Bismilla-hir-Rahman-nir-Raheem
In the name of ALLAH, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Pakistani nation is forgetting about Individual and Collective Repentance - And then to re-align our lives according to the principles and teachings of "True Islam"...
THE DOOR OF REPENTANCE IS WIDE OPEN:
A
verse from Qur’an carries a valuable insight:
“Say:
‘O My servants who wronged against their souls, do not despair of Allah’s
mercy! For Allah forgives all sins; for He is indeed Forgiving,
Compassionate.’” (Az-Zumar: 53)
It
is never too late for a true Muslim to repent to Allah, and to shed tears for
the wrong doing he has committed, keeping in mind that if one manages to escape
the punishment of this mortal world, he will not for sure escape the punishment
of Allah in the Hereafter. So, it is better to turn over a new leaf and let
bygones be bygones. As long as you are sincere in your repentance, Allah
Almighty will accept your repentance and forgive you your sins.
Sheikh
Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute
of Toronto, Ontario,
Canada,
cites in this regard:
“If
you committed evil but have repented sincerely, and changed your life around
for better, then Allah has certainly promised to grant you mercy and
forgiveness. It is one of the basic principles of belief in Islam that Allah is
All-Relenting, All-Forgiving and All-Merciful.
So
do not put off repentance; take the necessary steps immediately, for no one can
tell when death will overtake us. The door of repentance is open so long as we
are not in the throes of death, for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon
him) said, “Allah accepts the repentance of His servant so long as death has
not reached his collar bone.” But since we have no way of knowing when death
will overtake us, we must never be complacent or slack in hastening to taking
steps towards repentance.
While
speaking of repentance, I must rush to add, that it cannot be considered as
valid unless one takes the following steps:
Firstly,
one must feel deep remorse for the sins one has committed.
Secondly,
one must refrain from it totally while also abstaining from all those leads or
circumstances that led him to such a sin in the first place.
Thirdly,
he must firmly resolve never to sin again, and immediately becoming occupied in
whatever good deeds that he can in order to wipe out his past sins.
Fourthly,
all of the above involve sins involving the rights of Allah; if, however, your
sins involve the rights of human beings, then you must also do whatever it
takes to return or compensate or redress the grievances of the person you have
wronged. Paying him his dues or compensating him in whatever ways possible
becomes an essential condition of valid repentance.
Repentance,
as stated above once accomplished, will undoubtedly wipe out one’s sins, and
guarantee him a clean record. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
said, “One who has repented of a sin (sincerely) is like one who has never
sinned at all.”"
Excerpted,
with slight modifications, from: www.muslims.ca
In
conclusion, after sinning, one should not feel despair. Rather one should
forward sincere repentance to Allah and rest assured that Allah Almighty will
forgive his sin, as long as his repentance meets the abovementioned conditions
of sincerity. Moreover, you must learn how to forget, for the more you look
back to your old days of sinful habit, the wider the door is open for Satan to
draw you back. Scholars used to resemble this case to that of gazelle being
chased by hound. Despite that gazelle is naturally faster in speed, but its
frequent looking back weakens its morale and makes it an easy prey for hounds.
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