Authored by: Fadhilat al-Shaykh Hafiz Abdul Sattar Hammad (may Allah preserve him)
✦ The Door of Divine Acceptance ✦
إِنَّ الْعَبْدَ إِذَا اعْتَرَفَ ثُمَّ تَابَ تَابَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ
[Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 4141]
“When a servant confesses and then repents, Allah also turns to him in mercy.”
✦ What is Tawbah? ✦
Repentance (Tawbah) means that when a person commits a sin, an act of disobedience, or something undesirable, he then:
❖ Feels remorse and regret due to fear of its evil consequences
❖ Resolves to avoid and abandon it in the future
❖ Chooses the path of obedience to Allah and seeks His pleasure
Allah addresses the believers in the Qur’an:
“O you who believe, turn to Allah with sincere repentance.”
[al-Taḥrīm: 8]
✦ Conditions of True Tawbah (Tawbatun Naṣūḥa) ✦
Tawbah Naṣūḥ is sincere repentance that involves genuine goodwill toward one’s soul. Its key conditions include:
➊ Sincere remorse and shame over the sin committed
➋ Acknowledgement before Allah and heartfelt repentance
➌ Firm resolve never to return to the sin—this resolve must be genuine and practiced
➍ Restitution of rights—if the sin involved violating someone’s rights, it must be repaid or forgiveness must be sought
✦ The Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ in Tawbah ✦
The Prophet ﷺ said:
“O people! Repent to Allah, for I myself repent to Him one hundred times a day.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, al-Dhikr wa al-Duʿāʾ: 6859]
✦ How Dear Tawbah is to Allah ✦
The Prophet ﷺ said:
“By the One in Whose hand is my soul, if you did not sin, Allah would replace you with a people who would sin, then seek forgiveness from Allah—and He would forgive them.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, al-Tawbah: 6965]
