Repentance

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ. الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ وَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ خَاتَمِ النَّبِيِّينَ وَعَلَى جَمِيعِ الأَنْبِيَاءِ وَالْمُرْسَلِينَ.

All Praise is due to Allah, we praise Him, and we seek help from Him. We ask forgiveness from Him. We repent to Him; and we seek refuge in Him from our own evils and our own bad deeds. Anyone who is guided by Allah, he is indeed guided; and anyone who has been left astray, will find no one to guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, the Only One without any partner; and I bear witness that Muhammad, peace and blessings on him, is His servant, and His messenger.

Dear Brothers and Sisters … السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

يَا أَيُّهَا الّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ – آل عمران:102

O you who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared and die not except in a state of Islam.

AbdAllah bin Masood (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

إِنَّ الْمُؤْمِنَ يَرَى ذُنُوبَهُ كَأَنَّهُ قَاعِدٌ تَحْتَ جَبَلٍ يَخَافُ أَنْ يَقَعَ عَلَيْهِ، وَإِنَّ الْفَاجِرَ يَرَى ذُنُوبَهُ كَذُبَابٍ مَرَّ عَلَى أَنْفِهِ ‏”‏‏.‏ فَقَالَ بِهِ هَكَذَا

ثم ذكر حديث رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم

The believer views his sins as if he was seated under a mountain fearing that it would fall upon him. And the wicked sees his sins like a fly that passes by his nose, and he drives it away like this. Then he mentioned the hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ:

لَلَّهُ أَفْرَحُ بِتَوْبَةِ عَبْدِهِ مِنْ رَجُلٍ نَزَلَ مَنْزِلاً، وَبِهِ مَهْلَكَةٌ، وَمَعَهُ رَاحِلَتُهُ عَلَيْهَا طَعَامُهُ وَشَرَابُهُ، فَوَضَعَ رَأْسَهُ فَنَامَ نَوْمَةً، فَاسْتَيْقَظَ وَقَدْ ذَهَبَتْ رَاحِلَتُهُ، حَتَّى اشْتَدَّ عَلَيْهِ الْحَرُّ وَالْعَطَشُ أَوْ مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ، قَالَ أَرْجِعُ إِلَى مَكَانِي‏.‏ فَرَجَعَ فَنَامَ نَوْمَةً، ثُمَّ رَفَعَ رَأْسَهُ، فَإِذَا رَاحِلَتُهُ عِنْدَهُ ‏

Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His servant than a man who camps at a place of doom, and he has his riding animal carrying his food and water. He then rests his head and sleeps for a bit then wakes to find his riding animal gone. (He starts looking for it) and suffers from severe heat and thirst or what Allah willed (him to suffer from). He then says, ‘I will go back to my place.’ He returns and sleeps, and then (getting up) he raises his head to find his riding animal beside him. [Sahih al-Bukhari 6308]

And Imam Muslim added in his narration from Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him)

قدْ أَيِسَ مِن رَاحِلَتِهِ، فَبيْنَا هو كَذلكَ إِذَا هو بِهَا، قَائِمَةً عِنْدَهُ، فأخَذَ بِخِطَامِهَا، ثُمَّ قالَ مِن شِدَّةِ الفَرَحِ: اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ عَبْدِي وَأَنَا رَبُّكَ، أَخْطَأَ مِن شِدَّةِ الفَرَحِ

He despaired from (finding) his riding animal, and while he was like that, he finds it standing by him, so he takes hold of its nose harness then says out of his extreme joy: Oh Allah You are my servant and I am Your lord.  He erred out of his extreme delight. [Muslim 2747a].

Allah is more joyous for the repentance of His servant to Him than that man is of the return of his riding animal when he gave up hope and despaired that he would die.

It is from the kindness of Allah Almighty upon His servants that He facilitates for them the doors of repentance and seeking forgiveness so that the sinner returns to his Lord and repents from his sins, no matter how great. The rational person should view his sins and misdeeds as described by the Shariah and should not belittle them.

And in this hadith, AbdAllah bin Masood (may Allah be pleased with him) described the state of the believer with his sins. And he compared it to a man sitting under a mountain fearing that it will fall upon him. And if a mountain falls upon him, the chances of being saved are dismal.  For the believer looks at the greatness of Allah Almighty, and His Majesty, and the Glory of His authority, His self-sufficiency from His creation, and the utter need of His creation for Him. And the slight disobedience of His Majesty is not an easy matter for the believer. For this reason, out of the fear of what he did, he views it as if he is sitting under a mountain.

While the wicked person – a reckless immoral person – belittles his sins. He even sees the most major sins as simple and trivial, as if it was a fly passing by his nose that he drives away with his hand, and the fly leaves without affecting him. Not out of the lightness of his sins, but rather due to the lightness of his Iman (faith) in Allah the Exalted.

And Allah has obligated repentance upon anyone who is aware that they have committed a sin, whether minor or major. Allah Almighty said:

یٰۤاَیُّهَا الَّذِیْنَ اٰمَنُوْا تُوْبُوْۤا اِلَی اللّٰهِ تَوْبَةً نَّصُوْحًا ؕ عَسٰی رَبُّكُمْ اَنْ یُّكَفِّرَ عَنْكُمْ سَیِّاٰتِكُمْ وَیُدْخِلَكُمْ جَنّٰتٍ تَجْرِیْ مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْاَنْهٰرُ ۙ یَوْمَ لَا یُخْزِی اللّٰهُ النَّبِیَّ وَالَّذِیْنَ اٰمَنُوْا مَعَهٗ ۚ نُوْرُهُمْ یَسْعٰی بَیْنَ اَیْدِیْهِمْ وَبِاَیْمَانِهِمْ یَقُوْلُوْنَ رَبَّنَاۤ اَتْمِمْ لَنَا نُوْرَنَا وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا ۚ اِنَّكَ عَلٰی كُلِّ شَیْءٍ قَدِیْرٌ ۟

O 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 [on] the Day when Allah will not disgrace the Prophet and those who believed with him. Their light will proceed before them and on their right; they will say, “Our Lord, perfect for us our light and forgive us. Indeed, You are over all things competent.”

And Allah Almighty said:

وَتُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ-النور: 31

An Noor 24-31: And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed.

And Allah Almighty said:

إِنَّمَا التَّوْبَةُ عَلَى اللَّهِ لِلَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ السُّوءَ بِجَهَالَةٍ ثُمَّ يَتُوبُونَ مِنْ قَرِيبٍ-

An Nisa (4) 17:  The repentance accepted by Allah is only for those who do wrong in ignorance [or carelessness] and then repent soon [after].

So every sinner is ignorant while sinning, even if he is knowledgeable.

Allah’s mercy has encompassed everything and from His mercy is that He opened the door of repentance for His servants during the night and day. And Allah loves the repentant and invites and encourages His servants to repent. So He accepts the repentance of those who repent and forgives the sins. And He is patient with the disobedient and does not hasten the punishment so that they repent and return to Him. Abu Musa Asha’ari, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

يُحَدِّثُ عَنْ أَبِي مُوسَى، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ “‏ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يَبْسُطُ يَدَهُ بِاللَّيْلِ لِيَتُوبَ مُسِيءُ النَّهَارِ وَيَبْسُطُ يَدَهُ بِالنَّهَارِ لِيَتُوبَ مُسِيءُ اللَّيْلِ حَتَّى تَطْلُعَ الشَّمْسُ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا ‏”‏

Abu Musa reported Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as saying that Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, Extends His Hand during the night so that the people may repent for the fault committed from dawn till dusk and He stretches out His Hand during the day so that the people may repent for the fault committed from dusk to dawn. (He would accept repentance) before the sun rises in the west (before the Day of Resurrection). Sahih Muslim 2759a, b. https://sunnah.com/muslim:2759a

For Allah accepts the repentance from His servants even if it is delayed after having committed the sin. For the repentance even though it was commanded immediately after sinning, Allah Almighty accepts it even if it is delayed.  So, if someone commits a sin in the day time and repents at night, Allah accepts his repentance. And if he commits a sin at night, and repents in the daytime, Allah accepts his repentance. And Allah extends His Hand to receive the repentance of the repentant out of joy for it and to accept it.

And this is the situation for people until the sun rises from the west. For if it rises from the west before the Day of Resurrection, then the door for repentance will close. Then after this milestone, no one’s repentance will be accepted. And iman (faith) will not be of benefit unless they have believed before that. And it is the meaning of Allah’s words:

يَوْمَ يَأْتِي بَعْضُ آيَاتِ رَبِّكَ لَا يَنْفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ آمَنَتْ مِنْ قَبْلُ أَوْ كَسَبَتْ فِي إِيمَانِهَا خَيْرًا

Al Anam (6) 158: The Day that some of the signs of your Lord will come no soul will benefit from its faith as long as it had not believed before or had earned through its faith some good.  

And there is another deadline for repentance, which is for a person to repent before their soul is about to exit. That is before their soul reaches their throat as Allah Almighty said:

وَلَيْسَتِ التَّوْبَةُ لِلَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ السَّيِّئَاتِ حَتَّى إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَهُمُ الْمَوْتُ قَالَ إِنِّي تُبْتُ الْآنَ-

An Nisa (4) 18: 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,” 

Perhaps the wisdom of not accepting repentance after the sun rises from the west or at the time of death is because at these times the reality is uncovered for people. And they witness the horrors that oblige them to affirm and believe in Allah and His signs. And their ruling is like that of the one who witnesses the punishment of Allah.

 As Allah Almighty said:

فَلَمَّا رَاَوْا بَاْسَنَا قَالُوْۤا اٰمَنَّا بِاللّٰهِ وَحْدَهٗ وَكَفَرْنَا بِمَا كُنَّا بِهٖ مُشْرِكِیْنَ

Ghafir. 40:84. And when they saw Our punishment, they said, “We believe in Allāh alone and disbelieve in that which we used to associate with Him.”

فَلَمْ یَكُ یَنْفَعُهُمْ اِیْمَانُهُمْ لَمَّا رَاَوْا بَاْسَنَا ؕ سُنَّتَ اللّٰهِ الَّتِیْ قَدْ خَلَتْ فِیْ عِبَادِهٖ ۚ وَخَسِرَ هُنَالِكَ الْكٰفِرُوْنَ

Ghafir. 40:85. But never did their faith benefit them once they saw Our punishment. [It is] the established way of Allāh which has preceded among His servants. And the disbelievers thereupon lost [all].

Know that the Angel of death passes by us and goes to others. And he will inevitably come to us and pass by others. For the joyous is the one who takes heed from others and prepares for meeting his Lord. And Allah Almighty has informed all creation of their passing. For Allah Almighty said:

كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَآىِٕقَةُ الْمَوْتِ ؕ وَاِنَّمَا تُوَفَّوْنَ اُجُوْرَكُمْ یَوْمَ الْقِیٰمَةِ ؕ فَمَنْ زُحْزِحَ عَنِ النَّارِ وَاُدْخِلَ الْجَنَّةَ فَقَدْ فَازَ ؕ وَمَا الْحَیٰوةُ الدُّنْیَاۤ اِلَّا مَتَاعُ الْغُرُوْرِ ۟

Al Imran (3) 185: Every soul will taste death, and you will only be given your [full] compensation on the Day of Resurrection. So he who is drawn away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise has attained [his desire]. And what is the life of this world except the enjoyment of delusion.

اِلَّا مَنْ تَابَ وَاٰمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا فَاُولٰٓىِٕكَ یُبَدِّلُ اللّٰهُ سَیِّاٰتِهِمْ حَسَنٰتٍ ؕ وَكَانَ اللّٰهُ غَفُوْرًا رَّحِیْمًا

Furqar:70. Except for those who repent, believe, and do righteous deed. For them Allah will replace their evil deeds with good. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.

وَمَنْ تَابَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَاِنَّهٗ یَتُوْبُ اِلَی اللّٰهِ مَتَابًا ۟

Furqan 25:71. And he who repents and does righteousness does indeed turn to Allah with [accepted] repentance.

We ask Allah to make us among those turn to Him and repent to Him during the day and the night. And to make us among those who delight Him with our repentance and those with whom He is pleased. Indeed, Allah is All Hearing, Answering.

I conclude with this and send prayers of blessings and peace upon our Prophet as your Lord commanded:

Allahumma Sallai Al’a Muahmmad’n wa’aila Muhammad

أَقُولُ مَا تَسْمَعُونَ وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ  لِي وَلَكُمْ مِنْ كُلِّ ذَنْبٍ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ  إِنَّهُ هُوَ الغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ