Seeking forgiveness

 

Repentance and Seeking Forgiveness is due to Abandonment of the Commandments and Doing what is Forbidden

 

The first is that which most people are unaware of; Allah, the Most High, says:

 

فاصير إن وعد الله حق واستغفر لذنبك وسبح بحمد ربك

بالعشي والإبكر

“So be patient. Verily the promise of Allah is true, and ask forgiveness for your sin and glorify the praises of your Lord by day and by night.” (40:55)

 

He also says:

 

فأعلم أنه لا إله إلا الله واستغفر لذنبك وللمؤمنين والمؤمنات والله

يعلم متقلبكم ومنونك *

 

“So know that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah, and ask forgiveness for your sin, and also for the believing men and the believing women. And Allah knows well your moving about, and your place of rest.” (47:19)

 

And He says:

 

ليغفر لك الله ما تقدم من ذنبك وما تأخر *

 

“That Allah may forgive you your sins of the past and the future.” (46:2)

 

 (Referring to Muhammad) And His saying (on the tongue of our Messenger #)

 

: ألا تعبدوا إلا الله إني لكر منه نذير وبشير ) وأن أستغفروا ربك ثم توبوا إليه

يمنعكم منعا حسنا إلى أجل مسمى ويؤت كل ذي فضل فضله وإن تولوا فإن أخاف عليكم عذاب يوم كبير *

 

“(Saying) worship none but Allah. Verily, I am unto you from Him a warner and a bringer of glad tidings.’

 And (commanding you): ‘Seek the forgiveness of your Lord, and turn to Him in repentance, that He may grant you good enjoyment, for a term appointed.”” (11:2-3).

 

We say: Repentance and asking for forgiveness is for abandoning. a commandment and committing a forbidden action. Both of these are from the evil deeds, faults, and sin.

 

What One should Ask Forgiveness for and Repent from

 

One should ask for forgiveness and repent for anything he finds within himself that he knows he would be punished for saying or acting upon it. Allah, the Almighty says:

 

وإن تبدوا ما في أنفسكم أو تخفوه يحاسبكم به الله فيغفر لمن

يشاء ويعذب من يشاء

 

“And whether you disclose what is in yourselves or conceal it, Allah will call you to account for it. Then He forgives whom He wills and punishes whom He wills.” (2:284)

 

He forgives those who repent from what they find in them selves without speaking it nor acting upon it. This is like one who was about to do something evil but he did not do it. If he leaves it for the sake of Allah, it is recorded as something good for him. This is one of the things that one should seek forgiveness for and repent from, since asking for forgiveness and repentance apply to all causes of blame and punishment. For although it may not result in punishment or blame, it is still liable to lead to it. Thus, one repents from it, meaning to refrain from it, so it would not lead to any evil, and he seeks Allah’s forgiveness so that He does not make him among the deprived due to it, because even if one is not punished for such action, his status would be lowered.

Thus, the one who is about to do something evil, even though an evil is not recorded for him, yet it distracts him from what benefits him, so he is affected by an act even though he did not commit it, because it is preventing him from what is beneficial for him.

As we have explained elsewhere, both the sayings and the actions of man are either for him or against him, it is only this way or that way. Thus, he asks for forgiveness and repents for what is against him, and in case he has evil thoughts, even if he does not utter them, when he perceives this, he should ask for forgiveness and repent

The reality is that wronging oneself is a general category comprising all sins. In the Two Sahihs it is recorded that Abu Bakr said: “O Messenger of Allah! Teach me an invocation to recite in my prayer.”

 

He said:

 

«قل: اللهم إني ظلمت نفسي ظلما كثيرا ولا يغفر الذنوب إلا أنت، فاغفرلي مغفرة من عندك وارحمني، إنك أنت الغفور الرحيم

 

“Say: ‘O Allah! I have wronged myself much, none but You forgives sins, so forgive me, forgiveness from You, and have Mercy upon me; since ‘You are the Most Gracious, Most Merciful.”

 

In Sahih Muslim and other compilations, it is recorded that the Messenger of Allah used to recite in the opening of his prayer:

 

«اللهم أنت ربي وأنا عبدك ظلمت نفسي واعترفت بذنبي فاغفرلي؛ فإنه لا يغفر الذنوب إلا أنت واهدني لأحسن الأخلاق، فإنه لا يهدي لأحسنها إلا أنت، واصرف عني سيئها، فإنه لا يصرف عني سيئها إلا أنت »

 

“O Allah! You are my Lord. And I am Your servant. I have wronged myself, and confessed my sin, so forgive me; since none but You forgives sins. And guide me to the best of character, none but You guides to the best of characters. And make the worst of them advert me, none but You can make the worst of them advert me.”

 

Adam, the father of mankind and his wife said:

 

ربنا ظلمنا أنفسنا وإن لم تغفر لنا وترحمنا لتكون من الخيرين *

 

“Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You forgive us not, and bestow not upon us Your Mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers.”” (7:23)

 

Musa said:

 

رب إني ظلمت نفسي فاغفر لي *

 

“My Lord! Verily, I have wronged myself, so forgive me.”” (28:16)

 

Bilqis said:

 

ارب إني ظلمت نفسي وأسلمت مع سليمان لله رب العلمين *

“My Lord! Verily, I have wronged myself and I submit (in Islam) with Sulayman to Allah, the Lord of all that exists.””(27:44)

 

It is reported in the Two Sahihs that the Prophet said about the population of the ruined towns (as Allah said):

وما ظلمتهم ولكن ظلموا أنفسهم *

 

“We wronged them not, but they wronged themselves.” (11:101)

 

 As for His saying:

 

أغفر لنا ذنوبنا وإسرافنا في أمرنا *

 

“Our Lord! Forgive us our sins and our transgression.” (3:147)

 

It is said that the sins here refer to minor sins, and the trans gression refers to the major sins.

 

He, may Allah have mercy upon him, was asked about his saying:

 

 «ما أصر من استغفر، وإن عاد في اليوم والليلة سبعين مرة »

“Whoever asks for forgiveness, is not persistent even if he returns more than seventy times in the day and the night.”

 (Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi)

 

Does it mean merely asking for forgiveness? Or is one commanded, if he asks for forgiveness, to intend in his heart not to return to the sin? And if one repents for a sin and is resolved in his heart not to return to it, then a period of time passed, but he committed the same sin, is the earlier sin added. to the second one? Or was it forgiven because of the earlier repentance? And the repentant of drinking wine and wearing the silk clothes, will he drink of that in the Hereafter, and wear that in the Hereafter? And what are the conditions of sincere repentance?

He, may Allah have mercy on him, answered:

What is meant here is asking for forgiveness with both the heart and the tongue. Since the one who repented from a sin is like one that has no sin. There is another Hadith which says:

 

«لا كبيرة مع الاستغفار، ولا صغيرة مع الإضرار»

“There is no major sin as long as one asks for forgiveness. And there is no minor sin as long as one persists.”

 (Ad-Daylami)

 

If he persists on committing the minor sin, it changes into a major one. But if repents of it, it is forgiven.

 

Allah, the Almighty says:

 

والذين إذا فعلوا فحشة أو ظلموا أنفسهم ذكروا الله فاستغفروا لذنوبهم *

 

“And those who, when they have committed an evil deed or wronged themselves with evil, remember Allah and ask for giveness for their sins.” (3:135)

 

So when his repentance is correct then his sins are forgiven. If he returns to the sin, he has to repent once again; since if he repents again, Allah will also accept his repentance (for that).

The scholars have differed over repentance from Kufr, if one apostatizes after Islam, then he repents after his apostasy and accepts Islam, does he get his previous good deeds back? Here there are two views, either the apostate ruins all of his deeds, or they are ruined if he dies upon that.

 

1. The Madhhab of Abi Hanifah and Malik is that apostasy. utterly destroys them.

2. The Madhhab of Ash-Shafi’i is that the reward is ruined if one dies upon that.

 

Apostasy is the opposite of repentance. There is not an evil that wipes out all good deeds except apostasy.

 

Allah the Almighty says:

 

توبوا إلى الله توبة نصوحا

 

“Turn to Allah with sincere repentance.” (66:8)

 

‘Umar bin Al-Khattab said: “Sincere repentance is to repent then not return to it. This is the obligatory and complete repentance.”

As for he who repented from drinking wine or wearing silk, he will wear this in the Hereafter, as is narrated in the Hadith in the Sahih

 

 

«من شرب الخمر ثم لم يتب منها حرمها

 

“Whoever drank intoxicants but did not repent it, then it will be unlawful for him (in the Hereafter).”

(Al-Bukhari and Muslim in meaning)

 

Some of the people, like some of the companions of Ahmad, held the view that he must have not drunk it ever, but this is mistaken, what is correct is what the majority of the Muslims have said. The other view is that of Ahmad’s followers who say: “He will never drink it.” These people had missed the truth on which the majority of the scholars are.

 

REFERENCE:

Book Name: Seeking Forgiveness

Author:Shaykh Al-Islam Taqiuddin Ahmad Abdul Halim IBN TAYMIYYAH