The Conditions of Repentance and the Time for Its Acceptance from the Servant
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The questioner:
This is Umm Abdullah. She sent a number of questions, saying in the first one: What are the conditions of repentance, and what are its times?
The Shaykh:
Repentance has no specific times; it is required at all times, and one must hasten to it, not delaying it for a future time, because one does not know whether he will reach that future time or not. So he must hasten to repent at any time, whether night or day. As for its conditions, they are as the scholars mentioned. The first condition is to abandon the sin, meaning leaving the sins and not persisting in them. The one who repents with his tongue while he remains upon the sin and does not turn away from it is not a repentant person; repentance with the tongue alone is not sufficient. The second condition is that he feels remorse for what occurred from him. As for the one who does not feel remorse for his sins and does not fear them, he is not a repentant person.
The third condition is that he resolves not to return to them for the rest of his life. If it is in his intention to return to them at another time, or in another place, then this is a temporary repentance that is not valid. The repentance must be permanent and lasting. If these conditions are met, the repentance is valid. And if the repentance is from a right between you and a created being, which you violated by money, honor, or other types of oppression, then it is necessary to return the right to him, or to seek his forgiveness; because the right of a created being is not dropped except by his pardon of you, or by delivering it to him. Yes.
The questioner:
Shaykh, how is the actual feeling of remorse obtained, with the same benefit?
The Shaykh:
He feels remorse for the sins that have passed, and he is not indifferent to them, nor does he fear them. Yes.
This is Umm Abdullah. She sent a number of questions, saying in the first one: What are the conditions of repentance, and what are its times?
The Shaykh:
Repentance has no specific times; it is required at all times, and one must hasten to it, not delaying it for a future time, because one does not know whether he will reach that future time or not. So he must hasten to repent at any time, whether night or day. As for its conditions, they are as the scholars mentioned. The first condition is to abandon the sin, meaning leaving the sins and not persisting in them. The one who repents with his tongue while he remains upon the sin and does not turn away from it is not a repentant person; repentance with the tongue alone is not sufficient. The second condition is that he feels remorse for what occurred from him. As for the one who does not feel remorse for his sins and does not fear them, he is not a repentant person.
The third condition is that he resolves not to return to them for the rest of his life. If it is in his intention to return to them at another time, or in another place, then this is a temporary repentance that is not valid. The repentance must be permanent and lasting. If these conditions are met, the repentance is valid. And if the repentance is from a right between you and a created being, which you violated by money, honor, or other types of oppression, then it is necessary to return the right to him, or to seek his forgiveness; because the right of a created being is not dropped except by his pardon of you, or by delivering it to him. Yes.
The questioner:
Shaykh, how is the actual feeling of remorse obtained, with the same benefit?
The Shaykh:
He feels remorse for the sins that have passed, and he is not indifferent to them, nor does he fear them. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 5447- شروط التوبة ووقت قبولها من العبد - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.