Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “Except for those who repent and believe and do righteous deeds,” and the conditions of repentance

The Shaykh:
May Allah greet you and bless you.

The questioner:
May Allah bless you and reward you. We begin this session with what one of the brothers asked. He says: Allah the Exalted said: Yes, may Allah bless you. He asks, may Allah preserve you, about repentance, its effect in the life of the Muslim, and this blessed verse.

The Shaykh:
, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for this noble verse, its meaning is clear: whoever commits a sin, whatever it may be, is exposed to punishment, exposed to punishment and retribution, whether immediate or otherwise, except for the one who repents. So if he repents, Allah turns to him in mercy, forgives him, and erases his sin and his transgression. The one who repents from a sin is like one who has no sin, and repentance wipes out what came before it, as in the hadith: This is the meaning of the exception in this verse; the meaning of the exception in this verse is that except for the one who repents, he is safe from the warning attached to the disobedience?

The questioner:
He asks about repentance, its meaning, and also its conditions.

The Shaykh:
The meaning of repentance is returning, returning from disobedience to obedience. Its conditions, as the scholars mentioned, if it is between the servant and his Lord, are three conditions. The first condition is to abandon the sin, meaning to leave the sin from which he repented. As for one who repents with his tongue while he remains committed to the sin, that is of no benefit; it is a false repentance. The second condition is that he resolves not to return to it. If he repents a temporary repentance in Ramadan, or on a Friday, or the like, and then returns to the sins when the opportunity arises, intending that his repentance is only temporary, then this repentance is not accepted. It must be that the repentance is continuous until death; he intends that it is continuous until death. However, if he falls into a sin, or his self or Satan overcomes him, even though he is resolved to leave the sin, he does not despair of the mercy of Allah. He repents, he repeats the repentance; whenever he sins, he repents, and Allah turns to him in mercy.
The third condition is that he feels remorse for the sins that occurred from him. If he did not feel remorse, then his repentance is not valid. He feels remorse for what occurred from him, he is ashamed of Allah the Mighty and Majestic, he fears that his repentance will not be accepted, he does not feel safe from the punishment and then feel safe. He says, “I am a repentant one,” but he holds a good opinion of Allah, yet he does not feel safe that Allah will not accept his repentance. Indeed, Allah only accepts [repentance] from the righteous. And if the sin is between the servant and people, where he wronged them by taking their money, or speaking about their honor, or wronging them in any way, then he must seek their forgiveness and fulfill their rights that he took from them, and ask them for forgiveness. If that is not possible for him, then he increases supplication for them and praise of them, so that perhaps Allah may expiate for him. Yes.