Advice for one who repents from major sins and then returns to them
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. This questioner says: What is the advice for one who commits wrongs and major sins, then repents from them, but then returns to that major sin and regrets it? He asks: What is the advice in such a case? Should he continue with his seeking of forgiveness and regret, or what should he do?
Answer:
Yes, he must persist in repentance and seeking forgiveness, even if it happens to him repeatedly. Whenever he commits a sin or transgression, he seeks forgiveness and repents, not just with his tongue, but with his tongue, his heart, and his actions as well. It must be sincere seeking of forgiveness, not merely seeking forgiveness with the tongue, and he must not despair of the mercy of Allah[Az-Zumar 39:53]
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. This questioner says: What is the advice for one who commits wrongs and major sins, then repents from them, but then returns to that major sin and regrets it? He asks: What is the advice in such a case? Should he continue with his seeking of forgiveness and regret, or what should he do?
Answer:
Yes, he must persist in repentance and seeking forgiveness, even if it happens to him repeatedly. Whenever he commits a sin or transgression, he seeks forgiveness and repents, not just with his tongue, but with his tongue, his heart, and his actions as well. It must be sincere seeking of forgiveness, not merely seeking forgiveness with the tongue, and he must not despair of the mercy of Allah
Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins.
قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا
Source
شرح إغاثة اللهفان من مصائد الشيطان لابن القيم، تتمة فصل وأما المقام الثاني الذي وقع فيه الغلط — islamhouse.com (48:56)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.