The importance of repentance

Notes on Sincere Repentance
by Imam Ghazali, Imam Jawziya, and Imam Hanbali
Chapter One: Necessity of Taubah and its Merits

• immediate repentance from all types of sins is necessary
• "Except those who repent, believe and do good deeds: (for) those ALLAH will

exchange their sins for good deeds. Allah is extremely Forgiving and
Merciful." (4)

• 'Allah accepts the repentance of His servant as long as he does not croak

(on his death bed).' (5)
'*Paradise has eight entrances all of which open and shut except the entrance
of Taubah. This entrance has an angel guarding it so that it does not shut.
So repent and do not despair.' (6)
Chapter Two: Sincere Repentance and its Prerequisites

• Sincere repentance in the words of the scholars is "to uproot oneself from

sin at present, to resolve not to repeat it in the future and to feel remorse
over its occurrence in the past. Then, if someone's right has been violated,
one should return his due" (8)

• Jubair (rh) says repentance will be accepted if 1. the person fears it won't

be accepted 2 the hope that it will be and 3. addiction to obedience
thereafter.

• Hasan(rh_ says sincere repentance is haring the sin one likes and seeking

4giveness when one remembers it. (8)

• Qurzi(rh) says it has 4 elements: asking forgiveness, uproot from the body,

to resolve not to do it again, and leave bad company.
Remember the Day of Judgement.

• Isa (pbuh) says "…day and night are treasure stores. Be mindful of what you

place in them." (9)

• The Prophet said: a man committed 99 murders and then wanted to repent. He

asked a knowledgeable person if he could repent. This person said 'no' so he
killed him as well. He hasked another wise person who said it is possible to
repent. The wise man told him to leave the area he was in and move to a place
where people worshipped Allah. So he started out on his journey and died
halfway to his destination. Angels of punishment said he hadn't performed one
good deed in his life. An angel came to them in the form of a man and told
them to measure the distance between the two places. There is a hadith which
says "Allah ordered the earth close to his destination to come closer to him
and ordered the other part of the earth to become distant. Then they measured
and they found that he was closer to his destination by a span and was
forgiven." (10)

• Hussain (rha) says The Prophet(SWS) was approached by a woman who committed

adultery and became pregnant. She said "punish me" and so after she delivered
the child, the Prophet(SWS) tied her clothes and enacted the punishment. Upon
being asked the Prophet (SWS) said "She has repented so strongly that if it
were distributed amongst seventy people of Madinah, it would accommodate
them(that is, her repentance would be good enough for all of them.) (11)
Malik came to the Prophet(SWS) and said "…I..have committed adultery" The
Prophet(SWS) eventually ordered a ditch to be dug for him in which the man
stood and was stoned to death. The Prophet(SWS) said "He has repented with
such a repentance that if it were to be distributed amongst a whole nation,
it would be enough for them." (11)

• Punishments compensate and erase sins. (12)
• A repenting person despise himself more and more as he realizes how serious

his sin was. (11)
Chapter 3: Benefits of Sincere Repentance

• repenting person more aware of evil, embarrassed and fearful, more

sympathetic toward other sinners and does not look down upon them (13)

• Allah tests us because of His love for us: giving us the opportunity to

repent so that He may bless us.

• 'Sometimes a person commits a sin, (and then humble and repents) and then

enteres Paradise; and sometimes someone does a good deed (and then becomes
conceited) and then enters Hell' (14)

• Surah Furqaan: ' Except those who repent, have faith and do good deeds,

those Allah will change their sins for good deeds. Certainly Allah is most
forgiving and merciful.' (14) ALLAH WILL CHANGE SINS FOR GOOD DEEDS!

• Repenting itself is a good deed.

REPENTANCE leads to good deeds, while SIN WITHOUT REPENTANCE can cause more
disobedience (15).
Remember the repurcussions of sin, the painful punishment nd the helplessness
"..how can they bare the heat of Hell, the thumping of angels in Hell wtih
iron hammers, the sting of snakes the size of camels adn the bite of
scorpions the size of mules?" (15)
Chapter 4: The Time of Repentance

• Allah accepts repentance of people who commit sins out of ignorance and

repent very quickly
most scholars believe "very quickly" means before death for death is near and
quick
Repent BEFORE death arrives, not at the time of death. (17)
The devil makes a person procrastinate repentance until death(18)
Jauzi (rh) says "Congratulations to the person who has washed his sins with
repentance: and has retracted from mistakes before the return (to Allah) and
who has raced to the possible before it became impossible." (19)
Basri(rh) says " ..leaving sins is much easier than administering
repentance." (20)
REPENT before its too late, for you never know when you will die, wishing at
the last minute that you had done good deeds, and repented for the bad.