When is repentance accepted?
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Question : From the questions of the brothers who sent via fax, this questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, when is repentance accepted if a person repents to his Lord, Mighty and Majestic?
Answer : Repentance is accepted when its conditions are met, and they are five. The first condition is regret for what one did, such as committing a wrong or leaving an obligatory duty, so that there is remorse and regret in his heart for what he did. The second condition is sincerity to Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, so that the motive for it, meaning for the repentance, is not regarding people, drawing near to them, praising them, or fearing them, but rather the motive for the repentance is seeking the pleasure of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and escaping from this sin.
The third condition is abandoning the sin, meaning leaving the sin. So repentance from a sin is not valid while the person is still persisting in it, because that is playing with it. It is not valid for a person to repent from backbiting, for example, while he is still persisting in backbiting, nor is repentance from riba (usury or interest) valid while he is still persisting in riba, and the like of that. And part of abandoning it is that if the sin was leaving an obligatory duty, he performs the obligatory duty. For example, if his sin was leaving the prayer, he performs the prayer according to the majority of scholars, and the correct view is that if a person delays the prayer past its time intentionally without an excuse, he has no prayer. The fourth condition is the resolve not to return to it.
To this sin. So if he abandons the sin but his intention is to return to it whenever the opportunity arises, he has no repentance. The fifth condition is that the repentance be in a time when repentance is accepted. If it is in a time when repentance is not accepted, there is no repentance for it.
The Shaykh: That is of two types. The first type is when a person is on the verge of death, meaning when his appointed time arrives. If he follows up his sin with repentance, it is not accepted. This is based on the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He:[An-Nisa 4:18], and the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, regarding Pharaoh: [Yunus 10:90], and it was said to him: [Yunus 10:91]. If these conditions are met, then Allah the Exalted says in His Noble Book: [Ash-Shuraa 42:25]. May Allah reward you and bless you.
Answer : Repentance is accepted when its conditions are met, and they are five. The first condition is regret for what one did, such as committing a wrong or leaving an obligatory duty, so that there is remorse and regret in his heart for what he did. The second condition is sincerity to Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, so that the motive for it, meaning for the repentance, is not regarding people, drawing near to them, praising them, or fearing them, but rather the motive for the repentance is seeking the pleasure of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and escaping from this sin.
The third condition is abandoning the sin, meaning leaving the sin. So repentance from a sin is not valid while the person is still persisting in it, because that is playing with it. It is not valid for a person to repent from backbiting, for example, while he is still persisting in backbiting, nor is repentance from riba (usury or interest) valid while he is still persisting in riba, and the like of that. And part of abandoning it is that if the sin was leaving an obligatory duty, he performs the obligatory duty. For example, if his sin was leaving the prayer, he performs the prayer according to the majority of scholars, and the correct view is that if a person delays the prayer past its time intentionally without an excuse, he has no prayer. The fourth condition is the resolve not to return to it.
To this sin. So if he abandons the sin but his intention is to return to it whenever the opportunity arises, he has no repentance. The fifth condition is that the repentance be in a time when repentance is accepted. If it is in a time when repentance is not accepted, there is no repentance for it.
The Shaykh: That is of two types. The first type is when a person is on the verge of death, meaning when his appointed time arrives. If he follows up his sin with repentance, it is not accepted. This is based on the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He:
But repentance is not [accepted] of those who [continue to] do evil deeds up until, when death comes to one of them, he says, "Indeed, I have repented now,"
وَلَيْسَتِ التَّوْبَةُ لِلَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ السَّيِّئَاتِ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَهُمُ الْمَوْتُ قَالَ إِنِّي تُبْتُ الْآنَuntil, when drowning overtook him, he said, "I believe that there is no deity except that in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am of the Muslims."
حَتَّىٰ إِذَا أَدْرَكَهُ الْغَرَقُ قَالَ آمَنتُ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا الَّذِي آمَنَتْ بِهِ بَنُو إِسْرَائِيلَ وَأَنَا مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَNow? And you had disobeyed [Him] before and were of the corrupters?
آلْآنَ وَقَدْ عَصَيْتَ قَبْلُ وَكُنتَ مِنَ الْمُفْسِدِينَAnd it is He who accepts repentance from his servants and pardons misdeeds, and He knows what you do.
وَهُوَ الَّذِي يَقْبَلُ التَّوْبَةَ عَنْ عِبَادِهِ وَيَعْفُو عَنِ السَّيِّئَاتِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تَفْعَلُونَ
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 2276- متى تتحقق التوبة؟/سؤال على الهاتف 📞 /ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.