عَنْ أَبِي مُوسَى عَبْدِ اللهِ بنِ قَيْسٍ اْلاَشْعَرِيِّ رضي الله عنه عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يَبْسُطُ يَدَهُ بِاللَّيْلِ لِيَتُوبَ مُسِيءُ النَّهَارِ وَيَبْسُطُ يَدَهُ بِالنَّهَارِ لِيَتُوبَ مُسِيءُ اللَّيْلِ حَتَّى تَطْلُعَ الشَّمْسُ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا.

Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari (r) reported: The Prophet may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, said:

Allah, the Exalted, will continue to stretch out His (mercy) hand in the night so that the sinners of the day may repent, and continue to stretch His (mercy) hand in the day time so that the sinners of the night may repent, until the sun rises from the west.

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YOUR MERCY & TAWBAH

It is necessary to repent from every sin. Because Allah, the Exalted, commanded us in many places of the Holy Quran to do so: “All of you, return back to Allah (Ask from Allah to forgive you), o believers, that you may be successful”. “Ask from your Lord the forgiveness and turn to Him in repentance”. “O you who believe! Turn to Allah with sincere repentance”

Regarding this topic, the Prophet (pbuh) says: “Allah, the Exalted, will continue to stretch out (His mercy) hand in the night so that the sinners of the day may repent, and continue to stretch His (mercy) hand in the day time so that the sinners of the night may repent, until the sun rises from the west”.

Tawbah in the Arabic language means to return to Allah from sins. When a person commits a sin, he moves away from Allah. When he repents, he returns to Allah and desires to be pardoned by Him, and comes near Him. This returning towards Him is referred to as Tawbah. It is compulsory upon every Muslim to stop his wrong doings and to return to his Lord asking for His forgiveness. But there are some conditions of Tawbah for it to be accepted. If the offense involves the Right of Allah, not a human, then there are three conditions to be met in order for that repentance to be accepted by Allah:

• To desist from committing the sin
• To feel remorse for committing it
• To establish a firm desire not to recommit it.

Any repentance failing to meet any of these three conditions would not be sound. But if the sin involves a human’s right, it requires a fourth condition. That is to absolve (free) oneself from such a right. If it is one's property, he should return it to its rightful owner. If it is slandering or backbiting, one should ask the pardon of the offended.

Tawbah is an excellent deed. Because when someone does wrong, if he can truly understand that he is wrong, and immediately stops it, it means that he has a good character. But if he can not realize he is wrong and insists on his wrong that is worse than doing the wrong. Those people, who act like that, belittle only themselves.

On the other hand, we should keep in mind that when we commit a sin, disobeying Allah and His Messenger, this sin has a negative affect upon our physiology and psychology, because every kind of sin destroys a human’s inner world and external world. So, we must keep away from all sins as far as we can. Sins prevent us from entering Jannah and become the means of staying in Hell-Fire. So long as one insists on his sins, such sins –after a while- may lead him to disbelief (Kufr). O Allah! Please protect us from falling into such bad consequences!

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In fact, there is no special way in Islam to make Tawbah (repentance) like going to the mosque or elsewhere to confess the sin in the presence of a religious man, but rather in the presence of Allah. It is quite enough to feel sorry in the heart for Tawbah. However, The Prophet (Saw) taught us how to ask for forgiveness from Allah in the best way with the following Hadith:

وَعَنْ شَدَّادِ بْنِ أَوْسِ رَضِيَ الله عَنْهُ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ: سَيَدُ الاسْتِغْفَارِ أَنْ يَقُولَ الْعَبْدُ: اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ رَبّي، لا إلهَ إلاَّ أَنْتَ خَلَقْتَني وَاَنَا عَبْدُكَ، وأَنا عَلى عَهْدِكَ وَوَعْدِكَ ما اسْتَطَعْتُ، أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِ مَا صَنَعْتُ، أبوءُ لَكَ بِنِعْمَتِكَ عَلَيَّ، وَأَبُوءُ بذَنْبي، فَاغْفِرْ لِي، فَإنَّهُ لا يَغْفِرُ الذِّنُوبَ إلاَ أنْتَ. وَمَنْ قَالَها مِنَ النَّهَارِ مُوقِناً بهَا، فَمَاتَ مِنْ يَوْمِهِ قَبْلَ أَن يُمْسِي، فَهْوَ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ، وَمَنْ قَالَها مِنَ اللَّيْلِ وَهُوَ مُوقِنٌ بها فَمَاتَ قَبْلَ أَنْ يُصْبِحَ، فَهُوَ مِنْ أَهْلِ الجَنَّةِ.

Narrated Shaddad bin Aus (r), Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) said: The best supplication for seeking forgiveness ( Syed-ul-Istighfar) is to say: “O Allah! You are my Lord. None has the right to be worshipped but You. You have created me, and I am Your slave, and I hold to Your Covenant as far as I can. I seek refuge in You from the evil of what I have done. I acknowledge the favors that You have bestowed upon me, and I confess my sins. Pardon me, for none but You has the power to pardon). He who supplicates in these terms during the day with firm belief in it and dies on the same day (before the evening), he will be one of the dwellers of Paradise; and if anyone supplicates in these terms during the night with firm belief in it and dies before the morning, he will be one of the dwellers of Paradise.

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Following Hadith shows us how beneficial seeking forgiveness from Allah is! Ibn Abbas (r) said: The Messenger of Allah said:

“If anyone constantly asks forgiveness from Allah, then Allah will appoint for him a way out of every trouble, and a relief from every anxiety, and will provide sustenance for him from where he expects not” .

We come to learn through this Hadith that Allah, the Exalted, will provide three benefits for one who constantly checks his wrongs and seeks pardon from Him for them everyday:

• Allah (swt) will give him a way out of every distress and problem both in this world and in the next.
• Allah (swt) will grant him a relief out of every anxiety, stress and spiritual problems and will support his inner world.
• Allah (swt) will provide sustenance (financial support or something else) for him from where he does not expect.

Four men came to Hasan Al-Basri (one of the great scholars of Tabieen generation) and complained to him from several problems (the first was about a drought, the second one about poverty, third one about sterility and another one about his unfertile land) asking for his advice. Thereupon, Hasan Al-Basri advised all of them to ask forgiveness from Allah. When his students questioned him: They have different problems. Why have you given the same advice to all? He recited the following verse from the Holy Quran:

“Ask forgiveness from your Rabb (Lord). Verily, He is Oft-Forgiving. (If you do so), 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 ”.

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Anas bin Malik Al-Ansari (r) narrated: Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: “Verily, Allah is more delighted with the repentance of His slave than a person who lost his camel in a desert land and than finds it (unexpectedly).

In another version of Muslim, he (pbuh) said: “Verily, Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His slave than a person who has his camel in a waterless desert carrying his provision of food and drink and it is lost. He, having lost all hopes (to get that back), lies down in shade and is disappointed about his camel. When, all of a sudden, he finds that camel standing before him. He takes hold of its reins and then out of boundless joy he screams ‘O Allah, You are my slave and I am Your Lord’. He commits this mistake out of extreme joy”

This Hadith shows us the extreme pity and mercy of Allah to His slaves. If He does not forgive the people, then who can raise an objection to Him? If He would say: “I took down many books, sent many prophets, put many signs in the universe, in spite of all these, you did not use your mind and did many wrongs, so I do not accept your excuse and you will be punished in the Hell-Fire” then who can dispute against His decision ? O our Lord! O Great King of the worlds! Please, do not separate us from your Mercy in this world and in the next. Indeed, You are THE MOST MERCIFUL, THE MOST GRACIOUS!..

Muslim, Tawbah 34

An-Nur: 31

Hud: 3

Tahrim: 8

Muslim, Tawbah 34

Al-Bukhari, Daawat 2, 16. Tirmidhi, Daawat 15.

Abu Dawud, Witr 26. Ibn Majah, Adab 57)

An-Nuh: 10-12.

Al-Bukhari, Daawat 4. Muslim, Tawbah 1, 7,8