Tawbah- I want to repent, but…

Tawbah: I Want to Repent, But...

Opening and Greetings

(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim), alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. Wa usalli wa usallim ala Sayyidina Rasool Allah, rahmatil alalameen, wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'in. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

We praise Allah and abundant praise and we beseech Him to send His peace and blessings upon our master Muhammad, his righteous family (al-abrar), and his pure companions (wa sahbihi al-athar), radiallahu anhum. May Allah be pleased with them as they were pleased with Him. Ameen.

Personal Introduction

It's an honor to be in Malaysia. He did not mention I married a Malaysian woman. It was the second smartest thing I did in my life. The first is becoming Muslim. Nobody can argue with the first. So actually I'm here on holiday to visit my family because my family lives in Malaysia. My children are in Malaysia and I thought I would stop by and visit you here at the Gulf Club. It's an honor to be in Malaysia. Malaysia has a very special place in my heart because of course my family.

I was married actually in Malaysia, almost 11 years ago. And Allah blessed me to develop some very important relationships with a number of good brothers and sisters in this country and ask Allah to bless you. I want to thank Allah, His Prophet, the brothers and sisters at YMP as well as the other organization. Jakeem also was extremely helpful. The office of the Mufti here in KL has also been extremely helpful in facilitating this event in the face of a few tidal waves. So they were extremely helpful and they were able to organize and make things easy for us. May Allah bless all of them.

The Significance of Tawbah

The discussion is not an easy discussion to talk about for any speaker. The concept of tawbah, repentance to Allah is not something simple that can be talked about. As one of the great scholars of Islam said: التَّوْبَةُ أَوَّلُ مَنَازِلِ الْعَبْدِ وَآخِرُهُ - "Repentance to Allah is the first stepping stone in a person's relationship with God and also the last step in their relationship with God."

Another scholar said something very profound. He said and he added to this statement of Al-Harawi, he said that tawbah, repentance is the first step, the middle step and the last step. And he said: أَيْنَ مَا يَكُونُ الْعَبْدُ - "Wherever the servant of Allah finds him or herself," ثُمَّ تَوْبَةٌ - "Then they will find with him also the need to repent to Allah."

The Linguistic Meaning of Tawbah

The word tawbah in Arabic is from taba. If you have a Bahasa dictionary, Bahasa in Arabic, you look under taba. And it means to turn away from something. تُبْتُ عَنْ هَذَا means I turned away from something. تُبْتُ عَنْهُ means I turned away from a person. So it actually means to physically turn from something. This is the word tawbah.

Islamically, we use this term to turn away from being disobedient to Allah, from being disobedient to Allah, to being obedient to Him. Some ulama said as though you turn away from sin, and you turn to obedience: يَتُوبُ مِنَ الْمَعَاصِي إِلَى طَاعَةِ رَبِّي - "That he turns or the person turns away from disobeying Allah to obeying Allah." This is the meaning of tawbah.

The Pillars of Tawbah

First Pillar: Regret in the Heart

Some ulama expanded this definition of tawbah to include the following. Number one, they said a regret in the heart: نَدَمُ الْقَلْبِ - "That the heart feels regret." Those of us who have children, you know, when you catch your child, don't make me, you know, to put you in check. You know, they have this sense of nadam, this regret that they have.

And the Prophet ﷺ said as related by Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal: التَّوْبَةُ نَدَمٌ )Musnad Ahmad) - "Tawbah is to feel regret and shame." And this is a good hadith. Some of the scholars, they commented on this hadith, Imam As- Sarraqandi, and he said this hadith carries with it the same meaning of the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ when he said: الْحَجُّ عَرَفَةُ )Sunan al-Tirmidhi 889) - "The Prophet ﷺ said in the sound hadith that hajj is Arafah."

Meaning that of all of the pillars of hajj, the most important pillar of hajj is what? Is wuquf at Arafah - spending some time at Arafah. So also when he said, and if you catch this, you got a treasure from the language of the Arabs (kanz min kunuz al-lughah al-arabiyyah). He said التَّوْبَةُ نَدَمٌ - "That repentance is this feeling of regret and remorse."

Meaning out of all of the important pillars of repentance, just like out of all of the important pillars of hajj, the most important pillar is Arafah. Here the most important pillar of tawbah is this feeling of remorse. And that's why the Prophet ﷺ said that to repent without having the sense of remorse is to mock your Lord - مُسْتَهْزِئُ بِرَبِّهِ - "Someone who mocks Allah." Just they fake it. And actually this is the quality of hypocrisy. May Allah save us from that.

Second Pillar: Guarding the Limbs

So they said number one : نَدَمُ الْقَلْبِ - "That the heart feels a sense of remorse, shame." Number two is to stick to the obedience of Allah by controlling that... How to explain it to you in English? I don't speak Malay, secret secret only. But قَيْدُ الْجَوَارِحِ بِالتَّقْوَى لِلَّهِ - "To control his body parts or her body parts with the fear of Allah."

How many of us at least once a month we check our firewall on our computer? We make sure we run adware. Or we got the latest virus protection software. But what the ulema mean here is to firewall your body from the fire. To protect the limbs, your arms, your eyes, what you say, what you feel, what you think to protect this from sin. To firewall it. Because if you don't firewall it now, it's gonna get firewalled later on. Unless we ask Allah to forgive us all.

The Eight Doors of the Soul

That's why one of the great ulema said something very beautiful. He said: مَثَلُ - "The example of the person." The example of the person who turns to Allah is like a house - رُمَى - you know rumah. It's like a house with 8

doors or 6 doors or 5 doors. He said: فَاحْظُرْ - "So be careful." Who you let enter into the doors of your home, lest they will corrupt and destroy your house.

He said: وَذَارِكَ - "And this is the example of the mu'min." To turn to Allah, that he or she has to look after the following doors: the eyes. Because the ulema said, the eyes are the tunnel to the heart. What the eyes see immediately shows up in the heart. That's why sometimes if you see something bad, you can't get it out of your mind. But when you want to marry someone, I experienced this, right? You can never remember what they look like.

Right? You could have gone, done the visit and everything. Talk for like an hour. As soon as you got in the car, you say : بَعِيدٌ - "What does she look like?" Say, I forgot. But when you see something forbidden, it's like years to get it out of your system. Years to get it off. The 24 pixel right here. 16 pixel.

So they said, number one, the eyes. Number two, what you smell. Number three, your mouth. The fourth door, your ears. The fifth door, your hands and your limbs. The sixth door is your mind. The thoughts that enter into your mind. So he said, put a guard at every one of those doors. And the guard is istighfar. Is dhikr. To remember Allah.

The Danger of Thoughts

How dangerous are the thoughts. Imam Al-Ghazali, rahimahullah ta'ala, he said that the sin of zina doesn't start with the eyes. He said the sin of fornication starts with the mind.

Imam Ibn Qayyim said: دافع الْخَطْرَةَ - "Repel bad thoughts." فَإِنْ لَمْ تَفْعَلْ صَارَتْ شَهْوَةً - "Because if you don't repel them, they're gonna become desires." فَحَارِبُهَا - "And he said, declare war on them."

This is the statement of Ibn Qayyim. Once some non-Muslims came to the mosque I live by. And they asked me, why does Islam only promote, always promote killing people? I said, no, the greatest form of jihad is the jihad of worship (ibadah). So they said, prove it. So I said to them, imagine this is a mosque. I said, do you see the little niche in this building? Here? They said, yeah. I said, do you know what we call it? They said, what? مِحْرَابٌ - "Mihrab." Mihrab means the place of حَرْبٌ - "war." The place of war. The war against your soul.

Sisters, when you get married, make sure your husband goes to Fajr. Don't let him tell you, girl, you look good. I don't wanna go to Fajr. Tell him, you look good too. Yeah, Brad Pitt with a kufi. But, go to the mosque, get some of that nur, and come back, it's gonna be on. That's how you're gonna do it. مِحْرَابٌ - "The place where you have to struggle against yourself." Did you ever think about this? It's called مِحْرَابٌ - مَكَانُ الْحَرْبِ - "The place of war."

So Imam Ibn Qayyim said, when you have those desires in your mind, I'm not messing with you and making you confused: حَارِبْهَا - "Fight them." Ibn Qayyim is like, pow! It's none of this stuff. مُبَاشَرَةً - "Directly." He said: فَإِنْ لَمْ تَفْعَلْ صَارَتْ هِمَّةً وَعَزِيمَةً - "If you don't fight those desires, they're gonna become ambitions and goals for you."

Ambitions.

From Thoughts to Actions

How many of you brothers eat protein? Take protein shakes? Every day, you and me. How many sisters? Is my

foundation? Look how they messed with you. You don't wanna wash your foundation off. Your foundation is here. Look at language. People don't even think anymore. Your foundation you wash off in the sink? Oh, L'Oreal is not good anymore. The Prophet ﷺ said: التَّقْوَى هَاهُنَا )Sahih Muslim 2564) - "Taqwa is here." And then the foundation is here.

Same with brothers, right? We sit in front of the mirror. When you go to the gym, see people lifting, and as soon as they're done with one set, they go to the mirror. It's like: أخِي - "You're not gonna see results like this, right?" Spontaneously. But these are results of what? Aspirations in our minds. Not dealing with reality. You see people really out of shape, man. In front of the mirror. It's like, yo, please. It's not time for that yet.

Sorry, I need to speak more British English. You know, excuse me, sir. It's not time for that. I need to watch Harry Potter. Catch up. So, excuse me, sir. It's not time for that yet. But a sense of delusion. As one of the scholars said, human beings are given to false delusions about themselves. Constantly.

So Imam Ibn Qayyim said, when it becomes هِمَّةٌ وَعَزِيمَةٌ - "ambition and determination," he said, at that moment in time, you better go after and capture it: قَيِّدْهَا - قُبِضَ عَلَيْهَا - "Capture it." فَإِنْ لَمْ تَفْعَلْ صَارَ فِعْلاً - "Because if you don't, it's gonna become an action."

And he said, when it turns that thought from a desire to aspirations to an action, he said, at that moment in time: فَدَارِكْهُ بِضِدِّهِ - "Counter it with its opposite." Do the opposite of that bad act. فَإِنْ لَمْ تَفْعَلْ صَارَتْ عَادَةً - "And if you don't, he said, it will become a habit." And at that moment in time it's gonna be hard for you to stop.

So the ulama said, that the mind is where it starts. So the concept of repenting to Allah, and looking after what? These eight doors, or six doors. One of those doors is the door of thoughts. Even though Allah, out of His mercy, as the Prophet ﷺ mentioned in the sound hadith related by Bukhari, He does not call us to account for the thoughts we have. But still the ulama said: مَا لاَ يَتِمَّ الْحَرَامُ إِلَّا بِهِ فَهُوَ حَرَامٌ - "This axiom in usul of fiqh that says whatever can be used to complete a haram became haram in itself." Even if it was halal before.

Third Pillar: Istiqamah (Uprightness)

The third, they said, sign of tawbah. After someone has the sense of regret, and after someone starts to look after their limbs, and guard, firewall their doors of entry from shaitan with the remembrance of Allah: وَلَذِكْرُ اللَّهِ أَكْبَرُ (Quran 29:45) - "As Allah says in the Qur'an, that the greatest thing is dhikr."

The third thing they said is to stay upright. Istiqamah. Istiqamah means to try to stand straight. This is the meaning in Arabic, to struggle to stand straight. It doesn't mean that you will not make mistakes, but there's an effort to stand, an effort to be upright, an effort to try.

The GPS for Muslims: Surah Al-Fatiha

Now, the question comes, what is it that we repent from? Why do we repent to Allah? What is the GPS for Muslims in understanding our relationship with Allah and what we repent from? Because subhanAllah, some people shaitan has tricked them to the point they think they don't need to repent. I have nothing to worry about, I'm fine.

The Lesson of Al-Fatiha

So the Prophet ﷺ said to him, before I leave, I'm gonna teach it to you. Then the Prophet left, so he ran. Sometimes I do that to my students in California. I say, you know what? Before I drink this coffee, right? Excuse me. Before I drink this coffee, sir, I'm going to teach you this mas'ala here. This issue. Okay, okay. Then I drink the coffee. Hey, you told me, you told me. Nah, I was just testing you. Wax on. Wax off. Wax on, wax off is good. Work for Karate Kid.

So, the Prophet walked out, he grabbed his sleeve, Ya Rasulullah, oh Muhammad, you told me, you're gonna teach me the greatest surah of Qur'an. The Prophet turned to him and said: (الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ - alḥamdu lillāhi rabbi al-ʿālamīna ar-raḥmāni ar-raḥīmi māliki yawmi d-dīn) (Quran 1:2-4) - To the end of the surah. This is the greatest surah of Qur'an.

When we pray, do we really feel al-Fatiha? Or is it like a low impact aerobics workout? Tai Chi. Do we really taste salah? Do we really taste our relationship with Qur'an? Al-Fatiha, I don't know how you translate it in Malay. But in English, in most of the translations of Qur'an in English, is translated as "the opening." But actually, al-Fatiha is ism fa'il, which means the active participle. So most ulema said, its translation is "the opener." The one that opens for you something. Opens your relationship with Allah.

The Three Categories of People

And in al-Fatiha, we find what it is that we repent for. And one of the scholars said, the servant of Allah, and you wanna write this down, make sure you write this down. He said, the servant of Allah, will constantly find his or herself in one of three situations:

Number one: They know and they still disobey. They know and they still do wrong.

Number two: They don't know and they do wrong. But here it means by they don't know, they didn't try to learn. Because ignorance is not always used as a legitimate excuse. Like when we come home late and our wife says, where you been? We say, you know, we were in the mosque. She said, Isha' finished three hours ago. I was praying sunnah. For three hours? Well, you know, the sunnah of talking to my brothers at the coffee shop. Here, ignorance cannot be used as an excuse. Right? We know that well.

So number one, those who know and don't act. Number two, those who don't know and act.

The third group are those who know and act, based on sound understanding.

The first group, he said, those who know and don't act are (الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ - al-maḍḍūbi ʿalayhim) (Quran 1:7) - "Those who earned anger." The second group, those who don't know and act are (الضَّالِّينَ - aḍ-ḍāllīn) (Quran 1:7) - "Those who went astray."

Understanding Al-Fatiha's Structure

So when we repent to Allah in light of the GPS of Al-Fatiha, which we read no less than 17 times a day. Either we have an attribute of (مَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ - maḍḍūbi ʿalayhim) or we have an attribute of (ضَالِّينَ - ḍāllīn). That's it. And if we are guided, what's the goal? What do we repent to? What are we aiming for? What's the summit of the mountain? As he said, is to be (أَهْلُ الصِّرَاطِ الْمُسْتَقِيمِ - ahl aṣ-ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm) - "The people of the Straight Path." See how Fatiha works.

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Examples of Maghdubi Alayhim

Fatiha, excuse me, I'm gonna say it in English, is a trip, man. Fatiha is incredible. One of my teachers, one time I came to him, I memorized Qur'an with him. And he had a book. It was three volumes, he was like going through it in his house. I said, three volumes, the same book. He said, yeah. You know what the three volumes are about? I said, I have no idea. He said: (إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ - iyyāka naʿbudu wa iyyāka nastaʿīn) (Quran 1:5) - "That's the whole thing." Three volumes?

So, when we repent to Allah, it's either because we acquired the quality of those who know, and either their desires got the best of them, their negligence got the best of them, their anger got the best of them, their weaknesses as human beings got the best of them, and they disobeyed Allah. May Allah protect us.

Examples of Maghdubi Alayhim

So for example, a young man, he goes home, his mother and father are asleep, or his wife is asleep, and he's at the computer, and he knows, everybody is asleep, masha'Allah (أَعُوذُ بِاللهِ - aʿūdhu bi-llāh) - "I seek refuge in Allah." The lights are off. No one can see me. Hi. Let me take a little look here at inappropriate websites.

I said to some brothers and sisters in America, the greatest sign of someone having sincere ihsan is how they act in front of the computer. Because in front of the computer is where you will live: (أَن تَعْبُدَ اللَّهَ كَأَنَّكَ تَرَاهُ فَإِن لَّمْ تَكُن تَرَاهُ فَإِنَّهُ يَرَاكَ - an taʿbuda allāha kaʾannaka tarāhu faʾil lam takun tarāhu faʾinnahu yarāk) (Sahih al-Bukhari 50) - "As the Prophet said, to worship Allah as though you see Him, and even though you can't see Him, you should at least know He sees you."

(وَهُوَ مَعَكُم أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ - wa huwa maʿakum ayna mā kuntum) (Quran 57:4) - "In the Qur'an, Allah says, He's with you wherever you are by His knowledge," even in front of the computer. So here, the person knows. How do you know he knows or she knows? Because if his or her spouse were to walk in, what would happen? The window would close immediately!

My wife would turn me into sambal. Sambal. White Sambal. That shame, that shame is the biggest evidence (dalil) that you know it's wrong. And that's what the Prophet ﷺ said. That you would hate for people to know you do something is a sign it's a sin. So this ihsan with Allah.

He knows it's wrong, she knows it's wrong. What about at work? You know, I want to get a promotion. Should I falsify some reports? Should I tell on this employee? Should I do something behind someone's back? Even though I know it's wrong. This is (مَغْضُوبٌ عَلَيْهِ - maḍḍūbi ʿalayhi) - "Those who earned anger."

When I, for example, abuse my children, or abuse my husband, abuse my spouse, I'm mean to my neighbor. I'm mean to the creation of Allah. When I'm going down the road and I cuss somebody out, right, I know all of this is wrong. But at that moment in time, I slip. Well, I don't care. What do we say? Men, we say, I had a bad day at work. I don't know what Malaysian women say, but they say, I had a bad hair day. All of these excuses to what? To do something which Allah is not pleased with.

And this is the quality of (مَغْضُوبٌ عَلَيْهِ - maḍḍūbi ʿalayhi) - "Those who know" and (أَتَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبِرِّ وَتَنسَوْنَ أَنفُسَكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ تَتْلُونَ الْكِتَابَ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ - a-taʾmurūna an-nāsa bi-l-birri wa tansawna anfusakum wa antum tatlūna al-kitāba afalā taʿqilūn) (Quran 2:44) - "In the Qur'an, Allah talks to this quality of person, you order righteousness for the people but you yourself don't practice it."

When we tell people, Islam is the best religion in the world. Muslims are the greatest ummah. And then we throw our trash in the street in front of our neighbor. What type of example is that? When we ignore our children, we become so enamored with social media, and whatever, that we forget our children.

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The Danger of Social Media

There was a study in the American Journal of Science about social networking. Facebook, Twitter, and so on. I believe there's a lot of good in these things, also alhamdulillah. But for some people, it can be a fitna. Right? There was a woman in America, her child died, it was an infant, because of neglect, because she was on Facebook.

It's incredible that mechanisms were built to bring us together as a virtual community, but they're pulling us apart as a physical community. But there was a study that said, Facebook in particular, is one of the greatest causes of divorce in the United States. Can you imagine? Put a niqab on Facebook.

But there was a study that said, when people use Facebook, especially people who are Facebook addicts, they have a word now for it. They say that their brain actually creates the same chemical that a drug addict's brain releases before they use drugs. Wallahi, I read it in the American Journal of Science.

Think about it, man. Think about your spiritual state, your relationship with Allah, with your family, with your wife, with your kids, with your husband. Oh, wait a minute, baby. No, one more minute. Okay, one more minute. And your husband's like, come on, girl. I gotta do it. Who is more important? Your husband or Facebook? Your child is screaming for milk. You're busy on Facebook.

This is example of (مَغْضُوبٌ عَلَيْهِمْ - maḍḍūbi ʿalayhim) - "Those who earned anger." If you were that, if you were, and now, I know some of us in this room are saying, Oh, man, he's talking about me? Right? But then, you say to yourself, that's real talk. That right there is the truth, right? But when you go home, are you gonna change? One more minute? Or what?

So (مَغْضُوبٌ عَلَيْهِمْ - maḍḍūbi ʿalayhim) are those who know and don't act. (الضَّالِّينَ - aḍ-ḍāllīn) are those who didn't learn and still try to do things. So, we repent to Allah from that, and we return to be (أَهْلُ الصِّرَاطِ الْمُسْتَقِيمِ - ahl aṣ-ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm) - "The people of the Straight Path."

And one of the ulama said: (مَنْ جَمَعَ بَيْنَ صِحَّةِ الْفَهْمِ وَالْإِخْلَاصِ وَالْعَمَلِ فَصَارَ مِنْ أَهْلِ اللهِ أَلَا وَهُمْ أَهْلُ الصِّرَاطِ الْمُسْتَقِيمِ - man jamaʿa bayna ṣiḥḥati al-fahmi wa-l-ʾikhlaṣi wa-l-ʿamali faṣāra min ahli allāhi ʾalā wa hum ahl aṣ-ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm) "He said, whoever gathers together knowledge and sincerity coupled with practice, they become from the people of the Straight Path."

The Journey of Tawbah

So, when we talk about repentance, right? Al-Fatiha gives us the potholes of this dunya, and at the same time gives us the citadel, where we should try to reach, the darajat, the stations, the manazil, we should try to reach. The pothole is (مَغْضُوبٌ عَلَيْهِمْ - maḍḍūbi ʿalayhim) - "Those who earned anger." And (الضَّالِّينَ - aḍ-ḍāllīn) - "Those who went astray." The goal is (الصِّرَاطِ الْمُسْتَقِيمِ - aṣ-ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm) - "The Straight Path," to be (أَهْلُ الصِّرَاطِ الْمُسْتَقِيمِ - ahl aṣ-ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm) - "The people of the Straight Path."

And one of the ulama said: (أَوَّلُهَا تَوْبَةٌ وَوَسَطُهُ تَوْبَةٌ وَآخِرُهُ تَوْبَةٌ صِرَاطُ الْمُسْتَقِيمِ - awwaluhā tawbatun wa wasaṭuhu tawbatun wa ākhiruhu tawbatun ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm) - "Its beginning is repentance, its middle is repentance, and its end is repentance."

And he said, the proof of this is that Allah told Sayyidina Rasulullah ﷺ after 23 years: (فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ - fa-sabbiḥ biḥamdi rabbika) (Quran 110:3) - "Glorify the praises of your Lord." You would imagine, if you graduated from college, right? You went to UIA, or you went to University of Malaya, you went to Oxford, you went, forgive me, you went to Azhar,

So, number one is a sense of what's called Al-Ya's. Al-Ya's means to despair. We heard it's haram to, I don't know what you do in Malaysia, so forgive me. We heard it's haram to listen to inappropriate music. We heard it's haram to go to the club. We heard it's haram to go to KLCC and make tawaf, looking for a man or a woman. We heard it's haram to do this, haram to do that. But did we hear that it's haram to give up on Allah's mercy? This is from the major sins.

All of the ulama in the books of the kabair, major sins, you find mentioned, Al-Ya's min Rahmatillah, to despair of God's mercy. And Allah in the Qur'an, He illustrates this in a profound way. The Prophet, as related by Ibn Kathir, he said, the most beloved verse of the Qur'an to me is this verse. In another narration he said, this verse of Qur'an is more beloved to me than everything in the heavens and the earth, . It's the verse I'm gonna say now.

The Story of Wahshi

We all know the story of Wahshi. Wahshi is the one who killed Hamza. Wahshi, after he killed Hamza, he became like a man on the run. Right? He was like running all over the place, hiding from people, because you killed the Prophet's uncle, man. Right? He sent a letter to Sayyidina Rasulullah. He said, I'm Wahshi. I heard your message. I have a few questions.

"Those who do not supplicate to other than Allah, and do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden except with just reason, and they do not commit adultery."

He said, I did all three. I did all three. Can I like become Muslim? So the Prophet wrote back to him, the verse that's two verses later in Surah Al-Furqan, verse 70. The first verse was 68, chapter 25. This is verse 70:

The Prophet wrote to him this verse. This is the answer of Sayyidina Rasulullah. He said this verse, "Except for those who do good and turn back to Allah. Allah will rectify their evil and turn it into good deeds for them." And this is for anyone who repents to Allah by the way, not just the one who becomes Muslim.

Then he wrote back to the Prophet, and he said, I don't even know if I can do good, like at that level. I'm Wahshi, man. I got issues. I got issues. And this is what we have to understand about the Prophet's life, man. Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen. We have to be careful not to romanticize the seerah to the point that we can't relate to it anymore. Everybody was perfect. Nobody had any problems. All cool. Their bills were paid for. Gas prices were great. The economy was fine. Their kids were angels. That's not what it was. The Prophet dealt with people. He dealt with people.

Look at Wahshi. Wahshi is not like, I killed your uncle, I'm sorry. So what? I killed other people. But if I do this, can I become Muslim? Yeah, but I don't think I can do that. I mean, he's like arguing. If we met Sayyidina Rasulullah, we'll do anything he tells us to do.

The Most Beloved Verse

Then the Prophet wrote back to him the verse, this verse, the most beloved verse to Sayyidina Rasulullah. He

wrote back to him one verse:

That says, "Say, all my servants, who wronged yourself with sin. You are forbidden to despair of Allah's mercy. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful."

What do you think Wahshi did? This is how he became Muslim. Imagine if someone did something to us. We write back, become Muslim, are you crazy? But look at the Prophet, wants to bring him into the truth. He forgives him, then he sends him this verse. He becomes Muslim.

Building Hope in Our Children

Once the Prophet, how do we build this sense of confidence in our young people? You know, I remember my son in Egypt, I can talk about it because I'm in Malaysia. If there's any Egyptians here, forgive me. My son, I sent him to a private school with my daughter. My son, he came home one day, in Egypt, and he like, broke her Snoopy pencil, I don't know, something like that. Blew her doll up, I don't know.

Then, she said to him, "Ya Walid, Anar Anar!" Which means, "Little boy, hell, hell." So then, my son said to her, "Wa ba'deen eh?" Which means in Egyptian, "After that what?" If I'm gonna go to hell for this, I mean for breaking your doll, what after that? It's nothing left. So I was like, grounding him in the corner.

But are we instilling love of Allah in the hearts of our children, or the fear of Allah? Or both? The Prophet builds people, even the sinner, he builds them. He makes them feel responsible, . But he doesn't crack their hearts, he doesn't destroy them. That's why one of our teachers used to say, be inviters not indicters.

If our young people come to the mosque, sometimes they dress different than us, maybe they don't wear the sarong, maybe they got like a sports jersey, or I don't know, maybe David Beckham, I don't know, whatever. You know, we have real football in America, but that's another story. But some kind of interesting sports gear.

In America, this happened to a number of young brothers, they would come to the mosque, and then of course one of the uncles would tell him, get out. You know, you're not, it's like no shoes, no shirt, no service. So you need to leave the mosque. So then I asked one of the old uncles, so where is he going to pray at? He said, I don't care. What do you mean you don't care? You don't care if he doesn't pray? Don't you think it would be better for him to pray and have his relationship with Allah than to be kicked out of the mosque? Oh, that's true.

The Young Man Who Felt Shame

The Prophet, he came into the masjid one day, and he found Umar crying. So he said to Umar, what happened? And Umar said to him, go talk to that boy over there, that young man. Sarraqandi relates this. The Prophet, he went to this young man, and this young man was disturbed.

And he said to him, what's wrong? He said, Ya Rasulullah, I've done some sins. Man, I can't, I'll just translate it in English, as the feeling is. He's like, yo, I can't tell anyone about it. If I were to tell anyone about this...

So then the Prophet, he said to him,, he said to him... Malaysians are quiet, but your children, mashallah, they're very active. But I love to have the children in the room. I don't think we should keep mothers out with

their kids, because we're a community, right? The Prophet didn't like tell ladies to leave the mosque. We are one ummah, that we should be one ummah.

So the Prophet, he saw him, he said, what's wrong with you? He said, yo man, it's serious. And that's the feeling of the Arabic, right? When we translate Arabic sometimes, we try to be so classical, that we take the guts from the language, right? Like "inna," "surely." How do you translate "inna" in Malay? Do you understand what that means?

Someone come home and say, dinner, is dinner ready? No. In English, we don't know what "verily" means, or "surely." Like you can ask, my friend is here. You don't go home and say like, "surely, I have come with my friend." That's Star Trek, man. That's not like how we talk now.

So some of the young brothers and sisters in California, they ask me, what does "inna" mean? I say, "inna" means "for real." And one of them said, today I understood "inna," man. How do you translate "inna"? Means "for real." I said, got it. And you got to also emphasize it. Right?

So here, we're talking about how he talked to the Prophet. We can turn it into the King James English, but you're going to lose the feeling. I don't know about Malay. But his emotions are like, yo, I did some crazy stuff, yo. That's the emotion of the language. You can feel that more than, "Indeed, I have committed great transgressions." You're not going to feel it.

So, although there's humor there, I'm being serious with you. Don't get me started. The Prophet told him, really? Are your sins greater than the Throne (Arsh) of Allah? He said, my sins are greater. He said, and are your sins greater than the Footstool (Kursi)? Are your sins greater than the Kursi? He said, yeah, they are.

Then he said, are your sins greater than your Lord? He said, no. The Prophet said, then turn to Allah. Look at how the Prophet, he builds him.

Another Example of the Prophet's Mercy

Once,, as narrated by Ibn Majah with the same chain, he came into the masjid, he found a Muslim crying. The Prophet said to him, what's wrong with you? What happened? Again, he said, oh man, there's some serious stuff, man. I can't really tell you about it. And the Prophet doesn't say, oh, you can tell me. You know how we are, I'm Dr. Phil. Muslims, we don't have Dr. Phil. We have Tawbah. Of course, there are certain times you need to talk to someone, of course. But in general, you talk to Allah.

So, the Prophet said to him, repeat after me. Raise your hands and repeat after me. He said: اللَّهُمَّ مَغْفِرَتُكَ أَعْظَمُ مِن ذُنُوبِي وَرَحْمَتُكَ أَرْجَى عِندِي مِن عَمَلِي (Sunan Ibn Majah 3822) - "O Allah, Your forgiveness is greater than my sin. And my hope in You is greater than the fear of myself."

The Prophet said to him, say it three times. He said it three times. Then the Prophet said, قُلْ فَقَدْ غَفَرَ اللهُ لَكَ - "The Prophet said to him, stand, Allah has forgiven you."

How? The Prophet encourages the people. How he can take even the mistakes of the people and use it to motivate them, to encourage them, to bring them back to Allah.

Building a Supportive Community

So, number one, where does Tawbah start as a community? We have to reinforce the sinner, man. Not destroy the sinner. Once in America, a sister came to me. She was from overseas, not from America. She moved there. She immigrated with her family. Very dear sister. And she told me, my son, my son is doing all kinds of bad stuff. So, I've decided to do one thing to fix this problem. I said, what? She said, hijrah. I said, hijrah like overseas? She said, no, hijrah from my son.

This is mentioned in classical books of Islamic law, to abandon a sinner. So, she said, I'm gonna abandon him. And I'm sure the society will reinforce, inshallah, him coming back to be righteous. I said, sister, where do you live? She said, I live in San Francisco. I said, San Francisco, ain't gonna reinforce him being righteous. San Francisco is gonna reinforce the opposite.

So, we live in an age now, where faith is not forced anymore. It's just a reality. You don't live in a kampong. You can't like, it's not like 40 people when somebody does something wrong, it's like everybody is upset with them. Right? It's just a reality of life. Faith is negotiated now. And that's why the ulema, and the scholars, and the people involved in da'wah have to be extremely clever in using, you know, multimedia, and all kind of facets to get to the young people. Not just, this is right, you gotta do it. It's not Nike, just do it anymore. Now you have to be intelligent in your da'wah.

So I told her, if you abandon your son, he's gonna be lost. What he needs is you to be a mother. Perform as a mother. Stand up and be a mom to him. So, we live in an age now, where we cannot abandon the sinner. We live in an age now, where we have to reinforce them, and strengthen them, and help them in their relationship with Allah.

And that's why the Prophet ﷺ said: بَشِرُوا وَلَا تُنَقِّرُوا )Sahih al-Bukhari 69) - "Give good news, don't make people flee." But shaitan tricks the religious people. He hardens their heart. He makes them judge and jury and prison. So they think, because I'm religious, I have to be tough. Because I went to Azhar, I have to be like a thorn.

Ya Shaykh, Azhar means a rose, Ya Shaykh. Not the thorn. Not shawk. How do you deal with people? And you have to be careful, young brothers and sisters, when you feel that religious edge, not to become... Mom and Dad, you're all bid'ah, and you know, this is haram, and just... And then you think, Wow, I did so much for Islam. My parents hate me. Alhamdulillah. My brother won't even listen to me anymore. All my best friends abandoned me. This is a sign I'm righteous. This is a sign you're a fool.

The Story of Tufayl ibn Amir

Tufayl ibn Amir radiallahu anhu came to the Prophet from Yemen, Ad-Dawsi. He came to Mecca, and he said, Oh, Muhammad, I want to be Muslim. He became Muslim. Then he went back to his village. He went to his father and said, Oh, my father, may Allah curse you. I'm on the religion of Ibrahim. You are polytheist. You are fools. Come back to Islam or you're not my father anymore.

What do you think his father did? Oh, sure. Great religion there. His father told him, Are you crazy? That's the Arabic. It's not, you know, excuse me, son. No, it's, are you crazy? Then he went to his mom. Mom, you know,

you are this. Allah curse you. His mom didn't become Muslim. He went to the whole village of Ad-Dawsi. Not one person became Muslim. I wonder why.

Then he went back to Sayyidina Rasulullah. And he said, Oh, Messenger of Allah, make dua to Allah that He will curse these people of Ad-Dawsi. That He will destroy them. How many of you heard dua? Oh, Allah destroy the disbelievers. But how many of you heard dua? Allah guide the disbelievers.

What kind of ummah have we become? We don't even pray for non-Muslims anymore. We pray stones on their homes and earthquakes and floods. You know, as though we are the weatherman or something. But what did Sayyidina Rasulullah say to him when he said, Oh, Messenger of Allah, make dua to Allah to destroy them? He said, raise your hands with me, Tufayl.

So he raised his hands. And the Prophet said: اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِ دَوْسًا )Sahih al-Bukhari 2937) - "The Prophet said, O Allah, have mercy on Ad-Dawsi." اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِ دَوْسًا - Allah guide Ad-Dawsi." Then he told him, go back.

And know that kindness, whenever it touches something, beautifies it. And hardness, whenever it touches something, defaces it. He went back. Then the next time he came was to Medina. And one of the people who became Muslim through him, out of a lot of the people from that area because of his new approach, if you will, was someone named Abu Hurayrah. And Abu Hurayrah came from these people.

Kindness. Helping the people. Realizing that young brothers and sisters nowadays, it's hard, man.

The Challenges of Modern Youth

The pornification of the world. When I was a little kid in America, you couldn't get pornography easily. I'd be walking home from school, excuse me, I would be on my way from school, and there would be like a group of boys behind like a convenience store. Hey, come here, man. Check this out. It was like WikiLeaks. He said, oh, look at that. My mom's gonna kill me. Wait a minute. Flip page, flip page, flip page.

But now, you have the pornification of the world through the internet. Yeah. People are in need of help. Not condemnation. Help, assistance. So the Prophet, he would raise the people. When the drunk man in Sahih Bukhari got drunk, the first place he went to, the Sahabi, is to the Prophet. A narrator in Sahih Bukhari, comes to the Prophet. Not only comes to the masjid, comes to the Prophet.

In America, I can speak on behalf of America. In most communities except a few, the last place young Muslims who have problems are gonna go to is the masjid. Why? Because they don't feel comfortable. The Prophet was Ameen before he was Nabi. We wanna be Nabi before we became Ameen. We wanna have religious authority without earning the trust of the people. Whereas the Prophet earned the trust of the people, then he was given religious authority by them. He didn't have to demand it.

So, this man is drunk. The first place he comes is to the mosque. And not only that, he doesn't ask for Abu Bakr and Umar. He asks for Sayyidina Rasulullah. Yeah, the relationship the Prophet has with uplifting the people.

Where Does Repentance Start?

So we start now quickly because of time. Where does repentance start? After the community. We have a

First: Allah Turns to Us First

So number one, tawbah starts where? Allah instructed tawbah. He said:

"Indeed Allah has turned to the believers." Then in the next verse, on the top of the next page, He says:

"Allah turned to them, so they can turn to Him."

The ulema said something here incredible. They said, tawbah starts with Allah. Now when Allah turns to the person's heart, they will feel within them the sense of tawbah. Tawbah, turning to Him. Turning back to Allah.

So number one, if you feel the sense of grief or sadness, know this is from Allah.

The ulema said that tawbah is so important. They said that tawbah is a synonym for deen. That deen and tawbah are one and the same. Because they said: مَا لَا يَتِمُ الْوَاجِبُ إِلَّا بِهِ فَوَاجِبٌ - "Whatever is needed to complete a wajib became wajib." وَمَظِلَّةُ شَيْءٍ تُعْطَى حُكْمَهُ - "In usul of fiqh we have this axiom that says, when something is needed to complete something else, it takes on the ruling of that objective." الْوَسَائِلُ لَهَا أَحْكَامُ الْمَقَاصِدِ - "That the means take on the same importance as the goal."

So they said the goal is the deen, and the means is tawbah, thus tawbah and deen are one and the same. And they said that deen cannot exist without tawbah. So the ulema said, from the greatest gifts of Allah upon creation, is that He inspires creation to turn to Him. Because the first objective (maqsid) from the objectives of shari'ah (maqasid shari'ah), the first objective from the objectives of shari'ah is the protection of the deen. And the best way to protect the deen is to protect the hearts of those who carry the deen.

So when Allah turns to His servants مَرَاعَاةُ مَصَالِحَ - "to look after what's beneficial for them." So they said:

- "Allah turned to them," and this lam is called لامُ التَّعْلِيلِ - I don't know if you have it in Malay language, which means, "so," He turned to them, so they would repent to Him.

Second Reason: Negligence (Al-Ghaflah)

Number two, we might not repent to Allah, not out of despair, but out of negligence الْغَفْلَةُ - "negligence." You know I got a long life man, who cares. One of our brothers just died yesterday in California, may Allah forgive him. He was getting out of a car to help someone in an accident, and he got hit by a car. But we'll talk.

But, some of the scholars said something nice to the young brothers and sisters. They said, a young person, who feels he doesn't or she doesn't need to make tawbah, because they have a long life in front of them, needs to make tawbah. When we asked one of the mashaykh, tawbah from what? He said, tawbah from stupidity.

Visiting the Graveyard

Go visit where you're going to live for a long time. Don't drive by KLCC and say, you know what, dad? Give me one. Me and my lady. Right? Look at this place. How long are you going to live there? 20 years, maybe. But do we go and visit that place that we're going to be in maybe for hundreds of years?

Umar ibn Abdulaziz said, whenever I feel negligent, I will dig a hole in the back of my house and go sit in it. And he would say to himself, when he would leave it, he would say, today you can leave, but tomorrow you can't get out. You got to be serious about your life. You can't just be silly. Constant silliness. Silliness is for fools, man. الْغَفْلَةُ - "Negligence."

But the young sahaba, the men and women around the prophet. Look at Aisha, man. Aisha is just amazing, man. I did a series about the wives of the prophet. I couldn't even do Aisha properly. I should have been like 11 CDs. After 2 CDs, I was like, man, look, man, I can't keep going. And I didn't even touch, I didn't even touch like the tip of the iceberg.

The Example of Aisha

When the prophet, look sisters, think about it. You know, when you go to a party, does my hijab match, you know, the baju kurung and everything. We should look nice, I ain't gonna lie. But we can't forget to focus. When Aisha, when the prophet said to her

(Sahih al-Bukhari 6527)

- "People gonna be brought together on the day of judgement naked and barefoot."

What did Aisha say? Who knows? What did your mother say, sisters? That's your mother. That's your mother brothers. Who knows what she said? No. Are we gonna be naked? Give this girl a door prize. Are we gonna be naked, mashallah, give her a hand, mashallah. Are we gonna be naked? Can you imagine, out of all the things that will be in your mind, on the day of judgement, she still has modesty (haya). We go to a wedding party, oh, I forgot my modesty was at the wedding. Even the day of judgement, she doesn't forget. We gonna be naked in front of men?

Oh, look at the character Sayyidina Rasulullah said to Aisha. The focus, she was 19 years old when she said that. 19. Don't tell me, I'm a teenager, and John Piaget said, you know, psychomotor domain, and there's Erickson's theory of behavioralism, and then adolescent development. Get out of here. In Islam, we have adult and kid, that's it. بَالِغُ غَيْرُ بَالِغِ - "Mature and immature." Maturation, not maturing. That's it.

So, negligence is rectified by remembering death. Thinking about where you're headed. Number two is dhikr. The ulema said, dhikr to the heart is like water to the fish. What happens to the fish, huh? If you took the fish from the water? Slow death. What happens to the heart if you take it out of the ocean (bahar) of dhikr?

Reading the Classics

The third, and we'll stop here insha'Allah ta'ala, reason that people might not repent, and we'll finish on Sunday. We're gonna try to finish the book and give you a chain of transmission (sanad) to the author. It's important to read the classics. My mother is a non-Muslim. She liked the Doobie Brothers, Elvis, the Bee Gees, you know, I don't know whoever else is popular in those days, right? But as Muslims also we have the classics, right? Our classics are a little different than Elvis, alhamdulillah, right?

Third Reason: Thinking Allah Won't Forgive

And something I'll mention as I finish. Is why we don't repent? Is we think Allah will not forgive us, man. One of the scholars he said, How many sinners, because of their sin, they went to heaven? And how many good doers, because of their good deeds they went to hell?

People got mad at him. You know the young generation. Ah, man, that sheikh is bid'ah, man. That sheikh is not on the correct methodology. Oh, oh, we know so much. Get out of here. So they came to the sheikh and said, How, how, how? How can someone sin and go to jannah? And how can someone do good and go to hell?

He said, the sinner, who after some time, right? They lived their life in sin. But one day they took the key, and they broke out of the shackle of the sin. And they realized, How many of us here became religious because of sin? Let's be honest, man. Don't raise your hands. Especially if you're not married yet. Don't say, I'm good, girl. Don't worry. Right?

But how many of us in here, we did some crazy, like the guy the prophet met, some crazy stuff. And then we just said, Like, am I human? What am I doing? What? It's terrible. And then we changed. So he said, how many sinners, that moment, that moment, became the place where the heart cracked. They returned to Allah.

Me, I was a drug dealer, man. Selling drugs in America in the early 90s. Gang member. Money. Girls. Cars. DJ. But my heart was empty. Then when I have a lot of money in my pocket. Big bank, American gangster. Denzel. And I found myself on the restroom floor making sujud. Wallahi, I was 19 years old, on the restroom floor making sujud.

I said, I don't know who You are, but You gotta get me out of this life. Right? Excuse me if I offended you. And I became Muslim. So he said, how many people, that moment in their life, when they turned to Allah. So the sin out of Allah's mercy became a means for their forgiveness. I'm not telling you go to the club tonight. No, no, no, no.

Then he said, how many people did good, or learned good, and the only thing they got out of it was arrogance (kibr). And they thought, I'm better than others. Stupid people don't know anything. Because kibr is a major sin. How many religious young people disrespect their mothers and fathers? What kind of fool are you, man? Your mother and father, they're not religious. It don't matter, they're your mother and father. Yeah?

You have to respect them. Look at Abu Hurayrah with his mother. Even though she was a polytheist (mushrikah). How he treated his mother.

- "Keep their company in this world with kindness."

So, the idea that Allah will not forgive me. In the Qur'an as I finish, whenever Allah talks about repenting to him, his response is always coupled with the particle (fa). In Arabic, the letter (fa) is translated,

according to some classical scholars, as "then." But that's not the full meaning of (fa) (fa), in Arabic, means something fast, immediate.

The Speed of Allah's Forgiveness

So, in Surah Adh-Dhariyat, when Ibrahim عليه السلام went to...

- "When the guest came to him, those angels," he says:

- "He came with a fat calf."

But actually, in Arabic, it means like, DSL internet. وَ (waw), in Arabic, is a dial-up modem. (fa) is DSL. Means, the verb is gonna happen like this, without any delay. So he said: فَجَاءَ بِعِجْلٍ سَمِينٍ - "Ibrahim was like running, yo, with his big animal." Because Ibrahim, he's أَبُو الضُّيُوفِ - "The father of hospitality." He's the father of generosity (karam).

When Allah talks about Tawbah in the Qur'an, and you returning back to Him, what does He say? فَتَابَ عَلَيْهِ - "He forgave him." فَتَابَ عَلَيْكُمْ - "He forgave you." فَتَابَ عَلَيْهِمْ (Quran 9:118) - "He forgave them." ... He turns to you in repentance. Meaning, as soon as you seek His forgiveness, He forgives you.

Once a non-Muslim came to me and said, What sacrifice do you have to offer to be forgiven? Every religion has some kind of intermediary for forgiveness. I said, I have Tawbah. They said, What's Tawbah? I said, Repentance. Allah promised me, if I repent to Him sincerely, He will forgive me. That's it.

The Signs of Sincere Tawbah

What are the signs of a healthy Tawbah? And we finish inshaAllah. Are you okay? Not sleepy? Okay. I want to sleep, but I will push myself. When I learn Malaysian, it's gonna be nice inshaAllah. My daughter is teaching me now, Alhamdulillah. But sometimes she gets the words confused. So, forgive me.

First sign of repentance is to repent. To feel, the ulema said نَدَمٌ - "regret."

Number two is to couple that with repentance. And we have in the sound hadith صَلَاةُ التَّوْبَةِ - "The prayer of repentance." If someone committed a sin, and this is a sound hadith, and they repented to Allah, they prayed two rak'ah, and they raised their hand in dua, Allah will forgive them,.

Number three after the repentance, is to feel in your heart, a desire to never return to the sin again. Stay away from it. Some people say, what if I keep doing it? Because you're human, bro. And the Prophet ﷺ said in a sound hadith, what I read in Imam al-Bukhari. He said, there's a person who will sin, and repent to Allah. And Allah will say, look at this servant of mine. He repents, he believes in me, he repents. Bear witness, he says to his angels, I forgive him.

Then the Prophet ﷺ said: ثُمَّ فَعَلَهَا مَرَّةً أُخْرَى وَكَمَا قَالَهُ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمًا - "Then he will do it again." Then the Prophet said, he does it again, then he repents. And then Allah says, look at my servant, who repented to me, I forgive him. Then he keeps doing it, he keeps doing it, he keeps doing it, he keeps doing it, he keeps doing it, and the hadith continues until the Prophet said: حَتَّى أَمَّنُوا - "And the Prophet says, Allah will continue to forgive this person until they stop." Either they stop the act or they stop the tawbah.

Because Allah says in Quran:

وَ رَحْمَتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ (Quran 7:156) - "My mercy covers everything." And the key to opening this relationship with Allah is belief in Him. And that's why in Surah Fatiha, I hope I can explain this to you in English. Pay attention, this is heavy and you'll like it.

The Structure of Al-Fatiha

In Surah Fatiha, the tense of the surah changes. I don't know about in Malay language, but in English, we don't like it when you change the tense. I'm a school teacher before, I used to bleed all over my kids' papers with a red pencil, red ink, when they would change the tense. But in Arabic, it's called الْاِلْتِفَاتُ - iltifat," in rhetoric (balagha). That sometimes the tense can change to teach you something that's not said.

The Quran is so powerful, not only does it have verbal communication, but also non-verbal communication in Arabic. So in Fatiha it begins: (الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ - al-ḥamdu lillāhi rabbi l-ʿālamīn, ar-raḥmāni r-raḥīm, māliki yawmi d-dīn) (Quran 1:2-4) - This is الْغَيْبِيَّةُ - "third person." As though someone, you listen to the radio, and someone's talking to you. You're not talking, you're listening.

But suddenly the tense of the surah switches to what? Who's talking? You (إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ - iyyāka naʿbudu) (Quran 1:5) - "Now you start talking." وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ - "The tense change from third person (al-Ghaybiyyah) to second person (al-Mukhatab(, which means the speaker." From the third person to first person. Why?

The ulema said, because you started with Iman. الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ is Iman in Allah. الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ is Iman in Allah. مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ is Iman in Allah. This is the key, now the door opens, what are you gonna say (إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ - iyyāka naʿbudu)

So Al-Fatiha shows you, through your recognition of Allah and your faith in Allah, you draw nearer to Him till finally, you have the key to enter the king's court and ask Him. Did you catch the meaning? It's not written there, but you feel it in Arabic, it's very profound.

Practical Steps for Sincere Tawbah

So number three now, is to understand that you have this relationship with Allah. Number two is tawbah, regret, repentance. Number three, to never return to the sin again. Number four, for those of us who perhaps were hanging around the wrong crowd, or we might have been in a scene where we were popular or famous, is good to pull out for a while.

Don't become a Muslim activist overnight. Don't repent and suddenly become like Sheikh Qaradawi. I saw you in the club last night dude, now you're like, red cap on. No.

Imam Ibn Ata'illah Al-Sakandari, in his book Al-Hikam, the Maliki Sufi, he said something beautiful. He said, in relationship to your spiritual development and your knowledge and your development, he said, the person is like the seed. He said: ادْفِنْ وُجُودَكَ فِي أَرْضِ الْخُمُولِ - "It's very hard to translate in English and I cannot even attempt in Malay." He said, bury yourself, he's talking to the one who repented now. Bury yourself in a deep earth, a barren place, where no one can find you, not your husband and your kids, man.

He said: وَمَا - "And he said, because what wasn't buried properly will not grow, and if it does, its fruit will not be sweet." What he means, as Shaykh Sayyid Hawwa explained, is to give yourself time to learn and develop, and avoid all of the group politics. Learn Islam. Be a Muslim. Don't be something before you're Muslim.

The best type of food is organic food. The best type of religion is organic religion. No preservatives. Just Muslim. That's it. Many people when they wanna start practicing, a lot of difficulties in front of them, to jump on the scene, to join this group and hate this group. يَا شَيْخَ ادْفِنْ وُجُودَكَ فِي أَرْضِ الْخُمُولِ - "O Shaykh bury yourself in obscurity." Avoid this fashionable Islam.

Who was at this convention, I was at this talk and all, but I don't pray Fajr, I don't pray Tahajjud, I don't fast, I cuss at my husband, my kids walk around with dirty diapers, I'm such a great Muslim. Or vice versa. This is fashion Islam. Islam is not about fashion. Islam is about sincerity and practice. And this comes through learning and training yourself and discipline and being hard on yourself and easy on others.

So what's called الْعُزْلَةُ - isolation" is the next, to pull back a little bit. The next is to learn. To learn your religion and to study from different people. Have an open mind. You're intelligent people. Don't let someone say, Oh, this guy is like this, this is this group, and you turn it off. Listen for yourself. Evaluate for yourself.

One time I gave a speech in Michigan and a sister came to me, she said, you know what, your speech is the opposite of what someone told me you are. I said, what am I? She said, it's very hard to define you. But you're like this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, like I'm in a grocery store, you know, looking at a label. Then I said, no, no, I don't use preservatives.

The Importance of Brotherhood and Sisterhood

To learn. The next step is to have brotherhood and sisterhood. One of the strongest signs of sincerity, man, is that you can deal with people. It's easy to be a solo artist, but the choir always sounds better. To work with others, to be patient. The Sahaba, they had to strive together.

Balanced Priorities

The last sign of good tawbah, as I finish, is that your priorities will be in order. Many of our brothers in America, they become Muslim and they tell me, I don't want to go to the university now. In fact, one brother told me, I'm going to quit the university. A convert brother. I said, why? He said, this is the university of the disbelievers. I said to him, so if you quit the university, who's going to pay your bills? Our community in the long run will become economically immobilized, especially the converts.

And he said, yeah, that's true. And he said, well, I want to marry a doctor, man. She'll take care of everything. I said, brother, it's obligatory (wajib) on you for you to fulfill certain responsibilities to your wife, man. So, sincere tawbah is coupled with a right balance of priorities.

I ask Allah to bless you. InshaAllah wa ta'ala. Wa salamu ala Sayyidina Rasulullah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam wa as-salamu alaykum. Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

Questions and Answers

Question: Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. This is regarding, my name is Zaid. And I'm actually quite, you know, curious about tawbah. Just now you said that if a person does tawbah and he does it again, it's like a mockery. He doesn't feel anything. So it's like a mockery towards Allah. But then, later after that, you say that, you know, after every tawbah, then if he does it again, and he does tawbah again, and then

again Allah will forgive him. So it's like, there's kind of like a contradiction in that sense. So if you would actually explain more on that. Thank you.

Answer: This is a good question. Thank you, brother. So he's asking about the statement of the Prophet ﷺ, Whoever makes tawbah but their heart is not there. I don't know if I explained the text correctly. What he means is the tawbah of the hypocrite (munafiq). Somebody who is just making tawbah outwardly but not inwardly. There's no inward connection.

The second hadith of the Prophet ﷺ is not talking about this person. But it's talking about the person who sincerely repents to Allah. But because they're human, because they're weak, because they make mistakes, they slip again. But they're still sincere to Allah. So there's no contradiction, inshaAllah.

The first one, he's doing it just to be seen of the people. (يُرَاؤُونَ النَّاسَ وَلَا يَذْكُرُونَ اللَّهَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا - yurāʾūna n-nāsa wa lā yaḏkurūna l-lāha ʾillā qalīlā) (Quran 4:142) - "As mentioned in the Qur'an, they show off to people and they don't remember Allah except a little."

Second is the one who sincerely repents. I'm sure many of us here, we repented from certain things that we do. But we might slip, might make a mistake because we're human beings. And the Prophet ﷺ said: (كُلُّ بَنِي آدَمَ خَطَّاءٌ - kullu banī ādama khaṭṭāʾ) (Sunan al-Tirmidhi 2499) - "The Prophet ﷺ said, everybody will make mistakes." Everybody makes mistakes.

And the best of those who make mistakes are those who repent to Allah. And in the Qur'an, we have a beautiful verse in Surah Fussilat. Allah says: (فَاسْتَقِيمُوا وَاسْتَغْفِرُوا إِلَيْهِ - fa-staqīmū wa-staġfirū ilayh) (Quran 41:6) - فَاسْتَقِيمُوا means "then be upright." وَاسْتَغْفِرُوا in this وَ )wa), it's called وَاوُ الْمَعِيَّةِ - "the waw of accompaniment." Which means, at the same time that you're trying to be upright, seek forgiveness.

So the ulema said, because no human being can be perfectly upright. They will constantly find themselves having deficiencies. And returning to Allah. That's why after salah, what's the first thing we say? Let me check my Twitter. أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ - "I seek Allah's forgiveness." Even though we finish salah, to remind us, constantly we have to turn back to Allah