Guidance for one who has repented for abandoning prayer
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The first message in this episode is one that reached the program from the Holy City of Madinah, sent by one of the listening brothers who indicated his name with the letter (K). He says: I am a young man who used to pray all the obligatory prayers at their times, then I distanced myself from that for a period. Then I repented to Allah and returned from the evil I was in. But after this repentance, I feel pain and sorrow for that black past. Guide us, Shaykh Abdul Aziz—may Allah reward you with good—should I make up what I missed, or what do you advise us? Thank you, may Allah reward you.
Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon whoever follows his guidance. As for what follows:
So you must praise your Lord and thank Him greatly for the repentance He has bestowed upon you. Know, my brother, that repentance wipes out what came before it and erases what came before it, if the repentance is complete and fulfills its conditions. Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) says in His noble Book: [An-Nur: 31]. This indicates that whoever repents with the repentance prescribed by the Shari'ah has succeeded. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sunan Ibn Majah 4250Da’if (Darussalam) And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sahih Muslim 121 So praise Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) and thank Him (Glorified and Exalted is He), and hold a good opinion of Him. The past sins are erased by repentance, and you do not have to make up the missed prayers. Rather, you must stick to the repentance.
And sincere repentance (tawbah an-nasuh) includes three things: regret for the past sins, ceasing from them and leaving them, out of fear of Allah and exalting Him, and the sincere resolve not to return to them.
If the repentance includes these three things: regret, ceasing, and the sincere resolve not to return, Allah will erase the past sin from you, and you will have succeeded. So be upright and stand firm upon the truth.
And there is a fourth condition for the validity and safety of the repentance, if the right belongs to the created beings, such as blood, money, or honor. It is necessary to seek their forgiveness or give them their rights. The completion of repentance regarding a human being is that you give him his right, whether it is money or blood, meaning: retaliation (qisas).
And likewise regarding honor, you say: "Let me go, my brother, forgive me, I did such and such, and I did such and such, forgive me." If he forgives you regarding his right of money, blood, or honor, the repentance is valid and you are cleared of this right. If he does not forgive you, what belonged to Allah is dropped, but the right of the human being remains between you and him on the Day of Resurrection. And if your repentance is upright, Allah will be pleased with you on your behalf on the Day of Resurrection . But you must strive in this world to give him his right or seek his forgiveness. If you are unable to do so and you are sincere in your repentance, Allah will pay it off on your behalf on the Day of Resurrection.
And likewise regarding honor, if you fear that if you inform him, the matter will become more severe and lead to consequences that are not praiseworthy, do not inform him. But seek forgiveness for him and mention him with the good traits you know about him, instead of the bad traits you backbit him with. This is in place of that: mention what you know of his good deeds in the gatherings where you mentioned him with evil, and make du'a for him and seek forgiveness for him. This takes the place of seeking his forgiveness if you fear that seeking his forgiveness will lead to a more dangerous and greater matter. And Allah is the One to be asked for help. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.
The first message in this episode is one that reached the program from the Holy City of Madinah, sent by one of the listening brothers who indicated his name with the letter (K). He says: I am a young man who used to pray all the obligatory prayers at their times, then I distanced myself from that for a period. Then I repented to Allah and returned from the evil I was in. But after this repentance, I feel pain and sorrow for that black past. Guide us, Shaykh Abdul Aziz—may Allah reward you with good—should I make up what I missed, or what do you advise us? Thank you, may Allah reward you.
Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon whoever follows his guidance. As for what follows:
So you must praise your Lord and thank Him greatly for the repentance He has bestowed upon you. Know, my brother, that repentance wipes out what came before it and erases what came before it, if the repentance is complete and fulfills its conditions. Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) says in His noble Book:
And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed.
وَتُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَThe one who repents from sin is like one who did not sin.
التائب من الذنب كمن لا ذنب لهVerily migration wipes out all the previous (misdeeds)
التوبة تهدم ما كان قبلهاAnd sincere repentance (tawbah an-nasuh) includes three things: regret for the past sins, ceasing from them and leaving them, out of fear of Allah and exalting Him, and the sincere resolve not to return to them.
If the repentance includes these three things: regret, ceasing, and the sincere resolve not to return, Allah will erase the past sin from you, and you will have succeeded. So be upright and stand firm upon the truth.
And there is a fourth condition for the validity and safety of the repentance, if the right belongs to the created beings, such as blood, money, or honor. It is necessary to seek their forgiveness or give them their rights. The completion of repentance regarding a human being is that you give him his right, whether it is money or blood, meaning: retaliation (qisas).
And likewise regarding honor, you say: "Let me go, my brother, forgive me, I did such and such, and I did such and such, forgive me." If he forgives you regarding his right of money, blood, or honor, the repentance is valid and you are cleared of this right. If he does not forgive you, what belonged to Allah is dropped, but the right of the human being remains between you and him on the Day of Resurrection. And if your repentance is upright, Allah will be pleased with you on your behalf on the Day of Resurrection . But you must strive in this world to give him his right or seek his forgiveness. If you are unable to do so and you are sincere in your repentance, Allah will pay it off on your behalf on the Day of Resurrection.
And likewise regarding honor, if you fear that if you inform him, the matter will become more severe and lead to consequences that are not praiseworthy, do not inform him. But seek forgiveness for him and mention him with the good traits you know about him, instead of the bad traits you backbit him with. This is in place of that: mention what you know of his good deeds in the gatherings where you mentioned him with evil, and make du'a for him and seek forgiveness for him. This takes the place of seeking his forgiveness if you fear that seeking his forgiveness will lead to a more dangerous and greater matter. And Allah is the One to be asked for help. Yes.
The presenter: 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.