Repentance

Allāh Ta‘ālā says in Sūrah Tahrim, āyah 8:

“O you who have believed! Turn to Allāh in sincere repentance.” The mufassirīn who explained this āyah have said, “Repentance is farḍ al-‘ayn in every state and time.”

Every person has the potential to commit a crime. Those who suppress this feeling that has been placed in them as a test, and do not get involved in crime, are deemed to be good people by society. Those who succumb to their bad feelings and commit crimes are bad people. Those who admit their mistake and confess their guilt with remorse benefit from amnesty or reduction in punishment.

The situation of a person’s relation to sin is similar. Rasūlullāh (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “Every man makes a mistake; The best of those who make mistakes are those who repent a lot.”

So, what is repentance? Some scholars have described tawbah, repentance as:

“Repentance is to abandon sins because they are evil, to regret what you have done in the past, to be determined never to return to sin again, to make up for your deficiencies as much as you can.”

We can classify the sins that we need to repent from as minor and major sins:

Minor sins are sins that are at the level of makrūh, which we should not belittle but repent. Because minor sins that become habits and are committed constantly turn into major sins. Worships such as salāh, wuḍū andsadaqah are the means of forgiveness of minor sins that are not persisted. This is a blessing of Allāh Ta‘ālā to us, His servants.

In Sūrah Hūd, Allāh Ta‘ālā states, “Indeed, good deeds do away with the evil (meaning sins).” In such āyah al-karīmahs and hadīth al-sharīfs, it has been declared by the scholars that the sins that are given the good news of forgiveness are the minor sins.

As for the major sins; It is necessary to first ask for forgiveness in sins regarding other peoples rights and then to repent. A person who abandons the farḍs without an excuse and knowingly must make up (perform the qaḍā) of that farḍ first, and then repent separately because they did not perform it on time. A person who commits harām, on the other hand, has to repent and stop committing the harām.

The words “Astaghfirullāh al-‘aẓim wa atūbu ilayk”, we say with our tongue means “I ask Allāh, the Almighty, to forgive me and I am turning back from sin to you O, Rabb”. This must be said by affirming in the heart. It is more effective to recite the prayer “Sayyid al-Istighfār” by thinking of its meaning.

There is also asking for forgiveness by performing Tasbih Salāh, which helps the acceptance of repentance faster and leads to cleansing from sins quickly. As Allāh Ta‘ālā said:

“Ask help from Allāh with patience and salāh.”

When Rasūlullāh (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) was describing Tasbih Salāh to his uncle, Hadrat Abbās, he said,

“Shall I tell you a prayer, if you do it, Allāh Ta‘ālā will forgive your sins before and after, old and new, committed in mistake or knowingly, major and minor, hidden and open?”  He then taught him the TasbihSalāh.

The earliest time of repentance is the moment we are in now. For it has been said, “Those who delayed repentance are ruined.” If Tūl Amal, that is longevity, continues to distract us, we should look at events with our hearts and wake up from negligence.

Will all those who obeyed the command of Allāh that is “Return to your Rabb”,  and left this world, still not be a lesson for us?