In the Name of Allaah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
In the opinion of the majority of scholars it is not a condition for a repentance to be accepted that the penitent does not fall into the same sin again. It is a condition that the sin be given up immediately and that there should be true feelings of regret in the heart. This should be accompanied by the firm intention not to fall into it again. Now, with these conditions met, if he falls into it again, then this will be considered a new sin altogether, requiring a new repentance and with no connection to those of the past.
[REF: IslamQA.info – 94]
Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And those who, when they have committed fahishah (illegal sexual intercourse) or wronged themselves with evil, remember Allah and ask forgiveness for their sins; — and none can forgive sins but Allah — and do not persist in what (wrong) they have done, while they know.
For such, the reward is forgiveness from their Lord, and Gardens with rivers flowing underneath (Paradise), wherein they shall abide forever. How excellent is this reward for the doers (who do righteous deeds according to Allah’s orders).”
[3:135-136]
Ibn Katheer said:
The words “and do not persist in what (wrong) they have done” mean: they repent from their sins and quickly turn to Allah, and they do not persist in their sin, rather they give it up, and if they do it again they repent to Him. Tafseer Ibn Katheer.
It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: “A person committed a sin and said: ‘My Lord, I have sinned; forgive me.’ His Lord said: ‘Is My slave acknowledging that he has a Lord Who forgives sins and punishes for them? I have forgiven My slave.’ Then as much time passed as Allah willed, then he committed a sin and said, ‘My Lord, I have sinned; forgive me.’ His Lord said: ‘Is My slave acknowledging that he has a Lord Who forgives sins and punishes for them? I have forgiven My slave.’ Then as much time passed as Allah willed, then he committed a sin and said, ‘My Lord, I have sinned; forgive me.’ His Lord said: ‘Is My slave acknowledging that he has a Lord Who forgives sins and punishes for them? I have forgiven My slave,’ – three times…” [al-Bukhari, Muslim].
Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) included this hadeeth (narration) under the heading: “Acceptance of repentance from sins even if the sins and repentance happen repeatedly.”
He said in his Sharh (commentary):
We have already discussed this issue at the beginning of the Book of Repentance. These hadeeths (narrations) clearly point to that, and even if the sin is repeated a hundred times or a thousand times or more, and he repents each time, his repentance will be accepted and his sin will be erased. And if he repents once from them all, his repentance will be valid.
Sharh Muslim.
Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali said:
‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azeez said: O people, whoever commits a sin, let him seek the forgiveness of Allah and repent, and if he repeats it, let him seek the forgiveness of Allah and repent, and if he repeats it, let him seek the forgiveness of Allah and repent, for it is like chains around the neck of man, and doom lies in persisting in it.
What this means is that a person will inevitably commit the sins that it is decreed he will commit, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The son of Adam’s share of zina (fornication/adultery) is decreed for him, and he will inevitably come to that…” But Allah has given him a way out from the sins that he falls into and He erases them by means of repentance and seeking forgiveness. If he does this then he will escape from the evil of sin, but if he persists in his sin he will be doomed.
Jami’ al-‘Uloom wal-Hikam.
Although Allah hates sin and warns of punishment for it, He does not want His slaves to despair of His mercy. He likes the sinner to seek His forgiveness and repent to Him, but the shaytan (devil) likes it when despair fills a person’s heart and prevents him from repenting and turning to Allah.
It was said to al-Hasan al-Basri: Would not any one of us feel ashamed before his Lord to seek forgiveness from his sin then go back to it, then seek forgiveness then go back to it? He said: The shaytan would like you to feel that way; never give up seeking forgiveness.
[REF: IslamQA.info – 45887]
If a person commits sin time after time, his sin is forgiven every time if he follows his sin with repentance – if his repentance each time is sincere. The evidence that it is permissible to repent time after time is the fact that those who apostatized from Islam at the time of Abu Bakr were brought back to Islam by Abu Bakr and he accepted that from them, although he knew that they had been kaafirs, then they entered Islam, then they went back to kufr, then they came back to Islam. All the Sahaabah accepted their repentance despite the fact that what the apostates had done was worse than what a sinning Muslim does. So the repentance of a sinning Muslim, even if he sins repeatedly, is more likely to be accepted than repentance on the part of a kaafir time after time.
But what we are saying is subject to the condition that the first and subsequent cases of repentance be sincere and from the heart, not simply an outward show of repentance.
What we are saying should not be understood to mean that we are encouraging sin and that it may be committed time after time, and that the Muslim should take the mercy of Allaah and the fact that Allaah accepts repentance as an excuse to commit sin. No, our intention is to encourage the sinner to repent time after time. We want to put the mind of the Muslim who wants to come back to Allaah at rest, and tell him that the gate of mercy is open, and that Allaah’s forgiveness is greater than his sin, so he should not despair of the mercy of Allaah and he should keep turning to Him.
Al-Bukhaari (7507) and Muslim (2758) narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said that his Lord said: “My slave commits sin, then he says, ‘O Allaah, forgive me my sin.’ Then Allaah says, ‘My slave has committed a sin, but he knows that he has a Lord Who forgives sin and takes away sin. So I forgive My slave.’ Then he commits sin again, and says, ‘O Allaah, forgive me my sin.’ Then Allaah says, ‘My slave has committed a sin, but he knows that he has a Lord Who forgives sin and takes away sin. So I forgive My slave.’ Then he commits sin again, and says, ‘O Allaah, forgive me my sin.’ Then Allaah says, ‘My slave has committed a sin, but he knows that he has a Lord Who forgives sin and takes away sin. So I forgive My slave.’ …”
Al-Haafiz Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali said:
Ibn Abi Dunya narrated with his isnaad that ‘Ali said: “The best of you is every tempted one who repents (i.e., every time he is tempted by this world, he repents).” It was said, “What if he sins again?” He said, “He should ask Allaah for forgiveness and repent.” It was said, “What if he sins again?” He said, “He should ask Allaah for forgiveness and repent.” It was said, “What if he sins again?” He said, “He should ask Allaah for forgiveness and repent.” It was said, “For how long?” He said, “Until the Shaytaan is defeated.”
Ibn Maajah narrated a marfoo’ report from Ibn Mas’ood which says: “The one who repents from sin is like the one who did not commit sin.” (Classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah, 3427).
It was said to al-Hasan: Shouldn’t one of us feel too shy to ask his Lord to forgive his sin, then do it again, then ask for forgiveness, then do it again? He said: The Shaytaan wishes that you would have this attitude, so do not tire of asking for forgiveness.
And it was narrated that he said: I do not think this is anything other than the attitude of the believers, i.e., every time a believer sins, he repents.
‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azeez said in his khutbah: O people, whoever commits sin, let him seek the forgiveness of Allah and repent. If he does it again, let him seek the forgiveness of Allah and repent, and if he does it again, let him seek the forgiveness of Allah and repent. For it is sin which hangs around a person’s neck, and doom comes from persisting in sin.
What this means is that a person will inevitably commit the sins that it is decreed he will commit, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Every son of Adam has his share of zina (adultery) written for him, and that will inevitably catch up with him.” (Narrated by Muslim, 2657).
But Allaah has given people a way out from the sins they commit and sin is erased by repentance and seeking forgiveness. If they do that then they will get rid of the evil of sin, but if they persist in sin, then they will be doomed.
Jaami’ al-‘Uloom wa’l-Hakam, 1/164-165.
[REF: IslamQA.info – 9231]
Leave a Reply