By Medine

The Effect of Sins in this Dunia
For many of us, when we commit a sin we often feel guilty because of the simple fact that we have an
extra sin recorded on our book of deeds. However we fail to grasp the entire effect of our sin, we fail
to look at the whole picture and only focus on a mere pixel. This pixel is often our own pleasure at the
cost of destruction of other around us. Sins definitely affect our relationship with Allah, because as his
slaves as we are deprived of his pleasure and susceptible to his wrath, but we must consider the harm
our own actions have externally. The ahadeeth of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلمprovides us of a lot information
regarding what sins destroy; it may affect us in many ways, it may affect other people around us, it
may affect animals and our environment. In this article we will focus on all these different things
affected by our everyday actions so that we may realise the weight they carry.
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلمsays in a report compiled by Ibn Majah (4019) that the prevalence of immorality
results in plagues, that cheating in weight results in famine and that not paying zakah leads to no rain;
that were it not for Allah’s mercy on the animals, no rain would fall on the earth. He continues to tell
us that breaking our covenant with Allah leads to enemies overpowering the Muslims and take their
properties and that not ruling according to the book of Allah leads us Muslims to fight one another.
Sins affect our sense of morality
Our everyday “harmless” sins have an effect on our hearts. Scholars such as Ibn Taymiyyah and the
likes have argued that the heart of an individual can be in one of three states; healthy, sick or dead.
Sins render the heart weaker and weaker and weaker until it no longer feels any guilt for any of his
actions and stops looking at sins as what they are; sins. In this way, we respond to our desires just as
easily and freely as animals do and the societal sense of morality is completely lost. Societies collapse
and chaos prevails. This can be seen in western societies where liberalism rules; an ideology in which
everyone is free to practice what they wish as long as it doesn’t harm others, but Allah knows what is
harmful to us and other and that which is not objectively. Every sin that we commit has the risk of
being committed by someone who has witnessed it, felt tempted to do it and executed it. Instead of
giving us freedom to do whatever we like, Allah has ordained punishments for such actions and in
some cases the sunnah is to conceal the actions of others so that in this way the order and values of
society isn’t disturbed.
Sins affect others too, not just us
Our everyday evil deeds can lead to mass destruction. It could be drought, it could be flooding, it
could be earthquakes, you name it. The prophet صلى الله عليه وسلمsaid: “When the disobedient gain ascendancy
in my nation, Allah Almighty will send down His punishment upon all of them.” Umm Salamah
asked “O Messenger of Allah, will there be righteous among them on that day?” The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, “Of course.” She asked, “How will they be treated?” The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلمsaid, “They will be
afflicted as the people are afflicted, then they will be taken away to forgiveness from Allah and His
pleasure.” (Musnad Aḥmad 26596). Your backbiting, your wasting of food, your consummation of
haram or whatever it is that we all indulge in unfortunately doesn’t backfire just at us, it affects us,
those indulging in that same sin, and those who are not as well. How many towns and nations have we
seen hit by natural disasters whilst righteous servants of Allah were amongst them? Muslim countries
are not safe from the punishment due for the disobedience of Allah.
Sins affect the environment
Allah tells us in the Quran: “Corruption has spread on land and sea as a result of what people’s hands
have done, so that Allah may cause them to taste ˹the consequences of˺ some of their deeds and
perhaps they might return ˹to the Right Path˺.” (30:41). Abu Al-`Aliyah comments on this verse
saying that “Whoever disobeys Allah in the earth has corrupted it, because the good condition of the
earth and the heavens depends on obedience to Allah.”. Furthermore, the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said that “When the evildoer dies, it is a relief for the people, the land, the trees and the animals”
(Muslim 950). This clearly shows us that our sins have a direct affect on Allah creation, be it trees,
animals, seas, etc. Al-Imam Ahmad recorded that a man had said “At the time of Ibn Ziyad, a man
found a cloth in which were wrapped grains of wheat which were as big as date stones; on it was
written: ‘This grew at a time when justice prevailed.’”.
Sins affect our hearts
Our hearts is where our Iman resides. It is therein that Allah places his guidance and it is with our
hearts that we draw closer to our Lord. This is because it is with the heart that we build and strengthen
our relationship with Allah. The problem is that sins are a sickness that render the heart weak. Ibn
Abbas (RA) said “Good deeds make the face light, give light to the heart, and bring about ample
provision, physical strength and love in people’s hearts. Bad deeds make the face dark, give darkness
to the heart, and bring about physical weakness, a lack of provision and hatred in people’s hearts.”.
Truly, the more sins we commit the more we get further and further away from Allah, and by default
we get closer to the Shaytan and take him as our ally without even realising. This is because he tempts
us to do evil deeds, and the more we follow him the easier it becomes to commit more evil. On the
contrary, the more we ignore his whispers and do good deeds, the further away we get from him and
the closer we get to our Lord the Most-High. Allah says “…My servant draws not near to Me with
anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant
continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him. When I love him I
am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and
his foot with which he walks…”(40 Hadith Qudsi: 25).
Sins affect our knowledge
Allah takes away beneficial knowledge, specially knowledge about him and that which brings us
closer to him. Perseverance in sin makes us underserving of such knowledge. High status with Allah
is submission and obedience. This means that our effort to abandon that sin and repentance is what
leads us towards submission and obedience, but for someone that does neither, his status is low and therefore less deserving of knowledge.
Obtaining knowledge of our Allah and of his religion is an obligation up every Muslim, as the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلمhas told us (Ibn Majah 224). But the reality is that our own sins prevent us from fulfilling this obligation. We sometimes fail to understand the Quran, or struggle greatly with memorisation, or
perhaps we even forget the perfect names and attributes of Allah, and we wonder why…the truth is
that sins are often the reason. Al-Imam Malik said to Imam ash-Shafi’i when he was still teaching him
as a boy “Verily, I see Allah has placed light in your heart, so do not extinguish it with the darkness of
sin.” (al-Jawab al-Kafi 1/52). And later in his life, ash-Shafi’i made this profound poem about his
complain to his sheikh Waki: I complained to Waki’ about my poor memory: “Give up your sins!”
was his advice to me; “For knowledge is a light from Allah, and the Light of Allah is not given to a
sinner.”
My beloved brothers and sisters, we must acknowledge the truth about sin, because by realising and
understanding what their realty is, God willing, we will be more cautious and aware of our actions.
God willing we will benefit from abstaining from them in our hearts, our knowledge, our provisions,
our environment and overall safety and wellbeing.