Repentance Made Easy

And so after thinking about all of that, Jumu'ah, Friday prayer time, the time for prayer comes. And he says, Astaghfirullah, astaghfirullah. You know, I'm just gonna go. Allah is the one who provides. I don't know where I'm gonna get my next job. But I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go. I'm gonna put my trust in Allah.

He leaves for Jumu'ah and he comes back. His co-workers are calling him. They're telling him, come here. And the supervisor actually wants to see you. And he's, oh, this is it. He's thinking, this is it. This is it. He might lose his job here. After all, he just heard what the supervisor said in the morning. And he's telling him, don't be surprised if, you know, you face those consequences. Because we can't afford you to leave us at that time.

So he enters the office. The supervisor says, you know, while you were gone, while he went for prayer, I was, I was curious. I want to know why you were, you were, you were so firm. And I was reading about congregational prayers in Islam and I went on the internet. And he said, you guys pray five times a day. Not only that, five times a day in the mosque also. The mosque is open five times a day. Anytime someone can go and pray, there's always people pray. He goes, yes. He goes, that's some serious conviction. That's serious conviction.

And, and all of a sudden he says to him, he says, next, I was reading and you know what he read? My friend told me later on. He went on Islam QA. And you know on Islam QA, if you were to read about congregational prayer, what does it say? Like if you go home, you go and read right now. The ruling on congregational prayer. What does it say on that website? It says it's mandatory. It says you have to pray. If you're able to, you have to go. Pray in the mosque. Congregational prayer. Of course there's a difference of opinion amongst the scholars and so forth. But if you go to Islam QA, the fatwa there is that you have to, if you have time.

And so he says, that's some serious conviction. He says, you know what? The mosque is not too far away from here. It's just five minutes. Whenever you need to go, just go. I just ask of you one thing. If you can just come earlier, a little bit earlier, maybe. And if you're going to take the time off, you can just make it up by staying later or coming to work a little bit earlier.

He says, Allahu Akbar. He was asking, he was hoping for what? He was just hoping for Jumu'ah prayer. Just Jumu'ah, Friday prayer. What did Allah give him? Allah gave him all five prayers. Whenever he wants to go to the mosque, he's free to do so. But the thing is, when did he get that? When did he get that? You know, that Allah opened the way for him. It was when he made that conviction. He says, you know, Allah is the one who provides. Allah is the one who provides.

And that's why whatever sin you may be committing and so forth, the first thing you have to do is abandon that sin. Abandon that sin. And Allah, if you are sincere, will give you better, replace it for you better. Whatever it is that you abandon, whatever it is that you like doing, Allah will give you something better and replace it with something better. But you have to abandon that sin.

Third Condition: Conviction Not to Return (العزم على عدم العودة)

And so whatever you're doing, have remorse, the first thing. Abandon that sin. And also make the conviction. The third condition is have the conviction that you will not return to it. You might return to it later on, but make sure you make that conviction. Maybe out of a weak iman and so forth, you might return to it, but make the conviction and take the proper course and take the proper steps and precautionary measures so that you don't return to it.

And so that conviction, the conviction not to commit that sin again, not to return to that sin again, is one of the conditions for our tawbah to be accepted. You have to understand that sometimes our conviction is not that strong, but we don't realize it. True conviction is if you're not planning to commit that sin again, and you also take measures so that you don't commit that sin again.

Example from the Companions

That's why when Allah ordered the companions to stay away from intoxicants, when the verses of tahreem al- khamr, the prohibition of intoxicants was revealed in surah al-ma'idah, the Prophet ﷺ sent a messenger onto the streets of Medina. He said:

(Abu Dawud 3670, Tirmidhi 3049)

"Indeed, intoxicants have been made haram. Intoxicants have now been prohibited."

أنس بن مالك رضي الله عنهhe said I was in the house of Abu Talha and some of us were drinking and some of us were pouring the wine and some of us had raised the cups to our mouths, but as soon as we heard the caller make the announcement, we stopped immediately. We stopped immediately. But did they stop immediately? I mean, did they just do that only? No.

They didn't just stop immediately. They poured, they went to the containers and they poured the containers onto the streets of Medina. And the companions, they said, the streets, and Anas bin Malik, he said, in the streets of Medina were flowing with wine. Streets of Medina were flowing with wine, which means it wasn't just one house. It wasn't just one house. It wasn't just two houses or a couple of houses. Everybody came out and they poured it into the streets of Medina were flowing with wine.

And then, what did they do? Did they stop there only? Did they just pour the wine? No. They made sure that they didn't have the opportunity or would not even think about going back to it again. All the containers that they used for wine, they smashed it. They smashed it. So that they would not even think about returning to it again. That's part of a tawbah nasuha.

Keeping Things Within Reach

Some people though, nowadays, they make tawbah, but they always keep it within a hand's reach. Always keep it within a hand's reach. Instead of abandoning it and having that conviction, they always keep it near. And so, some people, for example, they might say, you know what? Astaghfirullah, I know it's a waste of time. It's wrong to listen to music or watch these movies that they might be watching. And so, yes, they start, and maybe they hear a talk here and there, and they're like, Astaghfirullah, you know what? I don't want to do that anymore.

So they bring a shoebox. They put all their music CDs or their DVDs, those movies that they're used to watching, and they put it, and they put it away in the attic somewhere. Like, you know what? I don't want to listen to these things anymore. I don't want to listen to them anymore. But subconsciously, why are they putting that away? Why didn't they just destroy it? Because they're thinking in the back of their mind, you know, those are expensive DVDs. Right? Those? I spent a lot of money on those. What if I change? What if I change? What if I, you know what? I had decided that I'm not going to have this anymore.

So, you know, they put it away. Yeah, that's repentance, but you know what? You're still putting it within a hand's reach. Why don't you just destroy it and get rid of it? Throw it away, so you don't have the opportunity to come back. That's that's. (العزم على عدم العودة). That's conviction to not return to it, is that you also take the measures not to do that again. Don't just leave it the way it is only, but take precautionary measures, so that you do not go back to it.

Taking Precautionary Measures

Because if you do not, if you do the same thing all the time, like, let's say for example, Fajr prayer. Sometimes we wake up, you know, we know that, you know, you're tired the previous night, and you wake up, and you set your alarm, but you didn't hear the alarm. And you wake up, you pray. Astaghfirullah. And the next day you do the same thing again. The next day the same thing happens again. Astaghfirullah, astaghfirullah. And then the next day, maybe the next day it doesn't happen, but two or three days it happens again.

Like if the alarm is not working, then you got to find something else. You got to take other measures. Maybe have someone call you, because some people, when they hear the alarm, the sound of the alarm doesn't wake them up, because they immediately hit the snooze button, the shaitan button. Like they hit it right away. And they sound the alarm, the alarm doesn't work, they just hit the snooze button. But if someone calls, they'll wake up. Like if you talk to someone, or if you tell someone, come and wake me up, come and wake me up. If I don't wake up, sprinkle water on my face. Or you tell someone, hey, you know what, if you're going to the masjid tomorrow, make sure you call me first and come, because if you know they're coming, or they're in front of the house, or they're headed your way, then you're more likely to get up, when you have help, when you have someone coming to your house also. Like come and remind me, and call me.

And so, don't do the same thing over again. You know, the definition of insanity, as we hear often is, doing the same thing over, and over, and over again, and expecting different results. That's insanity. And that's why you have to do all that you can to try to make it so that you don't return to it.

And that's why Allah says:

"And those who, when they commit an immorality or wrong themselves, remember Allah and seek forgiveness for their sins"

Allah said:

"And they are not persistent in what they are doing knowingly."

That means they're not persistent, at least the thing is they take precautionary measures. Like if that's not working for you, then take some other measures. Like if you have a problem with the internet and every time you get on the internet it's problematic for you, you might go to things that are haram or you waste too much of your time and so forth. And maybe, maybe don't go on the internet when you're in your room. Move the computer to the living room. Be open. So take precautionary measures and take steps so that you don't return to it.

And so that's why, that's the third condition is that you make conviction, true conviction, to not return to it again. And if you happen to slip again, you repent, but you make the conviction again, but try your best to take other measures so that you don't fall into that, that same hole again.

A Believer is Not Bitten Twice

A Muslim may make a mistake. But the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

(Bukhari 6133, Muslim 2998)

"A believer is not bitten from the same snake hole twice."

A believer is not bitten from the same snake hole twice. That means you don't make the same mistakes if someone has cheated you before. You can't just be naive. If you've made mistakes as a result of you being with certain people, then maybe you have to make, you have to, maybe you have to make choices. These are choices and sometimes you have to build bridges that will lead you to Jannah. But then you also have to try to, maybe there might come a time when you need to burn bridges that lead you to the hellfire. So maybe those bridges have to be burned. If they're influencing in the wrong way, find somewhere else, somewhere else, and make it easier for you to repent, and make it easier for you to change. And that's when you have true repentance, then Allah جل جلاله will help you. And Allah جل جلاله will send His mercy upon you.

The Story of the Man Who Killed 99 People

And that's why the man, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, he told, he informed us of a person, a man who killed, who killed 99 souls. 99. Anyone who kills 99 is what, what do you call them? It's a serial killer. It's serious. Somebody who, or somebody who is just, you know, very, very, very evil, or someone who, this is, this is, this is not just, you know, one-off thing. 99.

Something deep in his heart was burning. He wanted to repent. He wanted to change. He wanted to repent to Allah جل جلاله. So he's asking people. He's looking for someone who's knowledgeable so that he can ask a very important question. Is there repentance for me? He knows what he did was serious. What he has done was very serious. But is there repentance for me?

So he's shown a man who, some of the scholars have mentioned, well, this person may be an abid, but someone who didn't have knowledge. Someone who, you know, is a worshipper, but maybe he don't have knowledge. So he's shown a man. And that man says, 99 souls. There's no repentance for someone like that. 99. Yes, 99 is a big number, but he made it 100. Why, if there's no, there's no hope? If there's no hope? You know what? He killed him also. Someone who has killed 99, you don't want to make them mad, right? He's looking for hope. Give him hope. 99 already.

So he says, there's no, there's no hope. So he killed him. He killed him also. What's the difference? If there's no hope for me, what's the difference between 99 and 100? There's no hope. But you know, deep down inside, he still feels like, you know, there must be a way out. I want to change.

So he asks, he continues to ask, and he's shown a man. Asking for the most knowledgeable person he can find. And so he's shown a man and he asks. So he approaches that man and he asks. And he tells him what he has already done. And he says, of course there's hope. There's always, as long as you're, as long as the doors of repentance are always open. As long as you're sincere in your repentance.

But he gives him. He knows this person, right? He says, but you know, you have to leave. You have to leave the land of the bad people. Where you're, where you're living. And the people who are, you are around. You have to leave them. That's why when you repent sometimes, sometimes you have to, you're put in a situation where you have to make decisions. Sometimes you have to burn bridges that will lead you to the hellfire. Because if you keep on doing the same thing, being with the same people, falling into the same hole again, over and over again, that change in that conviction is not going to, that change is not going to happen.

And so this man, what does he do? He's told to go to the land of the good people. Go to the other town where there are good people there. So he leaves. He leaves his town. And he leaves the people who he's used to hanging around with. That's not something easy you have to understand. It's not easy to leave a place where you're used to, or you've grown up there, or you've been there for a while. You know, it's not easy. It's not easy

"And who pardon the people." (Quran 3:134)

And so they forgive others also. And Allah loves those who:

"And Allah loves the doers of good." (Quran 3:134)

Then He says:

"And those who, when they commit an immorality or wrong themselves, they remember Allah." (Quran 3:135)

When they commit a transgression or oppress themselves, they remember Allah ذَكَرُوا اللَّهَ . Immediately they remember Allah.

So when you remember Allah after that what do they do? They remember Allah. So if you want let's say if you are confronted with sin the first thing you do is remember Allah and remember the greatness of Allah. Your dhikr puts the shield up right away. You want the shield up to protect you against the whispers of the shaitan?

ذِكْرُوا اللَّهِ

And that's why when Allah tells us about Prophet Yusuf عليه السلام that when he is confronted with sin with the wife of the Aziz what does he say?

مَعَاذَ اللَّهِ

"[I seek] the refuge of Allah." (Quran 12:23)

He seeks help and Allah says:

"I seek refuge in Allah."

I seek your help and he's asking remembering Allah and he's asking Allah to protect him because no one can protect you from sin except Allah. Nobody. You have to realize that no one can protect you except Allah. So you have to remember Allah.

فَاسْتَغْفَرُوا لِذُنُوبِهِمْ

means immediate. Then they immediately when they remember Allah they immediately say:

فَاسْتَغْفَرُوا لِذُنُوبِهِمْ

"And seek forgiveness for their sins." (Quran 3:135)

استغفر الله . They ask Allah for forgiveness.

"And who can forgive sins except Allah?" (Quran 3:135)

So they remember Allah. In times you don't remember Allah, that's the time in which your shield is down and you're vulnerable. So the more you remember Allah the more often you remember Allah the more the stronger your shield is against the whispers of the shaitan and against your nafs also. Against your nafs. That's how you strengthen yourself.

And so when it comes to committing sins and so forth the remembrance of Allah is something that's very very powerful. Very very powerful and it helps us. And also the realization the realization that the disobedience of Allah is something that's serious. The fact that you disobey Allah is something that's very very serious. Don't look at the sin but look at the fact that you disobeyed Allah. Because some people when they commit sin oh this is just a small sin. This is just a small sin.

Minor Sins Become Major When Persistent

Those who commit sins and they belittle those sins then they're more likely to repeat those sins and anytime you repeat a sin and you're constantly committing a particular sin then that particular sin no matter what kind of sin that is it's considered a major sin. Any small sin that's constantly that is committed on a consistent basis is considered a major sin. Any small sin that's why when you see someone or the scholars when they speak about a person's trustworthiness one of the conditions that they mention is that he is not someone who commits major sins openly or he's not one that's known to commit major sins nor is he someone who's known to commit minor sins consistently. Constantly committing minor sins. Because anytime someone commits minor sins consistently then it's considered a major sin. And so you have to fear. You have to be afraid and you have to realize that the disobedience of Allah is that which is the one who is something that's great.

Never Lose Hope in Allah's Mercy

At the same time, you also have to realize that no matter what sins you have committed never lose hope in Allah. Never lose hope because losing hope in and of itself is a major sin. Losing hope. In fact, Allah says:

"Say, 'O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins." (Quran 39:53)

Say O Muhammad يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ - O my servants. Allah is telling us in the Quran those who have transgressed themselves, do not lose hope in the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins.

And so no matter what situation, what condition you may be in, don't lose hope. Even if you were really bad before. You might say, well, you know, I was really bad before. I don't know if I can be forgiven for the things I did. No. That in itself is a major sin. Why? Because the mercy of Allah is great. And you saying that Allah, you saying that, you know, my sins can't be forgiven. It's like, you say, ya Allah, my sins are so great, your mercy can't even encompass it. A'udhu billah. How can you say such things?

That's why Allah says, in Surah Yusuf, Allah says, do not lose hope. Indeed, no one who loses hope in the mercy of Allah, the mercy of Allah, the comforting mercy of Allah, except for the disbelievers. (Quran 12:87) Indeed, no one loses hope in the comforting mercy of Allah, except disbelievers. So Allah says, those who lose hope in the comforting mercy of Allah, are disbelievers. Why? Because let's say you're in a bad situation, or you've committed a lot of sins. If you've committed a lot of sins, and it's like you're saying the mercy of Allah is not great enough to encompass your sins. And if your situation is so tough, it's so tough, that you think that Allah cannot help you, that is also a great sin. So it's like saying, Ya Allah, you know this, I can't handle it. You say, Ya Allah, I can't handle it. And when you're saying that you can't handle if Allah is testing you with something, it's like you're saying, it's like you are saying that Allah is burdening you with something that you can't handle. And Allah does not burden anyone with anything that they can't handle. (Quran 2:286)

So, if you are being tested with something, then Allah knows that you can handle it. Allah knows that you can handle it. So don't lose hope. Allah knows that you can handle it. Sometimes Allah just wants, Allah wants you to be stronger. So He gives you no option except to be stronger, so that you can be stronger. He gives you no option sometimes to be stronger, except so that you can be stronger. So that's why, if you are in such situations, then never lose hope in Allah. Because Allah loves to forgive. Allah loves to forgive and He wants to forgive.

Follow Bad Deeds with Good Deeds

And so, when a person commits a wrong, when a person commits a wrong, he has to follow it, you know, you have to follow it up with good deeds that will replace it. And so, one of the things that we are taught to do by the Messenger of Allah, when we commit, when we commit sins, is to follow a bad deed with a good deed. That's why one of the most profound hadith is the hadith in which the Messenger of Allah, he said:

(Tirmidhi 1987, authenticated by Al-Albani)

"Have taqwa of Allah wherever you may be. And follow a bad deed with a good deed, it will erase it. And interact with the people with the best of manners." (Tirmidhi 1987, authenticated by Al-Albani)

Have taqwa in Allah wherever you may be. Have taqwa in Allah wherever you may be. But follow a bad deed with a good deed and it will erase it. And deal with the people, interact with the people with the best of manners.

Allah said, the Prophet said اتَّقِ اللهَ حَيْثُمَا كُنْتَ - Have taqwa, wherever you may be. But you know, nobody is perfect. So, try to fulfill your obligations to Allah. So, that's the right between you and Allah. And your right,

you yourself also have a right. And what is your right? Your right is that when you fall, your right means you have to take care of yourself. What's the best thing you can do to take care of yourself? Is to always repent. Always repent. That's taking care of yourself.

Like if you take care, you know when you have your car, when you have a car, a brand new car, when something goes wrong, when it starts to get dirty, like you know at the beginning, what do you do? You always try to clean it and there's a dent, you look, oh wait, you know, how do I get this fixed? You don't like to leave it the way it is. You want to take care of it. So, how do you take care of yourself? What's your right? What's your right? You take care of yourself by repenting to Allah.

And how do you truly repent to Allah? When you make mistakes? Because mistakes will happen. That you follow a bad deed with a good deed. Whenever you commit a wrong, you repent but not just that. You have to try to correct it. You have to, you know, you can't just leave a vacuum. You can't just erase it. Like for example, if you have a car and it's scratched, you fix it up, you can't just leave it like that. It's not complete. Maybe you've just, maybe you've just, you know, it gets dirty or there's a dent and of course the paint has fallen off, so you straighten it. What else do you have to do? You have to paint it also. You have to paint it also and make it new again.

So how do you do that? By following a bad deed with a good deed. So your right upon you, yourself, is that you have to make, you have to repent. And that's where repentance is obligatory. It's not something that's recommended or sunnah. No, it's mandatory upon all. It's something that's wajib. And so, when you commit a wrong, fix it and patch it up and correct it. And so, and then of course the right between you and humans is, and you and the creation of Allah is, and so interact with the people with the best of manners. The rights between you and Allah. Your own rights. Your right of your nafs, yourself, is that you, and follow a bad deed with a good deed and wipe it out. And the rights between you and the creation of Allah.

Salat al-Tawbah (The Prayer of Repentance)

So what's something that we can do? Well, the Messenger of Allah, he said whoever commits a sin, right, whoever commits a sin, and and he prays and he makes, he perfects his wudu. The hadith is: Whosoever any servant that commits a sin, and he perfects his tuhur, his purification, his wudu. Tuhur is the act of purifying yourself. Whether it's wudu or ghusl, you purify yourself and you perfect it. That means you perfect your wudu, or if you need to make ghusl, you perfect your ghusl. You perfect it. That means it's not just haphazardly, you know, sometimes you make wudu quickly. No, perfect your wudu because your prayer starts not when you stand up only. In prayer, you have to understand, you have to get used to being in a mindset that your prayer starts when you sit down there to make wudu and perfects his wudu.

ثُمَّ يَقُومُ

"Then he stands up."

فَيُصَلِّي رَكْعَتَيْنِ

"And he prays two rak'ah."

ثُمَّ يَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ

"And he asks Allah for forgiveness."

(Abu Dawud 1521, authenticated by Al-Albani)

"Except that Allah will forgive him." (Abu Dawud 1521, authenticated by Al-Albani)

So if you're truly repentant, if you're truly remorseful, this is what's known as صلاة التوبة.

أجمع أهل العلم على مشروعية صلاة التوبة

"The scholars of Islam are all of the opinion on the legitimacy of salat al-tawbah."

Scholars of Islam are all of the opinion. There's a consensus. What is a consensus? What's إجماع إجماع means there's not a single person who has any type of knowledge in Islam, except that he will agree with you. People who have knowledge, the people of knowledge are of the opinion that it is part of our deen. There's no difference of opinion. There's no difference of opinion. Like, you know, you have some prayers people have difference about, like whether this is part of the sunnah, whether you should pray this or not. When it comes to صلاة التوبة,there's no difference of opinion. There's no difference of opinion. There's no opinions that this madhhab says it is part of our deen, this madhhab says it isn't, and so forth. The scholar says, no, no. Everyone is of the opinion that it is a part of our deenمشروع meaning it is one of the rituals that we have in our deen, and it's based on many hadith, and one of which is the hadith that we've just mentioned right now.

Then the Prophet, of course, after mentioning this, he recited the verse that we read:

So those, because, see, you have to understand, the verses of the Quran are interpreted by the best interpretation, of course, this is the interpretation of the Prophet. So when Allah says, those whom they commit a transgression or oppress themselves, ذَكَرُوا اللَّهَ they remember Allah فَاسْتَغْفَرُوا لِذُنُوبِهِمْ . Now he is describing a way, he is telling us, this is what the verse means. This is what the verse means. The verse, when it says, they remember Allah and ask for forgiveness, what is it? They stand up in prayer, remember Allah.

Yes, it's general, but he's giving us, he's giving us the interpretation and the understanding of this verse. Why? Because the greatest remembrance of Allah جل جلاله,what's part of the pillar of our religion and one of the highest forms of the remembrance of Allah, it's prayer.

"And establish the prayer for My remembrance." (Quran 20:14)

And establish the prayer for My remembrance. And so when Allah جل جلاله says, then they remember Allah, when they commit a wrong, then they remember Allah, it's the prayer. It's the prayer. Part of that is you stand up to pray salat at-tawbah. Part of your tawbah, you should stand to pray two rak'ahs as the Messenger of Allah mentioned, because he mentions that then he mentions this verse. That means they're related to each other, they're explaining each other, making you understand, seeing the whole picture of what this verse means and this is how you put into action. The Quran sometimes mentions something that's general, sometimes it mentions the theoretical part of it, then the Prophet ﷺ comes and says, you know, this is how you do it, this is how you put to practice. This is how you put this verse to practice. The way you put this verse to practice is if you commit a sin, stand up to pray two rak'ahs and ask forgiveness of your sins.

And then he says:

"And they are not persistent in what they did knowingly." (Quran 3:135)

So remember when the conditions of tawbah is that you don't continue in doing that, you're not persistent. وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ means you knowingly, that means they have consciously made an effort to make sure that they don't fall into that sin again. That means they've taken precautionary measures. So part of repentance also is taking precautionary measures.

In another narration:

"Whosoever makes wudu, and he perfects his wudu."

"Then he stands up and he prays two rak'ahs."

In another narration أَرْبَعًا. The shak is actually from the narrator, not the hadith itself. One of the narrators, he forgot whether it's two or four. And he said:

"You perfect your prayers also."

The thing when you're praying also, if you're remorseful, what do you do? If you're remorseful, I'm going to pray صلاة التوبة. And you pray two rak'ahs and in your prayer you have no idea what you're thinking. You're thinking about your bank account, you're thinking about this and that. Then you're truly not remorseful. Because

if you were remorseful, then you would perfect your wudu and you would perfect the prayer. Which means that you would be concentrating in your prayer. This is not just any prayer.

Sometimes you know how you come into the masjid? You come into the masjid and you pray تحية المسجد . You pray Allahu Akbar and you're just up and down and all of a sudden, like, Oh wait, did I just finish prayer? Is that two rak'ahs already? The whole time you're thinking about something else. That's sort of like a habit maybe that you get in. You know what? You pray two rak'ahs. But if it's صلاة التوبة. The Messenger of Allah is telling us صلاة التوبة is not just something that you just do like two rak'ahs quickly. It's something that you consciously try to perfect. Because true remorse will cause you to do that. True remorse will cause you to do that.

So he says, you perfect your khushu' and you do all that.

"And then he asks forgiveness from Allah."

Allah, well then inshallah will forgive him.

When to Pray Salat al-Tawbah

Soصلاة التوبة. When do we do it? You do it when you anytime you commit sins, whether it's big or small. Whether it's big or small. If you disobey Allah whether it's big or small. Because sometimes, you know, true believers they see a sin as if it's a mountain that's about to be dropped upon them. But a person who is a hypocrite or a person who is weak in iman he sees a sin just like a just like a fly that he just swipes away and it goes away.

And so that's why أَنَسُ بْنُ مَالِكٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ . He said:

(Bukhari 6492)

"Indeed you guys commit sins that are finer in your eyes than a strand of hair, but we used to consider those acts and sins during the time of the Messenger of Allah as destructive sins." (Bukhari 6492)

Like there are things that you do that you see in another narration he said, it's just like a strand of hair the weight of which to you is like a strand of hair but we used to consider those acts and sins as if they were destructive sins, sins that would destroy you. مُوبِقَات Mortal sins. And so, anytime you commit a sin repent to Allah, make wudu, perfect your wudu and then pray two rakats you want Allah to forgive you this is something that you should do and then, of course you should try to do it as soon as possible you should try to do it as soon as possible but if somebody maybe has delayed it whenever he remembers it also he should do it as we mentioned the time for tawbah is related to the time of the time you can pray salat al-tawbah because it's tawbah in and of itself that means as long as the sun has not risen from the west your soul has not reached your throat yet then the time for repentance is still there.

Times Permissible for Salat al-Tawbah

So how do you pray it? How do you pray it? Well, first before we get to how do you pray, when do we pray? And what times are permissible and what times are not permissible? When it comes to salat al-tawbah it's the same with the other sunnah prayers that we do that the majority of the scholars are of the opinion that the times in which prayers are forbidden those times you should not pray. Some of the scholars are of the opinion that it's one of the prayers that you can actually pray because we have a reason for it so anytime you commit a sin and you want to pray you don't want to delay that so you pray it right away so that's why some of the scholars are of the opinion that there's a reason for it, then you can pray and thus salat al-tawbah is one of the prayers that you can pray if there's a you know, because there's a reason for it so it can be prayed at any time and Allah knows best and the difference of opinion in particular when it comes to this issue prayer after asr and so forth is very very well known we don't have the time to go through it but Shaykh al-Islam is of the opinion that these are known as dhawat al-asbab so the tawbah prayer is permissible at any time.

How to Pray Salat al-Tawbah

So how do you pray? Well, you pray two rak'ahs as in the hadith that we just mentioned, the hadith of Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه and it is something that you don't pray together it's not a congregational prayer where you come together, oh you know what, everyone come together and pray, you know, we all have committed sins and so forth it's an individual thing it's an individual thing that you come to, that you that you do individually. Jama'ah, coming together to pray together as a group, as a congregation it's not part of the sunnah when it comes to salat al-tawbah.

And sometimes you might read some books and you might hear here and there that if you're praying salat al- tawbah you should read this verse and you should read this verse in Ali Imran and you should, there's no specific surah that you should read. Some of them have mentioned based on the hadith of the Prophet the verse in surah Ali Imran but there's nothing the Prophet just explained what that means, but if someone reads that then it's permissible, you can read anything you want, but there's no specific verses or surahs that you should read when it comes to salat al-tawbah, so you can read anything you want, it's open for you.

Can It Replace Tahiyyat al-Masjid?

Just like when you're coming in for prayer. Yes, definitely because it can replace, let's say you want to pray salat al-tawbah and you've entered the masjid and so you make that intention, you know what, this tahiyyat al-masjid is my is my salat al-tawbah and so you can make that because the Prophet said, when one of you enters the masjid, let him not sit down unless he's prayed two rakahs, whether it's since he's prayed two rakahs, he has fulfilled the tahiyyat al-masjid also, at the same time he has also done that, so if you're coming to the masjid, you can have that particular you know with those intentions together, that's why when you come to the masjid and the people are praying dhuhr already it's not sunnah for you to make up the tahiyyat al-masjid because the first thing you did was pray and so whatever prayer it is, as long as it's that, you can actually combine combine

the two, so but of course when it comes to salat al-tawbah you know, you're thinking about a particular sin that you're committing, that you've committed right, you're thinking and you're conscious of that, so if you have those intentions inshallah then fulfill both and Allah knows best.

Following Up with Good Deeds

And so of course afterwards part of salat al-tawbah of course, when you're making repentance, just like with with repenting to Allah, is that you follow it up with good deeds this is amongst the things you follow it up with good deeds so the prayer is one of them, but you also do something that is a good deed because if you if you're used to if you're committing a sin and you always do many good deeds later on or especially when you're giving sadaqah or doing any deeds that the nafs that the nafs likes to for example, the nafs likes money so every time you commit a sin, let's say you backbite or you commit another sin, you've done something wrong and every time you do something wrong you give, let's say for example, you give twenty or thirty pounds.

The next time you commit a sin or the next time you think about committing a sin if you know that, you know what, every time I'm going to make a conviction, every time I commit a sin I'm going to give at least thirty pounds or at least twenty pounds, don't choose an amount that's so little that you don't really care about but don't choose an amount that's so great that you will neglect it also, choose an amount that will affect your pocket but at the same time it's not something small, it's not something big but then you will realize but you can give more inshaAllah, but when you give then the next time the next time you're thinking about committing a sin you might say, you know what, if it's going to cost me thirty pounds, you know what, I'll skip it this time I'll skip it, it's going to cost thirty pounds because the nafs loves money so it's one way to also to change habits and so forth.

So part of that is following up with a good deed and sadaqa is one of them and it's not part of, it's not something that's far-fetched or not part of what the scholars did because the sahaba themselves as in the story of the companion who did not follow the Prophet who did not go to Tabuk, Ka'b Ibn Malik, he said part of my repentance and part of my repentance is that I am going to give my wealth away, give my wealth away and the Messenger of Allah said he was going to give everything that he has but the Prophet said:

(Bukhari 4418, Muslim 2769)

"Keep some of your wealth, it is better for you." (Bukhari 4418, Muslim 2769)

Just keep some of your wealth, he was intending to show his sincerity and repentance, he wanted to give his wealth in sadaqa, all of his wealth in sadaqa, just like just like Abu Bakr when he was asked because he didn't go to Tabuk, before they went to Tabuk, when the Messenger of Allah asked the companions to give in sadaqa Abu Bakr came with everything that he had so because he didn't go, he said you know what, part of my repentance, part of my repentance is I am going to give all my wealth away, the Prophet said no, hold back some, keep some of your wealth and he said if that's the case, if you tell me to hold back some of my wealth, I

am going to keep my you know, he has a patch of land in Khaybar, he said my sahm or my my land in Khaybar then I am going to keep that.

So I know the prayer, what time is prayer here? We still have, so just to review.

Review of Salat al-Tawbah

Salat al-tawbah. Salat al-tawbah is something that is is something that is part of our deen it's a sunnah that needs to be revived that when you commit a sin, stand up and pray two rakahs part of it, part of which is that whether it's a big major sin or a minor sin and of course of the opinion there are major sins and minor sins there are major sins and minor sins, there is classification of sins.

The major sins, are any sins that there are specific punishment for, in this life or the hereafter specific punishment for in this life or hereafter or there's a threat of punishment for it in the hereafter or there's a curse that's associated with it then those are considered major sins there's a specific, like for example stealing there's a certain punishment for that zina, in this life there's a certain punishment for it in this life or the hereafter or anything that there's a curse whether it's the curse of the angels or the curse of Allah and his messenger anything that is associated with that person being cursed is considered a major sin.

And that's why if you're not taking care of yourself if you're not careful and you're negligent when you're going to the bathroom you don't care about the splatter that may get on you when you are urinating that a lot of people are negligent about but that's considered a major sin that is considered a major sin and that's why the Prophet he said indeed, he said it is big: إِنَّهَا لَكَبِيرَةٌ، إِنَّهَا لَكَبِيرَةٌ - indeed people think it's small but it is big. Why is it considered a big sin? Because the Prophet himself he said that person will be punished in the grave as a result of it will be punished in the grave. (Bukhari 216, Muslim 292)

So there's a specific punishment associated with your negligence in protecting yourself from the urine and so that's why when you're going to the bathroom be careful we always think about major sins but we never think about that as being a major sin and a major sin is if there's a warning of punishment for it in this life or the hereafter so here in the grave there's a specific punishment actually for that and so that's considered a major sin.

So anytime you commit sins commit any type of sin whether it's major or minor then it is sunnah it is a part of our deen to pray, to perfect your wudu to pray two rakahs and to also ask Allah to forgive so you don't just pray you don't just pray you pray and you seek forgiveness from Allah.

Where to Make Dua in the Prayer

But where do you seek forgiveness from Allah? Well, when you're seeking forgiveness from Allah you can do so inside the prayer and those are the places that are that we can make dua in so what's the best time that we can make dua in the best position? It's in our sujood that's one time in the sujood so in prayer sujood is the time in which you supplicate to Allahsujood is also a time in which you can make tawbah repent to Allah, ask for

forgiveness and another place that you can do so is before you give the salams before you give the salams you can prolong your dua while you're sitting down you can prolong your dua while you're sitting down.

And another thing is also you can also even when you're standing up in sunnah prayers in sunnah prayers it's permissible for you to make dua in between verses of the Quran in sunnah prayers because the Prophet ﷺ sometimes he would stand up in prayer and he would recite a verse and every time he would come across a verse about the hellfire he would seek refuge he would stop and he would seek refuge while he's in prayer while he's standing while he's between the verses of the Quran if the verses were related to the hellfire he would seek refuge from the hellfire if the verses were related to paradise, he would stop and he would ask Allah for paradise he would ask Allah for paradise. (Muslim 772)

So that's in the sunnah prayers and so if you want to stop, let's say you're praying and you're praying especially with Ramadan coming up it's one of the sunnah prayers qiyamul layl and taraweeh prayer the prayers at night time whenever you come across a verse relating to Jannah ask Allah for paradise and when Allah orders you to to seek forgiveness and anything related to forgiveness you can stop in the verses between the verses and make dua but generally, like for example in obligatory prayers you just recite the Quran but in the sunnah prayers you can prolong your prayers by the recitation of the Quran or stopping in between those verses and asking Allah for Jannah or asking Allah to protect yourself from the hellfire and so this is a sunnah as I mentioned that we have to revive within ourselves.

Benefits of Tawbah

And if we purify ourselves and we ask Allah for forgiveness we purify our hearts it helps to make the more you make tawbah the easier it is for you to do good deeds because one of the signs that Allah has accepted your repentance is that it's easy for you to do good deeds it's easier for you to do good deeds and that's why even when it comes to recitation of the Quran when a person finds it difficult to recite the Quran when he finds it difficult to find time to recite the Quran it's a sign that his sin is not maybe his heart is not pure that he needs to make repentance more if you find it hard to do good deeds maybe it's time to repent to Allah and it is it's always time to repent to Allah but maybe you should make istighfar more make tawbah more and be more conscious of it.

That's why that's why Khalifah Ar-Rabi' Uthman ibn Affan he said:

"If our hearts were clean and pure then we would never get enough of the word of our Lord."

That means you will enjoy Quran if you're not enjoying prayer that means you have to make tawbah sincere tawbah and part of sincere tawbah as we mentioned here is standing up to pray after each sin standing up to pray salat al-tawbah.

So salat al-tawbah prayer is part of our deen it's part of the sunnah and part of something that we should try our very best to to revive within ourselves and to increase to increase in and with that inshallah I think it's almost time for prayer and I can open up if anyone has any questions maybe we can we can open up for for questions inshallah.

Questions and Answers

If there's no questions. In the dua you can make in salat by default of course in the salat prayer it should always be in Arabic but you can make dua in different languages in any language that you want but not uttering it you don't utter it out loud but in your heart Allah knows when you're making when you remember Allah within it's considered permissible in any language let's say for example you're in sujood and you're in sujood you can as long as you don't the utterance of it out loud if you're saying within it's permissible in any language that you want so it is permissible you don't have to say I don't know Arabic how am I supposed to make dua in prayer no in your sujood you can you can make sujood in your sujood you're always it can be done in any language when you're done in sujood as long as you don't utter it out loud.

And another thing is also another thing I want to mention is when it's parts related to related to nadam remorsefulness Abdullah ibn Abbas he said he said when you commit if you're happy with committing a sin your ability sometimes someone commits a sin and he says wow I was able to do that and some people are even proud of it like for example they've committed zina and they go and tell other people also you know what they start explaining that this and that and they're very proud of it and they're happy that they're no longer a virgin and things like that and they know it's a sin that happiness as a result of a sin is greater than the sin in and of itself because if you're if you're happy about a sin if you're proud of a sin then there's no remorse whatsoever in it you're not thinking about repentance because no one who's happy about a sin thinks about repentance.

And that's why the Prophet ﷺ he said my whole ummah will be forgiven except for those who openly proclaim their sins openly proclaim their sins. (Bukhari 6069, Muslim 2990) Especially with the internet age some people when they post things be careful what you post because if you're posting something you did that's haram that's part of the mujahirah that's part of showing off your sins and the Prophet ﷺ said my whole ummah will be forgiven except for those people except for those people because you're proud of your sin how can you be proud of your sin it's just like someone someone who's proud of their sins, there's no hope for their repentance they're not thinking about repentance.

And so your happiness about sins committing sins is greater especially when you're posting a sin you're also inviting others and people are looking at that for example a picture that you posted or something that you posted that may encourage others to commit that sin then you also face the consequences of that you face the consequences, you're responsible because you're inviting to the sin you're inviting to the sin and so especially with something that you post on the internet, because I know like there's some people who have posted bad things on the internet then they passed away and then their children and their maybe their children and their relatives are like trying to take all that away trying to take that off, right? Because people are still looking at that

maybe they might still be encouraged by some of those things that they did and so that's why it's very, very, very, very dangerous, you know, right?

If you tell someone, if you're speaking once you speak it, it's gone but when you post something on the internet it stays, you know, it stays let's say something happens to you, you pass away and so that's why you know, if you know that you're wrong at least you admit that you're wrong and try to hide it try to hide your sins don't go out and tell everybody about that sin.

And he also says:

Abdullah ibn Abbas then continues, he said your sadness as a result of being unable to committing a sin is greater than that sin. Some people they said, oh you know what, if I only had if only I was able to do that I wish I was able to to do that and he was not able to do that particular sin commit that particular sin, that's also dangerous and so that's why you have to be very careful because the Messenger of Allah ﷺ also mentioned four people, four types of people he said in this world there are four types of people.

The Four Types of People and Their Intentions

One whom Allah the Prophet ﷺ said there are four types of people one is a person whom Allah has given an abundance of wealth an abundance of wealth and knowledge and he spends it accordingly in other words he spends his wealth and his knowledge accordingly and so Allah will reward him meaning he spends it in that which is beneficial and he spends it in helping others and he will get his reward inshallah but the other person who has not been given anything he's not given that type of wealth that type of that type of wealth but he says, ya Allah if I had that type of wealth I would do exactly the same thing if I had that type of money I would do the exact same thing I would help build masajids also I would help the poor, I would help with wells and so forth but I don't have that type of money but if I did I would do the exact same thing you know what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said? He said:

"Both of them are the same in reward." (Tirmidhi 2325, Ibn Majah 4228)

Both of them are the same in reward even though one didn't do what the person did but because he wanted to do he had the conviction you have to understand there's intention and there's conviction once you have the conviction to do something then it's set inshallah you get the reward.

What's the difference between al-azeema and conviction? Conviction is you know that you have to you're going to get the reward anyways and that's why it's very important that when you see someone doing something good to also have that to have that intention and that conviction also you know what if I had that type of money I would do the exact same thing you see someone raising their hands and you know he's very wealthy and he says

ok I'll put 300,000, 300,000 pounds and you're like 300,000 pounds for the center that's a lot of money right? Then you say no if I had that type of money I would do the exact same thing but then you do have that you do have some money if you're not giving 3,000 pounds that you can afford then if you had more do you think it's going to be easier it's not and that's why you give as much as you can but if you did have the conviction then you would get the same reward as that person who gave 300,000 pounds even though you only gave 3,000 pounds so that conviction is very powerful.

But the opposite is also true the Prophet ﷺ also said he said and the third person is one whom Allah has given an abundance of wealth yet he spends it how? He spends it in haram and he spends it in this and that that's not pleasing to Allah and of course he will get his he will have what he deserves he will get what he deserves.

The fourth person is the real miskeen real poor guy he lost the dunya and the akhirah who is this fourth person? It's someone who is poor he doesn't have what the third person he doesn't have any wealth but then he says if I were to have been given that type of money I would have done the same thing as that third person who spends it in haram so for example that person goes and he spends it in gambling and he's in alcohol and do things that are haram so if I had that type of wealth I'd be in my Lamborghini with the girls in there also but he can't afford a Lamborghini and I would be doing that also but the thing is you know what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said that person who had that conviction he said I would have done the same thing if I had that type of money and he's saying I would have done the same thing as the guy who committed sins and he has that money he says:

"Both of them are the same in sin." (Tirmidhi 2325, Ibn Majah 4228)

A'udhu billah. Both of them are the same in sin even though one guy is like at home with his family poor guy he can't afford to do anything yet he's getting the sin of all the things that the other person did who has the money.

But you might say isn't there a hadith that if you have the intention to do something that you will not you know you will not get the the sin unless you actually do it and also if you have just the intention if you have the intention to do something you will get the reward but if you actually do it you get 10 doesn't that seem like there's a contradiction so how do you explain this? Well because there's a difference between conviction and intention conviction is you know you're going to do it and you want to do it but there's something the only reason why you can't do it is because you are because you're not you have the conviction but there's something that's preventing you and that's why once you have the conviction there's a requirement for you to make tawbah you have to make tawbah.

So let's say I'll give you an example I'll give you an example and I'll give you an example from a hadith that we can understand the Prophet ﷺ said the Prophet ﷺ said the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said when two Muslims fight get into a fight and they take out their swords they take out their swords and they're trying to kill each other the person who has killed and the person who was killed they both are in a hellfire. (Bukhari 31, Muslim 2888) So the companions are saying oh yeah we understand the one who killed but how about the one who was killed why is

he also in the hellfire? Why? Because the Prophet ﷺ said because he had the conviction to try to kill his companion but the only reason why he wasn't able to kill maybe he didn't have the skills maybe he did not have the skills that the other person had but if he had the opportunity to do so he would have done so also so he already had the conviction he already started the action he wanted to kill already it's not about intending here he's already started trying but he was unsuccessful.

But that conviction and that's why if you're intending let's say you go you know what a person goes and says I'm going to go here and I'm going to commit zina and he reaches that place and he wants to commit zina but then he realizes he's forgotten his wallet he realizes he's forgotten his wallet then he goes back home and he forgets or something happens and he's busy what kind of intention is that? Does he get the sin? That person has to make tawbah he has to he has to make tawbah because that in itself that conviction is a sin because what was the thing that prevented him from committing the sin? If he had his wallet with him what would he be doing instead now? He would have committe