Returning to the Sin After Repentance

Question:
It was said: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah preserve you, you stated that if a servant sins and takes [a step] away from his sin, then returns to the sin and commits it a second time, this is evidence that his first repentance was not a valid repentance. So how is it if he repents again?

Answer:
It is not so. I did not say that. I say: he repents and resolves not to return. If he repents with the resolution not to return, but his self and Shaytan overpower him and he returns to the sin, this is different from the one who repents while intending from the start to return. If he repents with the resolution not to return, his intention is sound, and Allah accepts his repentance. If he returns to the sin because Shaytan and his self overpowered him, he must repent again and not despair of Allah’s mercy. He repents every time he sins, repenting to Allah the Exalted and Majestic.
The discussion is about the one who, from the start, did not resolve to persist in repentance, but rather says: “May this good time last, or may Makkah last, or may Madinah last, or may the Hajj season last,” just as some people do, thinking that it is over, that his sins are expiated, and that there is no limit. So he thinks he can do whatever he wants after that. This is deception from Shaytan. This is not a resolved repentance from the start. Yes, rather, he repented a temporary repentance, and in his intention at the time of repentance, he intended that he would return to the sin in another place or at another time. His repentance is not accepted. Yes.