question regarding repentance
- Thread starter twas19
- Start date
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Allaah has opened the gate of repentance for all mankind & Jinn.
It was reported that “repentance has a gate whose width is like the distance between East and West” [according to another report]: “its width is like the distance traveled in seventy years.”
Also Regarding repentance the Prophet
said:
It will not be closed until the sun rises from the West.” [At-Tabaraani]
Listen to the call of Allaah..
O My slaves, you err night and day, but I forgive all sins, so ask Me for forgiveness and I will forgive you.” [Muslim]
So why not seek forgiveness? “Allaah stretches forth His hand at night to forgive those who have done wrong during the day, and He stretches forth His hand by day to forgive those who have done wrong during the night.” Allaah loves our apologies and pleas, so why not turn to Him?
AUTHOR: Imaam Muhammad bin Saalih Al-'Uthaimeen
SOURCE: Sifat Salaat-in-Nabee (pages 49-51)
epentance: Means turning back from disobeying Allaah to obeying Him.
Repentance: Is beloved to Allaah, as He says: "Verily, Allaah loves those who repent and those who purify themselves." [Surah Al-Baqarah: 222]
Repentance: Is an obligation on every believer. Allaah says: "O you who believe! Turn to Allaah in sincere repentance!" [Surah At-Tahreem: 8]
Repentance: Is from the means of attaining success. Allaah says: "And O believers, all of you, repent to Allaah in order that you may be successful." [Surah An-Noor: 31] Success is when someone gets what he is looking for and is saved from what he is running from.
Through Sincere Repentance: Allaah forgives sins no matter how big they are and no matter how many they are. Allaah says: "Say: O My slaves who have transgressed against themselves (because of sins), do not despair from the mercy of Allaah. Verily, Allaah forgives all sins. Verily, He is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful." [Surah Az-Zumar: 53]
O my brother who has fallen into sins, do not despair from the mercy of your Lord, for indeed the door to repentance is open until the sun rises from the west. The Prophet (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said: "Verily, Allaah extends His hand out at night in order to accept the repentance of the sinner by day. And He extends His hand out during the day in order to accept the repentance of the sinner by night, until (the day) when the sun will rise from its west." [Reported by Muslim]
And how many people have repented to Allaah from numerous and enormous sins and Allaah has accepted their repentance? Allaah says: "And those who do not supplicate to another god along with Allaah, nor do they kill a person that Allaah has made forbidden (to kill) except with just cause, nor do they commit fornication. And whoever does this shall receive the punishment. The torment will be doubled for him on the Day of Resurrection and he will abide therein in disgrace. Except those who repent and believe and do righteous deeds, for those, Allaah will change their sins into good deeds. And Allaah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful." [Surah Al-Furqaan: 68-70]
Sincere Repentance: Must meet five conditions (in order to be accepted), which are:
1. Sincerity to Allaah, the Most High: This is by the person doing it only for the sake of Allaah and seeking His reward and salvation from His punishment.
2. Remorse: for the sin that was committed, such that he is sad he did it and wishes he had never done it.
3. Ceasing: to commit the sin immediately. If the sin was against Allaah, then he should (1) stop doing it if it was an unlawful act, or (2) hasten to do it if it was an obligation that he abandoned doing. And if the sin was against a created being (such as humans), then he should hasten to free himself from it, whether by returning it back to him or seeking his forgiveness and pardon.
4. Determination: to not go back to doing that sin again in the future.
5. The repentance should not occur before the time when its acceptance is terminated, either by death or by the sun rising from the west. Allaah says: "Repentance is of no effect for those who commit sins constantly until when death faces one of them, he says: Verily I repent now." The Prophet (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said: "Whoever repents before the sun rises from its west, Allaah will accept his repentance." [Reported by Muslim]
O Allaah, grant us the sincere repentance and accept it from us, verily You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.
Written by Muhammad As-Saalih Al-'Uthaimeen 4/17/1406
Allaah has opened the gate of repentance for all mankind & Jinn.
It was reported that “repentance has a gate whose width is like the distance between East and West” [according to another report]: “its width is like the distance traveled in seventy years.”
Also Regarding repentance the Prophet
said:It will not be closed until the sun rises from the West.” [At-Tabaraani]
Listen to the call of Allaah..
O My slaves, you err night and day, but I forgive all sins, so ask Me for forgiveness and I will forgive you.” [Muslim]
So why not seek forgiveness? “Allaah stretches forth His hand at night to forgive those who have done wrong during the day, and He stretches forth His hand by day to forgive those who have done wrong during the night.” Allaah loves our apologies and pleas, so why not turn to Him?
AUTHOR: Imaam Muhammad bin Saalih Al-'Uthaimeen
SOURCE: Sifat Salaat-in-Nabee (pages 49-51)
epentance: Means turning back from disobeying Allaah to obeying Him.
Repentance: Is beloved to Allaah, as He says: "Verily, Allaah loves those who repent and those who purify themselves." [Surah Al-Baqarah: 222]
Repentance: Is an obligation on every believer. Allaah says: "O you who believe! Turn to Allaah in sincere repentance!" [Surah At-Tahreem: 8]
Repentance: Is from the means of attaining success. Allaah says: "And O believers, all of you, repent to Allaah in order that you may be successful." [Surah An-Noor: 31] Success is when someone gets what he is looking for and is saved from what he is running from.
Through Sincere Repentance: Allaah forgives sins no matter how big they are and no matter how many they are. Allaah says: "Say: O My slaves who have transgressed against themselves (because of sins), do not despair from the mercy of Allaah. Verily, Allaah forgives all sins. Verily, He is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful." [Surah Az-Zumar: 53]
O my brother who has fallen into sins, do not despair from the mercy of your Lord, for indeed the door to repentance is open until the sun rises from the west. The Prophet (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said: "Verily, Allaah extends His hand out at night in order to accept the repentance of the sinner by day. And He extends His hand out during the day in order to accept the repentance of the sinner by night, until (the day) when the sun will rise from its west." [Reported by Muslim]
And how many people have repented to Allaah from numerous and enormous sins and Allaah has accepted their repentance? Allaah says: "And those who do not supplicate to another god along with Allaah, nor do they kill a person that Allaah has made forbidden (to kill) except with just cause, nor do they commit fornication. And whoever does this shall receive the punishment. The torment will be doubled for him on the Day of Resurrection and he will abide therein in disgrace. Except those who repent and believe and do righteous deeds, for those, Allaah will change their sins into good deeds. And Allaah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful." [Surah Al-Furqaan: 68-70]
Sincere Repentance: Must meet five conditions (in order to be accepted), which are:
1. Sincerity to Allaah, the Most High: This is by the person doing it only for the sake of Allaah and seeking His reward and salvation from His punishment.
2. Remorse: for the sin that was committed, such that he is sad he did it and wishes he had never done it.
3. Ceasing: to commit the sin immediately. If the sin was against Allaah, then he should (1) stop doing it if it was an unlawful act, or (2) hasten to do it if it was an obligation that he abandoned doing. And if the sin was against a created being (such as humans), then he should hasten to free himself from it, whether by returning it back to him or seeking his forgiveness and pardon.
4. Determination: to not go back to doing that sin again in the future.
5. The repentance should not occur before the time when its acceptance is terminated, either by death or by the sun rising from the west. Allaah says: "Repentance is of no effect for those who commit sins constantly until when death faces one of them, he says: Verily I repent now." The Prophet (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said: "Whoever repents before the sun rises from its west, Allaah will accept his repentance." [Reported by Muslim]
O Allaah, grant us the sincere repentance and accept it from us, verily You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.
Written by Muhammad As-Saalih Al-'Uthaimeen 4/17/1406
Repent Now!
Know, O Muslims, that sincere repentance is obligatory upon every Muslim, Allaah said which means,
{"O you who believe, repent to Allaah with a sincere repentance."}1
{"And whoever does not repent, then it is those who are the wrongdoers."}2
And the Prophet said,
["O people repent to Allaah, for verily, I repent one hundred times a day."]3
The consensus of the scholars of this ummah is that tawbah is obligatory. Al Qurtubi said,
"This ummah has agreed that tawbah is obligatory upon the believers."
Ibn Qadaamah Al-Maqsidi said,
"The consensus is that tawbah is obligatory, as sins are destructive and take one away from Allaah, so one should free from them (i.e. sins) immediately."
Every human, without exception, is prone to error, but you must understand that this does not mean that we minimize the harmfulness of sins and take them lightly.
Beware of the following
In regards to sins
Beware of belittling any sin, regardless of how insignificant it may seem. Minor sins, when gathered around you before you repent from them may destroy you. The Prophet said,
["Beware of the minor sins. The likeness of the minor sins is the likeness of a people who went down in a valley and someone came with a piece of wood, until they collected enough to bake their bread. These minor sins, whenever the one who commits them continues in them, they will destroy him."]4
And the Prophet said,
["Beware of minor sins. They will gather around the man until they destroy him, This is like a man who was in a barren land and he attended a people who were preparing food. One brought a piece of wood, and another brought a piece of wood, until they gathered so much wood that they made a blazing fire and they cooked (their food well)."]5
Do not look at how minor you consider a sin to be, rather look at the greatness of the One whom you are disobeying.
There are among the sins those that are minor in the sight of the people, but major in the sight of Allaah . They commit these sins because they see others committing them publicly – and we seek refuge in Allaah from this – and they think they are minor sins. In the Musnad of Imaam Ahmad, Abee Sa’eed Al-Khudree said, "You (people) are doing deeds that you see as smaller than an eyelash, but in the time of the Prophet, we used to consider them among the destructive sins."
Beware of belittling sins, even though you see the people taking them lightly.
Beware of publicizing sins telling the people whatever sins you commit, even if they were in the past. The Prophet said,
["Every one of my nation is successful except those who publicize (their sins) is that a man does something at night, and Allaah has covered it, then he calls one of his people saying, ‘Last night I did such and such,’ while Allaah has covered him in that night (when he slept) and in the morning he uncovers what Allaah has covered."]6
One of the causes that makes the publicized sin another sin is that publicizing sins makes people take them lightly and makes them seem insignificant and it also facilitates wrongdoing amongst the people. Allaah said which means,
{"Verily, those who like that (the crime of) illegal sexual intercourse should be propagated among those who believe, they will have a painful torment in this world and in the Hereafter. And Allaah knows and you know not."}7
This does not mean that if one does not talk about sins that he commits is not accountable for what he does. Rather it means that publicizing his sin is committing an additional sin.
Beware of delaying repentance. You don’t know when death is going to face you. It might be closer than you think. It could happen suddenly, and then repentance will not be accepted while dying (i.e. when your death rattle begins). The Prophet said,
["Verily, Allaah will accept the servant’s repentance before death faces him."]8
Consequently, hasten your repentance and never postpone or delay. The Prophet said,
["Any servant who makes a sin and then makes ablution in the best manner and prays two rak’ahs and asks Allaah’s forgiveness, Allaah will forgive his sin."]9
Beware of persisting in sins. Allaah said which means,
{"And those who have committed illegal sexual intercourse or wronged themselves with evil remember Allaah and ask for forgiveness for their sins – and none can forgive sins but Allaah – and do not persist in what (wrong) they have done, while they know."}10
Beware of following the steps of others and committing the same mistakes. When they find that they are not doing some of the obligatory duties or they do not avoid some of the forbidden things, and then shaytaan will come and exploit the situation, whispering to them to say that this is not obligatory and this ins not forbidden and they argue and they think that by arguing and denying that they have released themselves from responsibility and that they will not be held accountable for these sins. This will not happen because Allaah knows what everyone hides in his breast, so beware of this plot of shaytaan.
Beware of the temporary bounties of this life that Allaah has bestowed upon you while you committing sins. Do not think that this is an evidence for you that you are doing the right thing. The Prophet said,
["If you see Allaah giving one much of whatever he likes while he is disobedient, then know that he is being led step by step (to a severe punishment)."] 11
Therefore, among the laws and ways that Allaah has established for mankind, is as the Prophet said in the hadeeth that was narrated by Imaam Ahmad from ‘Abdullah Ibn Mas’ood,
["... Allaah gives the bounties of this life to those whom He loves and to those whom He does not love, but He does not give the deen (i.e. Islaam) except to the one He loves."]12
Beware of despairing of the mercy of Allaah . And no one despairs of the Mercy of Allaah except those who are astray. Allaah said which means,
{"(Ibraheem) said, ‘And who despairs of the mercy of his Lord except those who are astray’."}13
And Allah also warned us from delaying repentance.
{"Say, My slaves who have transgressed themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allaah, verily Allaah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful. And turn in repentance and obedience with true faith to your Lord and submit to Him (in Islaam), before the torment comes upon you, then you will not be helped."}14
So beware of these things in regards to sins and hasten to repentance and to obedience to Allaah .
Conditions for Repentance
The scholars of Islaam have mentioned conditions for tawbah which are taken from the Qur’aan and the authentic ahadeeth. Tawbah is not just a saying uttered by the tongue. It is obligatory that other actions accompany it, which indicate the truthfulness of the person who repents. These conditions are:
1. Remorse for committing the sin. The Prophet said, ["Remorse is repentance"]15
2. Turning away from the sin.
3. Determine to not return to that sin.
4. Returning the rights of others or what has been taken. Returning what was wrongfully taken, asking forgiveness. For example, one who stole something should return whatever he stole.
Sincere repentance to Allaah
Tawbah should be sincerely for the pleasure of Allaah , not for the pleasure of other things or because you are unable to commit that sin. This would not be considered as repentance. Whoever used to steal and he did not find anything to steal has not made tawbah. The one who drinks alcohol but the doctor told him that it is harmful and dangerous for his health – so he stopped, this is not tawbah. The Prophet said,
["Verily, Allaah does not accept from among the deeds except the one that is purely for him, seeking the Face of Allaah."]16
Matters which make tawbah
And continuing in it easy
1. Sincerity of intention in repenting for the pleasure of Allaah and in all of one’s deeds. The Prophet said,
["Verily, Allaah does not accept from among the deeds except the one that is purely for him, seeking the Face of Allaah."]17
And the Prophet said,
["Whoever leaves a thing for the pleasure of Allaah, Allaah will compensate him with something better than it."]18
2. The person who repents should always try as much as he can to perform good deeds, which will make him firmly on the straight path, make his balance of good deeds heavier, and expiate his sins. And Allaah said,
{"Verily, the good deeds remove the evil deeds."}19
And the Prophet advised (lit. Bequeathed) Mu’aath when he sent him to Yemen.
["O Mu’aath, fear Allaah wherever you are, and follow up a bad deed with a good deed so that it will erase it, and be well mannered towards the people."]20
Ibn Taymiyyah said,
"The good person is the one who always bring more hasanaat (good deeds) in order to erase evil deeds."
3. A person who has committed sins should consider their harm in this life and the Hereafter.
4. He has to be far away from the place, which he used to commit these sins in order to avoid committing the same sins.
5. He has to destroy anything he used to use to commit sins. For example, the one who repents from drinking alcohol should break all of the utensils and bottles he has for wine.
6. He must find for himself good companions in order to help him to do good. He should not sit with those bad people, especially those with whom he used to commit sins.
7. He should frequently read the aayaat in the Qur’aan and also the ahadeeth which warn sinners.
8. He must remember that quick consequence may get him at any time. Allaah said in the Qur’aan which means:
{"Say: And turn in repentance and in obedience with true faith to your Lord and submit to Him, before the torment comes upon you, then you will not be helped."}21
9. He must continuously make thikr, at all times. The remembrance of Allaah is one of the greatest causes for chasing the shaytaan away from the person. He should try to keep athkaar, particularly those said in the morning and the evening and before sleeping, etc., according to the Sunnah of the Prophet.
The width of Allaah’s Mercy
Many people commit many kinds of sins, and when someone tells such a person to fear Allaah and repent, he answers, "From what do you want me to repent and what do you want me to leave (i.e. he is committing so many sins of different types that he does not know where to begin with repentance)?" For those people we say, as Allaah said, which means,
{"Say, O ‘Ibaadi (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allaah, verily, Allaah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful."}22
And Allaah said, which means,
{"Truly, Allaah loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves."}23
And the Prophet said in a hadeeth,
["Verily Allaah extends His hand at night and accepts the repentance of those who sin during the day and He extends His hand during the day and accepts the repentance of those who sin during the night, until the sun rises from the west."]24
And Allaah said, which means,
{"And whoever does evil or wrongs himself but afterwards seeks Allaah’s forgiveness, he will find Allaah Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful."}25
And Allaah said, which means,
{"Declare (O Muhammad) unto My slaves, the truly, I am the Oft Forgiving, the Most Merciful, and that My torment is indeed the most painful torment."}26
My dear brothers and sisters repent to Allaah and do not delay because the punishment of Allaah is so severe, as Allaah said,
{"Say, and turn in repentance and in obedience with true Faith to your Lord and submit to Him, before the torment comes upon you, then you will not be helped."}27
[Abridged and edited translation of the book Kayfa Atoob? (Al-Khobar: Dar Ibn Mubaarak, 1411). Which is based upon the writings of Ibn Hajr Al-Asqalaani.]
____________
[b} Foot Notes[/b]
1At-Tahreem 66:8
2Al-Hujuraat 49:11
3Muslim
4Ahmad; Saheeh Al-Jaami' #2686
5Saheeh Al-Jaami' #2667
6Bukhaaree and Muslim
7An-Noor 24:19
8At-Tirmithee; Saheeh al-Jaami' #19.3
9 Ahmad and others; Saheeh Al-Jaami' #5738
10Al Al-'Imraan 3:135
11Ahmad; Saheeh Al-Jaami #561
12Ahmad
13Al-Hijr 15:56
14Az-Zumar 39:53-54
15Saheeh Al-Jaami' #6802
16Saheeh Al-Jaami' #1856
17Saheeh Al-Jaami' #1856
18Ahmad: sanad saheeh
19Hood 11:114
20Saheeh Al-Jaami' #97
21Az-Zumar 39:54
22Az-Zumar 39:53
23Al-Baqarah 2:222
24Muslim: An-Nawawee 17/76
25An-Nisaa' 4:110
26Al-Hijr 15:49-50
27Az-Zumar 39:54
Know, O Muslims, that sincere repentance is obligatory upon every Muslim, Allaah said which means,
{"O you who believe, repent to Allaah with a sincere repentance."}1
{"And whoever does not repent, then it is those who are the wrongdoers."}2
And the Prophet
said,["O people repent to Allaah, for verily, I repent one hundred times a day."]3
The consensus of the scholars of this ummah is that tawbah is obligatory. Al Qurtubi said,
"This ummah has agreed that tawbah is obligatory upon the believers."
Ibn Qadaamah Al-Maqsidi said,
"The consensus is that tawbah is obligatory, as sins are destructive and take one away from Allaah, so one should free from them (i.e. sins) immediately."
Every human, without exception, is prone to error, but you must understand that this does not mean that we minimize the harmfulness of sins and take them lightly.
Beware of the following
In regards to sins
Beware of belittling any sin, regardless of how insignificant it may seem. Minor sins, when gathered around you before you repent from them may destroy you. The Prophet
said,["Beware of the minor sins. The likeness of the minor sins is the likeness of a people who went down in a valley and someone came with a piece of wood, until they collected enough to bake their bread. These minor sins, whenever the one who commits them continues in them, they will destroy him."]4
And the Prophet
said,["Beware of minor sins. They will gather around the man until they destroy him, This is like a man who was in a barren land and he attended a people who were preparing food. One brought a piece of wood, and another brought a piece of wood, until they gathered so much wood that they made a blazing fire and they cooked (their food well)."]5
Do not look at how minor you consider a sin to be, rather look at the greatness of the One whom you are disobeying.
There are among the sins those that are minor in the sight of the people, but major in the sight of Allaah . They commit these sins because they see others committing them publicly – and we seek refuge in Allaah from this – and they think they are minor sins. In the Musnad of Imaam Ahmad, Abee Sa’eed Al-Khudree said, "You (people) are doing deeds that you see as smaller than an eyelash, but in the time of the Prophet
, we used to consider them among the destructive sins."Beware of belittling sins, even though you see the people taking them lightly.
Beware of publicizing sins telling the people whatever sins you commit, even if they were in the past. The Prophet
said,["Every one of my nation is successful except those who publicize (their sins) is that a man does something at night, and Allaah has covered it, then he calls one of his people saying, ‘Last night I did such and such,’ while Allaah has covered him in that night (when he slept) and in the morning he uncovers what Allaah has covered."]6
One of the causes that makes the publicized sin another sin is that publicizing sins makes people take them lightly and makes them seem insignificant and it also facilitates wrongdoing amongst the people. Allaah said which means,
{"Verily, those who like that (the crime of) illegal sexual intercourse should be propagated among those who believe, they will have a painful torment in this world and in the Hereafter. And Allaah knows and you know not."}7
This does not mean that if one does not talk about sins that he commits is not accountable for what he does. Rather it means that publicizing his sin is committing an additional sin.
Beware of delaying repentance. You don’t know when death is going to face you. It might be closer than you think. It could happen suddenly, and then repentance will not be accepted while dying (i.e. when your death rattle begins). The Prophet
said,["Verily, Allaah will accept the servant’s repentance before death faces him."]8
Consequently, hasten your repentance and never postpone or delay. The Prophet
said,["Any servant who makes a sin and then makes ablution in the best manner and prays two rak’ahs and asks Allaah’s forgiveness, Allaah will forgive his sin."]9
Beware of persisting in sins. Allaah said which means,
{"And those who have committed illegal sexual intercourse or wronged themselves with evil remember Allaah and ask for forgiveness for their sins – and none can forgive sins but Allaah – and do not persist in what (wrong) they have done, while they know."}10
Beware of following the steps of others and committing the same mistakes. When they find that they are not doing some of the obligatory duties or they do not avoid some of the forbidden things, and then shaytaan will come and exploit the situation, whispering to them to say that this is not obligatory and this ins not forbidden and they argue and they think that by arguing and denying that they have released themselves from responsibility and that they will not be held accountable for these sins. This will not happen because Allaah knows what everyone hides in his breast, so beware of this plot of shaytaan.
Beware of the temporary bounties of this life that Allaah has bestowed upon you while you committing sins. Do not think that this is an evidence for you that you are doing the right thing. The Prophet
said,["If you see Allaah giving one much of whatever he likes while he is disobedient, then know that he is being led step by step (to a severe punishment)."] 11
Therefore, among the laws and ways that Allaah has established for mankind, is as the Prophet
said in the hadeeth that was narrated by Imaam Ahmad from ‘Abdullah Ibn Mas’ood,["... Allaah gives the bounties of this life to those whom He loves and to those whom He does not love, but He does not give the deen (i.e. Islaam) except to the one He loves."]12
Beware of despairing of the mercy of Allaah . And no one despairs of the Mercy of Allaah except those who are astray. Allaah said which means,
{"(Ibraheem) said, ‘And who despairs of the mercy of his Lord except those who are astray’."}13
And Allah also warned us from delaying repentance.
{"Say, My slaves who have transgressed themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allaah, verily Allaah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful. And turn in repentance and obedience with true faith to your Lord and submit to Him (in Islaam), before the torment comes upon you, then you will not be helped."}14
So beware of these things in regards to sins and hasten to repentance and to obedience to Allaah .
Conditions for Repentance
The scholars of Islaam have mentioned conditions for tawbah which are taken from the Qur’aan and the authentic ahadeeth. Tawbah is not just a saying uttered by the tongue. It is obligatory that other actions accompany it, which indicate the truthfulness of the person who repents. These conditions are:
1. Remorse for committing the sin. The Prophet
said, ["Remorse is repentance"]152. Turning away from the sin.
3. Determine to not return to that sin.
4. Returning the rights of others or what has been taken. Returning what was wrongfully taken, asking forgiveness. For example, one who stole something should return whatever he stole.
Sincere repentance to Allaah
Tawbah should be sincerely for the pleasure of Allaah , not for the pleasure of other things or because you are unable to commit that sin. This would not be considered as repentance. Whoever used to steal and he did not find anything to steal has not made tawbah. The one who drinks alcohol but the doctor told him that it is harmful and dangerous for his health – so he stopped, this is not tawbah. The Prophet
said,["Verily, Allaah does not accept from among the deeds except the one that is purely for him, seeking the Face of Allaah."]16
Matters which make tawbah
And continuing in it easy
1. Sincerity of intention in repenting for the pleasure of Allaah and in all of one’s deeds. The Prophet
said,["Verily, Allaah does not accept from among the deeds except the one that is purely for him, seeking the Face of Allaah."]17
And the Prophet
said,["Whoever leaves a thing for the pleasure of Allaah, Allaah will compensate him with something better than it."]18
2. The person who repents should always try as much as he can to perform good deeds, which will make him firmly on the straight path, make his balance of good deeds heavier, and expiate his sins. And Allaah said,
{"Verily, the good deeds remove the evil deeds."}19
And the Prophet
advised (lit. Bequeathed) Mu’aath when he sent him to Yemen.["O Mu’aath, fear Allaah wherever you are, and follow up a bad deed with a good deed so that it will erase it, and be well mannered towards the people."]20
Ibn Taymiyyah said,
"The good person is the one who always bring more hasanaat (good deeds) in order to erase evil deeds."
3. A person who has committed sins should consider their harm in this life and the Hereafter.
4. He has to be far away from the place, which he used to commit these sins in order to avoid committing the same sins.
5. He has to destroy anything he used to use to commit sins. For example, the one who repents from drinking alcohol should break all of the utensils and bottles he has for wine.
6. He must find for himself good companions in order to help him to do good. He should not sit with those bad people, especially those with whom he used to commit sins.
7. He should frequently read the aayaat in the Qur’aan and also the ahadeeth which warn sinners.
8. He must remember that quick consequence may get him at any time. Allaah said in the Qur’aan which means:
{"Say: And turn in repentance and in obedience with true faith to your Lord and submit to Him, before the torment comes upon you, then you will not be helped."}21
9. He must continuously make thikr, at all times. The remembrance of Allaah is one of the greatest causes for chasing the shaytaan away from the person. He should try to keep athkaar, particularly those said in the morning and the evening and before sleeping, etc., according to the Sunnah of the Prophet
.The width of Allaah’s Mercy
Many people commit many kinds of sins, and when someone tells such a person to fear Allaah and repent, he answers, "From what do you want me to repent and what do you want me to leave (i.e. he is committing so many sins of different types that he does not know where to begin with repentance)?" For those people we say, as Allaah said, which means,
{"Say, O ‘Ibaadi (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allaah, verily, Allaah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful."}22
And Allaah said, which means,
{"Truly, Allaah loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves."}23
And the Prophet
said in a hadeeth,["Verily Allaah extends His hand at night and accepts the repentance of those who sin during the day and He extends His hand during the day and accepts the repentance of those who sin during the night, until the sun rises from the west."]24
And Allaah said, which means,
{"And whoever does evil or wrongs himself but afterwards seeks Allaah’s forgiveness, he will find Allaah Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful."}25
And Allaah said, which means,
{"Declare (O Muhammad) unto My slaves, the truly, I am the Oft Forgiving, the Most Merciful, and that My torment is indeed the most painful torment."}26
My dear brothers and sisters repent to Allaah and do not delay because the punishment of Allaah is so severe, as Allaah said,
{"Say, and turn in repentance and in obedience with true Faith to your Lord and submit to Him, before the torment comes upon you, then you will not be helped."}27
[Abridged and edited translation of the book Kayfa Atoob? (Al-Khobar: Dar Ibn Mubaarak, 1411). Which is based upon the writings of Ibn Hajr Al-Asqalaani.]
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[b} Foot Notes[/b]
1At-Tahreem 66:8
2Al-Hujuraat 49:11
3Muslim
4Ahmad; Saheeh Al-Jaami' #2686
5Saheeh Al-Jaami' #2667
6Bukhaaree and Muslim
7An-Noor 24:19
8At-Tirmithee; Saheeh al-Jaami' #19.3
9 Ahmad and others; Saheeh Al-Jaami' #5738
10Al Al-'Imraan 3:135
11Ahmad; Saheeh Al-Jaami #561
12Ahmad
13Al-Hijr 15:56
14Az-Zumar 39:53-54
15Saheeh Al-Jaami' #6802
16Saheeh Al-Jaami' #1856
17Saheeh Al-Jaami' #1856
18Ahmad: sanad saheeh
19Hood 11:114
20Saheeh Al-Jaami' #97
21Az-Zumar 39:54
22Az-Zumar 39:53
23Al-Baqarah 2:222
24Muslim: An-Nawawee 17/76
25An-Nisaa' 4:110
26Al-Hijr 15:49-50
27Az-Zumar 39:54