❸Repentance Prayer (Salat At-Tawbah)
How to perform it?
It
is of two prayer units. After finishing it, the praying person seeks
forgiveness of Allah using any text.
●Abu Bakr reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying:
“There is no man who commits a sin, then stands for
purification, performs prayer, and seeks forgiveness from Allah, except that
Allah forgives him.”
Then he recited this verse ﴾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 do not persist in what they have done while they know﴿
Chapter of Family of Imran. Verse NO
135
Reference: Jami' At-Tirmidhi.
Book 47, Hadith 3276
●Musa ibn Talha reported: Abu Al-Yasar said:
“A woman
came to me selling dates. I said to her: ‘There are better dates than these in
the house.’
So she entered the house with me.
I had an urge for her, so I began
kissing her.
I went to Abi-Bakr and mentioned that to him, so he said, ‘Cover what
you have done, repent, do not inform anyone, and never do it again.’
I couldn’t
wait and I went to 'Umar
and mentioned that to him.
He said, ‘Cover what you have done, repent, do not
inform anyone, and never do it again.’
I couldn’t wait and I went to the
Prophet and mentioned it to him.
He said: ‘Is
this how you take care of the wife of someone who is away fighting in Allah’s
cause?’”
Such that Abu Al-Yasar wished that he had not accepted
Islam until that very time, and he thought that he must be one of the people of
the Fire.
He said: “The Messenger of Allah bowed his head for a long time until
Allah revealed to him: ﴾And perform prayer at the two ends of
the day and in some hours of the night. Verily, the good deeds remove the evil
deeds. That is a reminder for the mindful﴿
Chapter of Hud. Verse NO 114 .
So I went to him and the Messenger of Allah
recited it for me.
A companion of his said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! Is this
specific, or is it for the people in general?’
He said: ‘Rather it is for the people in general.’”
Reference: Jami' At-Tirmidhi.
Book 47, Hadith 3403
Repentance and repenters
Talking
about repentance is broad, because it is human nature to err. So, it is
necessary to seek Allah’s forgiveness and repent. This began from the time of
Adam who admitted his error and sought Allah’s forgiveness.
﴾They said, “Our Lord, we have wronged
ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers﴿
Chapter
of the Heights. Verse NO 23
Sins are of two types:
*Minor
sins.
*Major sins.
*Major sins.
Minor sins
They
are like being lazy about returning the greetings, competing with the weak in
crowdedness, mocking any person, attending a gathering of backbiting without
defending the absent person’s honor, and neglect of mentioning the name of
Allah intentionally upon eating, drinking, or any other acts, etc.
۞The Prophet warned us that if the Devil despaired of
trapping us in major sins, he would wait for us to commit minor sins.
●The Prophetﷺ said on the occasion of the Farewell
Pilgrimage, “The Devil has despaired of being
worshipped in this land of yours, but he has accepted to be obeyed in things
other than that, from your deeds which you undervalue.” [Muslim].
Minor
sins, whatever they are, are guilts.
It
is normal as you react with society that you fall in committing these minor
sins. The important thing is that you do not enjoy them; instead, you try as
much as possible to avoid them. If you could not do so, then you should keep on
removing them by good deeds.
◊ One of the righteous forefathers said, “Do not care
whether the sin is minor or major, but care about the power of Whom you
disobeyed.”
◊Another one said, “If you think, upon disobeying
Allah, that He sees you, indeed, you have dared to a great matter.
And if you
think that He does not see you, you have become an infidel.
And if you disobey
Allah and He Has not uncovered you and has not punished you, be careful, He
gives you a respite for a while.”
You
should also be shy of the Prophet whom you will meet on the Day of Resurrection
and ask to intercede for you.
Dealing with minor sins:
The
prophet guides you in his traditions to the things by which you remove your
sins regularly:
Ablution
removes the sins of limbs, the five prayers expiate your sins committed between
them, every utterance of glory to Allah is alms, every utterance of praise
of
Thus,
as long as you are alive you should, at least, make your merits and demerits
equal.
Major sins
The
talk about them is long and the talk about their punishment is terrifying and
frightening, whether it is mentioned in the Holy Qur'an or in the Prophetic Sunnah.
Avoiding
major sins is much easier than getting Allah’s forgiveness for them.
Examples of major sins:
Disobedience to parents, magic, murder, forged
speech, usury, devouring the property of orphans, causing harm to a neighbour,
theft, adultery, slander, and fleeing from the battlefield at the time of
fighting.
Major sins have been mentioned in the Holy
Qur'an with severe
punishments:
God
says ﴾And he who associates with Allah – it is as though he had fallen from the
sky and was snatched by the birds or the wind carried him down into a remote
place﴿
Chapter of Pilgrimage.
Verse NO 31
﴾Indeed, the hypocrites will be in the
lowest depths of the Fire and never will you find for them a helper﴿
Chapter of Women. Verse NO 145
﴾And do not approach adultery. Indeed,
it is ever an immorality and is evil as a way﴿
Chapter of the Night Journey. Verse NO 32
﴾Whoever kills a believer intentionally – his recompense is Hell, wherein he
will abide eternally. And Allah has become angry with him, has cursed him, and
has prepared for him a great punishment﴿ Chapter of Women. Verse NO 93
﴾Indeed, those who devour the property of orphans unjustly
are only consuming into their bellies fire. And they will be burned in a Blaze﴿
Chapter of Women. Verse NO 10
As for fleeing from the battlefield:
﴾And whoever turns his back to them on such a day, unless
swerving [as a
strategy] for war or joining [another] company, has certainly returned with anger [upon him] from Allah, and his refuge is Hell- and wretched is the
destination﴿
Chapter of the Spoils of War. Verse NO 16
Also in the Prophetic Traditions
●It was narrated from Ma'qil ibn Yasaar that the Messenger of Allah said, “If any ruler having the authority to rule Muslim
subjects dies while he is deceiving them, Allah will forbid Paradise for him.”
Reference: Sahih
Al-Bukhari. Book 93, Hadith 15
●Abu-Bakra reported: Allah’s Apostle ﷺ said thrice:
“Shall I
not inform you of the greatest of
the major sins?”
We said, “Yes, O Allah’s Apostle.”
He said, “Associating anyone with Allah in worship, disobedience
to parents, and false testimony or false
utterance.”
The Prophet kept on saying that warning till we
thought that he would not stop.
Reference: Sahih
Al-Bukhari. Book 78, Hadith 7
●It was narrated from Abi-Dharr that the Prophet ﷺ said,
“There are three (types of people) to
whom Allah will not speak on the Day of Resurrection nor will He look at them
or purify them, and theirs will be a painful punishment:
The one who lets his
garment hang beneath his ankles (of arrogance), the one who
reminds another of what he has given him, and the one who sells his product by
means of false oaths.”
Reference: Sunan Ibn
Majah. Book 12, Hadith 2292
● It was narrated from Abi Hurairah that the Messenger
of Allahﷺ said, “There are three (types of) people to whom Allah will not speak on the Day of
Resurrection, nor will He purify them, nor look at them, and they will have a
painful punishment.
These are: an aged adulterer, a liar ruler, and a proud
poor person.”
Reference: Sahih Muslim. Book 1, Hadith 202
Allah may forgive the one who repents
God
says ﴾If you avoid the major sins which you are forbidden from, We will remove
from you your lesser sins and admit you to a noble entrance [into Paradise]﴿
Chapter
of Women. Verse NO 31
◊ Devils from mankind and Jinn make all types of sins
easy for their brothers on the basis that Allah forgives sins and He is
Forgiving and Merciful.
This is a great danger and misunderstanding; the one
who speculates the verses of the wise remembrance (the Qur'an) finds that punishment is mentioned before
forgiveness in three situations and that Allah does not give mercy except to
the pious:
۞In
Chapter of the Table: ﴾Know that
Allah is severe in penalty and that Allah is Forgiving and Merciful﴿
Verse NO 98
۞In
Chapter of the Cattle ﴾Indeed, your
Lord is swift in penalty, but indeed, He is Forgiving and Merciful﴿ Verse NO 165
۞In
Chapter of the Heights ﴾Indeed, your
Lord is swift in penalty, but indeed, He is Forgiving and Merciful﴿ Verse NO 167
─ While He
mentioned mercy before punishment in two situations:
۞In
Chapter of the Rocky Tract ﴾[O Muhammad], inform My servants that it is I who am the Forgiving, the Merciful (49) And that is My
punishment which is the painful punishment﴿(50)
۞In
Chapter of the Cattle ﴾So if they deny you, [O Muhammad], say: “Your Lord is the possessor of vast mercy, but His
punishment cannot be repelled from the people who are criminals﴿ Verse NO 147
¨The
Prophet has emphasized that he cannot state that everyone who seeks Allah’s
forgiveness, Allah will surely forgive him.
God says ﴾Say, “I am not something original among
the messengers, nor do I know what will be done with me or with you. I only
follow that which is revealed to me, and I am not but a clear warner﴿ Chapter
of the Winding Sand-Tracts. Verse NO 9
●Um Al-'Ala
reported:
The Emigrants (Al-Muhaajireen) were distributed amongst us by
drawing lots and we got 'Uthman ibn Madh'un in our share.
We made him stay with
us in our house.
Then he suffered from a disease which proved fatal.
When he
died and was given a bath and was shrouded in his clothes, Allah’s Apostle
came.
I said (addressing the dead body), “O Aba As-Sa'ib! May Allah be Merciful
to you! I testify that Allah has honored you.”
Allah’s Apostle said, “How do you know that Allah has honored him?”
I replied, “Let my
father be sacrificed for you, O Allah’s Apostle! On whom else shall Allah
bestow His honor?”
Allah’s Apostle said, “As for
him, by Allah, death has come to him.
By Allah, I wish him all good (from Allah). By Allah, in
spite of the fact that I am Allah’s Apostle, I do not know what Allah will do
to me.”
Um Al-'Ala added, “By
Allah, I will never assert the piety of anybody after that.”
Reference:
Sahih Al-Bukhari. Book 91, Hadith 21
A mistake is probable and confession of it is a must
◊Adam and Hawa
made a mistake and confessed it, so Allah forgave them.
◊Muslims made a
mistake in the Battle of Uhud and repented, so Allah forgave them.
◊The three men who absented themselves from the Battle
of Tabook (Ka'b ibn
Malik, Hilal ibn 'Umaiyah,
and Muraarah ibn Ar-Rabi')
made a mistake. The Prophet made them isolated by ordering Muslims to boycott
them for fifty days till Allah forgave them.
But
he who insists on his mistake and does not confess it, no forgiveness or mercy
for him.
This has happened when Iblis refused to prostrate and said: ﴾I am better than him. You created me from fire and
created him from clay﴿, so
Allah replied: ﴾And indeed,
upon you is My curse until the Day of Recompense﴿
Allah’s mercy upon Muhammad’s Ummah
①He has not hastened the immediate punishment for us in this world.
●It was narrated
from Abi-Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ
said: “Allah will not accept the excuse of any
person whose instant of death is delayed till he is sixty years of age.”
Reference:
Sahih Al-Bukhari. Book 81, Hadith 8
●It was narrated
from Abi-Musa that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ
said,
“Allah gives respite to the oppressor,
then when He seizes him, He does not let him go.”
Then he recited ﴾And thus is the seizure
of your Lord when He seizes the towns while they are committing wrong. Indeed,
His seizure is painful and severe﴿ Chapter
of Hud. Verse NO 102
Reference:
Sahih Muslim. Book 45, Hadith 79
②We are not accountable for what is going on in our souls.
● It was narrated
from Abi-Hurairah that the Messenger of Allahﷺ
said: “Allah has forgiven my followers for the
evil thoughts that occur to their minds, as long as such thoughts are not put
into action or uttered.”
Reference:
Sahih Al-Bukhari. Book 68, Hadith 19
③Giving occasions for repentance
●It was narrated
from Abi-Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ
said: “The five (daily) prayers, from one Friday prayer to the (next) Friday prayer, and from Ramadan to Ramadan are
expiations for the (sins) committed in between (their intervals),
provided that the major sins are not committed.”
Reference:
Sahih Muslim. Book 1, Hadith 130
Conditions and pillars of repentance
①Giving
up sins.
②Regret for what happened in the past.
③Returning
rapidly to Allah.
④Dissociation
from places of disobedience and their visitors.
God 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﴿
Chapter of the
Family of Imran. Verse NO 135
⑤Not
publicizing or feeling proud of committing sins, because this encourages the
others to commit them.
God says ﴾Indeed, those who like that immorality should be publicized
among those who have believed will have a painful punishment in this world and
the Hereafter﴿
Chapter of light.
Verse NO 19
●Abu Hurairah
reported: I heard the Prophet ﷺ say,
“All the people of my nation will get pardon for their
sins except those who publicize them.
And (it means) that a servant does a deed at night, which Allah has
covered for him, and in the morning he says
(to people): ‘I committed such and
such sin last night.’ While Allah has kept it a secret. During the night Allah
has covered it up, but in the morning he tears up the cover provided by Allah
Himself.”
Reference: Sahih Muslim.
Book 55, Hadith 68
⑥Publicizing
repentance before those you have previously publicized your sins before.
This is the most difficult condition of repentance, as
many people find it hard to change their opinions which their supporters have
followed. But achieving this condition is a must.
'Umar ibn Al-Khattab says, “The return to the truth is
better than persistence in falseness.”
⑦Giving
rights back to their owners.
There
are two types of the rights:
a) Allah’s rights
He who drinks wine, violates fasting in Ramadan, or
abuses Allah and His Messenger, his repentance will be by a lot of seeking
Allah’s forgiveness, remembrance of Allah, reciting the Holy Qur'an, and
following Allah’s commands.
And perhaps Allah wants
If this person is patient, Allah will
expiate his sins.
●Abu Hurairah reported: The Messenger of Allah visited a
man who was ill, so he said,
“Cheer up, for indeed Allah said: ‘It is My Fire which I impose
upon My sinning servant as his portion of the Fire.’”
Reference: Jami' At-Tirmidhi.
Book 28, Hadith 2232
●It was narrated from Abi-Sa'id Al-Khudri (May Allah be pleased with him) that the
Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
“Nothing
afflicts the believer, whether fatigue, grief, disease ─ even a worry that concerns him ─ except that by it Allah
removes something from his bad deeds.”
Reference: Jami' At-Tirmidhi.
Book 10, Hadith 2
●It was narrated
from Abi-Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ
said: “Trials will not cease afflicting the
believing man and the believing woman in their self, children, and wealth,
until they meet Allah without having any sin.”
Reference: Jami' At-Tirmidhi.
Book 36, Hadith 97
●Yahya ibn Saᶦid reported:
Death came to a man in the time of the
Messenger of Allah. A man said: “He was fortunate; he died without being tried
by illness.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Alas for you, what will let you know that if Allah had tried
him with illness, He would have wiped out his wrong actions.”
Reference: Malik in AL-Muattaᶦ.
Book 50, Hadith 1721
b) Servants’ rights
They are imprescriptible, no matter the
number of years pass.
The one who oppresses people must give their rights back
to them, because they will wait him on the Day of Judgment to take his merits
or give him their sins by which he will be burned in Hell.
●Abu-Hurairah reported that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Do you know who is the bankrupt?”
They
said: “The
bankrupt among us is the one who has neither money with him nor any property.”
He said, “The real bankrupt of my nation (Ummah)
is the one who comes on the Day of Judgment with
prayers, fasts and obligatory charity, but he comes having abused this one,
falsely accusing that one, unlawfully consuming the wealth of this one,
spilling the blood of that one, and beating this one.
So his merits are
credited to the account of those (who
suffered at his hands).
And if his merits are
exhausted before they clear the account, then their sins will be entered in his
account and he will be thrown in the Hell.”
Reference: Sahih Muslim.
Book 45, Hadith 77
●It was narrated from Abi-Hurairah that the Messenger of
Allah ﷺ said, “Whoever
has oppressed another person concerning his reputation or anything else, he
should beg him to forgive him before the Day of Resurrection when there
will be no money (to compensate for wrong deeds).
But if he has good deeds, those good
deeds will be taken from him according to his oppression which he has done, and
if he has no good deeds, the sins of the oppressed person will be loaded on
him.”
Reference: Sahih
Al-Bukhari. Book 46, Hadith 10
●It was narrated from Ibn 'Abbas that the Prophet ﷺ said,
“On the Day of Judgment, the murdered will come with the
murderer’s scalp and his head in his hand, and his jugular vein flowing blood
saying: ‘O Lord! This one killed me!’ Until he comes close to the Throne.”
So they mentioned repentance to Ibn 'Abbas and he recited this verse: ﴾And whoever kills a believer
intentionally then his recompense is Hell﴿
Chapter of Women. Verse NO 93
He said: “This verse was not abrogated nor
replaced, so from where is his repentance?”
Reference: Jami' At-Tirmidhi.
Book 47, Hadith 3303
Verses of the Holy Qur'an interpret each
other in the topic of repentance:
1] Allah has mentioned that all His servants’ sins are
forgivable if the servant stands before His gate seeking His forgiveness:
﴾Say, “O My servants who
have transgressed against themselves
[by sinning], do
not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it
is He Who is the Forgiving, the Merciful﴿ Chapter of the Crowds. Verse NO 53
2] But He has excluded one sin that He does not forgive.
He has suspended forgiveness of sins, which are less than it, on His will.
God
says ﴾Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what
is less than that for whom He wills. And he who associates others with Allah
has certainly fabricated a tremendous sin﴿
Chapter of Women. Verse NO 48
3]
Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, has clarified that acceptance of repentance has
two conditions:
◊ Ignorance of
the sin.
◊ Rapid
repentance after committing the sin.
﴾The repentance accepted by Allah is only for those who do
wrong in ignorance and then repent soon after. It is those to whom Allah will
turn in forgiveness, and Allah is ever Knowing and Wise﴿
Chapter of Women.
Verse NO 17
There are cases in which Allah never accepts repentance:
①When major signs of the Hour of Judgment occur:
The descent of
the False Christ, rising of the sun from the west, and emergence of the Beast.
●It was narrated
from Abi-Musa (May Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Allah,
the Exalted, stretches His Hand in the night so that who commits sins by day
may repent, and He stretches His Hand in the day so that who commits sins by
night may repent. He keeps doing so until the sun rises from the west.”
Reference:
Riyad As-Saaliheen. Book 1, Hadith 437
[Muslim]
●It was narrated
from Abi-Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ
said, “There are three things, when they appear,
a soul will not benefit from its faith if it has not believed before the signs:
the False Christ, the Beast, and the rising of the sun from the west.”
Reference: Jami' At-Tirmidhi.
Book 47, Hadith 3351
②Those who die while
they are infidels, i.e., they did not utter the two testimonies.
God
says ﴾Indeed, those who disbelieved and averted [people] from the way of Allah and then died
while they were disbelievers ─ never will Allah forgive them﴿
Chapter of Muhammad. Verse NO 34
﴾Indeed, those who disbelieve and die
while they are disbelievers ─ never would the [whole] capacity of the earth in gold be
accepted from one of them if he would [seek to] ransom himself with it. For those there
will be a painful punishment, and they will have no helpers﴿
Chapter of
the Family of Imran. Verse NO 91
﴾And whoever of you reverts from his
religion [to
disbelief] and dies while he is a disbeliever ─ for those, their deeds
have become worthless in this world and the Hereafter, and those are the
companions of the Fire, they will abide therein eternally﴿
Chapter of the Heifer. Verse NO 217
●It was narrated from Abi-Hurairah that Allah’s Apostle
ﷺ said,
“By Him in Whose hand is
the life of Muhammad, he who amongst the community of Jews or Christians hears
about me, but does not believe in that with which I have been sent and dies in
this state (of
disbelief), he shall be but one of the
people of Hell-Fire.”
Reference: Sahih
Muslim. Book 1, Hadith 293
③Those who disobey Allah during their lifetime, and then they repent at the time of dying.
God says ﴾But repentance is not [accepted] of
those who [continue to] do
evil deeds up until, when death comes to one of them, he says: “Indeed, I have
repented now.”, or of those who die while they are disbelievers. For them We
have prepared a painful punishment﴿ Chapter
of Women. Verse NO 18
●It was narrated from Ibn 'Umar that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Indeed,
Allah accepts the repentance of a servant as long as (his soul does not reach
his throat).”
Reference: Jami' At-Tirmidhi.
Book 48, Hadith 168
۞As for Pharao ﴾When drowning overtook him, he said, “I
believe that there is no god except that in whom the children of Israel
believe, and I am of the Muslims﴿
This verse
replied to him ironically ﴾Now? And you had disobeyed [Him] before and were of the corrupters?﴿
Chapter of Jonah
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