Guidance and advice on repentance to Allah
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Question:
A questioner says: I have committed many sins and forbidden acts, and now I feel guilty. Finally, he says: Show us the right path, for I am seeking repentance, and I wish to abandon this, if Allah wills.
Answer:
O questioner, know that the mercy of Allah is vast, and His benevolence is great, and that He (Exalted and Majestic is He) is the Generous, the Noble, the Most Merciful of the merciful, and the Best of those who forgive . Also know that proceeding to sins is a great evil, a major corruption, and a cause for the anger of Allah. But whenever a servant repents to his Lord with a sincere repentance, Allah turns to him in mercy. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked many times about a man who does such and such, committing many minor and major sins and various types of disbelief, and then repents. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sahih Muslim 121 And in another wording: meaning that they erase them and put an end to them.
So you must know with certainty that sincere, wholehearted repentance causes Allah to erase sins and evil deeds, even disbelief. For this reason, He, the Exalted, says: [Al-Nur: 31]. Thus, He linked success to repentance. And He, the Exalted, said: [Al-Tahrim: 8]. And "perhaps" from Allah is obligatory. The meaning is that the one who repents with wholehearted repentance will have his evil deeds forgiven, and Allah will admit him into Paradise as a favor and benevolence from Him .
So, O my brother, you must engage in sincere repentance, adhere to it, remain steadfast in it, and be sincere to Allah in that. And be glad, for it erases your sins even if they were like mountains.
The conditions of repentance are three: regret for the past of what you did, with sincere regret; abandoning the sins and leaving them in the future, in obedience to Allah and out of reverence for Him; and the sincere resolve not to return to those sins. These are matters that are necessary.
First: Regret for the past from you, and sorrow for what has passed from you.
Second: Abandoning and leaving these sins, whether small or large.
Third: The sincere resolve not to return to them.
If you have rights owed to people, whether wealth, blood, or honor, then fulfill them for them. This is a fourth matter for the completion of repentance. You must fulfill the rights that belong to people. If it is retaliation (qisas), you must enable retaliation, unless they allow blood money (diyah). If it is wealth, you must return their wealth to them, unless they allow it. If it is honor, likewise, if you spoke about their honor and backbit them, you must seek their forgiveness. And if seeking their forgiveness may lead to evil, there is no harm in leaving it, but you should pray for them, seek forgiveness for them, and mention them with the good you know of them in the places where you mentioned them with evil. And this will be an expiation for this.
And you must hasten before death, before your term descends upon you. You must hasten and be swift, then patience and truthfulness. Allah (may He be exalted) says: : [Al-Imran: 135]. Understand the meaning of , meaning they did not persist in sins, but rather they repented, regretted, and left them, and did not persist in what they did, while they knew. Then He, the Exalted, moved on to [Al-Imran: 136]. This is the reward of the repentant who abandoned and did not persist; for them is Paradise. So you, if Allah wills, are among them if you are sincere in repentance. And success is from Allah.
A questioner says: I have committed many sins and forbidden acts, and now I feel guilty. Finally, he says: Show us the right path, for I am seeking repentance, and I wish to abandon this, if Allah wills.
Answer:
O questioner, know that the mercy of Allah is vast, and His benevolence is great, and that He (Exalted and Majestic is He) is the Generous, the Noble, the Most Merciful of the merciful, and the Best of those who forgive . Also know that proceeding to sins is a great evil, a major corruption, and a cause for the anger of Allah. But whenever a servant repents to his Lord with a sincere repentance, Allah turns to him in mercy. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked many times about a man who does such and such, committing many minor and major sins and various types of disbelief, and then repents. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Islam wipes out all the previous (misdeeds)? Verily migration wipes out all the previous (misdeeds),
التوبة تهدم ما كان قبلها، والإسلام يهدم ما كان قبلهIslam wipes out what came before it, and repentance wipes out what came before it
الإسلام يجب ما كان قبله، والتوبة تجب ما كان قبلهاSo you must know with certainty that sincere, wholehearted repentance causes Allah to erase sins and evil deeds, even disbelief. For this reason, He, the Exalted, says:
And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed.
وَتُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ جميعًا أَيُّهَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَO you who have believed, repent to Allah with sincere repentance. Perhaps your Lord will remove from you your misdeeds and admit you into gardens beneath which rivers flow
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَصُوحًا عَسَى رَبُّكُمْ أَنْ يُكَفِّرَ عَنْكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَيُدْخِلَكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُSo, O my brother, you must engage in sincere repentance, adhere to it, remain steadfast in it, and be sincere to Allah in that. And be glad, for it erases your sins even if they were like mountains.
The conditions of repentance are three: regret for the past of what you did, with sincere regret; abandoning the sins and leaving them in the future, in obedience to Allah and out of reverence for Him; and the sincere resolve not to return to those sins. These are matters that are necessary.
First: Regret for the past from you, and sorrow for what has passed from you.
Second: Abandoning and leaving these sins, whether small or large.
Third: The sincere resolve not to return to them.
If you have rights owed to people, whether wealth, blood, or honor, then fulfill them for them. This is a fourth matter for the completion of repentance. You must fulfill the rights that belong to people. If it is retaliation (qisas), you must enable retaliation, unless they allow blood money (diyah). If it is wealth, you must return their wealth to them, unless they allow it. If it is honor, likewise, if you spoke about their honor and backbit them, you must seek their forgiveness. And if seeking their forgiveness may lead to evil, there is no harm in leaving it, but you should pray for them, seek forgiveness for them, and mention them with the good you know of them in the places where you mentioned them with evil. And this will be an expiation for this.
And you must hasten before death, before your term descends upon you. You must hasten and be swift, then patience and truthfulness. Allah (may He be exalted) says: :
And those who, when they commit an immorality or wrong themselves [by transgression], remember Allah and seek forgiveness for their sins - and who can forgive sins except Allah? - and [who] do not persist in what they have done while they know.
وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُوا فَاحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ ذَكَرُوا اللَّهَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُوا لِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَمَنْ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَلَمْ يُصِرُّوا عَلَى مَا فَعَلُوا وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَAnd did not persist in what they did
وَلَمْ يُصِرُّواThose - their reward is forgiveness from their Lord and gardens beneath which rivers flow [in Paradise], wherein they will abide eternally; and excellent is the reward of the [righteous] workers.
أُولَئِكَ جَزَاؤُهُمْ مَغْفِرَةٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ وَجَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا وَنِعْمَ أَجْرُ الْعَامِلِينَ
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.