It’s Time to Repent - Qari Zakaullah Saleem

It's Time to Repent

Praise be to Allah, we praise Him, we ask His help and we ask His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him. And whosoever He misguides, none can guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared. And you will not die except as Muslims.

O you people, fear your Lord Who created you from a single soul. And He created from it a wife. And He spread from it many men and women. And fear Allah in Whom you ask for help and mercy. Verily, Allah is ever watching over you.

O you who have believed, fear Allah and say the right words. He will amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great victory.

As for the rest, the truest words are the words of Allah. And the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. And the worst of things are its innovations. And every innovation is a creation. And every creation is a misguidance. And every misguidance is in the Fire.

The Month of Repentance

As for the rest, Allah closes all the gates of Hellfire. And a caller calls out and he invites saying: O seeker of good, move forward, step up, increase your good deeds. And O seeker of evil, stop and reduce committing sins. And stop disobeying Allah.

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, Allah has given us another opportunity to repent and to seek His forgiveness. Allah is Al-Ghafoor, Al-Ghaffar, Al-Ghafir. He is most forgiving. He is ever forgiving. And He forgives again and again and again. It is up to us whether or not we seek His forgiveness. Allah has given us the opportunity to seek His forgiveness and to repent to Him, particularly during the month of Ramadan. We have to repent from committing sins. We have to repent to Allah, because during the month of Ramadan we have no option other than repenting to Him.

Allah, out of His mercy and out of His love for His slaves, for His creation, has opened the door of repentance all year long. And there is no particular time or place or environment to repent to Allah. Whenever you are ready to repent to Allah, repent straight away — without any delay, all year long.

Allah's Call Every Night and Morning

Allah shows His love and His mercy to His creation, to His slaves. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: every single night, throughout the year, every single night, Allah — the Creator, the Lord — He descends to the lower heaven and He calls upon His slaves and He says: Is there anyone who wants to seek forgiveness? So I am ready to forgive his sins.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1145; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 758)

Every single night Allah calls. And in another hadith, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: every single morning, Allah stretches out His hand — as it befits His Majesty — and He calls. Every single morning He says: Is there anyone who has committed sins last night? I am ready to forgive him. And every single evening, every single night, He stretches out His hand so that the sinner of the day can repent to Him. And this continues throughout the year — every single day, every single morning, every single evening, and every single night.

But when the month of Ramadan comes, Allah appoints an angel who calls out: O seeker of good, move forward, step up, increase your good deeds. And O seeker of evil, if you did not repent from Shawwal until Sha'ban, and now the month of Ramadan has arrived — stop. Stop.

Allah, out of His mercy — although He is merciful, He is Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahim all year long — out of His mercy during the month of Ramadan, He opens all the gates of His mercy and paradise, and He closes all the gates of hellfire. And this is on top of His mercy that He shows every single day, every single morning, evening, and night. Allah gives us opportunity every year so that we can repent to Him while we are going through the month of Ramadan.

A Stern Warning: The Du'a of Jibril

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, we have to bear in mind the hadith of Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him — the hadith that should be taken as a warning. A warning for someone who continues committing sins all year long and even during the month of Ramadan. Pay attention to this hadith, although you have heard it many times.

When the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said ameen on the du'a of Jibril, peace be upon him. Jibril said: Whoever witnesses the month of Ramadan and he does not get his sins forgiven by Allah — may Allah throw him away from His mercy. May Allah curse him. May Allah destroy him.

So this is a warning. If you don't repent during the month of Ramadan, for the rest of the 11 months you have the option to repent — any day, any evening, any night, any time. But when the month of Ramadan comes, as a believer you have no option other than repenting to Allah. Otherwise, the destruction and the curse of Allah will be upon you.

What Sins Must We Repent From?

You have to repent to Allah. Repent to Allah and seek His forgiveness for all the sins that you have committed all year long, all the sins that you have been committing throughout the year.

If you have been neglectful of your prayers, repent to Allah. This is the time to promise to Allah that you will never ever miss any obligatory prayer within your life, throughout your life.

If you have missed fasting of the month of Ramadan in the past, this is the time to repent to Allah and promise to Allah that you will never ever miss any fast without any valid and right excuse in the future.

If you have never paid your zakat in the past, this is the time to repent to Allah, Dhul Jalal wal Ikram, and ask Him to forgive your sins that you have committed in the past. Pay zakat now.

If you have not performed Hajj, although you had the ability — you had financial ability and you were healthy — but you ignored it and you neglected it, now it is the time to repent and make the booking for your Hajj straight away. Repent to Allah. Fulfill all the obligations.

Stop committing sins — any kind of sin that you have committed in the past. This is the time to repent to Allah. If you committed the sin of adultery, this is the time to repent to Allah. If you have cheated on anyone, then repent to Allah. If you have been earning haram, this is the time to repent to Allah. If you have been eating haram and consuming haram and drinking haram, this is the time to repent to Allah. Don't let the month of Ramadan pass by without asking Allah for His forgiveness and without repenting to Him.

If you have committed sins of your tongue — you have been backbiting, and you have been lying, and you have been swearing — this is the time to repent to Allah now and make a promise to Allah that you will never repeat these sins again.

If you have been involved in watching haram — watching pornography and watching filthy things on the internet, on Facebook and YouTube and Twitter — stop it. O seeker of evil, stop. This is the month of mercy. This is the month of forgiveness. This is the month of tawbah. Repent and turn back to Allah in repentance. Ask and seek His forgiveness.

If you have committed any sin — major or minor — repent to Allah. Ask for His forgiveness. And never ever see any sin to be little or small. Rather repent to Allah and ask for His forgiveness. May Allah forgive us all and may Allah forgive all of our sins that we have committed in the past.

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, if you have been committing sins of cutting the ties of kinship, this is the time to repent to Allah and make up with your brothers, with your sisters, with your parents, with your children, with your spouses, with your husband and wife. This is the time to repent to Allah.

If you have been disobedient to your parents, repent to Allah and ask for His forgiveness. If you have been neglectful of your responsibilities as a husband, repent to Allah. If you have been neglectful of your responsibilities as a father to your children, repent to Allah now. If you have been disobedient to your husband, my sister, then repent to Allah. This is the time of repentance. Don't let the month of Ramadan pass by without repenting to Allah.

Allah is calling us, and He has opened all the doors of paradise and mercy for us. Now it is upon us to seek His forgiveness. We ask Allah to forgive all of our previous sins.

How Do We Repent? The Method of Tawbah

Step One: Acknowledge Your Sins

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, how can we repent? What is the way? What is the method? First and foremost, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: the very first step is that you acknowledge your sins.

Stop justifying your lying and backbiting. Stop justifying your missing the salah. Stop justifying earning haram and eating haram and consuming haram. Stop justifying your sins and shortcomings and your mistakes. Rather, acknowledge them. Acknowledge them and admit before Allah that you have disobeyed Him, although He showered so many blessings and bounties on you.

But you've been disobedient to Him, although your sins and your disobedience are not going to decrease anything in His kingship. It is not going to harm Him. It is only yourself whom you harm. When you commit sin, when you disobey Allah and His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, you harm no one other than your own soul. Admit and acknowledge and express and show your regret before Allah.

Step Two: Stop the Sin Immediately

Secondly, my dear brothers and sisters in Islam, you have to stop the sins immediately, without any delay. Allah has promised in the Quran, in Surah An-Nisa:

One of the characteristics of the true believers and those who have the fear of Allah within their hearts: whenever they commit any sin or oppress themselves, immediately they remember Allah and they ask for His forgiveness. They know that who can forgive their sins except Allah alone. And they never persist in what they are doing — they stop committing sins immediately.

And if you do so, then the glad tiding is for you. Allah says for such people their reward is the forgiveness of Allah and the paradise. Repent to Allah by stopping your sins immediately without any delay.

Allah says:

Indeed the tawbah of Allah is for those who commit sin and they disobey Allah out of ignorance, then they repent and they return back to Allah in repentance immediately and they do not delay. Then such people: Allah returns with His mercy and His forgiveness on them.

In the next ayah, Allah says:

And there is no tawbah, there is no repentance, there is no forgiveness for those who continue committing sins — they continue committing sins all 11 months and even during the month of Ramadan — to the point that when they see the angels of death and when they have the certainty that death has overtaken them, they say: I repent now. But that time is not for the acceptance of repentance.

Fir'awn also tried to repent at that time. When he saw that he was going to die, he declared:

He said: I believe in the same God and Allah in which Banu Israel believed. He said in clear words: Now I am amongst the Muslims. Fir'awn said this. Allah said: Now? Is this the time for repentance?

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, who amongst us knows that he is going to live until this evening? Who knows? Do we have any guarantee that we are going to stay alive until this evening? Until this iftar? Wallahi, we do not have any guarantee. Then why is there a delay? Why do we not repent to Allah straight away, right now? And stop committing all types of sins, and ask Allah to grant us firmness and steadfastness on the right path. And may Allah keep us away from the evils of Shaytan. May Allah give us tawfiq and ability to repent to Him sincerely.

Step Three: Sincere and Pure Repentance — Tawbah Nasuhah

Allah says in the Quran:

O you who believed, make tawbah to Allah — pure and sincere repentance. What is the sincere repentance? Sincere repentance is when you promise to Allah that you will never go back and you will never repeat those sins again.

The Story of the Man Who Killed 100 People

I would like to conclude the first khutbah with the hadith of Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him, that is collected by Imam Al-Bukhari. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

This shows the true and sincere repentance. And if you repent to Allah truly and sincerely, Allah is ready to forgive all of your previous sins. Never ever despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed Allah forgives all the sins, no matter how many sins you have committed in the past. You have committed all types of sins. And sometimes we find people saying — and Shaytan whispers in their mind — you know, how can Allah forgive you? You have committed all types of sins. You never left any sin except you have committed it. How can you expect the mercy of Allah? How can Allah forgive you?

Allah says in the Quran:

Indeed Allah forgives all the sins. But the condition is that you return to Him with sincerity and with pure intention.

The hadith of Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him, is that one individual amongst Bani Israel — someone who killed and murdered 99 people. Then Allah inspired in his heart to ask for His forgiveness and to repent to Him. He realized and he acknowledged his sin, and he wanted to repent to Allah. And he asked around who could give him a true answer whether or not his repentance would be accepted by Allah.

He was guided towards a monk and worshipper. He approached him and he asked him whether or not his repentance would be accepted by Allah. This worshipper — someone who used to remember Allah, someone who used to worship Allah day and night — he said: No. How can Allah forgive you?

And this, my dear brothers and sisters in Islam, is the danger of asking a question to someone who does not have knowledge. Whenever it comes to the matter of the religion, never rely on someone's piety and righteousness. Rather, Allah has guided us in the Quran:

If you have any question related to the religion of Allah, then approach the people of knowledge — not the people of worship.

So this worshipper said: how can Allah forgive you? And this individual got angry and he killed him, and he completed 100 murders. Then after a while he wanted to repent again, and he asked around and he was directed to someone who was knowledgeable. He approached him and he asked him. And this scholar, this knowledgeable individual, said: Yes, why not? But I would advise you to leave this environment. The environment that you are living in is not good for you. As we mentioned previously in one of the khutbahs: your companionship and the people around you are the ones who direct you towards good or bad.

So this individual, the murderer — the scholar advised him to go out of his environment. He said: go to another town or village in which there are people who fear Allah. And this individual, the murderer, started walking towards that village.

While he was on his way towards that village, the time of his death arrived. The angels of death came down — the angels of the mercy of Allah and the angels of punishment as well. Both groups arrived and they started arguing. The angels of mercy said: he repented and he is going towards the town and village of the righteous people in order to repent, so we are going to take away his soul. As for the angels of punishment, they said: no. He had committed major sins and he murdered 100, and he has not completed his repentance yet. So we are going to take away his soul.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says: look upon the mercy of Allah. Allah inspired to the land — Allah instructed the land that was closer to the village of the righteous people to come closer to him. While he was dying, he got closer to that land. And Allah inspired to the land of the bad people to go away, far away from him. And then Allah instructed the angels to measure the land both ways. When they measured the land, they found that he was only one single hand span closer to the land of the righteous people. So Allah forgave him.

And this was solely because of his pure and sincere intention of repenting to Allah. As long as you make the intention right now, while sitting here in the masjid, that you are going to repent to Allah from all types of sins that you have been committing in the past, then even if you go home and while you are on your way towards your home and death overtakes you, you will be forgiven by the mercy of Allah.

Repentance Is Urgent — Even the Prophet Repented Daily

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, we need to repent to Allah immediately, without any delay. May Allah give us tawfiq and ability to seek His forgiveness, and may Allah accept our repentance, and may Allah forgive all of our previous sins.

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, when it comes to the matter of repentance, this is a serious matter — this is something that is very, very serious — to the level that our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2702)

O people, repent to Allah and seek His forgiveness. I, Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, for whom there is no sin in his register, says: Indeed, I repent to Allah and I ask for His forgiveness every single day more than 70 times. This is your beloved Nabi Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. This is a serious matter — you have to repent to Allah immediately.

And in order to understand the sincere repentance, I would advise every one of you to go back and pick up the copy of the Quran and go through Surah At-Tawbah, in which Allah has made the mention of the story of three companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who repented to Allah due to their mistake and their sin. And they repented to Allah, and Allah loved their repentance to the level that Allah revealed a surah in the Quran that is going to be recited until the Day of Judgment with the name of Surah At-Tawbah. Read that story and you will realize how to repent to Allah sincerely.

We Are in Need of Allah — He Is Not in Need of Us

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, we should bear in mind that we are in need of Allah. Allah is not in need of us. If you do not repent to Allah, if you do not ask and if you do not seek His forgiveness, it is not going to harm Him. And if you do repent to Him, it is not going to benefit Him. Your Lord is self-sufficient and He is the Lord of mercy. He is ready to shower His mercy upon you, but He is not in need of your worship. He is not in need of your du'a. He is not in need of your istighfar. He is not in need of your siyam and qiyam and your tilawah and your remembrance. He is not in need of any of your good deeds. You are the one who is in need of your own good deeds and dependence and istighfar and seeking forgiveness. You are in need of Him.

Allah says in a Hadith Qudsi:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2577)

O My slaves, O My servants, if the very first of you amongst mankind and the very last of you, the whole mankind and all the ins — all the mankind and jinn — if you all become so pious, so righteous, and you become like the purest heart of an individual and the most righteous heart, it is not going to increase anything in My power. And if you all — the very first of you until the last of you and your mankind and your jinn — all of you become so wicked and sinful and disobedient to Me, it is not going to decrease anything from My power.

So we have to repent to Allah for our own benefit — for our own benefit of this dunya, for our own benefit of the hereafter, for our own benefit in our graves. May Allah give us tawfiq and ability to repent to Him, Dhul Jalal wal Ikram, in sincerity. May Allah forgive all of our sins.