What is the ruling on a man who repeatedly commits sins and repents again and again?
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The questioner : We are discussing the topic of repentance.
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : And if I were to summarize, may Allah bless you, if it is the second or third time, what is the ruling on a man who repeatedly commits sins?
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed
The questioner : And repents again and again, what can be said in such a case...?
The Shaykh : Here we can say that one who breaks his repentance is in one of two states.
Either his previous repentance was not a sincere repentance, in which case he has broken his repentance because there was no repentance to begin with, but they used to call it in Sham "the cat's repentance," meaning it chases the target but as soon as it sees it, it runs to it, and so on; either that is his case. Or he truly repented to Allah and turned back, but his soul, which commands evil, overpowered him, and this can happen. In this case, we say: as long as his previous repentance was a sincere repentance, his soul does not invalidate it for him; rather, he must pursue his soul with another repentance, and so on. This in reality reminds me of a doubt we hear from some unruly, non-committal youth, for example, one who abandons prayer. He says, "My brother, there are two things you should not approach: shirk (associating partners with Allah) and harming people. I have not harmed anyone, not with a word, not with a word, and so on." Do you see his state? It is very organized. The fact that he does not pray for Allah, nothing has happened, meaning, the important thing is he tells you, "This so-and-so, my brother, prays and does such and such, steals, commits zina, cheats, and so on." What does this mean? We are now opening up reality. He says to you, "You took the person who contradicts you in your morals. You, as you say, have good morals." And this in reality reminds me of a doubt I hear from some unruly, non-committal youth, for example, one who abandons prayer. When you advise him, he says, "What are you doing, my brother? There are two things: your morals, as you say, are good and beautiful. But there are people who pray but their morals are bad. What do you think if I make an exchange? You take his prayer and complete your good morals with your prayer, and he takes your morals and he will be deficient in steps, meaning his morals will become good and his prayer will remain as it was before. Do you think it is better that you remain as you are and he remains as he is, or that there is a person whose morals are righteous and who fulfills his obligations toward his Lord as they should be? Is this not the best? In addition, there is another thing: you do not pray and he prays. Good deeds erase bad deeds. And in the hadith, prayer is a very great matter, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in Sahih al-Bukhari: "The Muslim." So you do not do the means of purification, while this criminal, as you say, is actually recovering through the means of purification and sterilization. If so, your situation is worse than his. This is not what I wanted to approximate to what we were discussing: a person who repented with a sincere repentance, then relapsed, then repented, then relapsed. Until when? By Allah, the best thing is that he remains a sinner. Do you think this is better, or the one who repents with a sincere repentance, whenever his soul overpowers him, then he repents with a sincere repentance, and so on? This is better than the one who no longer repents to Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He. And here it is appropriate to mention a hadith for two reasons: First: because it is not authentic with his repentance. Second: because its meaning is correct. The hadith is: . We said that this is not established from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), but its meaning is correct. There is what I insisted on
Another questioner:
The Shaykh : Even if it is seventy times a day.
Another questioner: Yes, exactly.
The Shaykh : The important thing is that if a person repents and his soul overpowers him, he must overpower his soul by repenting and turning to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and seeking His forgiveness, because repentance erases the sin. Therefore, we do not find among some of the Companions—I think that Companion at the time of the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah, Abu Mujahid, a mujahid in the cause of Allah and a hero among heroes—and I want to mention to some of the brothers so they do not forget: he used to eat with his left hand, then he changed to eating with his right hand, because it is not permissible to eat with the left hand, but with the right hand. This man, Abu Mujahid, was said to be a fighter, a hero in the expedition or the battle of al-Qadisiyyah. Nevertheless, it reached the commander, who was Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, that he was drinking intoxicants, so he took him and flogged him once, twice, and three times until he was bound and shackled with chains, while the battle was at its most intense between the Muslims and the Persians. He was burning with desire to strive in the cause of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic. So he sought the intercession of Sa'd's wife, and I think she released him from his bonds. He was sad that the Muslims were being killed, as Allah wills, while he was a prisoner. So she released him, and he mounted his horse and went to strive, and after that he returned to where he was in prison. So the commander pardoned him because he noticed that he was overcome by his situation when he returned and drank intoxicants, as long as he was striving this striving in the cause of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic. So, the one who breaks his repentance, if he truly repented, this is better than the one who does not repent, and perhaps he did not repent in reality. What remains finally?
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : And if I were to summarize, may Allah bless you, if it is the second or third time, what is the ruling on a man who repeatedly commits sins?
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed
The questioner : And repents again and again, what can be said in such a case...?
The Shaykh : Here we can say that one who breaks his repentance is in one of two states.
Either his previous repentance was not a sincere repentance, in which case he has broken his repentance because there was no repentance to begin with, but they used to call it in Sham "the cat's repentance," meaning it chases the target but as soon as it sees it, it runs to it, and so on; either that is his case. Or he truly repented to Allah and turned back, but his soul, which commands evil, overpowered him, and this can happen. In this case, we say: as long as his previous repentance was a sincere repentance, his soul does not invalidate it for him; rather, he must pursue his soul with another repentance, and so on. This in reality reminds me of a doubt we hear from some unruly, non-committal youth, for example, one who abandons prayer. He says, "My brother, there are two things you should not approach: shirk (associating partners with Allah) and harming people. I have not harmed anyone, not with a word, not with a word, and so on." Do you see his state? It is very organized. The fact that he does not pray for Allah, nothing has happened, meaning, the important thing is he tells you, "This so-and-so, my brother, prays and does such and such, steals, commits zina, cheats, and so on." What does this mean? We are now opening up reality. He says to you, "You took the person who contradicts you in your morals. You, as you say, have good morals." And this in reality reminds me of a doubt I hear from some unruly, non-committal youth, for example, one who abandons prayer. When you advise him, he says, "What are you doing, my brother? There are two things: your morals, as you say, are good and beautiful. But there are people who pray but their morals are bad. What do you think if I make an exchange? You take his prayer and complete your good morals with your prayer, and he takes your morals and he will be deficient in steps, meaning his morals will become good and his prayer will remain as it was before. Do you think it is better that you remain as you are and he remains as he is, or that there is a person whose morals are righteous and who fulfills his obligations toward his Lord as they should be? Is this not the best? In addition, there is another thing: you do not pray and he prays. Good deeds erase bad deeds. And in the hadith, prayer is a very great matter, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in Sahih al-Bukhari: "The Muslim
The five daily prayers are like a flowing, abundant river in front of one of your houses, in which he bathes five times a day. Do you think any of its dirt would remain on his body? They said, "No, O Messenger of Allah." He said, "So such is the likeness of the five daily prayers; Allah expiates sins through them."
مثل الصلوات الخمس كمثل نهرٍ جاريٍ غمرٍ أمام دار أحدكم يغتسل فيه كل يومٍ خمس مرات أترونه يبقى على بدنه من درنه شيء، قالوا لا يا رسول الله قال فكذلك مثل الصلوات الخمس يكفر الله بهن الخطاياThere is no backbiting for an open sinner.
لا غيبة لفاسقAnother questioner:
Whoever sins and seeks forgiveness, even if it is seventy times a day.
من أذنب واستغفر ولو في اليوم سبعين مرةThe Shaykh : Even if it is seventy times a day.
Another questioner: Yes, exactly.
The Shaykh : The important thing is that if a person repents and his soul overpowers him, he must overpower his soul by repenting and turning to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and seeking His forgiveness, because repentance erases the sin. Therefore, we do not find among some of the Companions—I think that Companion at the time of the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah, Abu Mujahid, a mujahid in the cause of Allah and a hero among heroes—and I want to mention to some of the brothers so they do not forget: he used to eat with his left hand, then he changed to eating with his right hand, because it is not permissible to eat with the left hand, but with the right hand. This man, Abu Mujahid, was said to be a fighter, a hero in the expedition or the battle of al-Qadisiyyah. Nevertheless, it reached the commander, who was Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, that he was drinking intoxicants, so he took him and flogged him once, twice, and three times until he was bound and shackled with chains, while the battle was at its most intense between the Muslims and the Persians. He was burning with desire to strive in the cause of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic. So he sought the intercession of Sa'd's wife, and I think she released him from his bonds. He was sad that the Muslims were being killed, as Allah wills, while he was a prisoner. So she released him, and he mounted his horse and went to strive, and after that he returned to where he was in prison. So the commander pardoned him because he noticed that he was overcome by his situation when he returned and drank intoxicants, as long as he was striving this striving in the cause of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic. So, the one who breaks his repentance, if he truly repented, this is better than the one who does not repent, and perhaps he did not repent in reality. What remains finally?