Explaining the vastness of Allah the Exalted’s mercy for those who repent from their sins
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Question:
Shaykh Abdul Aziz, the first message in this episode is one that reached us from the United Arab Emirates, sent by one of the young brothers from there.
Our brother mentions a long passage in his message, and summarizes it by saying: I have committed many sins and forbidden acts, and now I feel guilty. The reality, Your Eminence, is that he names the things in which he erred, but I have avoided mentioning them, as it is perhaps better for the program.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The presenter: And finally, he says: Guide us to the right path; for I am seeking the path to repentance, and I wish to abandon this, if Allah wills?
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 those who follow his guidance. As for what follows: O questioner! Know that the mercy of Allah is vast, and His goodness is immense, 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, (Glorified and Exalted is He). Also know that proceeding to sins is a great evil and a major corruption, and a cause for the anger of Allah. But whenever the servant repents to his Lord with a sincere repentance, Allah accepts his repentance. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked many times about a man who does such and such, and does such and such, and does such and such, of many minor and major sins, and of types of disbelief, and then repents. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) would say to him:Sahih Muslim 121 And in the other wording: meaning: it erases them and puts an end to them. So you must know with certainty that sincere, wholehearted repentance causes Allah to forgive sins and evil deeds, even disbelief. For this reason, He, (Glorified and Exalted is He), says: [Al-Nur: 31] So He tied success to repentance. He, (Glorified and Exalted is He), says: [Al-Tahrim: 8] And from Allah is obligatory. The meaning is that the one who repents with wholehearted repentance has his evil deeds forgiven, and Allah admits him into Paradise, by His grace and His goodness, (Glorified and Exalted is He). So you, my brother, must repent sincerely and stick to it, remain steadfast upon it, and be sincere to Allah in that. And be glad, for it erases your sins even if they were like mountains.
And the conditions of repentance are three: - Regret for the past, for what you did, with sincere regret. - And abandoning the sins, rejecting them, and leaving them in the future, in obedience to Allah and in exalting Him. - And the sincere resolve not to return to them, to committing the sins. These are matters that are necessary:
First: Regret for the past from you, and sadness for what has passed from you.
Second: Abandoning and leaving these sins, whether small or large.
The 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 are owed to people. If it is retaliation, you must be able to carry out the retaliation, unless they allow the blood money. If it is wealth, you return their wealth to them, unless they allow it. If it is honor, likewise, if you spoke about their honor and backbit them, you seek their forgiveness. And if seeking their forgiveness may lead to evil, there is no harm in leaving it, but you make du'a for them and seek forgiveness for them, and you mention them with the good you know of them in the places where you mentioned them with evil. So this becomes expiation for this.
And you must hasten before death, and before the term of your life descends upon you. You must hasten and be swift, then patience and truthfulness. Allah, (Glorified and Exalted is He), says: [Al-Imran: 135] Understand the meaning of: meaning: they did not persist in the sins, but rather they repented, regretted, and left them. [Al-Imran: 135] Then He said after this: [Al-Imran: 136] This is the reward of the repentant who abandoned [their sins] and did not persist: forgiveness and Paradise. So you, if Allah wills, are among them if you are sincere in your repentance. And success is from Allah.
The presenter: O Allah, amen.
Shaykh Abdul Aziz, the first message in this episode is one that reached us from the United Arab Emirates, sent by one of the young brothers from there.
Our brother mentions a long passage in his message, and summarizes it by saying: I have committed many sins and forbidden acts, and now I feel guilty. The reality, Your Eminence, is that he names the things in which he erred, but I have avoided mentioning them, as it is perhaps better for the program.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The presenter: And finally, he says: Guide us to the right path; for I am seeking the path to repentance, and I wish to abandon this, if Allah wills?
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 those who follow his guidance. As for what follows: O questioner! Know that the mercy of Allah is vast, and His goodness is immense, 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, (Glorified and Exalted is He). Also know that proceeding to sins is a great evil and a major corruption, and a cause for the anger of Allah. But whenever the servant repents to his Lord with a sincere repentance, Allah accepts his repentance. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked many times about a man who does such and such, and does such and such, and does such and such, of many minor and major sins, and of types of disbelief, and then repents. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) would say to him:
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 قبلهاAnd turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed.
وَتُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا 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 الأَنْهَارُperhaps
عسىAnd the conditions of repentance are three: - Regret for the past, for what you did, with sincere regret. - And abandoning the sins, rejecting them, and leaving them in the future, in obedience to Allah and in exalting Him. - And the sincere resolve not to return to them, to committing the sins. These are matters that are necessary:
First: Regret for the past from you, and sadness for what has passed from you.
Second: Abandoning and leaving these sins, whether small or large.
The 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 are owed to people. If it is retaliation, you must be able to carry out the retaliation, unless they allow the blood money. If it is wealth, you return their wealth to them, unless they allow it. If it is honor, likewise, if you spoke about their honor and backbit them, you seek their forgiveness. And if seeking their forgiveness may lead to evil, there is no harm in leaving it, but you make du'a for them and seek forgiveness for them, and you mention them with the good you know of them in the places where you mentioned them with evil. So this becomes expiation for this.
And you must hasten before death, and before the term of your life descends upon you. You must hasten and be swift, then patience and truthfulness. Allah, (Glorified and Exalted is He), 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 يُصِرُّواand [who] do not persist in what they have done while they know.
وَلَمْ يُصِرُّوا عَلَى مَا فَعَلُوا وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَThose - 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.
أُوْلَئِكَ جَزَاؤُهُمْ مَغْفِرَةٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ وَجَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا وَنِعْمَ أَجْرُ الْعَامِلِينَThe presenter: O Allah, amen.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.