The Importance of Repentance in the Light of Quran and Hadith.


✍🏻By Muhammad Aadil Arariavi

۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔


Dear Readers! Man is composed of error and forgetfulness. No human can claim that they cannot make a mistake, that no sin can be committed by them. Except for the Prophets, no human is infallible. Mistakes, errors, and sins can happen to anyone, and they do happen.

It is not surprising that sins happen, but it is surprising and a great sin to insist on sins and to persist in them. As soon as a person commits a sin, whether knowingly or through negligence and carelessness, it is obligatory for them to immediately regret it, repent and seek forgiveness, and pledge not to commit that sin again.

Sincerely seeking forgiveness from Allah Almighty for one's sins and making a firm commitment to avoid them in the future is called repentance. Along with the temptations of the self and Satan, the element of forgetfulness is also found in man, so he turns away from the commands of Allah Almighty, the blessed ways of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and the pure teachings of Islamic Sharia. Sometimes due to carnal desires, sometimes due to satanic whispers, sometimes due to a bad environment, sometimes due to ignorance and lack of knowledge, bad deeds are committed by him. These are the factual realities that we all often encounter.

It is a matter of regret, rather, it should be said that it is a matter of great regret that the society in which we are being raised is losing the knowledge of the religion, Islamic civilization and culture, ethics and manners, and the sense of servitude and humanity. Therefore, restlessness is constantly increasing in the society. Today, mutual hatred, आपसी disagreements, distances, and fights, immorality, bad habits and manners, and foreign culture are flourishing in our homes and in all walks of life. This is a common tragedy for all of us, which we keep lamenting, but we do not practically try to get rid of this calamity.

Due to distance from knowledge, bad deeds, immorality, unrest, bad manners, ignorance, and social crimes, the entire society has become a criminal as a nation. In such circumstances, the need to correct our environment is greater than ever before. There is an urgent need to bring humanity, which is rebellious against Allah Almighty, closer to Allah's grace, favor, kindness, and mercy. It has to be taken out of the swamp of sins and put on the highway of obedience and submission, which is the highway that leads straight to Paradise.

For this, one of the basic qualities that are needed is that the feeling of evil and regret over it, sin and shame over it, should be alive in the hearts. This feeling motivates a person to repent, encourages them to do good, and makes them walk on the Sharia. To keep this, it will be necessary to take stock of our lives as to how much our life is in accordance with the Sharia and how much is against the Sharia?

When a servant commits a sin, then confesses it and repents and seeks forgiveness, then Allah Almighty accepts his repentance, and it is a great blessing and good fortune for any servant that there is more and more repentance and seeking forgiveness in his book of deeds.

If the same sin is committed again after repentance, then one should repent again. If the sin is committed again and again, then one should repent again and again and should never despair of the mercy of Allah and should not think that I repent, then I commit a sin again, now will Allah Almighty forgive me? Such thinking is inappropriate; despair from the mercy of Allah leads to disbelief.

لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ

Do not despair of the mercy of Allah.

If our life is going on the path that Allah and His Messenger want, then it is a place of gratitude, and if, God forbid, our life is going on any dangerous path prescribed by Satan, then it is a place of concern.

Everyone can look into their own conscience and hear the verdict of their conscience. The circumstances, events, and ground realities show that the entire Muslim Ummah is badly trapped in the whirlpool of sins at this time. There is a storm of bad deeds that is carrying away our broken good deeds. Our good deeds are also being erased due to some major sins, so we have to create a feeling within ourselves so that we are blessed with the ability to repent.

When repentance is made, pure repentance is made, there is a firm determination not to commit sin in the future, but if, God forbid, after being tempted by the self, sin is committed again, then do not sit silently, then repent again, and whenever this happens, then repent, ask Allah for forgiveness of your sins, Allah is Forgiving, Merciful, He will forgive sins, He will forgive again and again, even if the amount of sins becomes equal to the expanse of the heavens and the earth, and He will also be happy that my servant is hopeful of my forgiveness and knows that I am Forgiving, Merciful, I am the one who forgives sins.

If a person repents sincerely, then Allah Almighty, with His mercy and grace, makes the angels forget, makes the organs forget, makes the earth forget, and erases it from the book of deeds. One gets rid of worldly and hereafter calamities and troubles because of this repentance. It has become well known from this how much we need repentance.

It is a matter of thought that the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, despite being infallible from sins, used to repent and seek forgiveness a hundred times a day, and we, like sinners, drowned in errors, immersed in sins, do not even think of repentance, while the door of repentance is open, Allah's mercy and forgiveness are waiting for us, but we are such that we do not come forward to fill our skirts with Allah's mercy and forgiveness.

Those who repent more are beloved to Allah. Allah Almighty says: إِنَّ اللهَ يُحِبُّ التَّوَّابِينَ.

(Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse No. 222)

Translation: Indeed, Allah loves those who repent much.

Successes are achieved through repentance, Allah Almighty says: وَتُوبُوا إِلَى اللهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ۔

(Surah An-Nur, Verse No. 31)

Translation: O you who have believed, repent to Allah all together that you may be successful.

Prophetic guidance is:

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةً رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ، قَالَ لَوْ أَخْطَأْتُمْ حَتَّى تَبْلُغَ خَطَايَاكُمُ السَّمَاءِ، ثُمَّ تُبْتُمْ لَتَابَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكُمْ.

Hazrat Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: If your evils and bad deeds become so many that they reach the sky, even then if you repent, Allah Almighty will accept your repentance.

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Chapter on Mentioning Repentance, Hadith No. 4248)

There are three conditions for repentance.

1 First of all, give up that sin.

2 Seek forgiveness from Allah with remorse.

3 And make a firm determination not to do it again in the future.

May Allah Almighty grant us the ability to repent and accept our repentance as well. Amen, then Amen, O Lord of the Worlds.