Sincere Repentance – Part 2
Sincere Repentance – Part 2
Scholars say: Sincere Repentance is to quit sinning immediately, regret the past sins and intend to never do that sin again in the future and if anyone has a pending right or a trust, then it should be given first before tawbah.
Abdullah ibn Muqal narrated that he and his father came to Abdullah ibn Masoud and asked: You heard the Messenger, Peace Be upon Him, say that remorse is repentance? He said: Yes. He said another time: Yes, I heard him say that remorse is repentance. (Reported by ibn Majah from Hesham ibn Ammar, from Sufyan ibn Ayyaynah).
Narrated Zir ibn Hubaish that Aby ibn Ka’ab said: It was said to us that there are things that would happen during the end of this Ummah when the time for the Last Day is approaching such as men would have anal sex with their wives or slave women, which is something prohibited by Allah and His Messenger and hated by Allah and His Messenger. Men would have sex with other men, which is something prohibited by Allah and His Messenger and hated by Allah and His Messenger, Women would have sex with other women which is something prohibited by Allah and His Messenger and hated by Allah and His Messenger. The prayers of those people are not accepted as long as they continue these actions until they repent to Allah sincerely. Zir said: (I told Aby ibn Ka’ab, ‘what is sincere repentance?’ He said, I asked Allah’s Messenger, Peace Be upon Him and He said ‘It is regretting when you sin, so you seek the forgiveness of Allah by regretting the sin immediately and never go back to that sin again.’)
Abu Amr ibn al-Alaa said I heard al-Hassan saying: Sincere repentance is to hate the sin as much as you used to love it and ask forgiveness from Allah when you remember for committing that sin. When you intend to repent and insist on keeping the repentance, then it will wipe out all the previous sins as verified in the Sahih or authenticated prophetic saying: “Islma wipes out all past sins and Tawbah wipes out all past sins.”
One of the conditions of sincere repentance is maintaining the tawbah by avoiding sins till death, as proven in the prophetic sayings and traditions, then he should not commit that sin again.
Or it is enough to intend never to do that sin again, and if he does, it would not nullify the removal of former sins because of the general statement given by the Prophet, Peace Be upon Him: “Tawbah wipes out all past sins.”
The first opinion might disagree by quoting the hadith narrated on the authority of Abdullah b. Mas'ud: We once said: “Messenger of Allah, would we be held responsible for our deeds committed in the state of ignorance? The Prophet, Peace Be upon Him, said: He who did good deeds in Islam would not be held responsible for what he did in the state of ignorance, but he who committed evil (after having come within the fold of Islam) would be held responsible for his previous and later deeds.” If this is in Islam which is stronger than Tawbah, then Tawbah should be maintained to be accepted as mentioned in the first opinion and Allah knows best.
