بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
All human beings make mistakes, and all that is needed is to recognize the error, rectify it, and seek forgiveness for it.
The Prophet salallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said:
By the One in Whose hand is my soul, if you did not commit sin Allah would do away with you and bring people who would commit sin then pray for forgiveness. [Muslim]
The shaytan makes sin attractive to us, so we fall into things that Allah has forbidden. Now the question is not whether or not you will sin, but the question is: what will you do after you’ve sinned?
Allah instructs us,
"Turn towards Allah, O believers, every one of you, so that you may be successful."
[Qur'an, An-Noor 24:31]
And He says, "Ask your Lord for forgiveness and then turn in repentance to Him,"
[Qur'an, Hud 11:3]
and He says, "O you who believe! Turn in sincere repentance to Allah."
[Qur'an, At-Tahrim 66:8]
The secrets of an effective repentance:
"Turn towards Allah, O believers, every one of you, so that you may be successful."
[Qur'an, An-Noor 24:31]
Repentance— an Opportunity!
The concept of tawbah is amazingly beautiful and unique in Islam. We don’t confess to any intermediary; we turn to our Creator directly.
Allah al-Ghaffaar opened the gate of repentance to Himself and commanded us to turn to Him. This is an amazing combination. The fact that we can repent at any time and the fact that Allah gave us the knowledge of how to repent is a great rahmah (mercy). Tawbah is an opportunity.
The Wisdom Behind Repentance
Do you recognize this pattern? You commit a sin and then you feel bad afterwards, so bad that your guilt makes you feel down and so low that you feel you can’t be forgiven— so why repent?
If you’ve done something so wrong, you must be a terrible person, right? Wrong! There’s a major difference between being a bad person and doing something bad. Allah gave you the chance to repent and inshaa Allah your sin will even be transformed into a good deed.
Recognizing your mistakes and sins, feeling ashamed of violating Allah’s trust, and making the promise to Allah never to do it again are the three conditions of your repentance being accepted. The most important thing about tawbah is that it doesn’t mean you sit down feeling sad and guilty, dwelling on your sin. It means that whenever you sin, you grab the chance to get back up and do better.
What Repentance Brings to You:
Repentance brings success.
If you go on a path forbidden by Allah, you choose to miss out on Allah’s mercy, rewards, help, and protection. But at the moment that you sincerely repent, you can be assured of His help in your life.
Allah tells us "…And beg Allah to forgive you all, O believers, that you may be successful." [Qur'an, An-Noor 24:31]
Examples of success are: wealth, children, and increased productivity and blessings, as Allah says in Surah Hud, ayah 52:
"And O my people! Ask forgiveness of your Lord and then repent to Him, He will send you (from the sky) abundant rain, and add strength to your strength, so do not turn away as Mujrimoon (criminals, evil doers, etc)." [Qur'an, Hud 11:52]
Repentance keeps you away from hardship.
The more we sin, the more we can be deprived of Allah’s blessings and the more trials we might have to endure. Tawbah can give us a way out of our troubles in life, as Allah says:
"See they not that they are put in trial once or twice every year (with different kinds of calamities, disease, famine)? Yet, they turn not in repentance, nor do they learn a lesson (from it)." [Quran, At-Tawba 9:126]
Repentance earns you Allah’s love.
Know that repentance is one of the most beloved acts of worship to Him. Allah says:
"… Truly, Allah loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves. "[Quran, Al-Baqarah 2:222]
Repentance makes you feel happy.
Tawbah cleans your heart. It makes you feel lighter, just as the burden of sin makes you feel heavy. Just say to yourself: who is there to stop me from turning back to Allah?
Repentance leads to forgiveness
The rewards of repentance are: purity of heart, erasing of sins, and increasing of hasanaat (good deeds). Both the Quran and the ahadeeth are clear that those who repent sincerely to Allah, acknowledging their sins, and commit to not return again to those sins will have their sins forgiven.
The Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said: If the servant acknowledges his sin and repents, then Allah accepts his repentance.
The conditions for repentance are well known:
1. Leaving the sin;
2. Remorse over having committed the sin;
3. Resolve never to return to the sin;
(If it relates to the rights of another person, then to return the rights or property one wrongly took, and make amends to the person whom you have wronged and anyone affected by it)
If these conditions are truly met, then one can expect one's sins to be forgiven. However, one has to be very careful about how sincere one is in fulfilling one's conditions. It is recommended to seek forgiveness a lot, and to repent every time the sin comes to one's mind.
If one keeps repeating the sin, then one should find the root cause(s) of the sin and eliminate them. For example, if one falls into a certain sin because of the company one keeps, then it would be necessary to either stop keeping their company, or to change the nature of one's relationship with them.
When you repent...
1. Meet the conditions: 1, 2, and 3.
Repentance is returning to Allah, giving up sin and hating it, regretting falling short in obedience to Allah, and being determined not to do that sin again. If one of these three is missing, then your repentance is not sincere. If the sin has to do with the rights of another person, then there are four conditions: the three mentioned above plus restoring the rights of that person, like returning money, property and making amends with the person you have wronged and anyone affected by it.
2. Don’t worry about waswaas.
Based on the above, if these conditions are met by the person who is repenting, then there is the hope that his repentance will be accepted, by Allah’s leave. After that he should not worry about waswaas (whispers) suggesting that his repentance is not accepted, because that is from the shaytaan and is contrary to what Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) have told us— repentance is accepted if it is sincere.
3. Follow up repentance with good deeds.
Whenever we do a bad deed we should make sure to follow it up with as many good deeds as possible. You committed a sin, so give charity, help someone else, focus on reading the Quran— anything good. If this is your formula in life, insha’Allah you will succeed.
Allah says:
"Except those who repent and do righteous deeds, and openly declare (the truth which they concealed). These, I will accept their repentance. And I am the One Who accepts repentance, the Most Merciful." [Quran, 2:160]
So whatever bad you do, don’t stay down— get up and throw yourself on good deeds.
4. Pray the repentance prayer.
If following up a bad deed with a good one can change your sins into good deeds, what deed is better than prayer?
Ali’ said that Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with them) told him that he heard the Messenger of Allah say: There is no servant who commits a sin and then he purifies himself (wudoo’) and then prays two rakaahs and then seeks forgiveness of Allah except that Allah forgives him.
Allahu akbar! This is a forgotten sunnah! You can pray this prayer anytime in the day or night and you should pray it as soon as possible after your bad deed.
5. Make use of the six hours!
The Prophet said: The Scribe on the left delays registering the sin of a Muslim for six hours. If he repents (within these six hours), and seeks Allah’s forgiveness, they drop if off. If he doesn’t, they write is down as a single sin. [at-Tabarani] So evaluate your deeds every six hours, four times a day, and benefit from this amazing mercy of Allah.
A Breath-taking Scene in the Hereafter
Remember, Allah says,
"O you who believe! Turn to Allah with sincere repentance."
The ayah continues. Allah tells you what you can get when you stop being passive, down, and sad:
"It may be that your Lord will expiate from you your sins, and admit you into Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise) the Day that Allah will not disgrace the Prophet (Muhammad) and those who believe with him. Their Light will run forward before them and (with their Records Books of deeds) in their right hands. They will say: ‘Our Lord! Keep perfect our Light for us [and do not put it off till we cross over the Siraat (a slippery bridge over the Hell) safely] and grant us forgiveness. Verily, You are Able to do all things."
[Quran, At-Tahrim 66:8]
May Allah enable us to keep turning to Him in sincere repentance and grant us righteous deeds and forgive all our sins and admit us into His Paradise without reckoning. Ameen.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam.
And Allah knows best and is Most Wise, and He alone grants success, and to Him is the final return of all.
Wassalaam
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