47. We feel guilty – how should we
get rid of it?

You should not rid yourself of the feeling of guilt – if someone thinks that he has become the best, it is the worst mistake. The Companions of the Prophet were very pious and used to perform good deeds, but would still think that they were doing nothing. When the second caliph Umar was assassinated and was breathing his last, he was lying on the lap of his son, Abdullah ibn Umar. To allay his pain, his son said that he had been the Companion of the Prophet and recounted several of his virtues and achievements. At this, Umar said to his son:

Do not deceive me! All I want is that in the Hereafter my scales of good and bad deeds balance out each other: there be nothing against me nor anything in my favour. (Sahih ibn Hibban, hadith no. 6891 and Musnad Ahmad, hadith no. 322)

That is, Umar, in spite of being a senior Companion of the Prophet and the second caliph of Islam, felt that if in the Hereafter his good deeds balanced out his bad deeds, it would be a great achievement. He never entertained the feeling that his good deeds were so numerous that they would easily weigh heavier on the scales against his bad deeds. So, the feeling of guilt is not wrong – it has a very positive role to play.