The Fifth Condition: That Repentance Be in the Time of Acceptance.

The Shaykh : Now, the fifth condition is that repentance must be in the time of acceptance. If repentance comes after the time of acceptance has passed, it is not accepted. The time when acceptance passes is of two types: general and specific. The general one is the rising of the sun from the west. This is general; if the sun rises from the west, the repentance of no repentant person is ever accepted, no matter who it is, because Allah the Exalted said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) interpreted this as So his repentance is not accepted. This time is general, not specific; it is general and includes every person. As for the specific one, it is the arrival of the term of death. When a person’s term of death arrives, repentance does not benefit him, because of His saying, the Exalted: So when the term of death arrives, there is no repentance. Why? Because the person has witnessed the certainty. His repentance at that time is the repentance of one who is compelled, as if he were forced to do it, so it is not accepted. Allah the Exalted said: And He said, the Exalted, regarding Pharaoh: What was said to him? Meaning, is it now, at this time, that you believe in what the Children of Israel believed in and say, "I am one of the Muslims"? O my brothers, if a person reflects on this condition, it obligates him to hasten with repentance. Why? Because he does not know when death will strike him suddenly. He does not know when death will strike him suddenly. How many people have gone out to their families, only to be overtaken by death before reaching them? How many people have gone to sleep in their beds, only for their families to come to wake them and find that they have died? How many people have been in their place of work, only to be overtaken by death while in their place of work? This is a matter that does not require establishing proof, because you witness it. And if a person reaches this point where his repentance is not accepted, that obligates us to hasten with repentance and to increase in it. If our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to repent to Allah a hundred times a day, what is the matter with us that we do not keep our tongues constantly moist with repentance and our hearts likewise turning to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, in repentance from sins? A person may be afflicted, may Allah protect us, if he persists in sin, with a bad ending in that very sin. Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned in *Al-Jawab al-Kafi* that a man was persistent in usury (riba). He would sell ten for eleven, a hundred for a hundred and ten, a thousand for a thousand and a hundred, and so on. When his death approached, they would prompt him to say, "There is no god but Allah." But every time they told him to say, "There is no god but Allah," he would say, "Ten for eleven, ten for eleven." And he died, may Allah protect us, and his heart was persistent in this sin because he had not abandoned it during the time of possibility. And you, my brother, if you were to be alone with yourself for an hour and reflect, how was the state of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) in their hastening to obey Allah and their distance from disobeying Allah? And how was the state of the Tabi'un? And how was the state of the Imams (may Allah have mercy on them)? You would consider yourself insignificant in comparison to them and see that you are not on the right path. This obligates the person of intellect to account for himself, to return to his Lord, and not to transgress what Allah has legislated for him through the tongue of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), by adding to it or falling short of it. I say this, and I seek forgiveness from Allah for myself, for you, and for all Muslims, for every sin.