Repetition of Sin with Repentance and Concealment, and Its Effect on Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil
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Question:
This questioner says: How should one act if one is afflicted with a sin and conceals it from people? I conceal it from people, and every time I repent, I return to it. I repent and I return, even though I intend to stop permanently. My doing it is not out of desire, but due to Satan’s whispering. I call upon Allah to save me from it.
Answer:
Continue with this. You must not commit sins openly. If you are afflicted, conceal it and do not display it, along with repentance to Allah the Exalted. Along with repentance to Allah. Even if this repeats for you, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Repent to Allah. Repent to Allah. Every time, repent to Allah. And Allah accepts the repentance of those who repent. Do not despair of the mercy of Allah, and do not despair of leaving the sin either. It may come a time when you leave it; with much repentance, you will leave it. This is one aspect. The second aspect is that it is not a condition for one who enjoins good and forbids evil to be free from sins. We all have sins, we all have shortcomings, but with repentance to Allah the Exalted and fear of Allah the Exalted.
So we enjoin good and forbid evil, even if we have shortcomings. We do not combine abandoning the enjoining of good and forbidding of evil with our shortcomings; rather, we would be combining two sins. Some people say, “By Allah, I do not enjoin good, and I do not do so as long as I am not doing this myself.” No, that does not drop from you the obligation of enjoining good and forbidding evil, even if you were doing it.
Even if you were doing it, if you do it, repent to Allah. The door is open; the door of repentance has not been closed to you. But do not abandon the obligation of enjoining good. Rather, you would be combining two sins: the transgression and abandoning the obligation. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you,
This questioner says: How should one act if one is afflicted with a sin and conceals it from people? I conceal it from people, and every time I repent, I return to it. I repent and I return, even though I intend to stop permanently. My doing it is not out of desire, but due to Satan’s whispering. I call upon Allah to save me from it.
Answer:
Continue with this. You must not commit sins openly. If you are afflicted, conceal it and do not display it, along with repentance to Allah the Exalted. Along with repentance to Allah. Even if this repeats for you, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Repent to Allah. Repent to Allah. Every time, repent to Allah. And Allah accepts the repentance of those who repent. Do not despair of the mercy of Allah, and do not despair of leaving the sin either. It may come a time when you leave it; with much repentance, you will leave it. This is one aspect. The second aspect is that it is not a condition for one who enjoins good and forbids evil to be free from sins. We all have sins, we all have shortcomings, but with repentance to Allah the Exalted and fear of Allah the Exalted.
So we enjoin good and forbid evil, even if we have shortcomings. We do not combine abandoning the enjoining of good and forbidding of evil with our shortcomings; rather, we would be combining two sins. Some people say, “By Allah, I do not enjoin good, and I do not do so as long as I am not doing this myself.” No, that does not drop from you the obligation of enjoining good and forbidding evil, even if you were doing it.
Even if you were doing it, if you do it, repent to Allah. The door is open; the door of repentance has not been closed to you. But do not abandon the obligation of enjoining good. Rather, you would be combining two sins: the transgression and abandoning the obligation. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you,
Source
وجوب الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر، بداية من قول المُصَنِّف : وفي الصحيحين عن أسامة بن زيد - رضي الله عنه - — islamhouse.com (34:07)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.