Cleanse Your Heart: The Importance of Immediate Repentance

The Heart Is Like a White Garment

Imagine for one second that you had a very elegant, crisp, radiant, white, shining thawb. Or maybe a kurta or a dress shirt. Beautiful, white, crisp, radiant, white dress shirt.

If you cared about it, then you would always be very careful. In fact, many people who wear such clothing on Fridays, when they go home, they're so careful that even before eating, they'll ensure that they take it off. Because they don't want it to get dirty, they don't want it to get messed.

And if such a person is forced to eat due to circumstances, with that beautiful, white garment of clothing — or if it's a sister, maybe a really nice white scarf — then they will be very, very careful as they're eating, to ensure that not a single drop falls onto that white article of clothing. Because they value it. And if, may Allah protect everyone, but if there is a drop of oil or a drop of ketchup or something comes onto that clothing, if that person really cares about it, you'll find he immediately rushes to the bathroom.

He immediately rushes to the sink and he starts washing it away. And you'll find that nowadays they even have these bleach correction pens, that people keep in their car just in case there is a spill, or just in case they accidentally get something on their clothing, so that immediately they can get rid of it. And at certain times, water is not sufficient. They have to use these heavy cleaning agents.

Similar to this should be our condition with our hearts.

The Black Dot on the Heart

Rasulullah ﷺ has mentioned in a hadith: Normally, a human being — a believer especially — any child that is born, is born with a pure heart. Rasulullah ﷺ has mentioned that when a person sins, when he incurs some sort of sin, commits some sort of crime, then:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3334)

There is a small black dot that appears on his heart. If he is vigilant, he pays attention — like if he has value for that heart, like he has value for that garment of clothing — he will rush immediately and attempt to wash it. Rasulullah ﷺ mentions that if that person refrains, stops the sin that he is engaged in, seeks forgiveness, and truly repents to Allah, then his heart is cleansed.

But if he returns to the sin, and perhaps does not make a sincere tawbah, does not repent sincerely, then even more black dots are added — until his entire heart is overcome. And then Rasulullah ﷺ mentioned, this is the rust, this is the رَان — that's the word in Arabic — this is the rust that Allah talks about when referring to the condition of the hearts of disbelievers. Allah talks about their hearts and He says in Surah Al-Mutaffifin:

That their hearts have become completely rusted because of the effects of the sins that they are engaged in. Because of their own crimes.

Every Human Being Makes Mistakes

Now, as believers, we understand that it is our duty to live a life of obedience. A life wherein we are obedient to Allah, following His commandments to the best of our ability. And we are taught that if we do fall short, or if we do slip up, if we do make a mistake — because at the end of the day we are human beings — and Rasulullah ﷺ has mentioned:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2499; Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4251)

Every human being makes mistakes. Everyone has slip ups. Everyone falls down from time to time. Everyone makes mistakes. But the best of those who make mistakes — the best of mankind who make mistakes — are those who repent immediately. Those who turn back to Allah.

Now, sometimes we are unaware — actually majority of the time — we are not really aware when Allah has forgiven us or not. We don't know. Like we perform salah day in and day out. How many salahs of ours are actually accepted? Only Allah knows. If we commit a sin and we repent and we apologize in the court of Allah, only Allah knows if that sin is forgiven or not.

Yes, there are certain steps that we are taught to take. And we are informed that insha'Allah, if these steps are taken, then Allah is Ghafoorur Raheem — He is the most forgiving, He is the most merciful. And He loves to forgive, and insha'Allah He will definitely forgive us. But at the end of the day, we don't know. That's why a true believer lives between both hope and fear. We are fearful of our sins, of the lives that we've been living, of the punishment of Allah potentially for our crimes. But at the same time, we are so hopeful that Allah, insha'Allah, by us repenting and by us turning back to Him, He's going to forgive us.

But depending on the crime and depending on the type of repentance that is done, sometimes there are certain sins which are more severe than others. And certain times, it requires a little bit more concentrated repentance. Like one sheikh mentioned, "I understood truly what it means to repent to Allah when I noticed the life of a child — 5 years old or maybe 7 years old — he's acting up, the mother or the father gets very upset, kicks him out of the house. And then what is he doing? He's wailing at the door, crying, crying: let me back in, let me back in, I'm so sorry, I'll never do it again." So then he learned what it truly means to repent.

So sometimes Allah knows best what type of repentance we engage in, how truly sorry we are. And sometimes it requires a more concentrated effort.

Special Times of Mercy Throughout the Year

And Allah, out of His immense mercy, has provided — like going back to the first example, like you have special, more severe and rigorous cleaning agents like Clorox bleach — so too, we have certain times and certain opportunities throughout the year where Allah sends special mercy. In the hadith, Rasulullah ﷺ said:

(Al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, al-Tabarani; also referenced in Majma' al-Zawa'id)

Surely throughout the year, throughout time, there are certain days wherein Allah sends special mercy. Then Rasulullah ﷺ says: avail yourselves for that opportunity, take advantage of those times. Why? Because it's quite likely that if you maximize, if you obtain any of that mercy, that you will never be wretched and unfortunate ever again. SubhanAllah.

We can understand how great the mercy of Allah is and how important it is. In another hadith Rasulullah ﷺ mentioned:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5673; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2816)

No one is ever going to attain salvation through his own actions. So someone asked, "What about you, Ya Rasulullah?" He said, "Not even myself — unless Allah completely drowns me in His mercy." This is how important the mercy of Allah is.

The Day of Ashura — The 10th of Muharram

And one of these opportunities — alhamdulillah we are so fortunate — is this very day itself. This is a very special day, the 10th of Muharram, a very special day known as Ashura. And many of us are aware of its virtue, and many of us have perhaps even attended and listened to lectures about the significance of fasting on this day. And that ship has already set sail. May Allah reward all of those who found the courage and the discipline and who Allah blessed with tawfiq to fast. And may Allah reward all of the others, insha'Allah, through their intentions to fast perhaps in the coming year.

But this day has many more virtues attached to it, if you ponder about it. One special thing about this day is that it's part of the month of Muharram. And the month of Muharram is a sacred month. And the sacred months hold special virtue wherein a person can attain more mercy of Allah. And in the ayah Allah has mentioned:

Since the entire world was created, Allah decided such that there would be 12 months in the year. And of these 12 months, four are sacred — one of them being the month of Muharram. As in a hadith, Rasulullah ﷺ referred to it as شَهْرُ اللَّهِ الْمُحَرَّم — the month of Allah.

And so we are taught in this month and in these days, in these sacred times and these sacred places, that we have to be very careful and ensure that we do not engage in any type of sin. Allah mentions in the same ayah:

Do not wrong yourselves in these times, in these months. Do your absolute best to refrain from sinning.

Three Things to Do on This Day

1. Stay Away From Sin

The first thing that we can make it a point, insha'Allah, to do for the rest of the month and also specifically for today, is to do our absolute best to refrain from sinning. Sometimes the thought may come, the waswasa of Shaytan may come to engage in any particular action. Then we have to remind ourselves that this isn't like any other time of the year. This is a special time. And when we insha'Allah remind ourselves, we will find the discipline, we will find the courage to refrain and hold back from that sin.

2. Make Sincere Tawbah

Rasulullah ﷺ mentioned in a hadith:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 741)

If you want to fast any month outside of the month of Ramadan, then fast in the month of Muharram. Why? Because in this month, there is one particular day where Allah has forgiven an entire nation. And He will forgive, and He will continue to forgive other people on this very day itself. Many of the scholars, when commentating on this hadith and explaining it, have mentioned that this day is very likely the 10th of Muharram — in other words, this very day itself.

This is a day where we should turn back to Allah and repent for all of our sins, for all of our mistakes, for anything, all of our shortcomings. As everyone again has certain mistakes, has certain errors that they have committed, for which they can definitely turn back to Allah and make amends.

The ulema mention there are three steps involved in sincere tawbah:

• Number one: feel bad about what we have done.
• Number two: stop doing those actions.
• Number three: make the firm intention and find within ourselves the resolve and insha'Allah the discipline to stay away from those sins and to ensure that we never commit them again.

3. Spend More on Your Family

The third thing that we can do on this day — Rasulullah ﷺ mentioned in a hadith narrated by Sayyiduna Jabir (رضي الله عنه) in the book Al-Istidhkar of Ibn Abd al-Barr (رحمه الله):

(Al-Istidhkar, Ibn Abd al-Barr; graded authentic equivalent to a narration in Sahih Muslim by some scholars)

That individual who spends more on his family on the 10th of Muharram, Allah expands his sustenance and puts much more barakah in his wealth throughout the entirety of the year. And this hadith has been graded authentic equivalent to that of a narration in Sahih Muslim.

This is especially relevant when each and almost every single individual is trying to look for some sort of supplemental income, some side gig or something of that sort. But if we have the barakah of Allah, we'll never need to ever look for such avenues. And perhaps even through this, Allah may open up many more doors.

So this is something which is counterintuitive. As Rasulullah ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2588)

The more that we spend for the sake of Allah, the more Allah grants us. Sadaqah never decreases a person's wealth. Let us keep that in mind.

In the hadith, "our dependents" refers to those who depend on us — our spouses, our children, our parents if we are taking care of them. And this doesn't have to be necessarily through food, but it can be through other means as well — gifts, clothing, etc. It can be something as simple as providing one extra dish, or maybe even getting a dessert, or some candy or extra sweets for the children. There is one muhaddith, Sufyan al-Thawri (رحمه الله), who mentions: "I've tested and tried this for 50 to 60 years of my life, and I've only found goodness." So let us also insha'Allah be amongst those who test and try this, and insha'Allah also see the results as well.

Make Excessive Du'a — The Lesson of Musa (عليه السلام)

The last thing is to make excessive du'a on this day. If you look at the reason for which the Muslims fast, then Rasulullah ﷺ, when he went to Madinah al-Munawwarah, he noticed the Yahud were also fasting. He asked them, why are you fasting on this day? And in short, they mentioned, this is such a wonderful day — in fact it's mentioned in narrations that it used to be their type of Eid, a day that they adorned themselves and they celebrated, and they had so many different feasts. And the reason was because Allah saved Musa (عليه السلام). This is the day that Allah saved Musa (عليه السلام) from Fir'aun and drowned Fir'aun. And this is also the day that Allah saved Nuh (عليه السلام), and his ark finally came to rest on Mount Judi.

So if you look at Musa (عليه السلام)'s story, mentioned in Surah al-Shu'ara, then the type of du'a that you'll make — this is the time of the year to make those du'as which even seem impossible. Because for Allah, there is no such thing as impossible. This is the mindset of a believer.

Every single individual has various different trials and tests that come in their life. Sometimes it's through the difficulties of their own children, or sometimes the difficulties of their own marriages, or sometimes financial difficulty, or some type of stress. Allah has mentioned in the Quran:

Every single human being, by virtue of being a human being, has different tests and trials. And every single person has such tests and trials that are the weightiest upon them and the most difficult — that if you were to compare them to others, perhaps people would not understand the difficulty that you're going through, but only you yourself understand how difficult it is. These are such times in our lives where sometimes we feel that it's impossible — how am I ever going to come out of this situation? Let us look and take solace from Musa (عليه السلام)'s story, and understand that this is the day — every day is the day — but this specifically is the day to make such du'a, where we understand even the impossible will become possible.

Look at Surah al-Shu'ara, Allah mentions:

Finally when Bani Isra'il was being chased out of Egypt, and Fir'aun was hot on their trail with his army, and now they seemingly reached a dead end — in front of them was the water, and behind them was this entire army that was going to come and destroy them. At that time what happened? All of Bani Isra'il said: إِنَّا لَمُدْرَكُونَ — "Oh no, we're going to get caught. It's over for us."

But look at a true believer. Look at Musa (عليه السلام), look at his mindset, look at how he viewed this opportunity. He immediately turned his attention to Allah. He said:

He said, "Never. My Rabb is with us. Our Allah is with us. He is going to guide us." To our eyes, to anyone at that moment, it would have seemed absolutely impossible — they're definitely going to be caught. But look at the vision of Musa (عليه السلام), look at the iman and the faith that he had, that he understood: for my Allah, nothing is impossible. Even the impossible is possible.

After that, showing that conviction and making du'a to Allah, then Allah mentions:

Then Allah sent immediate instruction: take your staff and strike it against the water. Then the entire body of water split open, each side being like a great huge mountain. And then We brought others closer — Fir'aun and his army. We saved Musa (عليه السلام) and everyone with him. Then We drowned everyone else. Surely in that there is a sign. But most of them, they don't believe.

We know as Muslims that for Allah, nothing is impossible. Allah is the only one who can take care of our problems. Allah is the only one who can take care of our situations. But how deeply do we truly feel that? Sometimes our condition — may Allah forgive every one of us — is such that we're praying salah in the masjid, in the house of Allah, and we're thinking: "Let me ask this individual, he's gonna help me out with my problem." For God's sake, you're praying, you're asking Allah, and your mind is going away from Allah, the King of all kings. And we're thinking this particular person is going to be able to help me out with my situation. We don't even realize we're making du'a to Allah. Allah is there. He is the only one who can help us in our situation.

When a person directs his attention to Allah with this mindset, then Allah opens up all avenues. And this is so beloved to Allah. What is so beloved? When we testify in the court of Allah that none can help me, none can assist me except for Allah. And we realize that the task before us perhaps is even seemingly impossible. But yet that's not stopping me, because I know for my Allah, nothing is impossible.

The Sa'i of Hajar (عليها السلام)

If you look at the story of Ibrahim (عليه السلام) — in Hajj and in 'Umrah, every action is attributed to Ibrahim (عليه السلام). But there's one particular action that's not attributed to him. That is the Sa'i — running between Safa and Marwah. That's attributed to Hajar (عليها السلام). And what was so beautiful to Allah that He preserved that for all of mankind till the end of time?

It was the fact that when she ascended the mountain initially — Safa — she looked around looking for help. My son is dying. Who is there who is going to help me? So she ascended the mountain, she looked for help. Did she see anyone? No. So she came down. She went then to Marwah, running on the plains so that she could rush to the top to see for more help. And she looked and she looked as far as she could. Did she find any help? No.

But we don't only ascend Safa and then go to Marwah and then stop our journey. She understood that for Allah, even the impossible is possible. There is no such thing as impossible for my Allah. And she continued her journey back to Safa, knowing that Allah is going to come and help me. Allah is going to send help. My Allah is going to send help.

The Du'a of Zakariya (عليه السلام)

If you look at Zakariya (عليه السلام) also, Allah says:

This is the same thing that we see in all the Prophets' lives — in our own Prophet's ﷺ life as well. Zakariya (عليه السلام) testified in the court of Allah. He said: I know I'm so old and my wife is barren — scientifically she cannot bear a child at this time in her life. But did that stop him from making du'a? That didn't stop him from making du'a. These lessons are there and preserved for both you and I, so that we can take lesson from them and also call on our Creator, because He is the only one who is going to help us.

This is what is meant when Rasulullah ﷺ mentioned:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3371)

Du'a is the very marrow — the essence — of worship.

Closing Du'a

I make du'a that Allah allows us to maximize on this day and to earn and attain His mercy. May Allah grant us the tawfiq to stay away from sins. May Allah grant us the tawfiq to make such a tawbah which is accepted in His court. May Allah grant us the tawfiq to also spend more on our families. And may Allah grant us salvation and grant us an acceptance of all of our du'as.