The bounty Allah The Almighty granted the Muslims is great and His mercy upon us is vast. He facilitated repentance for us and did not make it hard as it was for the Children of Israel as Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And [recall] when Moosa (Moses) said to his people, "O my people, indeed you have wronged yourselves by your taking of the calf [for worship]. So repent to your Creator and kill yourselves. That is best for [all of] you in the sight of your Creator."} [Quran 2:54]
Allah The Almighty made repentance easy for this favored nation and opened the gates to repentance before those who wish to enter. Moreover, He bestowed upon His slaves greater bounties and favors as He enjoined repentance upon them immediately after an act of disobedience, encouraged them to hasten to it and even loved those who repent. Allah The Exalted Says (what means):
• {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."} [Quran 39:53]
• {Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves.} [Quran 2:222]
The greatest and most important repentance is repentance of disbelief and of polytheism. Allah The Exalted Says (what means): {Say to those who have disbelieved [that] if they cease, what has previously occurred will be forgiven for them.} [Quran 8:38] After mentioning some of the heinous statements uttered by the Christians about Him, Allah Says (what means): {So will they not repent to Allah and seek His forgiveness? And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.} [Quran 5:47]
This type is followed by repentance from religious innovations, grave major sins and then of minor sins. It is the duty of man to repent of every sin whether major or minor, apparent or hidden. Texts from the Quran and the Sunnah (Prophetic tradition) as well as the consensus of scholars emphasized this issue. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed.} [Quran 24:31] Consider how Allah The Almighty combined success and victory with repentance; not only individual repentance but also collective repentance through the repentance of all people to Allah The Almighty as mentioned in the verse.
Moreover, Allah The Almighty enjoined true and sincere repentance upon us, so He Says (what means): {O you who have believed, repent to Allah with sincere repentance.} [Quran 66:8]
Al-Agharr ibn Yasaar Al-Muzani narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: "O people, repent to Allah and seek His Forgiveness. Verily, I repent to Him a hundred times a day." [Muslim] Thus, if the infallible Prophet repented to Allah The Almighty and sought His forgiveness more than a hundred times a day, then, it is even more incumbent upon us to repent to Him and seek His forgiveness because we commit sins all the time, while he was protected from committing sins and misdeeds.
Furthermore, the great bounty and favor of Allah The Almighty reached the extent that He is happy with the repentance of any of His slaves and his return to His master in spite of the fact that He does not need this; rather, He is happy because He loves to pardon and forgive. Anas ibn Maalik Al-Ansaari narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: "Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His slave than anyone of you is pleased with finding his camel which he had lost in the desert." [Al-Bukhari]
In another narration the Messenger of Allah said:
"Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His slave as he turns towards Him in repentance than one of you is upon the [return of] his camel in a waterless desert carrying his provision of food and drink and it is lost by him. Having lost all hope (to get that), he lies down in the shade and is desperate to find his camel and then he finds it [the camel] standing before him. He takes hold of its nose string and then out of boundless joy says: O Lord, You are my slave and I am Your Lord! He makes this mistake out of extreme delight." [Muslim]
Allah The Almighty opened the gate of repentance to whoever desires to return to Him and to goodness at any time, whether night or day, until the sun rises from the West. Abu Moosa ‘Abdullah ibn Qays Al-Ash‘ari narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: "Allah The Exalted stretches out His Hand during the night so that the one who committed sins during the daytime would repent and He stretches out His Hand during the day so that the one who committed sins at night would repent and that will continue (He would accept repentance) until the sun rises from the West." [Muslim]
However, when the sun rises from the West: {no soul will benefit from its faith as long as it had not believed before or had earned through its faith some good.} [Quran 6:158] In addition, Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: "Whoever repents (to the Lord) before the rising of the sun from the West, Allah will accept his repentance." [Muslim] This is a general timing for accepting the repentance of all people, yet still there is a special time for accepting the repentance of every person individually which is before experiencing the agony of death, before the soul reaches the throat. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar ibn Al Khattaab narrated that the Prophet said: "Allah The Almighty accepts the repentance of a slave before the final throes of death (that precedes death)." [At-Tirmithi] [Al-Albaani: Saheeh]
Allah The Almighty clarified this point in the Noble Quran as He Says (what means): {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.} [Quran 4:18]
It is obligatory to repent immediately after committing a misdeed; we must not delay or procrastinate because Allah The Almighty and His Messenger commanded us to repent and their orders are to be executed forthwith, because a slave does not know what may happen to him if he delays it. One may be afflicted suddenly by death, and may not get the opportunity to repent. Besides, insistence upon disobedience leads to hard-heartedness, increasing the distance between himself and Allah The Almighty and leading to weak faith. Indeed, faith increases by acts of obedience and decreases by disobedience. In addition, insistence upon disobedience makes one accustomed to it and if one's soul is accustomed to something, it is hard for it to abandon it. If a person finds it difficult to give up his sin, then the devil opens for him doors to other greater and graver sins. That is why scholars and those who pursue the straight path said that sins lead to disbelief. Man moves with sins from one stage to another until he completely abandons his religion – we ask Allah The Almighty to protect us and grant us wellbeing.
Conditions and Rulings of Repentance - II
Conditions and Rulings of Repentance - III