‘We are the lawyers of our crimes.’
Yes! We endlessly, unfailingly, repeatedly, and unknowingly are.
Right after committing an evil, what’s our action?
We immediately try to rationalize our actions on some ground. We, in our heads, look for excuses to absolve them.
And there’s no way denying the fact that we actually do this.
It could be marked in our day-to-day dealings with people, like talking impolitely, gossiping, mocking, treating unjustly, being selfish, acting on our impulse, not being dutiful towards family and friends, making up our workers niggardly, etc.
The practice is likewise reflected in our dealing with Allah (swt), when we skip our fasts, go easy on our prayers, take an advantage of no one being around, neglect the Aayahs of the Qur’an and so on.
If we persist in the advocacy for our mistakes, less than a little would change. The idea of justifying ourselves comes from the Shaytaan. He desires each one of us to be complacent and comfortable with what we manage to do and practice. He strictly puts in our mind the thought of ‘being right’ each time we wrong ourselves. Little do we recognize that flawed idea we all are living on is the cause of many unwanted situations we are in.
Let us catch what the greatest of all people, our messengers, did when they slipped.
After Shaytaan could deceive Adam and Hawwa (AS) to eat from the tree,
They said, “Our Lord! We have been unjust to ourselves; and if You do not forgive us and have mercy on us, we shall surely be among the losers.”
(Qur’AN 7:23)
When in the belly of the fish, Prophet Yunus (peace be upon him) realized his mistake (of getting angry) and called out to Allah:
“… he cried through the depths of darkness (saying): “There is no God but You, Glorified be You! Truly, I have been of the wrongdoers.”
(Qur’an 21:87)
In that respect are more such cases wherein the Prophets immediately made Tawbah and pleaded for Allah’s guidance. Then, why do we fail to admit our faults on straying from the path?
“Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.”
(Qur’an 13:11)
There is always much room for improvement in every facet of life.
To repent, to change, or to seek guidance, the foremost step is to own the thought, ‘I am indeed wrong. It is I who need to change.’
There’s an absolute need to take charge of one’s actions and thoughts; to put a brake on being an advocate for oneself, and try being a judge instead.