Surah Ash-Shura (42) — Ayah 25

(Ayah 25) ➊ { وَ هُوَ الَّذِيْ يَقْبَلُ التَّوْبَةَ عَنْ عِبَادِهٖ:} In the previous verse, those people were mentioned who denied the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said that he (peace and blessings be upon him) had fabricated a lie against Allah. Now, the attribute of accepting repentance is mentioned, that accepting repentance and forgiving sins is only the prerogative of Allah (see Tawbah: 104), and this is a great favor of Allah, because if He wills, He may not forgive the criminal even after he seeks forgiveness. The purpose is to encourage them to repent and to warn them of the evil end of insisting on disbelief. Repentance from disbelief is done by accepting Islam, and repentance from sin includes three things: first, regret over the past sin; second, abandoning it; third, determination not to commit that sin again in the future. And if the sin is related to the rights of people, then it should be fulfilled as much as possible and forgiveness should be sought from Allah. If there is no determination not to commit that sin again in the future, then repentance has no meaning. A Persian poet has said:
"Tasbih in hand, repentance on the lips, heart full of the pleasure of sin,
Sin laughs at our seeking forgiveness."
"The rosary is in the hand, repentance on the tongue, and the heart is full of the pleasure of sin; sin laughs at our seeking forgiveness."
➋ { عَنْ عِبَادِهٖ:} In this, one reason for accepting repentance is mentioned: that those who repent after sinning are His own servants, and He is very merciful to His servants. See Surah Al-Baqarah (37), Aal-e-Imran (135), and Surah An-Nisa (110).
➌ { وَ يَعْفُوْا عَنِ السَّيِّاٰتِ:} Repentance is accepted for the future, and past evils are forgiven. Allah is so generous that He forgives all past sins upon repentance, and according to Surah Al-Furqan, verse (70), He even turns the sins of those who repent into good deeds. How happy Allah becomes at the repentance of His servant is detailed by Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), who narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ لَلّٰهُ أَشَدُّ فَرَحًا بِتَوْبَةِ عَبْدِهِ حِيْنَ يَتُوْبُ إِلَيْهِ، مِنْ أَحَدِكُمْ كَانَ عَلٰی رَاحِلَتِهِ بِأَرْضِ فَلَاةٍ، فَانْفَلَتَتْ مِنْهُ، وَعَلَيْهَا طَعَامُهُ وَشَرَابُهُ فَأَيِسَ مِنْهَا، فَأَتٰی شَجَرَةً فَاضْطَجَعَ فِيْ ظِلِّهَا، قَدْ أَيِسَ مِنْ رَاحِلَتِهِ، فَبَيْنَا هُوَ كَذٰلِكَ إِذَا هُوَ بِهَا قَائِمَةً عِنْدَهُ، فَأَخَذَ بِخِطَامِهَا ثُمَّ قَالَ مِنْ شِدَّةِ الْفَرَحِ اَللّٰهُمَّ أَنْتَ عَبْدِيْ وَ أَنَا رَبُّكَ، أَخْطَأَ مِنْ شِدَّةِ الْفَرَحِ ] [مسلم، التوبۃ، باب في الحض علی التوبۃ والفرح بھا : ۲۷۴۷ ] "Indeed, Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His servant when he turns to Him in repentance than one of you who was traveling in a desert on his camel, and it slipped away from him, and his food and water were on it. He lost hope in it and went to a tree and lay down in its shade, having despaired of his camel. While he was in that state, suddenly he saw it standing before him, so he took hold of its reins, and in extreme joy, he said: 'O Allah! You are my servant and I am Your Lord.' He made a mistake out of extreme happiness."
➍ Allah is so merciful that sometimes He forgives sins even without repentance, as after migration, previous sins are forgiven; after an accepted Hajj, all previous sins are forgiven; all sins are forgiven by martyrdom in the way of Allah; and sins are erased by abundance of good deeds, as He said: « اِنَّ الْحَسَنٰتِ يُذْهِبْنَ السَّيِّاٰتِ » [ ھود : ۱۱۴ ] "Indeed, good deeds remove bad deeds." And by avoiding major sins, minor sins are automatically forgiven. From this, it is clear that those who declare a believer who commits a major sin, if he does not repent, to be a disbeliever or eternally in Hell, their statement is not correct.
➎ { وَ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَفْعَلُوْنَ:} In this sentence, there is both glad tidings and warning. The acceptance of deeds depends on the state of the heart; if repentance is done sincerely to please Allah, then Allah knows it and will grant it acceptance. And if repentance is done for some worldly purpose, for example, for show, or with the intention of breaking it in the future, or for some worldly benefit, such as abandoning adultery, cigarettes, or alcohol for health and strength, then He knows that as well.

25. 1. The meaning of tawbah is to express regret over sin and to resolve not to commit it again in the future. Merely saying "tawbah tawbah" with the tongue, or continuing to do the sinful and disobedient act while expressing tawbah, is not tawbah. This is mockery and jest. However, pure and sincere tawbah is certainly accepted by Allah Almighty.

He is the One who accepts repentance from His servants and pardons their misdeeds, and He knows whatever you do [39].

[39]
Conditions of Repentance:

This address is not only for the believers but also includes those disbelievers who used to level accusations against you ﷺ. In this verse, they are encouraged to repent from their evil deeds. The repentance of disbelievers is to embrace Islam. By embracing Islam, their previous sins are forgiven. And if this address is for the believers, then the conditions of repentance are to feel remorse for one's sin, then turn to Allah and seek forgiveness, and to make a firm resolve never to commit that act again in the future. The most important condition of repentance is that the act should be abandoned for the sake of Allah's pleasure. If a person abandons a sinful act for any other reason, it will not be considered repentance. For example, if a person comes to know that alcohol is destroying his health, and he feels remorse for what he has done and resolves to give up drinking in the future, this will not be considered repentance. Similarly, if an adulterer feels remorse for his act and resolves to abandon it in the future because he has grown old and is no longer capable of adultery, then this will not be considered his repentance. And Allah knows well with what intention a person is repenting.