Repentance
All praise is for Allah; we praise Him, seek His aid and forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allah from the evil of our souls and from the wickedness of our actions.
Whosoever Allaah guides, then none can misguide him and whosoever Allaah misguides, then none can guide him
Excerpts from: Nida al Mu'minin fi'i Quran al Mubin The Call to the Believers in the Clear Quran, by Shaikh Ahmad Fathu'llah Jami
O you who truly believe,
Turn to Allah in repentance-
In sincere repentance! (tawbatan nasuha)
It may be that your Lord will acquit you
Of your evil deeds,
And will admit you into Gardens
Underneath which rivers flow,
On the day when Allah will not abase the Prophet
And those who believe with him.
Their light will run before them
And on their right hands.
They will say: “Our Lord,
Perfect our light for us, and forgive us!
You are surely capable of all things”. (66:8)
According to Umar ibn al-khattab, Ubayy ibn ka’b and Mu’adh (May Allah be pleased with them): “ When repentance is nasuh, it means that one repents and does not return to the sin, just as milk does not return to the udder”
According to al-Kalbi: “ It means that the penitent seeks forgiveness with his tongue, feels remorse in his heart, and keeps his physical body under control.”
According to Muhammad ibn-al Qurtubi: “Sincere repentance [tawba nasuh] consists of four ingredients:
seeking forgiveness with the tongue,
physical abstinence,
inner commitment to refraining from repletion and
avoiding the misconduct of one’s bretheren.”
If the offence in matter between the servant and Allah, and does not involve any human right, three conditions must be fulfilled by the penitent:
he must refrain from the sinful act of disobedience
he must feel remorse for what he has committed
he must e determined never to repeat it.
If all these conditions are fulfilled, his repentance is sincere [nasuh], but if any one if them is omitted, his repentance is invalid. If the offence involves a human right, the condition of repentance are four in number, these same three plus a fourth:
he must acquit himself of what he owes to the victim. If the offence involves money and the like he must return it to the owner. If it incurs a legal penalty, fir qadhf [false accusation of sexual misconduct] or the like, he must submit himself to retribution by the victim, or else seek his pardon. If it is a case of backbiting he must ask him to overlook it.
It is necessary for the servant to repent all the sins he has committer. If he repents one of them , his repentance of that particular sin is valid, and he remains responsible for those he has not repented. This is the doctrine of the people of the sunnah.
The necessity of repentance is demonstrated by evidence from the Book, the sunnah and the consensus of Community.
As reported by Muslim, on the authority of al-Agharr ibn Yasar al-Mazani, Allah’s messenger (SAW) once said :O people, repent to Allah, for I repent a hundred times each day.
As reported by al-Bukhari, it was Abu Huraira (RA)who said: “once I heard Allah’s messenger (SAW) say: By Allah, I seek Allah’s forgiveness and I repent to Him more than seventy times each day.”
According to a generally accepted report from Anas ibn Malik (RA) Allah’s messenger also said:For Allah, delight in the repentance of His servant is greater than the joy experience by one of you, when he comes across his camel after losing it in a desert land.
As reported by Abu Musa al- Ashari the prophet (SAW) once said:
Allah extends His hand by night, to invite the evildoer of the day to repent, and He extends His Hand by day. To invite the evildoer of the night to repent, until the sun rises from its setting.
(That is to say: He extends His power and His mercy because he totally exempt from physical limbs and organs.)
As reported by Abdullah ibn Umar (RA), the prophet (SAW) once said:
Allah accepts the servant’s repentance, provided he is not gargling his last breath.
There are several degrees of repentance, and one of the best accounts of them occurs in the report from Ali (RA), who heard an arab nomad say:
“O Allah I beg your forgiveness and I repent to you.”
Ali said: “O you there slickness of the tongue in repentance is the repentance of the liars!”
The arab nomad then asked: “And what is repentance?”
Allah has explained the value of repentance, in saying:
It may be that your Lord will acquit you
Of your evil deeds,
And will admit you into Gardens
Underneath which rivers flow, (66:8)
This means it has been said that Allah will indeed do that, but the promise is expressed in the form of encouraging expectation, in the style of the kings, for they used to say when they intended to do something: “Perhaps we shall do such and such”.
The implication is that it is a glorious favor from Him, that repentance is not necessarily accepted by Him, and that the servant must be poised between fear and hope, even if he goes to extreme lengths in performing the obligations of worshipful service. The Quranic verse indicates that acceptance of repentance cannot be taken for granted, because expiation comes after acceptance.
Imam Nawawi said: “According to the people of the Sunna, Allah is not obliged to accept repentance, even if its preconditions are met, but He does accept it as a mark of Noble generosity from Him, and as a gracious favor. Our knowledge of its acceptance is based on the sacred Law and the consensus, is it is not in doubt, as it is clearly stated in the Book, in His saying:
And He it is who accepts repentance from His servants,
And pardons evil deeds,
And He knows what you are doing (42:25)
Whosoever Allaah guides, then none can misguide him and whosoever Allaah misguides, then none can guide him
Excerpts from: Nida al Mu'minin fi'i Quran al Mubin The Call to the Believers in the Clear Quran, by Shaikh Ahmad Fathu'llah Jami
O you who truly believe,
Turn to Allah in repentance-
In sincere repentance! (tawbatan nasuha)
It may be that your Lord will acquit you
Of your evil deeds,
And will admit you into Gardens
Underneath which rivers flow,
On the day when Allah will not abase the Prophet
And those who believe with him.
Their light will run before them
And on their right hands.
They will say: “Our Lord,
Perfect our light for us, and forgive us!
You are surely capable of all things”. (66:8)
According to Umar ibn al-khattab, Ubayy ibn ka’b and Mu’adh (May Allah be pleased with them): “ When repentance is nasuh, it means that one repents and does not return to the sin, just as milk does not return to the udder”
According to al-Kalbi: “ It means that the penitent seeks forgiveness with his tongue, feels remorse in his heart, and keeps his physical body under control.”
According to Muhammad ibn-al Qurtubi: “Sincere repentance [tawba nasuh] consists of four ingredients:
seeking forgiveness with the tongue,
physical abstinence,
inner commitment to refraining from repletion and
avoiding the misconduct of one’s bretheren.”
According to religious scholars. It is not permissible to delay repentance, whether the offence is minor or major.
If the offence in matter between the servant and Allah, and does not involve any human right, three conditions must be fulfilled by the penitent:
he must refrain from the sinful act of disobedience
he must feel remorse for what he has committed
he must e determined never to repeat it.
If all these conditions are fulfilled, his repentance is sincere [nasuh], but if any one if them is omitted, his repentance is invalid. If the offence involves a human right, the condition of repentance are four in number, these same three plus a fourth:
he must acquit himself of what he owes to the victim. If the offence involves money and the like he must return it to the owner. If it incurs a legal penalty, fir qadhf [false accusation of sexual misconduct] or the like, he must submit himself to retribution by the victim, or else seek his pardon. If it is a case of backbiting he must ask him to overlook it.
It is necessary for the servant to repent all the sins he has committer. If he repents one of them , his repentance of that particular sin is valid, and he remains responsible for those he has not repented. This is the doctrine of the people of the sunnah.
The necessity of repentance is demonstrated by evidence from the Book, the sunnah and the consensus of Community.
As reported by Muslim, on the authority of al-Agharr ibn Yasar al-Mazani, Allah’s messenger (SAW) once said :O people, repent to Allah, for I repent a hundred times each day.
As reported by al-Bukhari, it was Abu Huraira (RA)who said: “once I heard Allah’s messenger (SAW) say: By Allah, I seek Allah’s forgiveness and I repent to Him more than seventy times each day.”
According to a generally accepted report from Anas ibn Malik (RA) Allah’s messenger also said:For Allah, delight in the repentance of His servant is greater than the joy experience by one of you, when he comes across his camel after losing it in a desert land.
As reported by Abu Musa al- Ashari the prophet (SAW) once said:
Allah extends His hand by night, to invite the evildoer of the day to repent, and He extends His Hand by day. To invite the evildoer of the night to repent, until the sun rises from its setting.
(That is to say: He extends His power and His mercy because he totally exempt from physical limbs and organs.)
As reported by Abdullah ibn Umar (RA), the prophet (SAW) once said:
Allah accepts the servant’s repentance, provided he is not gargling his last breath.
There are several degrees of repentance, and one of the best accounts of them occurs in the report from Ali (RA), who heard an arab nomad say:
“O Allah I beg your forgiveness and I repent to you.”
Ali said: “O you there slickness of the tongue in repentance is the repentance of the liars!”
The arab nomad then asked: “And what is repentance?”
Ali replied: “it includes six things:
remorse for sins committed in the past.
renewed performance of obligatory religious duties [faraid].
providing compensation for acts of criminal injustice.
seeking pardon from adversaries.
resolving never to repeat the offence.
dissolving your lower self in worshipful obedience to Allah, just as you caused it to grow in sinful disobedience,
and making it taste the bitterness of obedience, just as you let it taste the sweetness of sinful acts of disobedience, until it comes to enjoy the sweetness and flavors of worshipful obedience.”
Allah has explained the value of repentance, in saying:
It may be that your Lord will acquit you
Of your evil deeds,
And will admit you into Gardens
Underneath which rivers flow, (66:8)
This means it has been said that Allah will indeed do that, but the promise is expressed in the form of encouraging expectation, in the style of the kings, for they used to say when they intended to do something: “Perhaps we shall do such and such”.
The implication is that it is a glorious favor from Him, that repentance is not necessarily accepted by Him, and that the servant must be poised between fear and hope, even if he goes to extreme lengths in performing the obligations of worshipful service. The Quranic verse indicates that acceptance of repentance cannot be taken for granted, because expiation comes after acceptance.
Imam Nawawi said: “According to the people of the Sunna, Allah is not obliged to accept repentance, even if its preconditions are met, but He does accept it as a mark of Noble generosity from Him, and as a gracious favor. Our knowledge of its acceptance is based on the sacred Law and the consensus, is it is not in doubt, as it is clearly stated in the Book, in His saying:
And He it is who accepts repentance from His servants,
And pardons evil deeds,
And He knows what you are doing (42:25)
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