When You Make a Mistake

deeds and admit you into gardens watered by running streams. (66:8) In this verse the Quran declares that after engaging in genuine tawbah, one who has erred will be unburdened of the effect of his bad deeds. What is most important about this is that the wrongdoer will be granted forgiveness by God and will consequently be rewarded with Paradise in the hereafter. This divine blessing is not confined to the next world; in the extended sense, it also includes the present world. Family life and social life will also be blessed with the fruits of tawbah. If you make a mistake that arouses anger in another, but then you repent and say: “Please forgive me, I was wrong,” this will certainly cause the aggrieved person to have a change of heart. Such an apology will, on the one hand, inculcate positivity in your soul and, on the other, it will promote the culture of love among the people you are living with. Tawbah is an instrument of self-correction, initiating a process of self re-assessment. This process is vital, as it enhances your intellectual calibre and increases your capacity for analysis. In family life as well as social life, untoward events are unavoidable. Such happenings sour relations and create a distance between people. The best solution is tawbah. Don’t wait for others to take the lead. It is for you to come forward and say without hesitation: “I’m sorry, I was wrong.” This is the only way of maintaining normalcy among relatives, friends, acquaintances and even strangers. Problems in social life invariably arise from some kind of wrong behaviour. In reality, men are by nature egoists and women are emotional. The simple solution to having a tranquil social life is not to ruffle the ego of a man and not to neglect a