2. The Beginning
The First Act of Disobedience:
And [mention] when We said to the angels, "Prostrate to Adam," and they prostrated, except for Iblees. He was of
the jinn and departed from the command of his Lord. Then will you take him and his descendants as allies other
than Me while they are enemies to you? Wretched it is for the wrongdoers as an exchange [Surah Al-Kahf : 50]
So he made them fall, through deception. And when they tasted of the tree, their private parts became apparent
to them, and they began to fasten together over themselves from the leaves of Paradise… [Surah Al-A’raf: 22]
Ibless Response:
He said," My Lord, then reprieve me until the Day they are resurrected." [Allah] said, "So indeed, you are of
those reprieved, Until the Day of the time well-known.“[ Surah Al-Hijr: 36 – 38 ]
Adam Response:
They said, "Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will
surely be among the losers." [Surah Al-A’raf : 23 ]
3. Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do
not despair of the mercy of Allah . Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He
who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.“[Az Zumar : 53]
The Believer *
... And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed.
[Surah An-Nur:31]
..... And whoever does not repent - then it is those who are the wrongdoers.[Surah
Hujrat :11]
The Prophet said, "Oh people, repent to Allah, for indeed, I repent to Allah 100 times
every day
4. Why Commit Sins?
1. The person thinks that no one is watching: “Verily, your Lord is Ever Watchful” [89:14]
2. The person thinks that no one is near him: “Have you not seen that Allah knows whatsoever is in the heavens
and whatsoever is on the earth? There is no secret counsel of three, but He is their fourth (with His Knowledge),
nor of five but He is their sixth (with His Knowledge), not of less than that or more, but He is with them (with
His Knowledge) wheresoever they may be; and afterwards on the Day of Resurrection, He will inform them of
what they did. Verily, Allah is the All-Knower of everything. “[58:7]
3. The person thinks that no one can find his action or intent: “Allah knows the fraud of the eyes, and all that
the breasts conceal.”[40:19]
4. The person thinks that no one can catch him or punish him : “So on that Day, none will punish as He will
punish. “[89:25] “…Verily, His Seizure is painful, and severe.” [11:102]
5. Other reasons i.e Social compliance, Peer Pressure, Superiority, temptation etc..
5. The Danger of Taking Sin Lightly?
The Prophet (saw) said: "The scribe on the left hand raises his pen (i.e., delays writing) for
six hours [this may refer to six hours of 60 minutes as measured by astronomers, or it may
refer to short periods of time during the day or night] before he records the sinful deed of a
Muslim. If he regrets it and seeks Allah's forgiveness, the deed is not recorded; otherwise it
is recorded as one deed.
Prophet(saw) said: "Beware of the minor sins which are often thought of as insignificant,
for they are like a group of people who stopped in the bottom of a valley. One of them
brought a stick, and another brought a stick, until they had gathered enough to cook their
food. These minor sins, if a person is called to account for them, will destroy him."
According to another report, he said: "Beware of minor sins, for they will pile up until they
destroy a person."
6. Will Allah Forgive Me? *
“O you who believe! Turn to Allaah with sincere repentance! It may be that your Lord will expiate from you
your sins, and admit you into Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise)…” [al-Tahreem 66:8]
“But whosoever repents after his crime and does righteous good deeds (by obeying Allaah), then verily, Allaah
will pardon him (accept his repentance). Verily, Allaah is Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful [al-Maa’idah 5:39]
The gate of repentance is open to His slaves, until the sun rises from the west. The Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah spreads out His Hand at night to accept the repentance of those who did
wrong during the day, and He spreads out His Hand during the day to accept the repentance of those who did
wrong during the night. (This will continue) until the sun rises from the west.” (Narrated by Muslim, no. 2759)
The Prophet(SAW) said, “Allah had once forgiven a prostitute. She passed by a dog panting near a well. Seeing
that thirst had nearly killed him, she took off her shoe, tied it to her scarf, and drew up some water. Allah
forgave her for that
7. What is the point? I will only end up
doing it again
Narrated Abu Huraira: I heard the Prophet (saw) saying, "If somebody commits a sin and
then says, 'O my Lord! I have sinned, please forgive me!' and his Lord says, 'My slave has
known that he has a Lord who forgives sins and punishes for it, I therefore have forgiven my
slave (his sins).' Then he remains without committing any sin for a while and then again
commits another sin and says, 'O my Lord, I have committed another sin, please forgive me,'
and Allah says, 'My slave has known that he has a Lord who forgives sins and punishes for it,
I therefore have forgiven my slave (his sin). Then he remains without Committing any
another sin for a while and then commits another sin (for the third time) and says, 'O my
Lord, I have committed another sin, please forgive me,' and Allah says, 'My slave has known
that he has a Lord Who forgives sins and punishes for it I therefore have forgiven My slave
(his sin), he can do whatever he likes.
8. Allah is forgiving, so let me sin
Ask forgiveness for them, [O Muhammad], or do not ask forgiveness for them. If you should
ask forgiveness for them seventy times - never will Allah forgive them. That is because they
disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger, and Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient
people. [At Tawbah: 80]
Messenger of Allah (saw) said, "Everyone of my Ummah will enter Jannah except those who
refuse". He was asked: "Who will refuse?" He(saw)said, "Whoever obeys me, shall enter
Jannah, and whosoever disobeys me, refuses to (enter Jannah)".
9. Should I Confess? *
And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am
near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So
let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be
[rightly] guided. [ Surah Al-Baqarah:186]
The Messenger of Allah(saw) said, “Everyone from my nation will be forgiven
except those who sin in public. Among them is a man who commits an evil
deed in the night that Allah has hidden for him, then in the morning he says: O
people, I have committed this sin! His Lord had hidden it during the night but
in the morning he reveals what Allah has hidden.”
10. The Method of Repentance
And those who, when they have committed Fahishah or wronged themselves with evil, remember
Allah and ask forgiveness for their sins - and none can forgive sins but Allah - And do not persist in
what (wrong) they have done, while they know.[Surah Al Imran:135]
The requisites of Tau’bah are the following:
1. To immediately abstain from the sin.
2. To regret and wish one had never indulged in the sin.
3. To resolve to never commit the sin again.
4. If one have violated the rights of another person it is necessary to seek
forgiveness from that person.
11. Mercy of Allah
The Messenger of Allah(saw) said: Verily, Allah has recorded good and bad deeds and He
made them clear. Whoever intends to perform a good deed but does not do it, then Allah will
record it as a complete good deed. If he intends to do it and does so, then Allah the Exalted
will record it as ten good deeds up to seven hundred times as much or even more. If he
intends to do a bad deed and does not do it, then Allah will record for him one complete
good deed. If he does it then Allah will record for him a single bad deed.
“
12. Benefits of Repentance *
"I said (to them): Ask forgiveness from your Lord; Verily, He is Oft-Forgiving; He will send
rain to you in abundance; And give you increase in wealth and children, and bestow on you
gardens and bestow on you rivers. " [Surah Nooh :10-12]
‘Tawbah’ paves the way for success: “…And beg Allah to forgive you all, O believers, that you
may be successful. [Surah An-Noor: 31]
Tawbah keeps us away from hardships and trials: See they not that they are put in trial once
or twice every year (with different kinds of calamities, disease, famine)? Yet, they turn not in
repentance, nor do they learn a lesson (from it).” [Surah At-Taubah: 126]
13. Repentance Pleases Allah
“…Truly, Allah loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and loves those who purify
themselves” [Surah Al-Baqarah :222]
In narrating one of the popular hadith, Ibn Masud stated that Allaah’s Messenger (saw) said: Indeed, Allah is
more happy with the repentance of His slave than a man who stops in a barren, desolate land; with him he has
his riding animal. He then goes to sleep. When he wakes up, [he realizes that] his mount is gone. He searches
for it until he is on the verge of dying. He then says, ‘I will return to the place wherein I lost it, and I will die
there.’ He went to that place, and he was then overcome by sleep. When he woke up, his mount was [standing]
right beside his head: on it was his food, his drink, his provisions, and the things he need. Allah is more happy
with the repentance of his believing slave than the aforementioned man when he finds his mount and his
provisions .’
14. What should do when I have sinned?
Except those who repent and believe, and do righteous deeds, for those, Allâh will change their sins into good
deeds, and Allâh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. [Surah Al-Furqan: 70]
But as for him who repented , believed (in the Oneness of Allâh, and in His Messenger Muhammad SAW), and did
righteous deeds (in the life of this world), then he will be among those who are successful. [Surah Al-Qasas: 67]
Allâh accepts only the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and foolishness and repent soon afterwards; it
is they whom Allâh will forgive and Allâh is Ever All¬Knower, All¬Wise. [Surah An-Nisa : 17]
The Prophet(saw) said, “No man commits a sin, then purifies himself in ablution, then prays, and then asks Allah
for forgiveness, but that Allah will forgive him.” Then, the Prophet recited this verse, “Those who, if they behave
immorally or do wrong, they remember Allah and seek forgiveness for their sins. Who forgives sins besides Allah?
And they do not insist on what they have done, while they know better.” (3:135)