9 Important Points Related To Tawbah

At the very beginning, Allah divides people into two categories: those who repent to Allah and those who do not, and He calls the latter group ظَالِمُونَ (al-Zalimun—the wrongdoers).

Tawbah (repentance) is one of the greatest acts of worship and the most beloved to Allah. I always want to remember how much Allah loves repentance and how He loves to see you repenting and coming back to Him. He loves to forgive you.

It just shows you the nature of this God—that He is most forgiving, most loving. Even though you have disobeyed Him, abandoned Him, and gone far away from Him, yet He is so happy to welcome you back. And when He welcomes you back, He helps you and He aids you.

It is amazing how He makes it easy for you to come closer to Him, and He Himself comes closer to you, even though He is not in need of you or anyone else.

Allah says in the Quran, "O you who believe, repent to Allah a sincere tawbah—truly Allah will definitely forgive your sins and He will enter you into paradise." It is amazing! One would think that if you have wronged Him, broken His law, made a violation, and then you confess and promise not to do it again, He would simply let you go and forgive you—that alone would be sufficient. But Allah does not merely forgive you; He rewards you for it! That is from His immense generosity and favor.

Consider an analogy: you go to a traffic officer because you made a traffic violation. You say to the officer, "I apologize. I will never do that again." Can you imagine the officer then saying, "Okay, here are a hundred dollars for you because you just promised you will behave yourself well"? That would never happen in reality. But that is how Allah truly does it! When you repent to Him, He does not just forgive you and let you go. No—He rewards you for it. And that is just an amazing thing to think about.

Seek forgiveness from your Lord and repent to Him.

The Prophet ﷺ described the happiness of Allah when His servant repents. He gave an example: someone lost his camel in the desert—and on that camel were his food and his water and everything he needed to survive. He thought he was going to die. In despair, he lay down to sleep, thinking, "At least let me die in peace." He woke up and found the camel right next to his head with his food and his water. Imagine the joy and happiness of that person at that moment! Allah says He is much happier than that person when you come back to Him in repentance.

Every day Allah stretches His hand to welcome you to repent to Him—in the night and in the day. Even if you are among those who sin day and night, come back to Him; He welcomes you.

The Prophet ﷺ said that when a person commits zina (adultery), or drinks alcohol, or steals—while he is doing so, he is not in a state of iman (faith). But even so, the door of tawbah is open, inviting him to come back. Even with these major violations, repentance remains within reach.

Nine Important Points Regarding Tawbah

First Point: Al-Tawwāb is One of Allah's Names

At-Tawwāb (The Ever-Returning, The One Who Accepts Repentance) is one of Allah's names. He is the One who accepts tawbah from His servants and pardons sins.

Many verses in the Quran refer to Allah as التَّوَّابُ (at-Tawwāb). But what does it truly mean that Allah is التَّوَّابُ? It means that Allah is the One who guides you to tawbah. Then He helps you and enables you to maintain that tawbah. Then He accepts it from you. Then He rewards you for it. That is what التَّوَّابُ means.

Because of this, a person should always ask Allah to guide him to tawbah. If you know that this is His name and this is His quality, ask Him always to guide you to repentance. Then ask Him to help you, because sincere repentance to Allah is not easy. Then ask Him to grant you constancy upon that path. Ask Him to accept it from you, because in the end it is a good deed that needs to be accepted by Allah. And finally, ask Him to reward you for it.

That is why if Allah has guided you in Ramadan, after Ramadan, or at any time to tawbah, you should thank Allah and praise Him and acknowledge the favor of Allah upon you. When Allah grants you tawbah from a sin that you were committing—whether it was a violation you were doing or an obligation you were abandoning—say الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ (al-hamdu lilLāh, all praise is due to Allah) and thank Allah for that.

Second Point: Tawbah is General for All People in All Conditions

Allah has ordered everyone to repent to Him—the righteous and the sinners, the Muslims and the non-Muslims, the good and the bad.

"O you who believe, repent to Allah a sincere tawbah."

"And all of you, O believers, repent to Allah so that you may be successful." All of you must repent—all humans in all their forms, types, and categories.

Imām al-Qurtubī mentioned many times that tawbah is obligatory (wājib) upon all Muslims. Ibn Qudāmah said, "Tawbah is always required from you." Because there is no time that passes—there is no day that passes—without someone committing some kind of sin.

Even if a person does not commit sin with his physical limbs, there are still thoughts about committing sins in the heart. And even if one avoids such thoughts, there is still the whispering of Shaytān and scattered thoughts that distract from the remembrance of Allah. And even if one is constant in dhikr (remembrance of Allah), there is still a deficiency and falling short in knowledge of Allah and His attributes and actions. All of this constitutes a shortcoming that necessitates tawbah.

People are at different levels when it comes to these areas. That is why tawbah is needed at all times. The scholars have therefore said there are two types of tawbah: تَوْبَةُ مَقَامٍ (tawbat maqām—repentance from a specific sin) and تَوْبَةُ حَالٍ (tawbat hāl—repentance from one's general state). The first is repenting specifically from a sin. The second is looking at your overall condition, recognizing the shortcomings within it, and repenting to Allah for them.

That is why the Prophet ﷺ used to say he repents to Allah a hundred times a day or more. Not because the Prophet ﷺ was committing a hundred sins daily—no. Rather, because the Prophet ﷺ understood that no matter how much one worships during the day, there are always times when one is not fully aware of Allah, when one's knowledge is incomplete, when one is falling short of what Allah truly deserves. That is why he would repent to Allah and ask His forgiveness for such shortcomings.

Third Point: Tawbah Must Be Done at the Right Time

Tawbah has two time frames: one related to all of humanity collectively, and one related to each individual person.

As for all humanity: The Prophet ﷺ said, "Allah stretches His hand in the night so that the evildoer of the day may repent, and He stretches His hand in the day so that the evildoer of the night may repent—until the sun rises from the west."

"Whoever repents before the sun rises from the west, Allah will accept his tawbah." This is the collective timeframe for all humanity.

As for each individual person: You must repent before your soul departs from your body.

Tawbah cannot be accepted from a person while his or her soul is departing from the body. That is why the Prophet ﷺ said in al-Tirmidhī:

"Allah accepts the repentance of the servant as long as he has not started to gurgle"—meaning as long as the soul has not begun to leave through the throat, for that is when the angels are pulling out the soul.

Because nobody knows when the sun will come from the west, and nobody knows when he will die—you could die in any second, no matter how healthy you are. There are a million things around you that could bring death, and within you as well. Because the person does not know, that is why the person should constantly be repenting to Allah and be ready for that moment.

I am always amazed by some people who know they will die. A doctor tells them they have six months to live, and they know they will die soon. Yet they never repent. They continue doing the bad things they were doing all their life. I could not understand this. I could not comprehend how a person could continue like that.

But I came to understand the answer to this question: مَن عَاشَ عَلَىٰ شَيْءٍ مَاتَ عَلَيْهِ (Man 'āsha 'alā shay'in māta 'alayh—"Whoever lives upon something, he dies upon it"). Tawbah is difficult in the sight of Allah. It is precious in the sight of Allah. You cannot think, "I will do whatever I want now and switch before I die." There is no guarantee for that. There is no guarantee at all. That is why it is so important for you to commit to tawbah today, before that day comes.

Fourth Point: The Conditions of Sincere Tawbah (Tawbat an-Nasuha)

An acceptable, perfect tawbah must fulfill six conditions:

First: Timing—to do tawbah at the right time, as mentioned earlier.

Second: To quit the sin itself, or what is similar to that sin. Some scholars have said that you must quit all sins in order for your repentance to be perfect. However, this does not appear to be the strongest opinion, even though it is a stricter view. What appears correct is a middle position: you must repent from the sin itself or what is similar to it in nature.

For example, if someone says, "I'm going to quit drinking alcohol and repent to Allah," but he is still using drugs or smoking marijuana for recreation—this is not repentance. He must repent from alcohol and what is similar to it. Or if someone says, "I'm going to stop being bad to my mother," but continues to ignore his father—that is not repentance either. You must repent from the sin and what is similar to it.

Third: النَّدَمُ (an-nadm—regret) for the sin you have committed in the past.

Fourth: To have the intention not to return to that sin. This is not a condition of never falling into it again—because you might fall into the sin again, and that is fine. But you must not intend to go back to it. You cannot say, "I'm just taking a break in Ramadan, and after Ramadan I'll return to it," or "I'm taking a break until I recover my health." That does not work. Your intention must be to leave it.

Fifth: أَن تُؤَدِّيَهَا أَو تَأْتِي بِكَفَّارَتِهَا فِي الشَّرْعِ (an yu'addīhā aw ya'tī bi kafāratihā fī ash-shar'—to make up for it or to pay its expiation according to Islamic law). If that sin has consequences that need to be rectified, you must rectify them. For example, if you broke an oath, you must pay the expiation for the broken oath, which is to feed ten people. If it is zakah you neglected, you must pay it back. If it is prayers you missed, you must make them up. And so on.

Sixth: إِن كَانَتْ بِحَقِّ آدَمِيّ (in kānat bihaqqi ādamī—if the sin involves the rights of another human being). If your sin harmed another person, you must seek their forgiveness. If you took something from them, you must return it or its equivalent. If it is something intangible—for instance, you backbit them, said bad things about them, ruined their reputation, or left them a bad review online because you had a bad day—what do you do?

If you can ask the person for forgiveness and you know they are willing to forgive you, that is good. But if confronting them would make the situation worse—if going to them and saying, "I'm the one who wrote that bad review about you online" would only create a bigger problem—then do not do that. Instead, make dua for them in their absence. Go to the places where you did the damage and say good things about them. Give charity on their behalf. Do the opposite of what you did. Do not create more problems in trying to fix the situation.

On the Tragedy in Palestine

We have all heard and witnessed—and some of us have seen directly—the horrific crime that was committed against the people of Palestine. A member of the media, a reporter from Al Jazeera TV in Jerusalem, Shireen Abu Akhla, was shot. I believe she was shot in the head. She was killed while she was trying to cover and report to the world the crimes that happen on a daily basis. She knew that she herself might one day become a victim of what she had been covering for the last decades or so. And there is no doubt that this is a crime.

The irony is that those responsible for the crime promise to investigate it. There is no doubt that the abuse against the Palestinian people—the level of abuse and violation of basic human rights—is something so hard to express. Sometimes words cannot capture the anger, frustration, and sadness you feel when you witness what is happening.

Yes, I know that her blood is not different from the blood of many Palestinians killed over the last decades. It is true that she received a lot of attention because of her position as a reporter. But for us as Muslims, we know that every person, every innocent soul, is valuable. It does not matter if you are a president, a governor, or just a young person on the street. Every innocent soul must be protected.

But it becomes even worse when it comes to an area like Palestine. It is just a reminder to the whole world about what is happening there—that there is no Palestinian, no matter who they are, what they are, what their gender is, or what their religion is, who has any regard or protection. There is discrimination against all Palestinians without exception.

The strong reaction we saw among the Muslim world and among Palestinians is also a testimony to the abuse I mentioned. The abuse is not only towards Muslims in Palestine, but against any Arab Palestinian who decided not to bend their back and not to accept the occupation of that land—any person who believes in the freedom of their own people. It does not matter. This young woman was not a Muslim. She was a Christian. And she was killed. And you saw how Muslims responded to that with no discrimination either. Because her blood, whether she is Muslim or non-Muslim, is protected.

Even if that person would be a Jew, we would all be standing in anger to protect the blood of any innocent person. It does not matter. Injustice is injustice.

A Clarification on Distracted Responses

My brothers and sisters, I also want to mention something that has been brought to my attention through social media and people from the community. There have been some reactions which I would call a distraction from the case itself. Because this involves matters of Islamic creed ('aqeedah), and because some young and ignorant Muslims might fall for this, I feel it is important to clarify.

I have heard of people making Salat al-Janazah in a Muslim format for her, lining up as if she were Muslim. People have been arguing on social media about whether she is Muslim or Christian, saying that she is now in Jannah, or calling her a shaheedah (martyr). Let me be clear: You cannot say she is a shaheedah in the Islamic sense. The term "shaheedah" in the context of a cause like Palestine is a linguistic term, not a religious one. It does not have the same meaning as shahādah in Islam.

No scholar has ever said that you are allowed to make Salat al-Janazah for non-Muslims or to pray for them to enter Jannah as you would for a Muslim. This is not a matter of disagreement. There is no difference of opinion on this. Some people have written articles defending such actions, and I call this ignorance and nonsense.

I believe that those who bring up these issues and stir up the community with such things are distracting us from the real case. We end up fighting with each other among ourselves as Muslims instead of focusing on the injustice that was committed. Because this issue touches on 'aqeedah (Islamic creed), and unfortunately some young and ignorant Muslims might fall for this, I want to be clear: No matter how much I care about human rights, I care more about Allah's rights. And there is no equality between someone who worships Allah alone and someone who claims that Allah has a son.

As much as I care about justice towards human beings, I also care more about justice with respect to Allah. These principles cannot be compromised. Jannah is not mine to distribute. Whether she deserves it or not—she is with Allah. He will deal with her according to His justice. That is not my point. My point is to defend her rights as a Palestinian woman who was shot unfairly. That is my right and my duty as a Muslim. After that, she goes to Allah.

But to come and say all these other things and make Salat al-Janazah for her or pray for her to be in Jannah—there is no two opinions on this. It does not exist. No scholar has ever said such a thing is allowed for non-Muslims. A non-Muslim who dies—you cannot say "May Allah have mercy on them" or "Enter Jannah" or pray al-Janazah for them the way you do for Muslims. No.

You do not need to go from one extreme to the other. You do not need to say extreme things. You simply say: The issue today is not where she is or where this person is. The issue today is why this happened and where we stand. But we cannot let political things like this shake our belief and make Islam equal to disbelief, and Tawheed equal to the Trinity. We cannot allow that. That would be ignorance and shows how weak Tawheed and iman are in our hearts and how weak the value of Tawheed and the meaning of Allah is in human hearts.

I hope that we do not get distracted from the real issue by such things.

May Allah bring justice to Shireen and to her family, and to many Palestinians who have been killed unfairly in this land. May Allah bring relief to those who have been abused around the world. And we ask Allah to guide us to always stay on the straight path and to guide us to always worship Him until we meet Him while He is pleased with us.