Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of his time said: “I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games.On 26 occasions, I have been entrusted to take the game-winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

In fact, the lessons learned from mistakes often provide a more lasting and powerful impact than those learned from doing things right. It was Winston Churchill who said: “All men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from their mistakes.” Presumably, women are included within that too.

Types of Mistakes

Some mistakes are made out of ignorance. When a Bedouin came to a mosque in Madinah and began urinating in it, the Companions wanted to attack him for such conduct. Instead, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) dealt with the incident with care and understanding, patiently explaining to the Bedouin the purpose of a mosque and then asked someone clean the affected area.

When you decided to travel to a place for a long or short time, did you ever think of just putting all things randomly inside your suitcase, and when you arrived at the airport you discovered that your luggage was overweight?

Life is the same. This world is no more than a temporary journey where a person is to fulfill a certain purpose then returns back to his original place. In Islam, life is not created aimlessly; rather it is a place of purpose and hard work. A Muslim has a task to accomplish in this life, according to Islamic rules and guidance.

So what are the rules that allow you to have a safe trip back to the Abode of Peace? What necessary elements are you going to put in your life valise?

A myriad of matters put weight on your mind. It heaves under the sheer pressure of it.Thoughts, actions, endless precipitant emotions all occupy this undefined space and define your outlook on life.

It could be anything and everything: doubts, missed prayers, a glance, a stolen conversation, an act of pride, that shopping spree in which you redefined the word ‘shopaholic’ – the list is near infinite. We travel through each day lugging all this emotional and mental baggage, and our life is spent in a perpetual state of “What if I had done it differently?”

It’s not meant to be like this.

Move On

What’s done is done. It is time to move on. Now don’t get me wrong. I am not propagating a carefree existence in which we shovel obliviousness into every recess of our mistakes, effectively burying them under a bed of thorn-less roses and skipping off into an ideal sunset.

What I mean is what the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, taught us: “Seek help from Allah, the Most High, and do not lose heart, and if anything (in the form of trouble) comes to you, don’t say: If I had not done that, it would not have happened so and so, but say: Allah did that what He had ordained to do and you saying “if” opens the (gate) for the Satan.” (Muslim)

Repentance is ultimately the goal that we all seek. All sane people are conscious of their numerous sins, and those who believe in Allah and His Messenger (Salallahu ‘alyhi wa sallam) recognize that they will be held accountable for their sins, and therefore desire to be free of the evil consequences of their misdeeds. Islam offers man the ideal way by which he may be released from the burden of his sins.

The word Tawbah (repentance) in Arabic literally means ‘to return’. In an Islamic context, it refers to the act of leaving what Allah has prohibited and returning to what He, Almighty, has commanded.

The subject of repentance is one that concerns all people who believe in Allah, and is vital for the Muslims to understand because our salvation in the Hereafter depends on our repentance to Allah, as Allah commands (what means): “…And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, that you might succeed.” [Qur’an 24:31]

Allah also Says (what means): “…Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves.” [Qur’an 2:222]

One may have a real intention to repent, but there may be some obstacles to the path of repentance. If this is the case, then he needs to act without hesitation and remove those obstacles to clear the way to a happy soul.

The postponement of repentance may be the result of either a deliberate desire to prolong the illicit pleasure derived from the sin, or doubt on the part of an ignorant sinner whether or not Allah would accept his repentance.

He said: "You have asked me about a major matter, yet it is easy for him for whom Allah Almighty makes it easy. You should worship Allah, associating nothing with Him, you should perform the prayers, you should pay the zakah, you should fast in Ramadan, and you should perform hajj to the House." Then he said:" Shall I not show you the gates of goodness ? Fasting [which] is a shield, charity [which] extinguishes sin as water extinguishes fire; and the praying of a man in the depth of night."

Then he recited: {Who forsake their beds to cry unto their Lord in fear and hope, and spend of that We have bestowed on them. No soul knows what is kept hid for them of joy, as a reward for what they used to do".} (As-Sajdah 32: 16-17)

Then he said: " Shall I not tell you of the peak of the matter, its pillar, and its topmost part?"

I said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah."