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Repentance - By Shaykh Ashraf Salah
Repentance
By Shaykh Ashraf Salah
Dear
Muslims:
It is the best time for us, after the month of Ramadan, to
correct our deeds and begin a new life of more obedience to Allah. Allah (SWT)
says:- “Verily, Allah loves those who repent and those who purify themselves.”
(2:222).
Repentance is an obligation on every believer. Allah (SWT)
says:- “O you who believe! Turn to Allah in sincere repentance!” [66:8].
Repentance is amongst the means of attaining success. Allah
(SWT) says:- “And O believers, all of you, repent to Allah in order that you
may be successful.” [24:31].
Success is when someone gets what he is looking for and is
saved from what he is running from. The meaning of ‘
Tawbah is to turn back to Allah by abandoning all major and minor sins and to
repent to Allah from all known and unknown sins. Al-Agharr Al-Muzanee narrated
that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: “O people! Repent to Allah and seek
for His forgiveness. I repent to Him in a day 100 times.” (Reported by Muslim).
Dear
Muslims:
Through Sincere Repentance Allah (SWT) forgives sins no
matter how big they are and no matter how many they are. Allah (SWT) says:-
“Say: O My slaves who have transgressed against themselves
(because of sins), do not despair from the mercy of Allah. Verily, Allah
forgives all sins.Verily, He is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [39:53].
O my brother who has fallen into sins, do not despair from
the mercy of your Lord, for indeed the door to repentance is open until the sun
rises from the west. The Prophet (PBUH) has
also informed us that repentance can be done at any time during the day or
night:
“Verily, Allah extends His hand out at night in order to
accept the repentance of the sinner by day. And He
extends His hand during the day in order to accept the
repentance of the sinner by night, until (the day) when the sun will rise from
its west.” [Muslim]. Be aware also dear
brother, that, among the logical reasons behind Allah’s love for His slaves’s
repentance is that one of His attributes is ‘At-Tawwaab’ (the One who accepts
repentance). It indicates that Allah accepts the repentance even if sin is done
repeatedly.
To emphasize Allah’s love for the repentance of
His servant, the Prophet (PBUH) said:
“Allah is more happier when one of His
servants repents to Him than a man who was on his camel in a waterless desert
and the camel escaped from him with his food and water. When he has lost hope
of finding it, he retired to a tree and lied down under its shade. As he was
there, the camel suddenly appeared in front of him. He took hold of its halter
and said in his state of excessive joy: ‘O my Lord You are my servant and I am
Your Lord’. He uttered this erroneous statement as a result of his being
over-joyed.”(Muslim).
Dear
Muslims:
Repentance is an act of worship done by the
Prophets, Messengers and pious people. Allah (SWT) says:-
“Allah has forgiven the Prophet, the
Muhajirun (Muslim emigrants who left their homes and came to Al-Madinah) who
followed him (Muhammad) in the time of distress (Tabuk expedition, etc.), after
the hearts of a party or them had nearly deviated (from the Right Path), but He
accepted their repentance. Certainly, He is unto them full of Kindness, Most
Merciful.” (9:117).
Every Muslim, as a matter of necessity,
needs repentance every second of his life; he needs it after performing
righteous deeds or after perpetrating forbidden acts. The Almighty says:-
“Seek the forgiveness of your Lord, and
turn to Him in repentance, that He may grant you good enjoyment, for a term
appointed, and bestow His abounding Grace to every owner of grace (i.e. the one
who helps and serves needy and deserving, physically and with good words). But
if you turn away, then I fear for you the torment of a Great Day (i.e. the Day
of Resurrection).” (11:3).
Dear
Muslims:
We should
fear Allah (SWT) that
we may attain His Pleasure and Paradise and be
saved from His wrath and punishment. Allah (SWT) says:-
“ But as for him who repented (from polytheism
and sins, etc.), believed (in the Oneness of Allah and His Messenger Muhammad),
and did righteous deeds (in the life or this world), then he will be among
those who are successful.” (28:67)
We should hasten to repentance and be
consistent on that after all good deeds and bad ones. Allah (SWT) says:-
“And turn in
repentance and in obedience with true Faith (Islamic Monotheism) to your Lord
and submit to Him (in Islam), before the torment comes upon you, then you will
not be helped. And follow the best of that which is sent down to you from your
Lord (i.e. this Qur’an, do what it orders you to do and keep away from what it
forbids), before the torment comes on you suddenly while you perceive not.”
(39:54-55).
Dear
Muslims:
Sincere Repentance must meet five conditions (in order to be
accepted), which are:-
1. Remorse: for the sin that was committed, such that he is
sad he did it and wishes he had never done it.
2. Ceasing: to commit the sin immediately. If the sin was
against Allah, then he should (1) stop doing it if it was an unlawful act, or
(2) hasten to do it if it was an obligation that he abandoned doing.
And if the sin was against a human being, then he should
hasten to free himself from it, whether by returning it back to him or seeking
his forgiveness and pardon.
3. Determination: not to go back to do that sin again in the
future.
4. The repentance should not occur before the time when its
acceptance is terminated,
either by death or by the sun rising from the west. Allah
(SWT) says:-
(Repentance is of no effect for those who commit
sins constantly until when death faces one of them, he says: “Verily I repent now”). (4:18 ).
Dear
Muslims:
Muslims,
these days, are afflicted with many calamities. Many causes have however been
given for these tribulations. Some say that they are a result of the evil plan
of the enemies; some say they are the result of our economic recession and some
say they are the result of the Muslim’s industrial and technological
backwardness etc. All this are just symptoms of the ailment. The real cause of
this sorry situation is the Muslim’s negligence of their religion individually
and collectively. Allah (SWT) says:-
“(What is the matter
with you?) When a single disaster smites you, although you smote (your enemies)
with one twice as great, you say, ‘From where does this come to us?’ Say (to
them): It is from yourselves (because of your evil deeds).’ And Allah has power
over all things.” (3:165).
He also says, “Allah
will not change the condition of a people as long as they do not change their
state themselves.” (13:11 ).
Dear
Muslims:
Whenever a calamity afflicts a
community, the first step to take is to have a sincere repentance. Every Muslim
needs to have a sincere repentance. If anyone however says, ‘What is the
relevance of my personal repentance to the rectification of the Muslims’
condition?’ He should be told that the cause of all-good in this world and the
Hereafter is the obedience to Allah (SWT) and the cause of evil retribution is to disobey Him. He should also be
told that, the repentance of every individual brings greater good and reduces
calamities on the Muslims. Further, past nations were destroyed because of the
existence of many sinners and fewness of righteous people. The sin of a single individual
may destroy a whole nation. Allah (SWT) caused the people of Thamood to perish
because one of them killed the camel. Allah (SWT) says about some of the destroyed nations:-
“So We punished each (of them)
for his sins; of them were those on whom We sent a violent wind with shower of
stones, of them there were those who were overtaken by awful cry, of them were
those whom We caused the earth to swallow and of them were those whom We
drowned. It was not Allaah who wronged them, but they wronged themselves.”
(29:40).
Zainab bint Jahsh narrated that
the Messenger of Allaah (PBUH) said:
“Woe unto the Arabs because of
an impending calamity. Today the debris of the Yaajoj and Majoj has been opened
to this extent. And he demonstrated that extent by making a circle with his
index finger and the thumb. Zainab said: I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah! Are we
going to be destroyed while there are righteous people among us? The Messenger
of Allah (PBUH) said, ‘Yes, when immorality has become widespread.” (Bukhari).
Do not therefore treat the matter of repentance lightly for
it is the way out of all hardships. Hold fast unto the Book of Allah and the
Sunnah of His Messenger (PBUH) for they are the light and guidance that save
from darkness and error.
O Allah, grant us the sincere repentance
and accept it from us, verily You are the
All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. May Allah
(SWT) bless, guide and forgive us all.
(Ameen).
