Bringing in the tools of forbidden acts to prove the sincerity of repentance

Question:
It is not the way of Allah for one to say, "Look, these people who were involved in [forbidden acts] recently are being invited to lectures, and in the book it says that whoever comes as a repentant person now receives such and such an amount of money." However, this repentant person must bring evidence of the sincerity of his repentance. Some of them bring boxes of cigarettes in front of the lecturer, and some bring tapes of singing, and one even brought a sorcerer and announced his repentance. So my question is: Is this method permissible, or not?

Answer:
This is an affectation for which Allah has not sent down any authority. It is also a form of openly displaying disobedience. You bring the containers of the forbidden and the things and say, "This is in the context of repentance." Allah has covered you. Why do you expose yourself? This is an affectation.
The preacher who says this is mistaken. What is required is covering up [the sin] and what is required is returning to Allah the Exalted and Majestic and committing to true repentance without doing these actions. Allah has not commanded you to do this. The Messenger has not commanded you to do this. The Messenger did not ask the repentant people to bring the things they used to do. He did not ask them for this. Allah has covered them, so they should cover themselves. Yes.