Conditions of repentance
Repentance also has certain
conditions that need to be fulfilled and practiced.
1. Sincerity
Sincerity to Allah, the Most High, so a person should repent solely for the sake of Allah and seek His reward and salvation from His punishment. The importance of this aspect has already been discussed above, and reiterated in the following hadith:
"Call on Allah in prayer confident that it will be answered. But know that Allah does not answer the prayer of an unmindful, inattentive heart"
(Hadith)
2. Remorse
Remorse, for the sin that was committed such that the person is sad they did it and wishes they had never done it. Allah says in Surah Al-Qiyamah:
"I swear by the Day of Resurrection; And I swear by the self-reproaching person (a believer)"
(Qur'an 75:1-2)
The Arabic word used for self-reproachment is An-Nafs Al-Lawamah which refers to blaming oneself and to feel sorry for ones sins. Feeling bad about sins we have committed is something recommended and good in the sight of Allah and necessary to have the sin forgiven by Allah. Without remorse, repentance becomes meaningless, which is why in the following hadith its importance is stressed.
"Ibn Ma'qal said: 'I came with my father to 'Abdullah and heard him say: 'I heard Allah's Messenger (PBUH) say: 'Remorse is repentance.' ' My father asked him, 'Did you actually hear the Prophet (PBUH) say: 'Remorse is repentance?' He replied, 'Yes!' "
(Hadith)
If a person feels no remorse then they still secretly relish the memories of the sin, and therefore lack the essential key of sincerity in their repentance. If a person is truly remorseful, when that sin is remembered the person hates the sin and does everything to stay away from anything causing them to commit that kind of sin. It would be wrong to repent to Allah yet still hold a desire for that sin in one's heart.
3. Immediacy
True repentance implies that as soon as a person realises they have sinned, that they turn to Allah in repentance - i.e. immediately. If a person postpones the repentance it means that they actually have a desire to continue with the sin and are not really remorseful, or they believe that Allah will not accept their repentance, which is a false notion.
"Surely Allah will forgive those who do sins in ignorance and soon turn in repentance. These Allah will forgive, for Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise."
(Qur'an 4:17)
If a sinner is truly sorry for their actions then they will repent as soon as possible, for they fear dying in the position of not having asked for forgiveness.
"Hasten in the race for forgiveness from your Lord"
(Qur'an 3:133)
Sincere repentance can never take place while a person is still committing that sin, thus the repentance is invalid because of the lack of sincerity. This is not the same as if the person commits a sin, sincerely repents and then falls back into that sin and then sincerely repents again.
"Those who, when they act indecently or wrong themselves, remember Allah and ask forgiveness for their bad actions - and who can forgive bad actions except Allah - and do not knowingly persist in what they were doing."
(Qur'an 3:135)
If the sin was against Allah, then the person should:
-
Stop doing it if it was an unlawful act, or
-
Hasten to do it if it was an obligation that they abandoned doing.
If the sin was against a created being (such as humans), then the person should hasten to free himself/herself from it, whether by returning the property back to the 'victim' or seeking that person's forgiveness and pardon. If the other party's rights are restored, the property is returned to them or they choose to forgive the person (as appropriate to the sin), then that is the sinner's repentance for the sin. If this doesn't happen however, the sinner will have to settle their debts on the Day of Resurrection with the other party, when they will have to give some of their good deeds to the wronged party (see "Settling the scores and cleansing" under the topic "Death" for more information).
"Whoever has wronged anyone with regard to his honour or anything else, let him settle the matter today before there is no dinar and no dirham, and if he has any righteous deeds, an amount commensurate with his wrongdoing will be taken from him, and if he has no good deeds (to his credit) some of the bad deeds of his companion will be taken and added to his burden."
(Hadith)
The longer a person delays repentance the harder it will be to make it, because the sin will take a hold on the person's heart and they are more likely to commit that sin again and let it become a habit.
5. Secrecy
A Muslim should keep their sins to him/herself and not unnecessarily tell others. In some cases, such as returning stolen property to its owner, it may be unavoidable for other people to know. However, it is most desirable not to spread news of the sin or make it publicly known incase Allah does not accept that person's repentance on account of this, or count the action of publicising the sin as yet another sin. The best course of action is for a Muslim to keep the sin secret from other people, sincerely repent to Allah and do good deeds. In this way as few people as possible are harmed by the sin and an example of good is set, rather than one of evil. The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said:
"All of my ummah (i.e. the Muslims) will be forgiven except those who commit sin blatantly. It is committing sin blatantly if a man does something at night, then in the morning when Allah has concealed him, he says, 'O So and so, I did such and such last night,' when all night his Lord has concealed him, and he uncovers that which Allah has concealed.""
(Hadith)
In other words, it is a blessing from Allah if He makes a way for the sin to be concealed so that people do not find out and think badly of the person who sinned. To then go and spread the news about oneself is to throw away that gift.
If a person was to openly commit sin then this indicates that they do not feel ashamed of their actions. If they want people to know of their bad deeds then there is a chance that they are even proud of the evil they have done. The open committing of sin in time causes that sin to become acceptable to society in general, and people forget that the sin is something detested by Allah, hence continuing the cycle of sin. This is clearly evident by the open committing of sins such the drinking of alcohol, homosexuality, sexual relations outside of marriage, abortion, gambling and so on. Many of these sins were frowned upon by most people in New Zealand society 100 years ago, but now we see that due to them being committed openly, people now are not scared to partake in such sins because the sins are publicly displayed by many people.
The committing of sins publicly only provides justification for others to do the same because "so and so did it, so why shouldn't I?" This is yet another reason why a Muslim is prohibited to spread the sins of others, unless there is a genuine reason such as protecting the Muslims (by warning others of something that seriously endangers them). Rather they should try to help the other person and encourage them to repent to Allah.
"The Muslim is the brother of his fellow Muslim; he does not wrong him or let him down. Whoever meets his brother's needs, Allah will meet his needs, and whoever relieves a Muslim of some worldly distress, Allah will relieve him of some of the distress of the Day of Resurrection. Whoever covers a Muslim (conceals his sin), Allah will cover him (conceal his sin) on the Day of Resurrection."
(Hadith)
6. Determination
The person should have
determination to not go back to doing that sin again in the future.
It is a serious mistake to repent to Allah and to keep repeating the sin, for
this would be to mock Allah. Rather, the true meaning of sincere
repentance is for the person to repent to Allah, feel sorry for having sinned and to
stay away from that sin altogether to illustrate to Allah that they are doing
their best to stay away from it by closing all doors to that sin.
Not doing so would be to put oneself in the middle of the oceans of sins
and say that one can swim, which is a kind of arrogance.
Islam has been perfected in such a way that by following the teachings of
the Qur'an and the examples of the Prophets (peace be upon them all)
Muslims are able to stay away from
and close all doors to the sin.
For example, with regard to alcohol, not only does Allah prohibit drinking it but He prohibits drinking even a drop of it. Furthermore, He has also prohibited the transport, sale and carrying of alcohol and for a Muslim to be in the presence of someone else drinking alcohol is also prohibited. In this way, a practising Muslim does not even come near alcohol, let alone get to the stage of touching it, or worse still, drinking it. Similar measures are self-enforced by past alcoholics who possess the determination not to fall back into their addiction, yet Allah has already laid down the boundaries to prevent such a situation occurring in the first place. Therefore, a Muslim who sincerely repents stays away from all roads leading to the sins they have repented from.
7. Good deeds
One of the best ways for a person to turn their back on sin is to do righteous good deeds, since this helps to cleanse the heart and wipe out sins. Good deeds are a necessary condition for repentance since along with sincerity, they are a sign that the person wants to improve themselves and please Allah.
"Except those who repent and believe (in Islamic Monotheism), and do righteous deeds, for those, Allah will change their sins into good deeds, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."
(Qur'an 25::70)
"But whoever does wrong and substitutes good in place of evil, truly I am Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful"
(Qur'an 27:11)
"Verily good deeds erase evil deeds. this is a reminder for those who remember (their Lord)"
(Qur'an 11:114)
"But whosoever repents after his crime and does righteous good deeds (by obeying Allah), then verily, Allah will pardon him (accept his repentance). Verily, Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful."
(Qur'an 5:39)
The above verses refer to good deeds in general. In addition to this, there are certain good deeds that have been mentioned as wiping away sins.
Wudu (Ablution)
"Abu Hurayrah reported that Allah's Messenger (PBUH) said: 'When a servant (of Allah) washes his face, every sin he contemplated with his eyes will be washed away along with the last drop of water; when he washes his hands, every sin they committed will be washed off from his hands with the last drop of water, and when he washes his feet, every sin towards which his feet have walked will be washed away with the last drop of water, so that he comes out pure from all sins."
(Hadith)
Prayer
"The obligatory prayers of the one who properly performed wudhu as Allah the Exalted enjoined on him, will be an expiation for sins committed between them (i.e. the prayers)"
(Hadith)
Fasting Ramadhan
"All the previous sins of any one who fasts the month of Ramadhan out of faith and seeking his reward from the Lord, will be forgiven."
(Hadith)
Hajj (Pilgrimage)
"Whoever makes pilgrimage to this House (Ka'ba in Meeca) and does not have sexual relations with his wife nor commit sins (during the Hajj) will return (sinless) the way his mother bore him."
(Hadith)
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