Anxiety of sins past.....

Allah has been good to me allhamdoulillah, and of course life is not perfect and I continue to try and always improve myself, I admit I have phases though, sometimes I do everything as much as I can to be a good muslim sometimes I just get taken off the right path and stop praying as much.

Recently though, I have started to get anxiety thinking that something bad is going to happen round the corner because I have not always been a good muslim, I was distant from my religion as a teen till about 20. 4 years on things have changed alot.

I never did anything awful like any HUGE sins, but I wasn’t the best muslim, I made mistakes.

Even though I repent those sins, I still carry the burden of them for some reason and feel like i am going to be punished with something awful and suddenly something catastrophic is about to happen…

I have a feeling I could be being a bit irrational here, with time to think over these holidays where the days are spent just revising maybe replaying the past too much is having this effect on me.

I wish I could just go on hajj and cleanse my soul.

Not really a question, but something I felt I needed to share.

Re: Anxiety of sins past.....

These are noble thoughts but these words from your conscience are better shared between you and your Lord. There is a beautiful supplication by the name of Dua e Kumayl that you should take a look at. All the best.

Re: Anxiety of sins past.....

Imam Ali says "the biggest sin is that which a person considers to be a small sin while committing it". Meaning if someone tells a lie thinking oh I'm just lying not killing anyone the sin is just as big.

However God is Most merciful and if you have repented the best way is to not repeat those mistakes.

you could read dua e Kumail regardless of your sect which is read 4 forgiveness of sins and is recommended to be read every Thursday of the month or at least once a year failing that at least once in a persons lifetime.
If you have any qualms about reading it , go through the translation in english or urdu and you will see it's beauty.

Re: Anxiety of sins past.....

An extract from the dua's translation in English
"Allah! Great is Thy kingdom and exalted is Thy greatness Thy plan is secret, Thy authority is manifest, Thy might is victorious and subduing and Thy power is prevalent throughout and it is not possible to escape from Thy dominion
O Allah! Except Thee I do not find any one able to pardon my sins nor to conceal my loathsome acts Nor have I any one except Thee to change my evil deeds into virtues There is no god but Thou glory and praise be to Thee I have made my own soul to suffer I had the audacity (to sin) by my ignorance Relying upon my past remembrance of Thee and Thy grace towards me

O Allah! My Lord! How many of my loathsome acts hast Thou screened (from public gaze) How many of my grievous afflictions (distresses) hast Thou reduced in severity And how many of my stumblings hast Thou protected, how many of my detestable acts has Thou averted, and how many of my undeserving praises hast Thou spread abroad!
O Allah! My trials and sufferings have increased and my evilness has worsened, my good deeds have diminished and my yokes (of misdeeds) have become firm And remote hopes restrain me to profit (by good deeds) and the world has deceived me with its allurements and my own self has been affected by treachery and procrastination
Therefore, my Lord! I implore Thee by Thy greatness not to let my sins and my misdeeds shut out access to my prayers from reaching Thy realm and not to disgrace me by exposing those (hidden ones) of which Thou hast knowledge nor to hasten my retribution for those vices and misdeeds committed by me in secret which were due to evil mindedness, ignorance, excessive lustfulness and my negligence
O Allah! I beg Thee by Thy greatness to be compassionate to me in all circumstances and well disposed towards me in all matters My God! My Nourisher! Have I anyone except Thee from whom I can seek the dislodging of my evils and understanding of my problems?
My God! My Master! Thou decreed a law for me but instead I obeyed my own low desires And I did not guard myself against the allurements of my enemy He deceived me with vain hopes whereby I was led astray and fate helped him in that respect Thus I transgressed some of its limits set for me by Thee and I disobeyed some of Thy commandments;

Thou hast therefore a (just) cause against me in all those matters and I have no plea against Thy judgement passed against me I have therefore become (justifiably) liable to Thy judgement and afflictions
But now I have turned Thee, my Lord, after being guilty of omissions and transgressions against my soul, apologetically, repentantly, broken heartedly, entreating earnestly for forgiveness, yieldingly confessing (to my guilt) as I can find no escape from that which was done by me and having no refuge to which I could turn except seeking Thy acceptance of my excuse and admitting me into the realm of Thy capacious mercy
O Allah! Accept my apology and have pity on my intense sufferings and set me free from my heavy fetters (of evil deeds) My Nourisher! Have mercy on the infirmity of my body, the delicacy of my skin and the brittleness of my bones O' Thou!
Who originated my creation and (accorded me) my individuality, and (ensured) my upbringing and welfare (and provided) my sustenance (I beg Thee) to restore Thy favours and blessings upon me as Thou didst in the beginning of my life
O' my God! My master! My Lord! And my Nourisher! What! Wilt Thou see me punished with the fire kindled by Thee despite my belief in Thy unity?
And despite the fact that my heart has been filled with (pure) knowledge of Thee and when my tongue has repeatedly praised Thee and my conscience has acknowledged Thy love and despite my sincere confessions (of my sins) and my humble entreaties submissively made to Thy divinity?
Nay, Thou art far too kind and generous to destroy one whom thyself nourished and supported, or to drive away from Thyself one whom Thou has kept under Thy protection, or to scare away one whom Thy self hast given shelter, or to abandon in affliction one Thou hast maintained and to whom Thou hast been merciful
I wish I had known o' my Master, my God and my Lord! Wilt Thou inflict fire upon faces which have submissively bowed in prostration to Thy greatness, or upon the tongues which have sincerely confirmed Thy unity and have always expressed gratitude to Thee, or upon hearts which have acknowledged Thy divinity with conviction, or upon the minds which accumulated so much knowledge of Thee until they became submissive to Thee, or upon the limbs which strove, at the places appointed for Thy worship, to adore Thee willingly and seek Thy forgiveness submissively?
Such sort (of harshness) is not expected from Thee as it is remote from Thy grace, o' generous one! O' Lord! Thou art aware of my weakness to bear even a minor affliction of this world and its consequence and adversity affecting the denizen of this earth, although such afflictions are momentary, short-lived and transient
How then can I bear the retributions and the punishments of the hereafter which are enormous and of intensive sufferings, of prolonged period and perpetual duration, and which shall never be alleviated for those who deserve the same as those retributions will be the result of Thy wrath; and Thy punishment which neither the heavens nor the earth can withstand and bear! My Lord!How can I, a weak, insignificant, humble, poor and destitute creature of Thine be able to bear them?
O' my God! My Lord! My King! And Master! Which of the matters shall I complain to Thee and for which of them shall I bewail and weep? shall I bewail for the pains and pangs of the punishment and their intensity or for the length of sufferings and their duration?
Therefore (my Lord!) If Thou wilt subject me to the penalties (of hell) in company of Thy enemies and cast me with those who merited Thy punishments and tear me apart from Thy friends and those who will be near to Thee, then my God, my Lord and my Master, though I may patiently bear Thy punishments, how can I calmly accept being kept away from Thee?
I reckon that though I may patiently endure the scorching fire of Thy hell, yet how can I resign myself to the denial of Thy pity and clemency? How can I remain in the fire while I have hopes of Thy forgiveness? ".

Hope this Helps.:)

Re: Anxiety of sins past.....

By teh time I'd posted the translation you had already posted. :)

Re: Anxiety of sins past.....

Thank you I will look at this dua.

I just want to do something that will help me feel forgiven, like i dont want to feel this burden anymore.

I doubt my own sincerity.

I cant be open with Allah sometimes, e.g. If i am doing dua I feel I cant ask for tooo much as that is greedy?

Re: Anxiety of sins past.....

You must fight this doubt. If you are firm in your resolve to not repeat the mistakes again then sincerity will itself begin to appear within you and the doubt will start to subside. Also remember that in Quran, Allah complains about the servants who do not turn to Him enough and not the ones who turn to him too much or ask of Him too much. He is the most Beneficial and most Merciful.

A person recited the sentence: "I seek God's forgiveness" in the presence of Imam Ali.

The Imam said: "May your mother lament for you, do you know what is repentance ? The repentance can be defined with the following six parameters:

  1. Feeling ashamed and regretful for the past sins.

  2. Taking firm decision for avoidance of sins forever.

  3. Paying all the dues of the people so that when he meets God-Almighty on the Resurrection Day, he does not have any pending claim against him.

  4. All the religious obligations (Wajibat) which have not been performed in the past should be discharged as makeup (Qadha) obligations.

  5. Should feel so sad about his past sins that all the bodily flesh formed as a result of eating forbidden (Haram) should be melted in a manner that skin should touch the bare bones until the new flesh is reformed again.

  6. The inconvenience and hardship of worshiping should be imposed upon the body as a compensation for the pleasures it fasted because of past sins.

Only after performing all the above, you may recite the sentence I seek forgiveness from God."

Re: Anxiety of sins past.....

Peace inspiron,

Almighty Allah mentioned three types of 'Nafs' in Holy Qur'an. One of them is 'chastener' which chasten our deeds. Due to that we feel like we will be corrected by getting a punishment. We feel fidget and a thought tumble inside us that when this catastrophic going to happen so we can come out from this situation or to know what will going to happen with us.

You should stop right away from what are you doing and take a look around you what you have done, what you are going to do. I mean just bounce back and look at yourself and/or around you, maybe you missed something or neglecting something.

In that case you may give little more attention towards 'Haqooq-ul-Ibaad [bando ke haqooq] i.e. try to help needy person, give sadqa (charity), and get rid from worldly things which u liked most.

Hope this will calm you and may Almighty Allah accepts your good deeds. Ameen.