Explanation of the words of Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) regarding what he quoted: "
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The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:
We have previously discussed what the author (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned regarding the obligation of repentance and its conditions, as well as the verses he cited indicating its obligation. The author (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned these two hadiths to provide evidence for this from the Sunnah, because whenever the evidences converge on a matter, it becomes stronger and more emphatic, and thus more obligatory. So he mentioned the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him): And in the hadith of al-Aghar ibn Yasar al-Muzani, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: : So in these two hadiths there is evidence for the obligation of repentance, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded it, saying: Sahih Muslim 2702b . When a person repents to his Lord, he thereby achieves two benefits: The first benefit is obeying the command of Allah and His Messenger, and in obeying the command of Allah and His Messenger lies all good; happiness in this world and the Hereafter revolves around obeying the command of Allah and His Messenger. The second benefit is following the example of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), for he (peace and blessings be upon him) used to repent to Allah a hundred times a day, meaning he would say: I repent to Allah, I repent to Allah. Repentance must involve sincerity, such that when a person repents to Allah, he abandons the sin. As for the person who repents with his tongue and heart while harboring the intention to commit the sin, or to leave an obligatory duty, or who repents to Allah with his tongue while his limbs are persistent in committing the sin, his repentance does not benefit him; rather, it is most like mocking Allah (Mighty and Majestic). How can you say: I repent to Allah from a sin, while you are persistent in it? Or say: I repent to Allah from a sin, while you are determined to commit it? If a person treated another human being like this, he would say: This person is mocking me and making fun of me. How can he disclaim a matter that is with me while he is still involved in it? This is nothing but mockery and play. So how about the Lord of the worlds!!
Some people say: I am repentant from riba, but, may Allah protect us, they are persistent in it. They practice riba openly, and they practice riba through deception. It has passed us many times that the one who practices riba through deception commits a greater sin and crime than the one who practices riba openly, because the one who practices riba through deception has wronged himself twice: First, falling into riba, and second, deceiving Allah (Mighty and Majestic), as if Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) does not know. This is found frequently among people today. Those who deal in riba openly, their matter is clear. But some people deal in riba through treachery and deception. You find them with goods in the shop for many years, and a rich person brings a poor person and leads him to the slaughterhouse, may Allah protect us. He comes to the shop owner who has these goods and sells them to the poor person on credit in a nominal sale. Everyone knows it is not a real sale, because this indebted buyer does not turn it over, does not turn the money, does not look at it, and it does not concern him. In fact, if it were bags of sand sold to him as rice or sugar, he would take it, because it does not concern him. What concerns him is to fulfill his need. So he sells it to him, for example, for ten thousand over a period of one year, and he leaves without moving it from its place. Then this debtor sells it back to the shop owner for, say, nine thousand. So this poor person is eaten from two sides: from the side of the one who lent him, and from the side of the shop owner. And they say: This is correct. In fact, they call it: correction. He says: Come, I will correct it for you, or I will correct this and that for you. Glory be to Allah! Is this correction? This is smearing with sins, may Allah protect us. For this reason, it is obligatory for us, if we are sincere with Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) in repentance, to abandon sins and disobedience with a true abandonment, and to hate them and regret committing them, so that the repentance becomes sincere repentance.
And in these two hadiths there is evidence that our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is the most worshipful of people to Allah, and he is indeed so, for he is the most fearful of us of Allah, the most pious of us of Allah, and the most knowledgeable of us of Allah, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him.
And in it is evidence that he (peace and blessings be upon him) is the teacher of good with his tongue and his actions, with his saying and his doing. So he used to seek forgiveness from Allah and command people to seek forgiveness, so that they would follow his example in obedience to the command and following the action. And this is part of the perfection of his (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him) sincere advice to his Ummah. We should also follow his example. When we command people with a matter, we should be the first to obey this command, and when we forbid them from something, we should be the first to refrain from it, because this is the reality of the caller to Allah. In fact, this is the reality of the call to Allah (Mighty and Majestic): that you do what you command and leave what you forbid, just as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded us to repent while he (peace and blessings be upon him) repented more than we do. We ask Allah to accept our repentance and yours, and to guide us and you to His straight path.
We have previously discussed what the author (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned regarding the obligation of repentance and its conditions, as well as the verses he cited indicating its obligation. The author (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned these two hadiths to provide evidence for this from the Sunnah, because whenever the evidences converge on a matter, it becomes stronger and more emphatic, and thus more obligatory. So he mentioned the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him):
That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) swore that he seeks forgiveness from Allah and turns to Him in repentance more than seventy times
أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أقسم بأنه يستغفر الله ويتوب إليه أكثر من سبعين مرةO people, turn to Allah in repentance and seek His forgiveness, for I turn to Him in repentance a hundred times a day
يا أيها الناس ، توبوا إلى الله واستغفروه ، فإني أتوب في اليوم مئة مرةO people, seek repentance from Allah
يا أيها الناس توبوا إلى اللهSome people say: I am repentant from riba, but, may Allah protect us, they are persistent in it. They practice riba openly, and they practice riba through deception. It has passed us many times that the one who practices riba through deception commits a greater sin and crime than the one who practices riba openly, because the one who practices riba through deception has wronged himself twice: First, falling into riba, and second, deceiving Allah (Mighty and Majestic), as if Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) does not know. This is found frequently among people today. Those who deal in riba openly, their matter is clear. But some people deal in riba through treachery and deception. You find them with goods in the shop for many years, and a rich person brings a poor person and leads him to the slaughterhouse, may Allah protect us. He comes to the shop owner who has these goods and sells them to the poor person on credit in a nominal sale. Everyone knows it is not a real sale, because this indebted buyer does not turn it over, does not turn the money, does not look at it, and it does not concern him. In fact, if it were bags of sand sold to him as rice or sugar, he would take it, because it does not concern him. What concerns him is to fulfill his need. So he sells it to him, for example, for ten thousand over a period of one year, and he leaves without moving it from its place. Then this debtor sells it back to the shop owner for, say, nine thousand. So this poor person is eaten from two sides: from the side of the one who lent him, and from the side of the shop owner. And they say: This is correct. In fact, they call it: correction. He says: Come, I will correct it for you, or I will correct this and that for you. Glory be to Allah! Is this correction? This is smearing with sins, may Allah protect us. For this reason, it is obligatory for us, if we are sincere with Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) in repentance, to abandon sins and disobedience with a true abandonment, and to hate them and regret committing them, so that the repentance becomes sincere repentance.
And in these two hadiths there is evidence that our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is the most worshipful of people to Allah, and he is indeed so, for he is the most fearful of us of Allah, the most pious of us of Allah, and the most knowledgeable of us of Allah, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him.
And in it is evidence that he (peace and blessings be upon him) is the teacher of good with his tongue and his actions, with his saying and his doing. So he used to seek forgiveness from Allah and command people to seek forgiveness, so that they would follow his example in obedience to the command and following the action. And this is part of the perfection of his (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him) sincere advice to his Ummah. We should also follow his example. When we command people with a matter, we should be the first to obey this command, and when we forbid them from something, we should be the first to refrain from it, because this is the reality of the caller to Allah. In fact, this is the reality of the call to Allah (Mighty and Majestic): that you do what you command and leave what you forbid, just as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded us to repent while he (peace and blessings be upon him) repented more than we do. We ask Allah to accept our repentance and yours, and to guide us and you to His straight path.