I’d like to start off by saying that none of the thoughts I will express here belong exclusively to me, it’s the accumulation of discussions & reading from various people, scholars and books.
As a Muslim, I’ve always been impressed with the first story ever in Islam, when we believe it was revealed to Muhammad, peace be upon him, that he would be a messenger from the Almighty God like Abraham, Noah, David, Moses and Jesus, peace be upon them and upon the rest of the Prophets. Such an event was the key to everything else that followed. It is the starting point of a nation of 1.7 billion Muslims who live today in every corner of the world and consider Islam the source of their guidance, hope & inner peace. One in every four individuals on Earth is a Muslim because of the consequences that resulted from that moment. Logically and to me it’s the most important event in the history of Islam.
Apart from the consequences, what really impresses me is the reaction of the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) when the Angel Gabriel appeared to him for the first time and informed me that he would be a messenger. He was terrified; he didn’t run to the people saying: “Hallelujah! I am a prophet!” Instead, he ran back home, told his beloved wife Khadijah to cover him with more and more blankets because he was shaking, then told her that he might be hallucinating, and kept trying to refute what had happened. The fear that you and I would feel is what he felt in our weakness as human beings.
And then the beautiful soothing reply came from his beloved wife. She told him “You visit the sick, you help the poor, you help people in times of difficulty. God won’t let you get lost.” That’s the reply that we as humans need to hear, but first we need to be good to each other and to those in need, so that when times of distress come, we will have faith that God knows that we try to do good, and He won’t let us get lost, “for the meek shall inherit the Earth”.
This story is so dear to my heart, the appearance of Angel Gabriel to Muhammad (pbuh) for the first time, the very natural fear that took over Muhammad (pbuh), the aid from his wise and great wife (whom I see as a hero in this story), for his wife is an example of how a woman can be the shield for her man from all troubles and fears, a source of warmth and serenity and inner peace, a constant source of reassurance and love. All of that makes me wish to see a video of this incident.
I’ve always said to myself that if I made it to paradise, I would ask Allah to grant me one of my wishes, which is to see a recorded video of the very first moments of the beginning of Islam. After all, nothing is impossible for the almighty God, and He is outside of time, as I understand all theists believe no matter what religion they follow. But science also proves that this is possible. Sound travels at a speed of 343 meters per second. If you are talking to someone who is kilometers away from you via a very loud microphone and through a phone, he will hear your voice twice, once through the phone and a second time when your voice from the microphone reaches him.
Similarly, there are planet and stars billions of light years away from the Earth, if there are people or whatever on such planets watching us from a telescope, it will take maybe thousands or hundreds of thousands or millions of years for our image to reach them. They might watch Cain killing Abel long after the dust of their bones and that of their descendants is gone. So in answer to the question, I posed in the title, no, I don’t think that we can get away with our sins, for the universe as a whole is the biggest camera ever recording all of our deeds.
The angels of Allah can simply break the limits of speed and fly you to anywhere in the Universe on the Day of Judgment so that you could still see your sins from a telescope (or whatever), even the sins that you deny having committed. The Almighty God says in the Quran: “And never is your Lord forgetful” (Quran 19:64). He also says about the universe and the Day of Judgment: “The Day when We will fold the heaven like the folding of a written sheet for the records” (Quran 21:104).
Have you heard about the folding or curving of space before? To me this verse is not only a metaphor of the end of our test in this life but also a description of the true nature of the universe: it’s a recording camera, witnessing all of our deeds.
Frankly, I don’t want to watch my bad deeds or mistakes ever again. The punishment of God to me does not just consist of hellfire; instead, the punishment starts when you are able to see your sins and mistakes that you regret, when God makes you see them again, and you know how you failed yourself and others. That’s the punishment I fear the most.
I hope that any goodness I did or tried to do is all that will remain in my records. And I will never lose that hope as long as I read the following verse in the Quran: “And God would not punish them while they seek forgiveness” (Quran 8:33)
I will keep asking for forgiveness as long as I am alive, and I will try to undo any mistakes I constantly make by good deeds and asking for forgiveness and begging my Creator. Will I succeed in doing what I am saying now, all the time or most of the time? I am not sure, but I am not willing to lose that hope.