Pivotal Excerpt
❝…if a person is repenting to Allāh sincerely after sinning, so they sin and they repent to Allāh sincerely, but they fall back into that sin, which may occur, they must look at the reasons, some of the reasons that are causing them to fall into that sin. For example, in the ḥadīth of the man who killed 99 people, we see the scholar advised that man to do what? He said, “You live in an evil land. Go to a land where the people worship Allāh alone.❞
Question and Answer [5:14 Mins]
Question:
There is an individual who finds it difficult to leave off a particular sin and they feel lost and confused. When they try to stop and ask Allāh for forgiveness, they continue upon the same path, and they doubt if they are being honest to Allāh. What is your advice to help this person?
Answer:
It is upon us to know that the door of repentance is open, and happiness, as mentioned by Al-Imām Ibn Al-Qayyim (رحمه الله) and other scholars, revolves around a number of things. Firstly, it is when the servant is blessed, he is grateful to Allāh (عز وجل), when he is tested, he is patient for the sake of Allāh, and thirdly, if he sins, then he repents. There is a beautiful ḥadīth that we find in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, narrated by Abū Hurairah, that a person should never despair of the mercy of Allāh, and if he sins, he should repent sincerely to Him.
وعن أبي هريرة، عن النَّبِيِّ ﷺ فِيمَا يَحْكِي عَن ربِّهِ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالى قَالَ: أَذنَب عبْدٌ ذَنْبًا فقالَ: اللَّهُمَّ اغفِرْ لِي ذَنْبِي، فَقَالَ اللَّهُ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعالى: أَذْنَبَ عبدِي ذَنْبًا، فَعَلِم أَنَّ لَهُ رَبًّا يَغْفِرُ الذَّنْبَ، وَيَأْخُذُ بِالذَّنبِ، ثُمَّ عَادَ فَأَذْنَبَ، فَقَالَ: أَيْ ربِّ اغْفِرْ لِي ذَنْبِي، فَقَالَ تبارك وتعالى: أَذْنَبَ عبدِي ذَنْبًا، فَعَلِمَ أَنَّ لَهُ رَبًّا يَغفِرُ الذَّنبَ، وَيَأخُذُ بِالذَّنْبِ، ثُمَّ عَادَ فَأَذْنَبَ، فَقَالَ: أَي رَبِّ اغفِرْ لِي ذَنبي، فَقَالَ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالى: أَذْنَبَ عَبدِي ذَنبًا، فعَلِمَ أَنَّ لَهُ رَبًّا يَغْفِرُ الذَّنْبَ، وَيَأْخُذُ بِالذَّنبِ، واعْمَلْ ما شِئْتَ فقد غَفَرْتَ لك
A servant committed a sin and he said, “O Allāh! Forgive me my sin!” Allāh, Tabāraka Wa Ta’ālā said, “My servant has sinned, and he knows he has a Lord Who forgives sins and punishes on account of sins”. Then the servant sinned again, and he said, “O Lord! Forgive me my sin!” Allāh said, “My servant has sinned, and he knows he has a Lord Who forgives sins and punishes on account of sins”. Then the servant sinned again, and he said, “O Lord! Forgive me my sin!” Allāh said, “My servant has sinned, and he knows he has a Lord Who forgives sins and punishes on account of sins”. Then Allāh said, “Do as you please, for verily I have forgiven you”.
Now, look at the importance of having the correct belief in Allāh’s Names and Attributes – Al-Ghafūr, or Al-Ghaffār (The Oft-Forgiving). As seen in the narration above, “Do as you please, for verily I have forgiven you,” the scholars explain this to mean if the servant continues like this, meaning, every time they sin, they repent sincerely to Allah (عز وجل), Allāh will forgive them. Even if a person sins thousands of times, but they repent sincerely, Allāh will forgive them.
“عن عبد الله بن مسعود رضي الله عنه أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال : التائب من الذنب كمن لا ذنب له”
On the authority of Ibn Mas’ūd, that the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) said, “The one who repents from a sin is like the one who has no sin”. [Ibn Mājah 4250]. So a person should never despair of the mercy of Allāh (عز وجل). Likewise, I advise the questioner to read the book, Ad-Dā Wad-Dawā (الداء والدواء), “The Disease and the Cure” by Imām Ibn Al-Qayyim (رحمه الله). If you can read Arabic, Alḥamdulillāh, but if not, then it’s translated in English. This was a book that was written after a question was posed to Imām Ibn Al-Qayyim, about an individual who was committing a major sin and they feared that it would destroy their worldly life and their Ākhirah (their hereafter), and they found it difficult to leave the sin. This was a similar predicament, so read that book Inshā Allāhu Ta’ālā. Also, if a person is repenting to Allāh sincerely after sinning, so they sin and they repent to Allāh sincerely but they fall back into that sin, which may occur, they must look at some of the reasons that are causing them to fall into that sin. For example, in the ḥadīth of the man who killed 99 people, we see the scholar advised that man to do what? He said, “You live in an evil land. Go to a land where the people worship Allāh alone.”
“فقال: نعم، ومن يحول بينه وبين التوبة؟ انطلق إلى أرض كذا وكذا، فإن بها أناساً يعبدون الله تعالى فاعبد الله معهم، ولا ترجع إلى أرضك فإنها أرض سوءٍ”
He said, “Who stands between you and repentance? Go to such and such land; there (you will find) people devoted to the worship of Allāh, join them in worship, and do not come back to your land because it is an evil place.” [Bukhārī and Muslim]
This means that it is possible that the land where you are living is having an effect upon you, so look at that reason and remove it. Look at what may be causing you to fall into that sin and address that as well. May Allāh Ṣubhānahu wa Ta’ālā grant us all success.