Blessings are gone from our love, from our livelihood, from our time, and from our\r\nhomes. Have we ever thought about what reason has caused all these blessings to\r\nleave us?”

Virtue and Importance of Repentance لرَّ ا ِالله ال َّر ِجِ ᘭم ᚽسم ن᠒ ا ِِ ᕛم َن ال َّش َْ ᘭط ᗷِ ُذ ْو ُع ᠐أ َّما َْ ᗷع ُد َف ᠐ا ِمᗫᖁ᠒ ا ᠔ل ᜻᠐ ِه ِل ْو ُس َر َن ْح َم ُد ُه َوَن َص َ ᣢᡐع ᣢ᠐ال َّر ِح ن᠒ َم ْح ِ ᘭم نᗫ ᖁ᠒ هِّ َ ᣌَᡧ ᢕوُِ ᗫح ُّب ا᠔ل ُم َت َط ِب إ َّن َالله ُِ ᘌح ُّب ال َّت َّوا َين ِد ِه َص َد َق ُالله َم ْوََ ᢺنا ا ᠔ل َع ِظ ِْ ᘭم َوَᡐ ᗖل َغ َنا َر ُس ْو᠐ل ُه ال َّنِ ᢝ ᢔُّ ᣎا ᠔ل ِ ᗫᖁ᠒ ᜻᠐م َو َن ْح ُن َع َ ᣢ᠐ذِل َك ᠐ل ِم َن ال َّشا َوال َّشا ِᗫᖁ᠒ ᜧن َوا ᠔ل َح ْم ُد ِ ᕝِ ᡐ ᡧ ْ ᣌᢕ ِم َر ِّب ا ᠔ل َعا ᠐ل Today, blessings have disappeared from everything. Blessings are gone from our love, from our livelihood, from our time, and from our homes. Have we ever thought about what reason has caused all these blessings to leave us?” “The main reason these blessings have left us is our sins. If we want these blessings to return, we must sincerely repent from our sins and avoid them in the future. Repentance is such a great gift that brings a servant closer to his Lord. Even more than that, Allah Himself loves those who repent. َن ᗫ ᖁ᠒ هِّ َ ᣌَᡧ ᢕوُِ ᗫح ُّب ا ᠔ل ُم َت َط ِب َّن َالله ُِ ᘌح ُّب ال َّت َّوا ِإ القرآن : : Surely Allah loves those who repent and those who remain pure.” “How great is Allah’s mercy! We commit sins and disobedience against Him, yet when we repent, He makes us His beloved servants. In another place, Allah declares the repentant to be successful. As mentioned in Surah An-Nur, verse 31: ᡐل َع ُنو َن ᠐ل ِم ْؤ ُم ᠔ل ِ ᣠ᠐الله َج ِم᠍ ᘭع ᠐ا أ ُّي َها ا ِإ وا ُ ᗖᖔ ُت القرآن: ْ ᝣ᠑م ُت ْف ِل ُح ْو َن : Turn to Allah in repentance, all of you believers, so that you may succeed. Now, we will look at the sayings of the Prophet (Hadith) to understand the virtue of repentance, so we can realize how great a blessing it truly is. Without this blessing, where would sinners, wrongdoers, and those burdened with sins go?” The virtue of repentance in the light of Hadith: Hazrat Anas ibn Malik (RA) said: I heard the Holy Prophet ه وسلمᘭ الله علᣢ صsay: Allah the Almighty says, ‘O son of Adam! As long as you call upon Me and have hope inMy forgiveness, I will continue to forgive you—no matter how many sins you have— and it will not matter to Me. O son of Adam! Even if your sins reach up to the heights of the sky, then you ask Me for forgiveness, I will forgive you, and it will not matter to Me.’ (Tirmidhi Hadith No. 3540) **“Hadith Sharif: Hazrat Abu Huraira (RA) narrated that the Prophet هᘭ الله علᣢص وسلمsaid: When a servant commits a sin and then, feeling regret, says: ‘My Lord! I have committed a sin, so forgive me,’ Allah the Almighty says (to the angels): ‘Does My servant know that he has a Lord who forgives sins and also has the power to punish? Listen! I have forgiven My servant.’ Then, as long as Allah wills, the servant refrains from sin. But if he commits another sin and again says: ‘My Lord! I have committed another sin, so forgive me,’ Allah says (to the angels): ‘Does My servant know that he has a Lord who forgives sins and can punish? Listen! I have forgiven My servant. Hadith Sharif: Hazrat Abu Huraira (RA) narrated that the Prophet ه وسلمᘭ الله علᣢص said: When a servant commits a sin and then, feeling regret, says: ‘My Lord! I have committed another sin, so forgive me,’ Allah the Almighty says (to the angels): ‘Does My servant know that he has a Lord who forgives sins and also has the power to punish? Listen! I have forgiven My servant.’ Then the servant refrains from sin as long as Allah wills. But when he commits another sin and again says: ‘My Lord! I have committed another sin, so forgive me,’ Allah says (to the angels): ‘Does My servant know that he has a Lord who forgives sins and can punish? Listen! I have forgiven My servant.’ The servant may continue like this—committing sins and repenting—yet Allah accepts his repentance every time.** (Bukhari Sharif, Hadith No. 7507) Hadith Sharif (Abu Dawood, Hadith 1518, narrated by Ibn Abbas RA): The Holy Prophet ه وسلمᘭ الله علᣢ صsaid: Whoever regularly seeks forgiveness (Istighfar), Allah makes for him a way out of every difficulty, grants him relief from every sorrow, and provides for him from where he does not expect. Hazrat Zubair (RA) narrated that the Prophet ه وسلمᘭ الله علᣢ صsaid: Whoever wishes that his record of deeds (on the Day of Judgment) should make him happy, then he should frequently seek forgiveness (Istighfar). (Tabarani)Hadith Sharif: Hazrat Ubadah ibn Samit (RA) said: I heard the Prophet هᘭ الله علᣢص وسلمsay: Whoever seeks forgiveness for believing men and believing women, Allah writes for him one good deed for every believing man and woman. (Tabarani alAwsat, Majma‘ al-Zawaid) Hadith Sharif: Hazrat Abu Umamah (RA) narrated that the Prophet ه وسلمᘭ الله علᣢص said: Surely, the angel on the left side delays writing the sin of a sinful Muslim for six hours (a short while). If the servant feels regret and asks Allah for forgiveness during that time, the angel does not record the sin. But if he does not repent, then one sin is written. (Tabarani al-Awsat, Majma‘ al-Zawaid) Hazrat Abu Huraira (RA) narrated that the Prophet ه وسلمᘭ الله علᣢ صsaid: When a servant commits a sin, a black spot appears in his heart. If he leaves the sin, seeks forgiveness from Allah, and repents, the black spot is removed and the heart becomes clean. But if he continues sinning without repentance, the darkness increases until the whole heart becomes covered. (Tirmidhi Sharif, Hadith No. 3334) Hadith Sharif (Abu Dawood, Hadith 5211, narrated by Hazrat Bara’ ibn Azib RA): The Prophet ه وسلمᘭ الله علᣢ صsaid: When two Muslims meet and shake hands, praise Allah, and ask Him for forgiveness (for example, saying Alhamdulillah, may Allah forgive us and you), their sins are forgiven. (Muslim, Hadith 6959, narrated by Hazrat Bara’ ibn Azib RA) The Messenger of Allah ه وسلمᘭ الله علᣢ صalso said: Imagine the happiness of a man whose camel runs away in a barren desert, carrying his food and water. He searches everywhere until he loses hope. Then suddenly, the camel’s rope gets caught on a tree trunk and he finds it again. His joy at finding the camel in such a desperate situation is greater than anything else. This is how Allah rejoices when His servant turns back to Him in repentance. “Hadith Sharif (Muslim, Hadith 6989, narrated by Hazrat Abu Musa RA): The Prophet ه وسلمᘭ الله علᣢ صsaid: Allah extends His hand of mercy throughout the night so that the sinner of the day may repent at night. And He extends His hand of mercy throughout the day so that the sinner of the night may repent during the day. This will continue until the sun rises from the west—after that, repentance will no longer be accepted.(Tirmidhi, Hadith 3536, narrated by Safwan ibn Assal RA): The Prophet هᘭ الله علᣢص وسلمsaid: Allah has made a door of repentance in the west. Its width is the distance of seventy years, and it will never be closed until the sun rises from the west. (Tirmidhi, Hadith 3537, narrated by Hazrat Abdullah ibn Umar RA): The Prophet ᣢص ه وسلمᘭ الله علsaid: Allah accepts the repentance of His servant until the soul reaches the throat (a state called ghargara). After that, there is no hope of life and repentance is not accepted. Hadith Sharif: Hazrat Ibn Mas‘ud (RA) was once passing by the outskirts of Kufa. There was a singer playing the drum and singing with a very beautiful voice. Hazrat Ibn Mas‘ud (RA) listened and said: ‘What a beautiful voice—if only it was used for the recitation of the Qur’an.’ Then he covered his head with his shawl and left. When the singer, whose name was Zazan, heard what had been said and learned that it was a Companion of the Prophet ه وسلمᘭ الله علᣢ ,صhis heart was struck with awe. He immediately threw his musical instrument to the ground, broke it, and stood up quickly to repent Once, Hazrat Ibn Mas‘ud (RA) was passing by and heard a singer named Zazan. He remarked: ‘What a sweet voice—if only it was used for Qur’an recitation.’ These words struck Zazan’s heart deeply. He broke his musical instrument, went to Hazrat Ibn Mas‘ud (RA), tied a cloth around his neck, and began to weep before him. Hazrat Ibn Mas‘ud (RA) embraced him, and both began to cry. Then he said: ‘Why should I not love the one whom Allah has made beloved?’ Zazan repented, stayed in the company of Hazrat Ibn Mas‘ud (RA), and later became an Imam of his time.”** (Tanbih al-Ghafilin, p. 63) **“This was the way of the righteous servants of Allah: when they repented, they never returned to sin again. In reality, that is true repentance. But our condition is different—we commit sins, then for comfort we say ‘repent, repent’ with our tongues, while our hearts whisper that if another chance comes, we will not leave the sin. Respected brothers, this is not true repentance. Hazrat Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (RA) explained it beautifully: just as milk cannot return to the udder once it has beentaken out, in the same way, after repentance, returning to sin should become impossible. Allah the Almighty describes this in the Qur’an:** ᣠ᠐ا َ ᕝِ ᡐت ًْ ᗖَᖔة َن ُصو ᠍حا ِإ وا ُᗖ ْᖔ ُت وا ُن َم ل ِذي َن آᡐ أ ُّي َها ا᠐ اᘌَ :(القرآنSurah At-Tahrim, Ayah 8) : O you who believe! Turn to Allah in sincere repentance that becomes a lesson for the future.” Another important point to reflect on is this: Never commit a sin with the intention that ‘I will repent later.’ Absolutely not! Our scholars have written that whoever sins with the plan of repenting afterwards is actually mocking his Lord. Whenever you repent, do it with the sincere intention: ‘O Allah! I have committed a sin, please forgive me.’ Respected brothers, life is uncertain. We do not know when our soul will be taken. Therefore, the wise person is the one who repents constantly—while walking, sitting, lying down, and in every state—so that ongoing repentance becomes a means of salvation. We pray to Allah the Almighty: May the Most Merciful Lord grant us all the ability to make true repentance and bless us with steadfastness upon it. Ameen, thumma Ameen.