Are there warriors of repentance?
Of course, there are!
When the soul responds to the temptation of disobedience and sin, the confrontation will be fierce in the battlefield of the soul to refine it by taking the road to repentance. When one finds that the road to repentance is full of hardship and trials that dissuade the repentant person from going ahead, then there will be a fierce battle over steadfastness and adherence to the truth and principles.
Certainly, all this needs a warrior who forces himself to uproot evil from his soul, and continue with his repentance resisting all distractions with strength and determination.
However, the soul always seeks to know the objectives of whatever it does in order to be motivated and eager to achieve its goal. Hence, we will try in this article to provide the youth with the factors that encourage them to take the road to repentance and be warriors in its battlefield by the permission of Allah The Almighty.
Why should you repent?
There is countless evidence in the Quran and the Sunnah (Prophetic tradition) proving that repentance is obligatory, and the entire religion is included in the concept of repentance. Therefore, Allah The Almighty loves the repentant person. Everyone commits sins by nature, and this necessitates renewing repentance to Allah The Almighty as many times as one breathes. Have you not heard the Quranic verses in which Allah The Almighty Says (what means):
* {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."} [Quran 66:8]
* {…. And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed.} [Quran 24:31]
We should repent to Allah The Almighty and return to Him in all circumstances, because repentance has many benefits. I swear if we realized the benefits and merits of repentance no one would ever leave it. These benefits and merits include:
- Repentance entitles one to the love of the Lord. Did you comprehend what I am saying? I said: repentance entitles one to the love of the Lord!
Dear young man and woman, do you remember all the sins and misdeeds that you committed? Do you remember the fancies and evil desires that you followed? Do you remember when you did such-and-such? If you repent to Allah The Almighty, you would win His love!
I do not say that you will win the love of a king or a minister, but the love of the King of The Kings, and the One to Whose greatness all creatures submit, and all hearts feel awestruck. However, He addresses the repentant people Saying (what means): {…. Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and Loves those who purify themselves.} [Quran 2:222]
- Do you know what will happen when Allah The Almighty loves you? Listen to the Prophet who said: “When Allah loves a slave, He calls out Jibreel and Says, `I love so-and-so; so love him.’ Then Jibreel loves him. After that, Jibreel announces to the inhabitants of the heavens that Allah loves so-and-so; so love him; and the inhabitants of the heavens (the angels) also love him and then acceptance is put for him on earth (people too love him).” [Al-Bukhari on the authority of Abu Hurayrah ]
- Repentance illuminates the heart and removes the traces of sins. Do you imagine the condition of those who commit sins day and night; those who do not observe prayer or read the Book of Allah The Almighty; those who are undutiful to their parents forgetting that Allah The Exalted gets angry at whoever angers his parents; those who spend nights speaking with non-Mahram (marriageable) girls ignoring the fact that Allah The Almighty sees and hears them from above seven heavens? What is their condition? They live in worry, sadness and pain…
When you ask one of them why he is so distressed and worried, he will say, “I do not know.”
However, Allah The Almighty told us when He Says (what means): {And whoever turns away from My remembrance - indeed, he will have a depressed life, and We will gather him on the Day of Resurrection blind." He will say, "My Lord, why have you raised me blind while I was [once] seeing?"} [Quran 20:124-125]
After we know the factors that lead to repentance, let me tell you about the great reward of repentance.