Our Sins After We
Repent from Them
The Qur’ân and
Sunnah speak frequently and emphatically about the fact that a
worshipper who repents and asks forgiveness for his sins will be
forgiven and will not be asked about those sins again. In fact,
Allah tells us that those sins will be exchanged for good deeds.
Allah says: “Except those who repent and believe and work righteous
deeds, for them Allah will change their evil deeds to good deeds,
and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [Sûrah al-Furqân:
70]
Ibn Kathîr discusses the issue of evil deeds being changed to good
deeds in his Tafsîr, saying:
There are two opinions on what it
means…The second opinion is that those evil deeds that have passed
are turned into good deeds by way of the true and sincere
repentance itself. This is because every time that person
remembers what he had done, he regrets it, feels remorse, and
seeks Allah’s forgiveness. In this way, the sin becomes an act of
obedience. On the Day of Judgment, even if he finds those sins
recorded against him, they do him no harm and are turned into good
deeds on the page of his account. This is what is established by
the Sunnah and by the statements related to us from the Pious
Predecessors.
Here is the text of that hadîth:
Allah’s Messenger said: “Indeed, I know the last person to leave
the Hellfire and the last person to enter Paradise. A man will be
brought and it will be said: ‘Set aside his major sins and ask him
only about his minor ones.’ It will be said to him: ‘On a certain
day did you do such deeds and on a certain day did you do such a
deed?’ He will say: ‘Yes’, unable to deny anything of it. Then it
shall be said to him: ‘For you is a good deed for each of those
evil deeds.’ Then he will say: ‘O My Lord! I did other things that
I do not see (recorded) here!’”
Thereupon Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) laughed until we
could see his molar teeth. [Sahîh Muslim (190)]
The human being, by
nature, is prone to err. This is why the Prophet (peace be upon him)
said: “Every descendant of Adam is oft to err, and the best of those
who err are those who are oft to repent.” [Sunan al-Tirmidhî
(2499) and Sunan Ibn Mâjah (4251)]
The Prophet (peace be upon him) also said: “If you were to not
commit sins, Allah would remove you and replace you with a people
who would commit sins and then seek Allah’s forgiveness, so Allah
could forgive them.” [Sahîh Muslim (2749)]
Ibn al-Hanafiyyah relates from `Alî that the Prophet (peace be upon
him) said: “Indeed Allah loves the believing servant who falls into
trials and then repents.” [Musnad Ahmad (605, 810) with a
weak chain of transmission]
Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalânî mentions this statement in Fath al-Bârî
with the wording: ‘The best of you are those of you who fall into
trials and then repent.” quoting it from Musnad al-Firdaws
from `Alî.
Therefore, we must make ourselves upright and not pine over our past
faults. We must know that none of us are going to gain admission
into Paradise by virtue of our deeds, but only by Allah encompassing
us with his mercy and His grace.
The believer may very well at times be weak and indulgent. However,
he does not establish himself upon a sin and he does not persist in
his heedlessness. He neither despairs of Allah’s mercy nor sees
renewal as hopeless. Instead, he resolves himself to seek Allah’s
forgiveness and to follow up his evil deed with works of
righteousness. He knows for certain that Allah is the Most Merciful
of all and the best in forgiveness.
Allah’s mercy encompasses all things. Allah says: “Indeed the mercy
of Allah is near to those who do good.” [Sûrah al-A`râf:
56]
We should resolve, then, to be from among those who do good.
We must make it our habit to remember Allah, to thank Him, and to
seek His forgiveness, for indeed good deeds wipe away evil ones. If
we slip and commit a sin, we must make sure not to follow it up with
another sin.
Instead, we must hasten to what is good and wipe away the effect of
that evil deed from our slate. We must cleanse our countenance of it
and remove its pain from our souls.
The believer knows that he has no power on his own to turn from sin
to obedience, from heedlessness to awareness, and from weakness to
strength, except by the grace of Almighty Allah. Therefore, we ask
Allah, by his grace and generosity, to turn us towards Him by his
mercy, forgive us, and not to leave us to our own devices. |
