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REPENTANCE (TAUBAH)
Repentance could be defined as a
feeling of being ashamed, sorry
and regretful for past sins.
Oral admission of sins is not
sufficient for a pure and
sincere repentance.
Following three ingredients are
required for repentance:
1.
He must be disgusted by heart
for his past sins and his “self”
should have a feeling of shame,
regret, and sorrow.
2.
He must make a firm decision not
to indulge in sinning in future.
3.
If, because of indulgence in to
a particular sin, he has done
something, which could be
compensated, then he must take a
firm decision for its
compensation. For example: If he
owes money to people, usurped
property or stolen money, he
must return it to the owner at
the first available opportunity.
In case he is not in a position
to pay at present, he should try
to get the owner’s consent or
satisfaction through what ever
means available at his disposal
to pay in future.
If a Muslim commits sin, he
should not be disappointed from
Allah’s Blessings because, the
path of spiritual migration,
self refinement, and ascent
towards Almighty Allah (s.w.t.)
remains for ever open and is
never closed except where Allah
expressly declines acceptance.
Qur’anic Verses:
1.
When the faithful come to you,
say to them, “Peace be upon you.
Your Lord has decreed for
Himself to be All-Merciful. Any
one of you who commits a sin out
of ignorance, then repents,
reforms himself, will find that
Allah is All-Forgiving and
All-Merciful. (6:54)
2.
Allah will only accept the
repentance of those who commit
evil in ignorance, if they
repent immediately. Allah is
All-Knowing and All-Wise. (4:17)
3.
To those who commit sins in
their ignorance then repent and
reform, your Lord is certainly
All-Forgiving and All-Merciful.
(16:119)
4.
It is He who accepts the
repentance of His servants,
forgives their evil deeds, and
knows all about what you do.
(42:25)
5.
….Allah loves those who repent
and those who purify themselves.
(2:222)
Commander of the Faithful, Imam
Ali (a.s.): A
person recited the sentence: “I
seek God’s forgiveness” in the
presence of Imam Ali (a.s.). He
said: “May your mother lament
for you, do you know what
repentance is? The repentance
can be defined with the
following six parameters:
1.
Feeling ashamed and regretful
for the past sins.
2.
Taking firm decision for
avoidance of sins for ever.
3.
Paying all the dues of the
people so that when he meets
All-Mighty Allah on the
Resurrection Day, he does not
have any pending claims against
him.
4.
All the religious obligations (Wajibat)
which have not been performed in
the past should be discharged as
make up (Qadha) obligations.
5.
Should feel so sad about his
past sins that all the bodily
flesh formed as a result of
eating forbidden (Haram) should
be melted in a manner that skin
should touch the bare bones
until the new flesh is reformed
again.
6.
The inconvenience and hardship
of worshiping should be imposed
upon the body as a compensation
for the pleasures it feasted
because of past sins. Only after
performing all the above, you
may recite the sentence “I seek
forgiveness from Allah.
Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) said:
"After repenting, a person
becomes like someone who has
never sinned, and the one who is
continue sinning while reciting
the phrase of repentance on his
tongue is like someone who
ridicules himself.
The happiness of All-Mighty
Allah from seeing a sinner
repenting is much more than the
joy of a lone traveler who finds
his missing animal together with
the provisions of journey in a
dark night."
Imam Jaffer al-Sadiq (a.s.) said:
“Delaying repentance is a sort
of arrogance and deceit;
continuation of delay results in
confusion and astonishment;
excuses in front of Allmighty
Allah (s.w.t.) is total
destruction and persistence in
sinning is due to feeling
secured against Divine
punishment and except the people
who are losers no one else feels
secure against it.
The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) used
to offer repentance seventy
times a day, while he was
infallible.
When a servant of Allah offers a
pure and firm repentance,
All-Mighty Allah loves him and
deletes all his past sins. The
narrator asked: ‘O Son of
Prophet! How are the sins
deleted? He replied: " The two
angels responsible for writing
his deeds forget about his sins,
simultaneously, All-Mighty Allah
orders his bodily parts, limbs
and different places on earth to
cancel his sins from their
register of deeds. Thus, he
meets All-Mighty Allah (s.w.t.)
in a manner whereby nobody and
nothing is a witness to his
sins.
Apart from classification of
sins into Major or Greater Sins
and Minor Sins, the sins may be
broadly divided it to two types;
Moral Sins and Practical Sins.
Moral Sins are:
Hypocrisy, wrath, arrogance,
egotism, harshness, oppression,
deceit and treachery,
back-biting, accusation,
criticizing, fault-finding,
slander, breach of promise,
lying, love of world, greed,
stinginess, rejecting parents’
rights, cutting family ties,
ungratefulness, extravagance,
jealousy, vilification, cursing,
and other obscene
characteristics.
Practical Sins are:
adultery, stealing,
homosexuality, giving and
receiving interest, usurping of
public property, cheating,
breach of trust, drinking
alcoholic beverages, eating pork
and other forbidden meats,
gambling, false testimony,
accusing innocent person of
adultery, refraining from
offering mandatory prayers and
fasting, refraining from Hajj
pilgrimage, refraining from “Amre
Bilmaruf and Nahi Anil Munkar”
In response to Prophet Adam’s
prayers for the humanity in the
face of long life of Shaitaan to
distract people, Allah (s.w.t.)
in His Divine Mercy had promised
following:
1. If
a man intends to commit sin,
nothing will be recorded in his
Deed Sheet. But if he commits
that sin then it will be
recorded.
2. If
a man intends to do good deed,
it will be recorded right away.
If he performs that good deed,
it will be multiplied ten times.
3. If
a man sincerely repents for his
sins before the time of death,
Allah (s.w.t.) will forgive him.
As no one knows when his death
will arrive, hence it is
recommended by our Sacred Imams
to repent as soon as possible. |
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