The ruling on fasting with the intention of repentance
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Q541: The questioner says: A woman’s son died, so she wept for him and tore her clothes. Then she wanted to repent to Allah, so some people told her: “Fast three days of every month,” and some people said: “Fast three days of the end of the lunar month.” Is this one of the conditions of repentance? And what are the conditions of repentance?
A541: It is well known that tearing clothes over a deceased person and wailing over him are matters of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. It is obligatory for the Muslim to be patient when struck by calamity and to seek reward from Allah; for Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Baqarah 2:155-157]. Therefore, it is obligatory for the Muslim to be patient and not speak except with what pleases Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). He should not tear his clothes, nor raise his voice in wailing, for this is among the matters of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. If
the questioner has repented, then that is a good thing, and good is hoped for her, and repentance is sufficient. As for fasting, she does not have to fast; rather, she has to repent to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Repentance is returning to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), and its conditions are: First: that she abandons the sin from which she is repenting, abandoning it finally. Second: that she never returns to it. Third: that she feels remorse for what happened from her. These are the conditions of repentance. If they are present, the repentance is valid and accepted by the permission of Allah, and it erases the sin that came before it. There is no fasting for the one who repents. As for one who wants to fast voluntarily, not on the occasion of repentance, the door of voluntary fasting is wide open in every month: on Monday, on Thursday, and also on the days for which fasting has been reported. But this is not the fasting of repentance; rather, it is voluntary fasting.
A541: It is well known that tearing clothes over a deceased person and wailing over him are matters of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. It is obligatory for the Muslim to be patient when struck by calamity and to seek reward from Allah; for Allah the Exalted said:
(155) And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient, (156) Who, when disaster strikes them, say, "Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return." (157) Those are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy. And it is those who are the [rightly] guided.
وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ بِشَيْءٍ مِنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِنَ الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَنْفُسِ وَالثَّمَرَاتِ وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ (155) الَّذِينَ إِذَا أَصَابَتْهُمْ مُصِيبَةٌ قَالُوا إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ (156) أُولَئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَاتٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُهْتَدُونَthe questioner has repented, then that is a good thing, and good is hoped for her, and repentance is sufficient. As for fasting, she does not have to fast; rather, she has to repent to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Repentance is returning to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), and its conditions are: First: that she abandons the sin from which she is repenting, abandoning it finally. Second: that she never returns to it. Third: that she feels remorse for what happened from her. These are the conditions of repentance. If they are present, the repentance is valid and accepted by the permission of Allah, and it erases the sin that came before it. There is no fasting for the one who repents. As for one who wants to fast voluntarily, not on the occasion of repentance, the door of voluntary fasting is wide open in every month: on Monday, on Thursday, and also on the days for which fasting has been reported. But this is not the fasting of repentance; rather, it is voluntary fasting.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.