. J (cont.)

No matter how great one's sins might have been, one need not despair. The door to sincere repentance and forgiveness will always be open. In Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, the Prophet (peace be upon him) told of a person who killed one hundred people, yet because of his desire to repent, Allah showed mercy on him. In Surah al-Burooj, Allah tells of a people who burnt some believers alive simply because they believed in Allah. Yet Allah then says about them, ,, ,,,. J .. ,.,, .,. ,.,, 0 5,.,, / :V / J I/" / .:..+LI Ǥ J /• I J J/ Ǥ I 5 ೉ / 1 ,J I/ / 2 ,J I I Jn. / •, 1 1 ை I า \-) ..u;. a.J ำ ิ ,...., ั ) .. ே ...:.:.:..t • ..u . \" "" . . .../•.../ .. ,- ,,,. v--;,, ..T-- Lf..,,, Ɍ ì / / ., ,., J ,,,. A_fJl yl? @j "Verily, those who put to trial the believing men and believing women and then do not tum in repentance, they will have the torment of Hell, and they will have the punishment of the burning Fire" (al-Burooj 1 0). That punishment is awaiting them for that grievous crime only if they do not first sincerely repent. Such is the willingness of Allah to forgive and the expanse of His mercy. Even shirk, the greatest sin a person could commit, is forgiven by Allah once the person repents and gives up shirk. (However, dying upon shirk is not forgiven.) The Meaning of Ghafar(.Ji:. )' Ghafar means to conceal something. With respect to sins, it implies concealing a sin, removing its effect and making one safe from its evil consequence. Allah does this with respect to a sin when He forgives a person. 2 According to al-Haitami, the meaning of seeking forgiveness in this hadith is actually repenting. He states that repenting completely wipes away the sin while al-istighfaar (seeking forgiveness) simply lessens the evil consequence or delays the punishment for a sin. Hence, what is meant here is repentance and not simply asking for forgiveness.3 Ibn Abu al-Izz explains the usage of the two terms, istighfaar and taubah by saying, "Istighfaar is sometimes mentioned by itself and sometimes along with tawbah (repentance). When it is mentioned alone it implies tawbah, just as when tawbah is mentioned alone it implies istighfaar. Each is included in the connotation of the other."4 1 The statement, for example, ..lilɇI ("I seek Allah's forgiveness") comes from this root. 2 Al-Haitami, Fath, p. 196. 3 Al-Haitami, Fath, p. 196. lbn Taimiya was of the opinion that both taubah and istighfaar are meant in this portion of the hadith. See ibn Taimiya, Majmoo, vol. 1 8, p. 192. 4 lbn Abu al-Izz, vol. 2, p. 452. Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi Ibn Uthaimeen is in agreement with the above explanation. He states that seeking forgiveness is not simply a matter of a person saying, "O Allah, forgive me." Instead, it must be accompanied by a sincere repentance. He then states that for the repentance to be correct, it must meet certain conditions, which are given below. 1 The Criteria for a Sound Repentance There are five conditions that must be met in order for an act of repentance to be considered sound and proper. These five are:2 ( 1) The act of repentance must be done solely for the sake of Allah. The person cannot repent, for example, for the sake of reputation, to be seen by others or to get closer to them. His sole intent must be a return to the proper submission-to Allah. This condition of purity in one's intention is a condition for any deed to be accepted by Allah, including the deed of repentance. (2) The repenting person must feel remorse for the sin that he has committed. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, ,,. , ூJJ rଋ' "Remorse [is the main part ofJ repentance."3 He must feel that the act that he did was wrong and he must feel very sorry about that. If a person committed a sin and he does not feel any different had he committed or not committed that sin, he does not feel remorse. Therefore, he is not repenting properly. Instead, in his heart, he should wish that he had never committed that sin. (3) The repenting person must stop committing the sin. Allah describes those who repent with the words, i/,1;'-'" .. Li ;.t\ iJfa=; /f ij.',. lli jf R i \;\ n . ..,i.:J\j \. v ,,,. @ ....__,; .. ,,. / / / ,J ;:;; ,,. s ,J ' j \લ  IJ*;aJ; FJ) ƺ\ આ; y).:UI C,; j 1; Ϭ ,!;અ / . _J_ I:' . .._;__;Ý "And those who when they have committed illegal sexual intercourse or wronged themselves with evil remember Allah and ask forgiveness for their sinsand none can forgive sins except Allah-- and do not persist in what [wrong] they have done, while they know" (ali-Imraan 1 35).