Allah says in Holy Quran:
“Do not despair of God’s mercy; He will forgive you of all your sins” (Quran, 39:53).
As a human we are not free of sins and mistakes. We are always prone to making mistakes and stray from the right path. Allah SWT who is our creator is well aware of our fragility. Allah knows that there are always chances that we loose right path for a while, so he turn for us at every moment of life through which we can turn to him. This is “Tawbah” which means repentance . Repentance is a sure path to forgiveness. After committing a sin, a person who fears Allah (SWT) would feel a sense of grief and misery. Allah SWT loves his people so he is always ready to forgive people who feel grief and misery over their mistakes and sins.
The verse mentioned in opening of this essay concludes that only through repentance, one can wipe out misconducts and sins committed in past. Through repentance, one can make sure to feel free from the guilt of his/her burden of past sins and mistakes. In another verse of Holy Quran, Allah Almighty says:
“And He wishes to forgive you” (Quran, 4:146)
For repentance we must do “tawbah” which is an Arabic word means “to turn”. Tawbah is to turn towards Allah in obedience after having disobeyed Him. Repentance is of great importance in the Islam. For a faithful Muslim, it is a major gateway to fix one’s life and modify one’s own wrongful acts. Thus we can say sincere and faithful repentance, is free from excuse and hypocrisy or duplicity. Allah Almighty says in Quran:
“Surely, Allah loves those people who constantly repent to Him (do Tawbah to Him).” (Quran, 2:222)
The Prophet (SAW) ordered us to do Tawbah when he said:
“O mankind! Do Tawbah (repent) to Allah and seek His forgiveness, for sure, I do so 100 times every single day.” (Sahih Muslim).
That is because Tawbah is actually one of the purposes of our creation as human beings. It is part of our human nature that we commit sins, mistakes, and errors. But this is so through repentance that we can return to Allah and seek His forgiveness.
Do not ever hesitate to return to Allah in repentance no matter how grievous and numerous the sins you have committed in your past. The One Who abandoned you while you were sinning would never contempt you when you return to Him the All-Merciful and the All-Forgiving. Repentance is a dual approach that is a person first should be able to recognize and quit his/her sins upon which Allah promises to forgive them. Islam expects Muslims to realize their mistakes, sins, and shortcomings, and to seek Allah’s Forgiveness by doing repentance.
Whenever a sin is committed those who still have a good nature will become restless and won’t find peace. This is the reason why people repenting, crying, being regretful and constantly revert upon the sin. These people are one of them who repent to Allah by doing tawbah and Astaghfar.
Conditions for Repentance
How one can ensure that his/her repentance is sincere and successful? We should take the following steps to repentance:
- Stop the sin or mistake immediately
- Regretting deeply or truly for the sins one has committed in past
- Return to Allah (SWT) for forgiveness
- Make a strong intention not to go back to the same sin again
- Have faith in Allah Almighty that He is Most Forgiving and the Most Merciful
In short, no matter what sins you have committed before, there is always a way to repent and start a new life again. Always have faith in Allah (SWT), fear His displeasure and love Him for His mercy. Allah Almighty is the Most Merciful and Most Forgiving. Allah says in the Quran:
“Those (are the true believers) who, when they commit an evil deed, or wrong their souls, remember Allah and seek forgiveness for their sins – and who but Allah forgives sins? They do not insist upon the sins they have committed, and they know (that Allah is forgiving).” (Quran 3:135)
May Allah (SWT) support us all on our journey in life through the right path Ameen!
