KHIMA (forgiveness)
Khima means forgiveness and Khima Karna means to forgive.
Khima Karna is a virtue that a Sikh must have in him/her. A Sikh must forgive mistakes, errors and wrongs of innocent person. Even if someone has done a serious harm to a Sikh but has sincerely realized it, a Sikh must take no time to forgive him/her.
A Sikh always forgives an innocent person but not a tyrant. The Sikh virtue of forgiveness is not like the Hindu leader Gandhi’s advice: ‘if someone slaps you, you should offer him the other side of your face; (which means) asking him to slap there too, which would put such a person to shame’. Gandhi’s suggestion is a sort of cowardice.
In Sikhism, forgiving is not cowardice; it is generosity.
(Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer)