Allah Is Happy Every Time You Return To Him

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم informs us in a hadith in Sahih Muslim, narrated by Anas:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 49, Hadith 2747)

Allah is happy — pleased — by someone who makes a mistake, does something wrong, and returns to Him. More happy than if you were perfect. He wants you to make a mistake and return. Make a mistake and come back. Make a mistake and come back.

Why would that please Allah? Why wouldn't perfection please Allah? This is actually the question that the angels asked Allah when He decided to create human beings. Allah says: I am going to create a successor on this earth. And the angels said:

Why would you create somebody who's going to spill blood and do so many wrong things? We are perfect. We praise You. Whatever You tell us to do, we do. Why would you create someone rebellious — someone with the capacity to sin, someone with the capacity to make mistakes? Why would You do that? Oh Allah, it doesn't make any sense.

Of course, it doesn't make sense to them. So Allah responds to them:

You be quiet. I know what you don't know. Just watch — watch what I'm about to do.

He taught Adam عليه السلام all the names. Does anybody know what names I'm referring to? Many scholars have debated — what does this verse mean?

Allah says: I am going to create this being who has the capacity — this human being has choices. They can decide to betray Me, or they can decide to obey Me. The angels said that doesn't make any sense. Just keep creating us. We'll just keep obeying You all the time. But Allah said: No. I want you to watch what I'm about to do. And He teaches him all the names, and then He says: See — I told you it was worth creating him.

But what are these names? Allah just said الْأَسْمَاءَ كُلَّهَا — all the names. He didn't say what names, which names, the names of which things. And so scholars have always debated: what are these names referring to? I will say here that the opinion of the scholars that I most lean towards is that the names Allah taught Adam are His names — the names of Allah.

As though to say to the angels: Yes, this weak human being may have the ability to murder somebody, and make mistakes, and do all sorts of wrong things — but if he or she understands who I am, they can beat you in their worship, angels. They can be ahead of you in their worship — not because they will be perfect, but because every time they slip, they will come back to Me running.

And this plays out immediately in the story of Adam عليه السلام — the first ever moment in which Allah taught us how to return.