The Obligation to Avoid Sins and Repent from Them
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
This female questioner (F. M. D) from the Syrian Arab Republic says: What is the ruling on one who performs the obligations that Allah has made obligatory upon him, but he listens to some of the forbidden things, and engages in some backbiting and talebearing? Is this valid? May we be rewarded.
Answer:
It is obligatory for every Muslim man and woman to fear Allah, to be upright upon the religion of Allah, to perform the obligations of Allah, and to leave the prohibitions of Allah. He must avoid everything that Allah has forbidden. If he commits a slip, he must repent. This is a deficiency in his faith, such as backbiting and talebearing, or listening to musical instruments of amusement, or forbidden singing. This is a deficiency in faith and a weakness in faith. So whoever is afflicted with that must repent and seek forgiveness, because it diminishes his faith.
So the believer avoids what Allah has forbidden, fears evil deeds, and strives to perform what Allah has made obligatory. This is the obligation of every believer. And if he commits an evil deed—a sin—he hastens to repent.
And repentance is: regret for the past, abandoning the sin, and resolving not to return to it. And if the sin involves a human being, he must seek the forgiveness of that human being. If it is wealth, he gives him his right, or seeks his permission until he forgives him. And if it is backbiting or talebearing, he seeks his forgiveness likewise. If he cannot seek his forgiveness, he mentions him with good in the places where he backbit him, and repents to Allah, and regrets it.
So the point is: it is necessary to repent from sins, and he must fear them constantly in all times. Sins diminish faith and weaken faith. Faith increases and decreases. It increases with obedience and decreases with sins, according to the people of the Sunnah and the community. And faith is not nullified except by disbelief and associating partners with Allah. Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Ma'idah: 5], Allah the Exalted said: [Al-An'am: 88].
So if the servant commits shirk by calling upon other than Allah, such as calling upon the dead, seeking aid from the dead, or from the jinn, or calling upon idols; his deeds are invalidated. Or if he commits something that makes him a disbeliever, such as cursing Allah, or cursing His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), or mocking Allah and His Messenger, or belittling the Qur'an, and mocking the Qur'an, or despising the Qur'an, or insulting the Qur'an, or denying the obligation of prayer, or denying the obligation of zakah, or denying the prohibition of zina, or the prohibition of intoxicants; he becomes a disbeliever by that—we ask Allah for safety. His deeds are invalidated. So it is obligatory to fear all the things that make one a disbeliever. The scholars have clarified that in the chapter on the ruling of the apostate. It is obligatory for every Muslim to fear the causes of disbelief, the deeds of disbelief, and the words of disbelief, and to ask his Lord for safety.
As for sins, such as zina if he does not consider it permissible, and intoxicants if he does not consider them permissible; they diminish faith, they weaken faith. And so backbiting and talebearing, undutifulness to parents, severing family ties, and riba (usury or interest)... all of these weaken faith and diminish faith, if the servant does not consider them permissible. They diminish faith and weaken faith. So he must repent to Allah from that. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you and bless you, may the Shaykh be respected.
This female questioner (F. M. D) from the Syrian Arab Republic says: What is the ruling on one who performs the obligations that Allah has made obligatory upon him, but he listens to some of the forbidden things, and engages in some backbiting and talebearing? Is this valid? May we be rewarded.
Answer:
It is obligatory for every Muslim man and woman to fear Allah, to be upright upon the religion of Allah, to perform the obligations of Allah, and to leave the prohibitions of Allah. He must avoid everything that Allah has forbidden. If he commits a slip, he must repent. This is a deficiency in his faith, such as backbiting and talebearing, or listening to musical instruments of amusement, or forbidden singing. This is a deficiency in faith and a weakness in faith. So whoever is afflicted with that must repent and seek forgiveness, because it diminishes his faith.
So the believer avoids what Allah has forbidden, fears evil deeds, and strives to perform what Allah has made obligatory. This is the obligation of every believer. And if he commits an evil deed—a sin—he hastens to repent.
And repentance is: regret for the past, abandoning the sin, and resolving not to return to it. And if the sin involves a human being, he must seek the forgiveness of that human being. If it is wealth, he gives him his right, or seeks his permission until he forgives him. And if it is backbiting or talebearing, he seeks his forgiveness likewise. If he cannot seek his forgiveness, he mentions him with good in the places where he backbit him, and repents to Allah, and regrets it.
So the point is: it is necessary to repent from sins, and he must fear them constantly in all times. Sins diminish faith and weaken faith. Faith increases and decreases. It increases with obedience and decreases with sins, according to the people of the Sunnah and the community. And faith is not nullified except by disbelief and associating partners with Allah. Allah the Exalted said:
And whoever denies the faith - his work has become worthless
وَمَنْ يَكْفُرْ بِالإِيمَانِ فَقَدْ حَبِطَ عَمَلُهُBut if they had associated others with Allah, then worthless for them would be whatever they were doing.
وَلَوْ أَشْرَكُوا لَحَبِطَ عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَSo if the servant commits shirk by calling upon other than Allah, such as calling upon the dead, seeking aid from the dead, or from the jinn, or calling upon idols; his deeds are invalidated. Or if he commits something that makes him a disbeliever, such as cursing Allah, or cursing His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), or mocking Allah and His Messenger, or belittling the Qur'an, and mocking the Qur'an, or despising the Qur'an, or insulting the Qur'an, or denying the obligation of prayer, or denying the obligation of zakah, or denying the prohibition of zina, or the prohibition of intoxicants; he becomes a disbeliever by that—we ask Allah for safety. His deeds are invalidated. So it is obligatory to fear all the things that make one a disbeliever. The scholars have clarified that in the chapter on the ruling of the apostate. It is obligatory for every Muslim to fear the causes of disbelief, the deeds of disbelief, and the words of disbelief, and to ask his Lord for safety.
As for sins, such as zina if he does not consider it permissible, and intoxicants if he does not consider them permissible; they diminish faith, they weaken faith. And so backbiting and talebearing, undutifulness to parents, severing family ties, and riba (usury or interest)... all of these weaken faith and diminish faith, if the servant does not consider them permissible. They diminish faith and weaken faith. So he must repent to Allah from that. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you and bless you, may the Shaykh be respected.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.