The Conditions of Repentance.

The student: Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon the noblest of the prophets and messengers, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
As for what follows: This is our 51st meeting, organized by the Center for Da'wah and Guidance in Unaizah, with our father and Shaykh, the virtuous Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, at the Grand Mosque in Unaizah. I ask Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, to reward our Shaykh with the best reward, to benefit us with his knowledge, and to prolong his life in obedience to Him. So please, may you be rewarded, proceed.

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets and the Imam of the righteous, and upon his family and his Companions, and those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows: This is our regular meeting with you, held every month on the third Saturday of the month, the night of Sunday. This takes place in the month of Rajab, year 1418. Since we are in the coming of winter, our discussion tonight will be confined to matters related to ritual purity.
Before we begin this topic, we would like to comment briefly on what came in Surat al-Buruj in the words of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: These are the ones who tried the believers, both men and women. They are the owners of the trench, the owners of the trench who dug trenches in the ground and kindled great fires in them. They presented the believers to them, so whoever persisted in his faith they threw into it, and whoever disbelieved was saved from it, but he will not be saved from the Fire of the Hereafter, may Allah protect us. These people do this heinous act to the believers, and they sit by this fire, watching it as if nothing had happened. This indicates the hardness of their hearts, may Allah protect us, and their arrogance, and the intensity of their hostility toward the religion of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. These are the ones who tried the believers, both men and women. Allah presented repentance to them and said: And in His saying: there is evidence that if they had repented, Allah would have accepted their repentance and saved them from the punishment of Hell and the punishment of the burning.
Based on this, we understand from this noble verse that repentance from sins, no matter how great they are, means that a person is saved from their punishment. This is because among the great attributes of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is that His mercy precedes His wrath. Look, my Muslim brother: How much is a good deed? Ten times its value, up to seven hundred times, up to many times. And as for the bad deed, Allah the Exalted said: If the servant repents from sins, no matter how great they are, Allah the Exalted accepts his repentance. Allah the Exalted said: Know that your despair of the mercy of Allah and your hopelessness regarding the mercy of Allah is greater than your sin. All sins, however great, are light and easy in comparison to the forgiveness of Allah. If the servant repents with a sincere repentance, pure for the sake of Allah—may Allah make us and you among those who repent, O Lord of the worlds, make us among those who repent and purify themselves—then Allah accepts his repentance.
Know that repentance from sins is obligatory immediately; it is not permissible for a person to delay it, remaining in his sin and his crime, relying on procrastination, saying to himself: "Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." But a person must know that Allah is Forgiving and Merciful, but He is severe in punishment for those who confront Him with disobedience. Listen to the words of Allah, Mighty and Majestic: And after that: So He began with the severity of punishment. Recite the words of Allah the Exalted: Meaning: Inform them . So the servant must repent to Allah immediately. If he neglected an obligatory duty that can be made up and rectified, let him do so. If he committed a forbidden act, let him cease from it immediately without delay. This is because repentance has conditions that must be observed:
The first condition is sincerity for the sake of Allah. The servant must be sincere in his repentance, ceasing from the sin because it is a sin, not because people see him. He ceases from the sin because it is a sin and a transgression against Allah, not because the creation see him, but out of fear of the punishment of Allah. He performs the obligatory duty not because the creation see him and praise him, but because that is in the pleasure of Allah. So sincerity for the sake of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is the most important pillar and the most important condition of repentance. If a person repents out of fear of the ruler, is his repentance valid? No. Repent to Allah, not to anyone else. O Allah, grant us sincerity.
The second condition is that he regrets what he did of sins. There must be in him a breaking of heart and shame before Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and fear of Him. He feels remorse and says: "Oh, if only I had not done it," but he ceases from the sin. Regret is necessary. That is to say, repentance is not valid if the sin is in his heart and its absence is the same to him. No. Regret, regret, as if something beloved to you was lost, or as if something happened to you that you hate. Regret the sin that has passed.
The third condition is the resolve to... The third condition is ceasing from the sin immediately. He must cease from the sin. If it is a transgression, let him stay away from it. If it is a neglect of obedience, let him perform it. Let us give an example for this: A man knows that backbiting people is forbidden. Backbiting is mentioning the faults of people, and mentioning your brother with what he hates. He knows that this is forbidden, and indeed it is among the major sins, as stated by the Imam of the People of the Sunnah, Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him), as being among the major sins. So he resolves to repent, regrets what he did, but despite that, whenever an opportunity for backbiting arises, he backbites people. Do you say that his repentance is valid? Is his repentance valid? No. He must cease immediately. Another man: He left the congregational prayer despite his ability to attend the congregation, and said: "I am repentant," but he still leaves the congregational prayer. Do you say his repentance is valid? Why? He did not cease from the sin. He is determined not to pray. How can there be repentance from something you are determined to do? A third man: He used to deal with deception, because he is the owner of a shop or a watermelon stall or something else. He used to deal with deception. One day his conscience rebuked him, and he said: "I have repented from deception and betrayal," but he still deceives. Is his repentance valid? No. His repentance is not valid. He must cease. A fourth man: His neighbor was harmed by him. He was harmed by him, hearing sounds that hurt him, either songs on a recorder or radio or television or something else. The neighbor was harmed. He was harmed by these songs first because they are a transgression against Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and second because they disturb his peace. So he said to him: "My brother, my neighbor! You have harmed me with this." When he knew that his neighbor was harmed, he said: "Now I repent to Allah," but he was determined to continue. He did not stop it for a single moment except as was the custom. Is this a repentant person? No. This is not a repentant person. He must cease from the sin, otherwise there is no repentance for him.
The fourth condition is that he resolves not to return. That is to say: He resolves with himself that he will never return to the sin. He makes a hidden covenant with himself not to return to this sin. But he remains in his heart with the thought that whenever an opportunity arises, he will return to it. Is his repentance valid? No. Because he did not resolve not to return. In his heart, he left it now, but he does not have a resolve not to return. So his repentance is not valid.
The fifth condition, and the most severe of them, is that repentance must occur at a time when repentance is accepted, for not every time is a time when repentance is accepted; repentance is not accepted at all times. There are two times when repentance is not accepted, and they are mentioned in the Qur'an. As for the first: when a person is on the verge of death, his repentance is not accepted, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted: This is not the place for repentance. If you witness death and know that you are leaving the world and you say, "I repent now," that is not appropriate. When Pharaoh was overtaken by drowning in the sea, he said: So he believed, but it was said to him: It will not be accepted from you. For this reason, Allah said about him: It is as if you are seeing this man walking before his people, guiding them to the Fire, refuge with Allah, and he was saying to them in this world: This is the path by which he guided them, guiding them to the Fire, refuge with Allah. This is the first time. What is the first time now? When a person's term approaches, repentance will not benefit him. If I were to ask each one of you: Do you know when the term will approach? You would all say with one voice: We do not know. And whoever claims to know it is a liar. If that is the case, then repentance is obligatory immediately, because you do not know, O human being, if you have a right owed to someone, hasten to fulfill it. If there is something in which you have been negligent: zakah of wealth that you have not paid, expiation of an oath that you have not paid, expiation of zihar that you have not paid, expiation for intercourse in Ramadan that you have not paid, or anything else, pay it. A debt upon you that you have not settled, settle it. How many people have much wealth and debts upon them and have not settled them, and then they die, and the heirs play with his wealth and forget the right that his soul is suspended by. So pay what is upon you before the time passes. As for the second time: it is when the sun rises from the west. The sun now, we all see it rise from the east and set in the west, since the Mighty and Wise, Mighty and Majestic, made it subservient, until He permits the destruction of the world, it is on its course. Glory to Allah! It does not vary, nor does it deviate from it, nor does it hasten more than before, nor does it slow down more than before, nor does it rise in winter at the rising point of summer, nor in summer at the rising point of winter, but rather, by the permission of Allah, it continues on the best system. If Allah the Exalted wills the end of the world, then Allah commands it, and it comes out from the west. It comes out from the west. Glory to Allah! The sun that always rises from the east rises from the west? Who is able to do this? Who is able, O people? Allah, Mighty and Majestic. No one is able. For this reason, لما سأل الصحابة رضي الله عنهم رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم عن قوله تبارك وتعالى : وَنَحْشُرُهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ عَلَى وُجُوهِهِمْ صما وبكما وعُمْياً قالوا : يا رسول الله، كيف يحشر على وجهه ؟ قال : الذي أمشاه في الدنيا على قدميه يمشيه يوم القيامة على وجهه When the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He): “And We will gather them on the Day of Resurrection on their faces, deaf, dumb, and blind,” they said, “O Messenger of Allah, how will he be gathered on his face?” He said, “The one whom He made to walk on his feet in this world, He will make to walk on his face on the Day of Resurrection.” Allah is the Greatest. The One who made the sun subservient to rise from its rising point in the east will make it subservient to rise from its setting point in the west. When the sun rises, the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, said: But will the belief benefit them? No. Every soul that did not believe before, or did not earn good in its belief, it will not benefit it after the sun rises from the west. For this reason, it came in the hadith: So, my brother, O servant of Allah: think about yourself, think about what you are neglecting, save yourself while you are in the time of possibility. Think about the right of Allah: Have you neglected it? Have you been careless with it? Has there been showing off in your heart? Has there been pride in your heart? Has there been hatred for the believers or love for the disbelievers or preference for the world over the Hereafter? Many things, great paths, major trials, we ask Allah to protect us and you from them. Cure your heart. If you are curing your heart twice or three times a day, and you take pills for healing twice or three times a day, then cure the heart. Return to the heart. Your heart will not die, your heart will not harden as long as the matter is in your hand. And by Allah, the destruction of the body is easier than the destruction of religion. Therefore, those who knew the truth destroyed themselves in the religion of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, exposing their necks to the swords of the enemies, all of that for the establishment of the religion of Allah, and the exaltation of the word of Allah, so Allah was pleased with them and He was pleased with them. The important thing, O my brothers: I call myself first and I call you second to inspect the hearts, and to polish them and cure them, before what they have earned is shown to them, and it is sealed upon them, refuge with Allah.
I ask Allah for guidance and success for me and for you to what He loves and is pleased with.