The forgiver is conscious about the goodness of his act; while the forgiven may not be very well conscious about the function of forgiveness, he merely rejoices in the thought that he is free from punishment.
Islamic teachings about forgiveness are found in the Quran, which strongly encourage Muslims to forgive wrongdoing. The term used to forgive people who have done wrong is ‘to pardon’ just as Almighty Allah will forgive people on the day of Judgment for things which they have done. The act of forgiveness is not influenced by anger or expectation. On the contrary it is accompanied by a sense of renunciation, with no desire of restitution. When a victim forgives, he denies not only the relish of retribution but he also goes beyond the expectation of justice. When a person grants forgiveness to another, it is most likely that he himself possesses a high grade of peace within himself, which he can neither explain nor share. By forgiving, the forgiver feels happier than the forgiven. The forgiver is conscious about the goodness of his act; while the forgiven may not be very well conscious about the function of forgiveness, he merely rejoices in the thought that he is free from punishment. In Islam repentance has been the sufficient condition for forgiveness. Religions never allow violence in practice, so it cannot be the case that they will gloss over crime or offence. A religious person never excuses but forgives. He neither avoids the offence nor hates the offender. He takes both very seriously when he has to take a decision. Religions make people aware about what happens when one violates a law (of nature or of society). Religions advise followers to be free from anger and revenge. The discipline a religion prescribes for its followers makes a man truly righteous. We see that like forgiveness, excusing is also able to make us free from anger, revenge, and retribution; so although they are different and forgiveness seems to be loftier than excusing. Excusing may not be as noble as forgiving, but as it also may involve sympathy and fellow feeling, we should not undermine such a practice as being less valuable than forgiveness. Human beings (who are ordinary people), are also advised to be forgiving. Whether the function of forgiveness remains same or not in God and in Human beings, is not a serious matter in the religion, because in Islam Almighty Allah’s is the final authority. It is not the case that Almighty Allah’s forgiveness must be different in nature from Human‘s forgiveness, and vice versa. In some cases, it may seem that human beings forgive subject to certain conditions. In such cases the forgiver‘s disposition towards the offender really was not similar to what we think to be the essence of forgiveness.
“Almighty Allah’s command simply means command of justice. In this case, the believer must remember the principle of fair retribution. Fair retribution has been prescribed in Islam to save lives of the believers, although Allah knows that fighting is too hard for them. But Allah says, you may dislike something although it is good for you, or like something although it is bad for you: Allah knows and you know not. Islam utters boldly that Allah is most forgiving. He is the most forgiving normally indicates that Allah can forgive wrong doers. Therefore if He can forgive, why cannot finite human beings also forgive?”
In Islam or in every other religion, (which advises forgiveness), if one wants to forgive a person then it must be unconditional in nature. Conditional forgiveness is not allowed in Islam. One can object to this conclusion saying that when Islam suggests that the offender should feel repentance for his deed, then forgiveness becomes an instance of conditional forgiveness. The Quran asks to forgive and forbear until Allah gives His command. Almighty Allah’s command simply means command of justice. In this case, the believer must remember the principle of fair retribution. Fair retribution has been prescribed in Islam to save lives of the believers, although Allah knows that fighting is too hard for them. But Allah says, you may dislike something although it is good for you, or like something although it is bad for you: Allah knows and you know not. Islam utters boldly that Allah is most forgiving. He is the most forgiving normally indicates that Allah can forgive wrong doers. Therefore if He can forgive, why cannot finite human beings also forgive? Although Allah’s forgiveness is hypothetically unquestionable, it is nevertheless true that we cannot experience such practice in our life. Even if I have firm faith on Allah it is impossible to conceive how Allah forgives offenders.
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