Taqwa, Spiritual Shame, and Divine Forgiveness in Islam

Background. The present study aimed to investigate the influence of taqwa on divine forgiveness moderated by spiritual shame in Pakistani adult Muslims.Method. A convenient sample of 329 women and 206 men (N = 535) Pakistani adult Muslims (age range 19-75 years; M = 30.68 years, SD = 11.92 years) from Sargodha, Lahore, and Rawalpindi was recruited. We collected data using Urdu-translated versions of the Taqwa Scale (Nazam et al., 2022), the Divine Forgiveness Scale (Fincham & May, 2022), the offense-related shame subscale that was taken from the Offense-related Shame and Guilt Scale (Wright & Gudjonsson, 2007) in a cross-sectional survey design.Results. Data were analyzed with SPSS and moderation analysis by PROCESS macro (Model 1) for SPSS. Findings revealed significant main and interaction effects of taqwa and spiritual shame on divine forgiveness. Analysis of the conditional effects revealed that spiritual shame strengthened the positive association between taqwa and divine forgiveness.Conclusion. By revealing how spiritual shame can augment the relationship between taqwa and seeking divine absolution, the research provides valuable insights into one of the  mechanisms of forgiveness in Islamic theology, emphasizing the role of self-reflection, repentance, and emotional states in establishing a relation with the divine.