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Repentance and Forgiveness
The Qurān and Sunnah speak frequently and emphatically
about the fact that a worshipper who repents and asks
forgiveness for his sins will be forgiven and will not
be asked about those sins again. In fact, Allah tells us
that those sins will be exchanged for good deeds.
Allah says: "Except those who repent and believe and
work righteous deeds, for them Allah will change their
evil deeds to good deeds, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving,
Most Merciful." [Sūrah al-Furqān: 70]
Ibn Kathīr discusses the issue of evil deeds being
changed to good deeds in his Tafsīr, saying:
There are two opinions on what it means
The second
opinion is that those evil deeds that have passed are
turned into good deeds by way of the true and sincere
repentance itself. This is because every time that
person remembers what he had done, he regrets it, feels
remorse, and seeks Allahs forgiveness. In this way, the
sin becomes an act of obedience. On the Day of Judgment,
even if he finds those sins recorded against him, they
do him no harm and are turned into good deeds on the
page of his account. This is what is established by the
Sunnah and by the statements related to us from the
Pious Predecessors.
Here is the text of that hadīth:
Allahs Messenger said: "Indeed, I know the last person
to leave the Hellfire and the last person to enter
Paradise. A man will be brought and it will
be said: Set aside his major sins and ask him only
about his minor ones. It will be said to him: On a
certain day did you do such deeds and on a certain day
did you do such a deed? He will say: Yes, unable to
deny anything of it. Then it shall be said to him: For
you is a good deed for each of those evil deeds. Then
he will say: O My Lord! I did other things that I do
not see (recorded) here!"
Thereupon Allahs Messenger (peace be upon him) laughed
until we could see his molar teeth. [Sahīh
Muslim (190)]
The human being, by nature, is prone to err. This is why
the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Every descendant
of Adam is oft to err, and the best of those who err are
those who are oft to repent." [Sunan al-Tirmidhī
(2499) and Sunan Ibn Mājah (4251)]
The Prophet (peace be upon him) also said: "If you were
to not commit sins, Allah would remove you and replace
you with a people who would commit sins and then seek
Allahs forgiveness, so Allah could forgive them." [Sahīh
Muslim (2749)]
Ibn al-Hanafiyyah relates from `Alī that the Prophet
(peace be upon him) said: "Indeed Allah loves the
believing servant who falls into trials and then
repents." [Musnad Ahmad (605, 810) with a weak
chain of transmission]
Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalānī mentions this statement in
Fath al-Bārī with the wording: The best of you are
those of you who fall into trials and then repent."
quoting it from Musnad al-Firdaws from `Alī.
Therefore, we must make ourselves upright and not pine
over our past faults. We must know that none of us are
going to gain admission into
Paradise by virtue of our deeds, but only by
Allah encompassing us with his mercy and His grace.
The believer may very well at times be weak and
indulgent. However, he does not establish himself upon a
sin and he does not persist in his heedlessness. He
neither despairs of Allahs mercy nor sees renewal as
hopeless. Instead, he resolves himself to seek Allahs
forgiveness and to follow up his evil deed with works of
righteousness. He knows for certain that Allah is the
Most Merciful of all and the best in forgiveness.
Allahs mercy encompasses all things. Allah says:
"Indeed the mercy of Allah is near to those who do
good." [Sūrah al-A`rāf: 56]
We
should resolve, then, to be from among those who do
good.
We
must make it our habit to remember Allah, to thank Him,
and to seek His forgiveness, for indeed good deeds wipe
away evil ones. If we slip and commit a sin, we must
make sure not to follow it up with another sin.
Instead, we must hasten to what is good and wipe away
the effect of that evil deed from our slate. We must
cleanse our countenance of it and remove its pain from
our souls.
The believer knows that he has no power on his own to
turn from sin to obedience, from heedlessness to
awareness, and from weakness to strength, except by the
grace of Almighty Allah. Therefore, we ask Allah, by his
grace and generosity, to turn us towards Him by his
mercy, forgive us, and not to leave us to our own
devices.
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