The Conditions of Repentance and Its Definition
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The Shaykh : What is the definition of repentance? It is returning to Allah from His disobedience to His obedience. It has conditions; repentance has conditions. That is, not everyone who says, "I am repentant to Allah," is actually repentant. There must be conditions:
The first condition: that one be sincere to Allah in repentance. That is, one should not be driven to repent because he fears his father, fears his older brother, or fears the authorities. Nor should he repent just so people will say, "So-and-so is upright." No, he must be sincere to Allah. That is, the thing that drives him to repent must be seeking the pleasure of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and attaining His favor. Sincerity is a condition in every act of worship.
The second: regret for what one has done. Regret means feeling remorse and distress that this thing happened from him.
The third: that he abandon the sin immediately. That is, he leaves it right away. If it was a forbidden act, he leaves it. If it was an obligatory act, he hastens to perform it.
The fourth condition: that he resolve not to return to it in the future. That is, he must have a firm, decisive intention in his heart not to return to this sin in the future. If he repents while saying, "Perhaps I might be tempted to commit the sin again," then this repentant person’s repentance is not valid. He must resolve to do what? Not to return to it in the future.
The fifth condition: that the repentance be before the door is closed. Because a time comes when the door of repentance is closed and it is not accepted from a person. The door that is closed to the repentant has a general and a specific aspect.
As for the general one: it is the rising of the sun from the west. We now see the sun coming out from where? From the east, and setting in the west. A time will come when the sun comes out from the west and returns. And who will return it?
The student: Allah
The Shaykh : Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Even if all creation gathered to return it, they would not be able to, but Allah, Mighty and Majestic, who commands a thing to be and it is, will return it. This great sun, when it sets, will return from the west. When the sun rises from the west, everyone on earth will believe: the Jew, the Christian, the Buddhist, the Communist, and others; all of them will believe, because they will see something clear in its indication of the Lord, Mighty and Majestic. But will their faith benefit them? No, as He, the Exalted, said:[Al-An'am 6:158]
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explained His saying, the Exalted:[Al-An'am 6:158] as the sun coming out from the west. At that time, repentance will not benefit, even though all people will believe, but it will not benefit. Why? Because the door is closed; the door has ended. When it is closed, how can people enter?
As for the specific one, the specific door: it is when a person’s term of death arrives. When a person’s term of death arrives, repentance does not benefit, as Allah, Blessed and Exalted, said:[An-Nisa 4:18] It does not benefit; the door is closed; it has ended.
And I ask you: Does any one of us know when he will die? Never. A person might die while at his desk, while in his bed, while in his prayer, at any moment. And if we know this and are certain of it, it is obligatory for us to hasten with repentance so that death does not catch us by surprise and the door is closed. For this reason, repentance is something that a person must do immediately regarding his sin.
O my brothers! A person does not know when he will die, so it is obligatory for him to hasten with repentance to Allah, Mighty and Majestic. This verse, the Exalted says: What is it? [An-Nisa 4:18] This is one for whom there is no repentance. This is a report from Allah, Mighty and Majestic.
A real event indicates this: When Allah drowned Pharaoh and his people, what did Pharaoh say when drowning overtook him? He said: He repented now, did he not? But when? When he saw death. So it was said to him: Meaning: You repent now! Why did you not repent before? [Yunus 10:91] So his repentance was not accepted, refuge with Allah.
So how many conditions of repentance are there? Five: Sincerity to Allah, Mighty and Majestic; regret for what one has done; abandoning the sin one was committing immediately; the resolve not to return to it; and the fifth: that the repentance be before the doors are closed. Five conditions.
If someone says: Repentance between the servant and his Lord is clear. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, rejoices in the repentance of His servant with great joy. If you repent to your Lord, and I ask Allah to accept my repentance and yours, if you repent to your Lord, then Allah rejoices in this with great joy, a joy that a person cannot imagine. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: His strength weakened and his powers failed, and he ended up lying down waiting for death He wanted to say: O Allah, You are my Lord and I am Your servant, but he Sahih Muslim 2747a Do you find a joy greater than this? Answer, everyone? No, because it is a joy of life after being on the verge of death, so there is no greater joy than that.
So the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, rejoices in the repentance of any one of us more than this man rejoiced in his she-camel. Well, if the sin is between you and Allah, the matter is easy. But the problem is if it is between you and people. A person stole from someone and repented from the theft. Between him and Allah, it is over; there is no sin on him, no punishment, no cutting of the hand, or anything. But is this repentance sufficient regarding the stolen money, or must the money be returned to its owner? The money must be returned to its owner. But the problem is how to return it? Perhaps if he goes to the owner and says, "I stole this money from you and I have repented, and this is your money," perhaps the owner will hold him and report him to the authorities. Perhaps he will say, "You are giving me ten thousand now, but what you stole was twenty thousand riyals, is it not?" Perhaps he will say this, and the person will get into trouble. So what does he do? We say: He can look for a trustworthy friend and say, "O so-and-so, I stole so much from so-and-so, and this is the stolen money. Go to him and tell him that this is from a person who repented to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and took it from you before, and now it has reached you."
But this man whom he entrusted to deliver the money to its owner must be trustworthy in the eyes of the owner of the money and honest with him. Because if he is not trustworthy, what will happen? The owner of the money will accuse him and say, "You are the thief, and the stolen amount is more than this." But if he knows that he is his friend and is honest, he will believe him and trust him. So let him say, "O so-and-so, may Allah reward you with good. The case is such and such." If that is not possible for him, he can put it in an envelope and send it by express mail, and write in it in a handwriting that is not recognized, meaning it is not known from his handwriting: that these are your money from a person who took it from you previously and has repented to Allah, and so on. His conscience is cleared. The important thing is that repentance is necessary. For this reason, the Exalted said:.
Well, if he does not know the owner, for example: a person stole in his youth from a person he does not know who it was, or after reaching maturity he stole from money he does not know whose it is, by what is repentance realized? He gives this money in charity to get rid of it, intending it for the owner, not for himself, but for the owner, and by that he is cleared.
We ask Allah, the Exalted, to grant us repentance before the doors are closed, and to help us and you in His remembrance, His gratitude, and the excellence of His worship.
Now we begin with the questions. Please, ask.
The first condition: that one be sincere to Allah in repentance. That is, one should not be driven to repent because he fears his father, fears his older brother, or fears the authorities. Nor should he repent just so people will say, "So-and-so is upright." No, he must be sincere to Allah. That is, the thing that drives him to repent must be seeking the pleasure of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and attaining His favor. Sincerity is a condition in every act of worship.
The second: regret for what one has done. Regret means feeling remorse and distress that this thing happened from him.
The third: that he abandon the sin immediately. That is, he leaves it right away. If it was a forbidden act, he leaves it. If it was an obligatory act, he hastens to perform it.
The fourth condition: that he resolve not to return to it in the future. That is, he must have a firm, decisive intention in his heart not to return to this sin in the future. If he repents while saying, "Perhaps I might be tempted to commit the sin again," then this repentant person’s repentance is not valid. He must resolve to do what? Not to return to it in the future.
The fifth condition: that the repentance be before the door is closed. Because a time comes when the door of repentance is closed and it is not accepted from a person. The door that is closed to the repentant has a general and a specific aspect.
As for the general one: it is the rising of the sun from the west. We now see the sun coming out from where? From the east, and setting in the west. A time will come when the sun comes out from the west and returns. And who will return it?
The student: Allah
The Shaykh : Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Even if all creation gathered to return it, they would not be able to, but Allah, Mighty and Majestic, who commands a thing to be and it is, will return it. This great sun, when it sets, will return from the west. When the sun rises from the west, everyone on earth will believe: the Jew, the Christian, the Buddhist, the Communist, and others; all of them will believe, because they will see something clear in its indication of the Lord, Mighty and Majestic. But will their faith benefit them? No, as He, the Exalted, said:
Do they [then] wait for anything except that the angels should come to them or your Lord should come or that there come some of the signs of your Lord? The Day that some of the signs of your Lord will come no soul will benefit from its faith as long as it had not believed before or had earned through its faith some good
هَلْ يَنْظُرُونَ إِلَّا أَنْ تَأْتِيَهُمُ الْمَلائِكَةُ أَوْ يَأْتِيَ رَبُّكَ أَوْ يَأْتِيَ بَعْضُ آيَاتِ رَبِّكَ يَوْمَ يَأْتِي بَعْضُ آيَاتِ رَبِّكَ لا يَنْفَعُ نَفْساً إِيمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ آمَنَتْ مِنْ قَبْلُ أَوْ كَسَبَتْ فِي إِيمَانِهَا خَيْراًThe Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explained His saying, the Exalted:
The Day that some of the signs of your Lord
يَوْمَ يَأْتِي بَعْضُ آيَاتِ رَبِّكَAs for the specific one, the specific door: it is when a person’s term of death arrives. When a person’s term of death arrives, repentance does not benefit, as Allah, Blessed and Exalted, said:
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 حَتَّى إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَهُمُ الْمَوْتُ قَالَ إِنِّي تُبْتُ الْآنَAnd I ask you: Does any one of us know when he will die? Never. A person might die while at his desk, while in his bed, while in his prayer, at any moment. And if we know this and are certain of it, it is obligatory for us to hasten with repentance so that death does not catch us by surprise and the door is closed. For this reason, repentance is something that a person must do immediately regarding his sin.
O my brothers! A person does not know when he will die, so it is obligatory for him to hasten with repentance to Allah, Mighty and Majestic. This verse, the Exalted says:
And repentance is not
وَلَيْسَتِ التَّوْبَةُof those who [continue to] do evil deeds up until, when death comes to one of them, he says, "Indeed, I have repented now,"
لِلَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ السَّيِّئَاتِ حَتَّى إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَهُمُ الْمَوْتُ قَالَ إِنِّي تُبْتُ الْآنَA real event indicates this: When Allah drowned Pharaoh and his people, what did Pharaoh say when drowning overtook him? He said:
"I believe in the One in whom the Children of Israel believe, meaning Allah the Exalted, and I am among the Muslims."
آمَنْتُ أَنَّهُ لا إِلَهَ إِلَّا الَّذِي آمَنَتْ بِهِ بَنُو إِسْرائيلَ يعني الله عز وجل وَأَنَا مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَNow?
آلْآنَNow? And you had disobeyed [Him] before and were of the corrupters?
آلْآنَ وَقَدْ عَصَيْتَ قَبْلُ وَكُنْتَ مِنَ الْمُفْسِدِينَSo how many conditions of repentance are there? Five: Sincerity to Allah, Mighty and Majestic; regret for what one has done; abandoning the sin one was committing immediately; the resolve not to return to it; and the fifth: that the repentance be before the doors are closed. Five conditions.
If someone says: Repentance between the servant and his Lord is clear. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, rejoices in the repentance of His servant with great joy. If you repent to your Lord, and I ask Allah to accept my repentance and yours, if you repent to your Lord, then Allah rejoices in this with great joy, a joy that a person cannot imagine. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Allah is more pleased with the repentance of one of you, or he said: the repentance of His servant, than one of you is with his mount—the mount is a camel—on which he had his food and drink, when he lost it—meaning: it was lost from him—so he sought it but did not find it, and he slept under a tree waiting for death
لله أشد فرحاً بتوبة أحدكم أو قال: بتوبة عبده، من أحدكم براحلته -الراحلة هي البعير- كان عليها طعامه وشرابه فأضلها -يعني: ضاعت عنه- فطلبها فلم يجدها، فنام تحت شجرة ينتظر الموتSo while he was thus, behold, his camel was there with its rein hanging on the tree, so he took the rein and said: "O Allah, You are my servant and I am Your Lord"
فبينما هو كذلك إذا بناقته متعلق زمامها بالشجرة، فأخذ الزمام وقال: اللهم أنت عبدي وأنا ربكHe commits this mistake out of extreme delight.
أخطأ من شدة الفرحSo the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, rejoices in the repentance of any one of us more than this man rejoiced in his she-camel. Well, if the sin is between you and Allah, the matter is easy. But the problem is if it is between you and people. A person stole from someone and repented from the theft. Between him and Allah, it is over; there is no sin on him, no punishment, no cutting of the hand, or anything. But is this repentance sufficient regarding the stolen money, or must the money be returned to its owner? The money must be returned to its owner. But the problem is how to return it? Perhaps if he goes to the owner and says, "I stole this money from you and I have repented, and this is your money," perhaps the owner will hold him and report him to the authorities. Perhaps he will say, "You are giving me ten thousand now, but what you stole was twenty thousand riyals, is it not?" Perhaps he will say this, and the person will get into trouble. So what does he do? We say: He can look for a trustworthy friend and say, "O so-and-so, I stole so much from so-and-so, and this is the stolen money. Go to him and tell him that this is from a person who repented to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and took it from you before, and now it has reached you."
But this man whom he entrusted to deliver the money to its owner must be trustworthy in the eyes of the owner of the money and honest with him. Because if he is not trustworthy, what will happen? The owner of the money will accuse him and say, "You are the thief, and the stolen amount is more than this." But if he knows that he is his friend and is honest, he will believe him and trust him. So let him say, "O so-and-so, may Allah reward you with good. The case is such and such." If that is not possible for him, he can put it in an envelope and send it by express mail, and write in it in a handwriting that is not recognized, meaning it is not known from his handwriting: that these are your money from a person who took it from you previously and has repented to Allah, and so on. His conscience is cleared. The important thing is that repentance is necessary. For this reason, the Exalted said:
And whoever does not repent, then those are the wrongdoers.
وَمَنْ لَمْ يَتُبْ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الظَّالِمُونَWell, if he does not know the owner, for example: a person stole in his youth from a person he does not know who it was, or after reaching maturity he stole from money he does not know whose it is, by what is repentance realized? He gives this money in charity to get rid of it, intending it for the owner, not for himself, but for the owner, and by that he is cleared.
We ask Allah, the Exalted, to grant us repentance before the doors are closed, and to help us and you in His remembrance, His gratitude, and the excellence of His worship.
Now we begin with the questions. Please, ask.