Repentance and Rulings Regarding It

Repentance is to return from disobeying Allah Almighty to obeying Him. Repentance is loved by Allah Almighty:
"Truly, Allah loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves."

Repentance is compulsory upon every believer:
"O you who believe! Turn to Allah with sincere repentance!"

Repentance leads to success:
" And all of you beg Allah to forgive you all, O believers, that you may be successful".

And success is when someone gets what he wants and is saved from what he dreads.

Allah Almighty forgives the sins of one who repents sincerely, no matter how great or how many the sins.

Allah Almighty says:
"Say: "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves!

Repentance and Rulings Regarding It Despair not of the Mercy of Allah, verily Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

O brother sinner, do not despair your Lord's mercy, for the door of repentance will remain open until the sun rises from the west.

The Prophet ﷺ said :
"Indeed, Allah extends His Hand during the night to forgive the sinner by day; and He extends His Hand during the day to forgive the sinner by night, until the sun rises from the west."

Many are they who have repented from a great number of grave sins, and Allâh Almighty has forgiven them:
"And those who invoke not any other Ilah (god) along with Allah, nor kill such life as Allah has forbidden, except for just cause, nor commit illegal sexual intercourse and whoever does this shall receive the punishment. The torment will be doubled to him on the day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein in disgrace; except those who repent and believe, and do righteous deeds, for those, Allah will change their sins into good deeds, and Allah is Oft- Forgiving, Most Merciful."

Sincere repentance includes five conditions:

1. Sincerity for Allâh Almighty, in that the objective of it is the Face of Allah Almighty, His rewards, and salvation from His punishment.

2. Remorse for performing the act of disobedience, such that one grieves for having done it and sincerely hopes to never do it again.

3. Abandoning the act of disobedience immediately. In cases where the rights of Allah Almighty are concerned, it must be avoided if it is an act that is unlawful, or one must hasten to fulfill it if one has forsaken an obligation.

In the cases related to creatures, one must return that right to its owner, or seek his forgiveness and pardon.

4. The firm resolution to never return to that act of disobedience in the future.

5. Repentance must take place before it will not be accepted, be it the presence of death or the sun rising from the west. Allâh Almighty says:
"And of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil deeds until death faces one of them and he says: "Now I repent".

The Prophet ﷺ said :
"Whoever repents before the sun rises from the west, Allah will accept his repentance."

O Allah! Guide us to a sincere repentance, and accept from us (our good deeds); verily, You are All-Hearing, All-Knowing.