Reviewing the conditions for the acceptance of repentance.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : The conditions are five, the number of the fingers of the hand, the number of the fingers of the hand. And I said the number of the fingers of the hand because when a person ties a thing to a tangible matter, he does not forget it. Whenever you remember how many conditions there are for repentance, you look at your hand and count them: five. We begin with the first.
The questioner : That it be sincere for the face of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, with no showing off or seeking reputation intended by it.
The Shaykh : Good, well done. That it be sincere for Allah, with no showing off or seeking reputation intended by it. And complaints have become numerous from some righteous men, where Satan casts into their hearts that they are doing the righteous deed for the sake of showing off. So you find them regretting the deed and stopping from it on the pretext that Satan dictated to them that they are doing it for showing off. What is their position regarding this? What is obligatory for them? What is obligatory for them is to turn away from this, seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan, and say, "Let it be showing off, and you have lied, O Satan," and not to pay attention to it. When Satan sees righteousness in the heart of a person, he attacks him by casting doubts and doubts. And for this reason, when it was mentioned to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that they find something great in their souls, he said, "Did you find that?" They said, "Yes." He said: May Allah send blessings and peace upon the Messenger of Allah. He indicated that, meaning this doubt that you find in your souls and these whispers are the pure faith. What does "pure" mean? It means the pure essence that has no mixture. How can it be pure faith when a person finds something in his heart? We say, yes, because this that comes to your heart, where did it come from? From Satan, because your heart was pure and sincere, sincere of it, so he wanted to cast this thing upon you, just as dust is cast upon a washed garment in order to dirty it. But the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when we find such matters is to seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan and to stop from it. So let him seek refuge in Allah and stop, and not pay attention to it. Now, if the heart is ruined, does Satan cast such matters upon it? No. And for this reason, it was said to Ibn Mas'ud or Ibn 'Abbas: "The Jews say that we do not have whispers in our prayer", meaning that when we stand to pray, we do not have anxieties and whispers. So he answered with a strange answer, saying: "Yes, and what does Satan do with a ruined heart?" This is ruined, so why would he come to ruin it? Rather, Satan comes to a sound, strong heart in order to corrupt it. As for the ruined heart, Satan does not cast such matters upon it because it has already been dealt with. So the important thing is that when we say it is a condition for repentance that it not be for showing off, then if you want to repent and Satan comes to you and says to you, "You are a hypocrite in your repentance," do not obey him. Do not repent to Allah and do not pay attention to what comes to your heart of such matters that Satan casts into your heart to corrupt your affair. The second condition.
The questioner : Ceasing from the sin...
The Shaykh : Ceasing from the sin, there is nothing before it.
The questioner : Regret for what has passed.
The Shaykh : Regret for what has passed. Good, because regret is a sign of the repentant person being affected. But if he does not regret and the whole matter is the same to him, this means that he has not repented with true repentance. Good, rest.
The questioner : That he resolve not to return to the sin.
The Shaykh : There is nothing before it. We want it in order so that we know that you are in control of the memorization.
The questioner : Ceasing from the sin.
The Shaykh : Ceasing from the sin. Correct, rest. Ceasing from the sin. Good, we mentioned that ceasing from the sin is either between you and your Lord, or it is between you and people. So if it is between you and people, how is the ceasing?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : I say, if it is between you and people, how is the ceasing?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes. If it is a financial right, then you return it to him. Did you understand? Good. If he has died, if he has died.
The questioner : The heirs.
The Shaykh : To the heirs. If he has no heirs, you see, this is what I mentioned, but between giving it to the public treasury. Good, well done. If the right is not financial, the right of other than Allah, not financial?
The questioner : If it is backbiting... he seeks forgiveness from him, and if he does not accept.
The Shaykh : He pleases him by any means.
The questioner : If he does not know about it, he praises him in his absence.
The Shaykh : He praises him, saying he is the pious, pure, just, trustworthy man, every beautiful description, and not with the description he does not deserve.
The questioner : With the description that is actually present in him.
The Shaykh : Have you heard now? If it is not financial, then if the one who has the right has known about it, let him seek forgiveness from him. And if he has not known about it, some scholars said that he does not inform him so that arrogance does not take him in sin, but he seeks forgiveness for him. And for this reason, it came in the hadith that the expiation for one whom you have backbitten is that you seek forgiveness for him and praise him with the description that actually exists, in the place where you used to backbite him. And if it is a right of Allah, if it is a right of Allah, how does he repent from it? Meaning, suppose it is actually a forbidden matter that pertains only to the rights of Allah.
The questioner : He repents from this deed.
The Shaykh : He repents between himself and Allah and does not inform anyone. If a man commits zina and repents to Allah from the zina, does he go to the ruler and inform him of it, or not? He does not go and does not inform him, and it is not obligatory upon him.
The questioner : That it be sincere for the face of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, with no showing off or seeking reputation intended by it.
The Shaykh : Good, well done. That it be sincere for Allah, with no showing off or seeking reputation intended by it. And complaints have become numerous from some righteous men, where Satan casts into their hearts that they are doing the righteous deed for the sake of showing off. So you find them regretting the deed and stopping from it on the pretext that Satan dictated to them that they are doing it for showing off. What is their position regarding this? What is obligatory for them? What is obligatory for them is to turn away from this, seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan, and say, "Let it be showing off, and you have lied, O Satan," and not to pay attention to it. When Satan sees righteousness in the heart of a person, he attacks him by casting doubts and doubts. And for this reason, when it was mentioned to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that they find something great in their souls, he said, "Did you find that?" They said, "Yes." He said:
That is pure faith.
ذاك صريح الإيمانThe questioner : Ceasing from the sin...
The Shaykh : Ceasing from the sin, there is nothing before it.
The questioner : Regret for what has passed.
The Shaykh : Regret for what has passed. Good, because regret is a sign of the repentant person being affected. But if he does not regret and the whole matter is the same to him, this means that he has not repented with true repentance. Good, rest.
The questioner : That he resolve not to return to the sin.
The Shaykh : There is nothing before it. We want it in order so that we know that you are in control of the memorization.
The questioner : Ceasing from the sin.
The Shaykh : Ceasing from the sin. Correct, rest. Ceasing from the sin. Good, we mentioned that ceasing from the sin is either between you and your Lord, or it is between you and people. So if it is between you and people, how is the ceasing?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : I say, if it is between you and people, how is the ceasing?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes. If it is a financial right, then you return it to him. Did you understand? Good. If he has died, if he has died.
The questioner : The heirs.
The Shaykh : To the heirs. If he has no heirs, you see, this is what I mentioned, but between giving it to the public treasury. Good, well done. If the right is not financial, the right of other than Allah, not financial?
The questioner : If it is backbiting... he seeks forgiveness from him, and if he does not accept.
The Shaykh : He pleases him by any means.
The questioner : If he does not know about it, he praises him in his absence.
The Shaykh : He praises him, saying he is the pious, pure, just, trustworthy man, every beautiful description, and not with the description he does not deserve.
The questioner : With the description that is actually present in him.
The Shaykh : Have you heard now? If it is not financial, then if the one who has the right has known about it, let him seek forgiveness from him. And if he has not known about it, some scholars said that he does not inform him so that arrogance does not take him in sin, but he seeks forgiveness for him. And for this reason, it came in the hadith that the expiation for one whom you have backbitten is that you seek forgiveness for him and praise him with the description that actually exists, in the place where you used to backbite him. And if it is a right of Allah, if it is a right of Allah, how does he repent from it? Meaning, suppose it is actually a forbidden matter that pertains only to the rights of Allah.
The questioner : He repents from this deed.
The Shaykh : He repents between himself and Allah and does not inform anyone. If a man commits zina and repents to Allah from the zina, does he go to the ruler and inform him of it, or not? He does not go and does not inform him, and it is not obligatory upon him.