Nobody is Perfect

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Yes, that's right.... Nobody is.... and before we start arguing about how Prophet Muhammad (salallahu alayhi wasallam) was perfect, or how Jesus Christ was, or how so and so was perfect. Let me stop you right there..... I don't want to be drawn into that debate (I do believe that Prophets and pious people can stake claim to perfection, or character par excellence)....

Instead, let me repeat : "Nobody IS perfect"... None of us ordinary non-Prophet/non-Saint/non-Divine people 7 odd billion folk are perfect..

So let us just admit it, and get it out of the way so we can move on......

That brings us to the next question, if we are not perfect... are we imperfect? That's a stretch right there. If something is not perfect, it has to be imperfect ?...

Well, IMHO, it doesn't have to be. Human beings are not a binary system of either 1 or 0. We are a bit more fuzzy logic - ordinary human beings who have sinned, every now and then, and perhaps are sinning right now ... :) who stake no claim to perfection, and at the same time refuse to be cast as imperfect...

That technically should create sympathy for each other (the spirit of brotherhood of "#AllPrettyMuchInTheSameBoat"). Unfortunately, it doesn't.... It makes us more judgmental, and we believe that somehow "my sin is better or more acceptable than yours".


Let us look at a few scenarios:
Those who do not smoke/drink/do drugs etc, look down upon those who do..
Those who have claim to morality, look down upon their licentious brethren with disgust...
Those who are "good" Muslims look down with surprising disdain upon those who,  in their myopic vision, do not fit the profile of "good" Muslims.


And the list could go on and on....

And yet, these very same people of category one, are not perfect inasmuch as they have their own share of sins/misdeeds. But interestingly, in their self-opinion, their own personal sins are somehow transformed into miniscule mistakes as opposed to appalling abominations wrought upon the world by the others.

To illustrate it, let me share a point that I have used before in my lectures:
Part of the reasons why some (many :(  !!!) Muslims consider non-Muslims as unclean(and hence somehow inferior) is because of the non-Muslims' love for bacon. Muslims dislike pigs to the extent that if they see one on TV, they would close their eyes in disgust.... So you can imagine if I ask the Muslim audience if they would like some juicy pork-chops or pork-dumplings, or pork hot-dogs etc, what kind of response I would get.....

And yet the very same audience were to look deep inside there heart regarding gossiping/back-biting/slander, they would discover that they frequently do it, and with relish, and sometimes a dash of kicap. Even though many of them know what Allah (subhana hu wa ta'ala) has said about it:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِّنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا وَلَا يَغْتَب بَّعْضُكُم بَعْضًا أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَوَّابٌ رَّحِيمٌ (49:12)

49:12 O ye who believe! Avoid suspicion as much (as possible): for suspicion in some cases is a sin: And spy not on each other behind their backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay, ye would abhor it...But fear Allah. For Allah is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful.

The translation "spy not on each other behind their backs" doesn't actually explain the full substance of the ayat, which is actually about back-biting, having a negative opinion about people etc. There is a narration that clarifies some aspects of slander/backbiting:

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (salallahu alayhi wasallam) as saying: “Do you know what backbiting is? They said: “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said: “It is to mention about your brother something that he would dislike having mentioned about him.”

The Prophet (salallahu alayhi wasallam) reportedly goes on in the same narration to explain the difference between backbiting and slander. He said: “It is to mention about your brother something that he would dislike having mentioned about him.”

Someone asked: “O Messenger of Allah! How do you see it if what I said about him is true?” He replied: “If what you said about him is true, then you have backbitten him. If what you said about him is false, then you have slandered him.” [Sahîh Muslim (Kitab Al-Birr was-Salat-I-wal-Adab)')]

You would think someone who dislikes pork would dislike "eating the flesh of your dead brother" even more. We may never have tasted pork in our life and yet how often, and without even a slightest tinge of regret or even hesitation, do we say things about our brethren which constitute backbiting or slander?


The point of course is not that we should start eating pork (hehe), nor that eating pork is a lesser sin than backbiting (that should be an interesting discussion), but rather.......

Should we treat other peoples sins/mistakes are somehow worse than ours? Is it not better for us to look inwards with honest introspection and from there on work to remove our own sins and mistakes ?

In words of one of my favorite mystic poets, Kabir:
बुरा जो देखण मैं चला , बुरा  ना  मिलया  कोए
जो  मन  खोजा  अपणा , तो  मुझसे  बुरा  ना  कोए

Bura Jo Dekhan Main Chala, Bura Naa Milya Koye
Jo Mann Khoja Apnaa, To Mujhse Bura Naa Koye

When I looked for the evil in others, I could not find any
Then I searched inside my own self, and I realized that there is no one worse than me.