finally had his moment and turned to Allah (swt).  The imam said that Allah, not only forgave all his previous sins, but, in fact, transformed ALL of them into "good deeds".  Then he immediately referred to verse 25:70 so he would be able to ward off a possible question. A questioner confronted the imam after the khutba. The imam gave another example of a man (mentioned in a hadith) who murdered 100 people and wanted to know if he was still entitled for forgiveness. He was directed to visit a Muslim scholar who lived at a far-off place.  The murderer travelled but died on the way to the scholar.  The Paradise angels and the Hell angels disputed and finally agreed to measure the distance from the start of the travel to the scholar and found the murderer’s dead body closer in distance to the scholar--so Allah forgave all his murders!!!  The questioner was not satisfied...but he kept quiet.

[Irfan]

Thanks bro. Joseph,

All these verses of forgiveness soften my heart and bring tears to my eyes....what a very powerful support from the Most High and the Most Compassionate.  God begins all the Suras (except Sura 9--compensated in 27:30) with His attributes showing his wiliness to grant limitless bounties of forgiveness. The word Awesome does not describe the coolness of shade in the sweltering heat.