REPENTANCE
All praise is for Alláh, the Bestower, the Most Merciful and the Acceptor of Repentance. Who created man from dirt and equipped him with the ability to fulfill his obligations, by providing him with the necessary intellectual abilities. I testify with no doubt whatsoever, that there is no god worthy of worship except Alláh Alone, having no partner with Him. I testify that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger to whom the Book of Alláh was revealed as a guide and reminder for those who have reasoning. May peace and blessings be upon him, his family, his Companions and everyone that follows their guidance and in their footsteps until the Day of Returning.
O people, fear Allah(swt) and repent to Him, for He indeed loves those who repent. Seek His forgiveness for your sins, as He is the Oft-Forgiving. Do so with pure intentions, stopping your sins immediately, regretting them, and determining to never go back to them again. This is the penance that Allah(swt) ordered you to perform; He said:
“O you who believe! Tum to AIIah with sincere repentance! It may be that your Lord will expiate from you your sins, and admit you into Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise).” (66:8)
Thus, repentance is not one’s saying: “I repent to Alláh,” or “O Allah(swt) forgive me!” while at the same time one insists on sinning, being careless about the sin he has committed or intends again to go against AIIáh’ s commandments.
O people, repent to Alláh before it is too late-when the doors of Repentance are shut before you. Alláh keeps the doors of repentance open for man until the time of his death when his soul reaches his throat (upon separation from the body), after which his penance will not be accepted. Allah(swt) says:
“Alláh accepts only the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and foolishness and repent soon afterwards; it is they whom Alláh will forgive and Alláh is Ever AlI-Knower, All- Wise. And of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil deeds until death faces one of them and he says: ‘Now I repent;’ nor of those who die while they are disbelievers. For them We have prepared a painful torment.”(4: 17,18)
O Muslims! Rush to repentance, for you do not know when you will be surprised by death or the chastisement of Almighty Alláh! Alláh(swt) says:
“Did the people of the towns then feel secure against the coming of Our punishment by night while they were asleep? Or, did the people of the towns then feel secure against the coming of Our punishment in the forenoon while they were playing? Did they then feel secure against the Plan of Alláh? None feels secure from the Plan of Alláh except the people who are the losers.” (7:97-99)
O servants of Allah! Do you feel that you can escape the Plan of Alláh While He bestows his favors upon you, you continue to be rebellious and disobedient. Do you not notice the world around you and what happened to those who kept sinning until Allah(swt) afflicted them with hardship and tribulations in their life. Many parts of the world have been afflicted with famine, floods, and Jack of crops and rain; yet the thinkers and intellectuals of the world are trying to study the options of food provision for the world’s population. Does this not deter you? Certainly Allah(swt) respites the oppressor until, when it is time, He seizes him with a firm grip. Alláh says:
“Such is the Seizure of your Lord when He seizes the (population of) towns while they are doing wrong. Verily, His Seizure is painful (and) severe.” (11: 102)
The worst punishment in this life is hardness of the heart. Many people have hard hearts these days. They hear the admonishing advice and read the admonishing and impressive Ayat from the Book of Allah(swt) and the Sunnah of the Prophet ss, yet they do not listen and their hearts are not even touched. The best among them would only be touched just at the moment of listening and understanding such admonishment, but after a while the impact recedes, and heedlessness prevails again. Then they are back again to business as usual. For instance, they hear the warning regarding those who do not pray or if they pray, they are careless about their prayers. Allah(swt) says:
“Then, there has succeeded them a posterity who have given up As-Salát (the prayers) [i.e., made their Salát (prayers) to be lost, either by not offering them or by not offering them perfectly or by not offering them in their proper fixed times] and have followed lusts. So they will be thrown into Hell. Except those who repent.” (19:59,60)
Yet they do not repent, just as they had never heard anything to that effect. They would hear the Áyat warning those who fail to pay their Zakát dues or if they do pay it, they pay with the worst of their money. They hear about their punishment, but even then, they do not respond. Allah(swt) says:
“And woe to Al-Mushrikún (the polytheists, idolaters, disbelievers in the Oneness of Alláh), Those who give not the Zakát” (41:6,7)
They do not perform the Zakát of the soul which is intended to purify it from Shirk (taking partners with AIW.h in worship). They also do not perform the Zakat of wealth and they follow their whims instead of obeying Alláh in giving away charity from the part of their wealth that is dear to them. Allah(swt) says:
” … and do not aim at that which is bad to spend from, (though) you would not accept it save if you close your eyes and tolerate therein. And know that Alláh is Rich (Free of all needs), and Worthy of aH praise.” (2:267)
They hear all that and yet they insist on not paying their Zakát dues. By this, they deprive themselves from the blessings of their wealth and save it for others (i.e., their heirs). One Hadith states that when people spread sins and corruption in their society, they will be afflicted with diseases and illnesses, which were unknown to their predecessors. When they tamper with the scale used in weighing goods for people, they will be subjected to famine, loss of provisions and the oppression of their rulers. When they cease to pay their Zakat dues they will be afflicted with lack of rain, and if it were not for the sake of the animals, they would never receive any rain. When they breach their pledges to Alláh and His Messenger, Alláh will cause an enemy that is not from them to overpower them and take some of what is in their possession. When their rulers and Imam cease to govern by the Book of Allah(swt) He will cause them to use their strength against each other. Yes, although they hear the commandment of Alláh regarding the False Testimony, they still practice it as if they had not heard or understood what Alláh ruled concerning it. In this regard, Allah(swt) says:
“O you who believe! Obey Alláh and His Messenger, and turn not away from him (i.e., Messenger Muhammad(pbuh)) while you are hearing. ” (8:20)
O people, there shall be no penance accepted if the one repenting still insists on doing the same sins. How could someone repent for cheating in his business transactions, when he is at the same time willing to cheat again? How could someone repent for backbiting while still involved in it and willing to do it every chance he or she has? How could he repent for usurping people’s money and property while at the same time still doing so; either by claiming what is not his, denying people’s rights to their own property, Iying in his bargains with them, staying on someone’s property without his consent, or by using Riba (usury) in his dealing with the people? In regard to this, the Prophet(pbuh) said:
“He who owes his brother something or has wronged him should reconcile with him and pay his debt today, before there is no Dirham or Dinar (on the Day of Judgement). Paying will only be with the good deeds and taking the bad deeds.”
O Muslims, as repentance entails renouncing and regretting the sin and determining to never come back to it again, it also entails intending to do the obligations as much as possible. By this, the person becomes truly penitent and deserving of the love of Allah(swt), for He says:
“Truly, Alláh loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves (by taking a bath and cleaning and washing thoroughly their private parts and bodies for their prayers).” (2:222)
O Muslims, repent to Allah(swt), and beg Him to forgive you by seeking His forgiveness with your speech as well as from your hearts. Alláh, the Most High says:
“And all of you beg Allah to forgive you all, O believers, that you may be successful.” (24:31)
Rush to repentance before you reach your set time to die. Thereafter, you will never be given another chance to repent, and you will therefore die as a sinner. Some people are deceived by their hopes or by Satan and hence keep putting off repentance until their hearts become hard as rocks because of the sins they insist on, until the doors of repentance are no longer open, or until death surprises them. Then it will be too late to repent or make amends.
O Alláh, make it easy for us to always hurry and repent for our sins and go back to what pleases you. O Allah! Cleanse our hearts from hatred, hypocrisy, seeking status by our actions and Riyá’ (doing a good deed for showing off). O Alláh! Keep our Muslim brethren and us away from Iying, cheating and giving false testimony! Help us to be honest and sincere in our dealings with people. Keep us away from all the forbidden things and from all sins. O Alláh, answer our prayer, Amen! And praise be to Alláh, the Lord of all creation.
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John Doe
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John Doe
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