The obligation of one who wronged his neighbors and repented for it
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Question:
A listener from Riyadh, whose name is indicated by the letters (A. Q. A), says in a somewhat lengthy letter: Your Eminence! Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings. A quarrel occurred between me and a neighboring family, and I was the one who was in the wrong regarding this family. When some of the neighbors asked me about the cause of the quarrel, I would tell them a fabricated story. In addition to that, I would accuse the woman of this family of heinous matters, all within those false claims. Now, Your Eminence! I feel a great sin toward this woman and her family, and I want to go to them and ask their forgiveness, but I fear that they will respond with harm and another quarrel will break out between us. So tell us, may Allah reward you with good, what should I do so that my conscience is at ease from this sin? May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.
Answer:
We advise you to repent to Allah. We advise you, O brother, to repent to Allah with sincere repentance, with regret for what has passed, and with the resolve not to return to it. You should mention them with the good things you know about them; mention them, praise them with noble morals and good characteristics that you know about them, in the gatherings where you mentioned them with evil, so that this [good] offsets that [evil]. Because asking their forgiveness may lead to harm; so do not go to them, and do not say anything to them. But mention them with the good you know about them, and the good characteristics you know about them, without lying. Do not lie, but mention their good characteristics instead of the bad characteristics you previously mentioned. Have good opinion of your brothers, and beware of returning to this calamity: accusing people and speaking about their honor. Beware, and repent with sincere repentance. And be committed to good speech and good conduct with these people, and with others, and mention them with the good things you know about them in the gatherings and meetings where you mentioned them with evil, so that this [good] offsets that [evil], so that this good deed replaces that bad deed. May Allah guide them all.
The presenter : O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.
A listener from Riyadh, whose name is indicated by the letters (A. Q. A), says in a somewhat lengthy letter: Your Eminence! Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings. A quarrel occurred between me and a neighboring family, and I was the one who was in the wrong regarding this family. When some of the neighbors asked me about the cause of the quarrel, I would tell them a fabricated story. In addition to that, I would accuse the woman of this family of heinous matters, all within those false claims. Now, Your Eminence! I feel a great sin toward this woman and her family, and I want to go to them and ask their forgiveness, but I fear that they will respond with harm and another quarrel will break out between us. So tell us, may Allah reward you with good, what should I do so that my conscience is at ease from this sin? May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.
Answer:
We advise you to repent to Allah. We advise you, O brother, to repent to Allah with sincere repentance, with regret for what has passed, and with the resolve not to return to it. You should mention them with the good things you know about them; mention them, praise them with noble morals and good characteristics that you know about them, in the gatherings where you mentioned them with evil, so that this [good] offsets that [evil]. Because asking their forgiveness may lead to harm; so do not go to them, and do not say anything to them. But mention them with the good you know about them, and the good characteristics you know about them, without lying. Do not lie, but mention their good characteristics instead of the bad characteristics you previously mentioned. Have good opinion of your brothers, and beware of returning to this calamity: accusing people and speaking about their honor. Beware, and repent with sincere repentance. And be committed to good speech and good conduct with these people, and with others, and mention them with the good things you know about them in the gatherings and meetings where you mentioned them with evil, so that this [good] offsets that [evil], so that this good deed replaces that bad deed. May Allah guide them all.
The presenter : O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.