The Meaning of Sincere Repentance
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
A questioner says that he said, “O Allah, I repent to You with sincere repentance,” five times, and I keep returning to that sin. What is sincere repentance?
Answer:
Sincere repentance is repentance that is pure for the sake of Allah, and it is that in which the conditions of repentance are fulfilled. It is not merely with the tongue; it must have conditions. First, one must abandon the sin completely. Second, one must not return to it. If he does return, he repents a second time, but he resolves not to return to it again. The resolution is not to return, but if his desires overcome him, or if his whims and Satan overcome him, he does not despair of the mercy of Allah; he repents a second time. The third condition is regret over the past sins; whenever he remembers them, he feels regret.
A questioner says that he said, “O Allah, I repent to You with sincere repentance,” five times, and I keep returning to that sin. What is sincere repentance?
Answer:
Sincere repentance is repentance that is pure for the sake of Allah, and it is that in which the conditions of repentance are fulfilled. It is not merely with the tongue; it must have conditions. First, one must abandon the sin completely. Second, one must not return to it. If he does return, he repents a second time, but he resolves not to return to it again. The resolution is not to return, but if his desires overcome him, or if his whims and Satan overcome him, he does not despair of the mercy of Allah; he repents a second time. The third condition is regret over the past sins; whenever he remembers them, he feels regret.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 03/037 — archive.org (10:34)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.