I Want to Repent, But ...

موضوع: I Want to Repent, But ... الجمعة أغسطس 06, 2010 2:59 am

I Want to Repent, But ...

Contents

Introduction

The danger of taking sin lightly

Conditions for the acceptance of repentance

Great acts of repentance

Repentance wipes out whatever came before it

Will Allaah forgive me?

The repentance of one who killed a hundred

What should I do when I have sinned?

Evil people pursue me

They threaten me

My sins haunt me

Should I confess?

Important fataawaa about repentance

Conclusion

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Introduction

Praise be to Allaah, we praise Him and seek
His
help. Whomever Allaah guides cannot be led astray, and whomever He
leaves
astray, cannot be guided. I bear witness that there is no god except
Allaah
alone, with no partner or associate, and that Muhammad is His slave and
Messenger.

Allaah has commanded all the believers to
repent,
as He says (interpretation of the meaning): “… And all of you beg
Allaah to
forgive you all, O believers, that you may be successful.” [al-Noor
24:31]

People may be divided into two types, those
who
repent and turn to Allaah, and those who do wrong; there is no third
category.
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “… And whosoever does
not
repent, then such are indeed zaalimoon (wrong-doers, etc.).”
[al-Hujuraat
49:11]. We are living in a time when many people have strayed far
from the
religion of Allah, and sin and immorality have become so widespread that
there
is no one who remains free from the taint of evil except for the one who
is
protected by Allaah.

However, Allaah will not allow but that His
light
should be perfected, thus many people have awoken from the slumber of
negligence. They have become aware of their failure to fulfil their
duties
towards Allaah, have regretted their carelessness and sin, and so have
started
to move towards the beacon of repentance. Others have grown weary of
this
wretched life of misery, and so they are looking for a way out of
darkness and
into the Light.

But these people face many obstacles which
they
think stand between them and repentance, some of which exist within
their own
selves, and others in the world around them.

For this reason I have written this brief
work,
hoping to clear up this confusion, dispel doubts, explain wisdom and
drive away
the Shaytaan.

Following an introduction which discusses
the
dangers of taking sin lightly, I then explain the conditions of
repentance,
psychological cures, and fataawa (rulings) based on evidence from
the
Qur’aan and Sunnah which are addressed to those who repent. This is
followed by
quotations from some of the scholars’ comments, and my own concluding
remarks.

I ask Allaah to benefit me and my Muslim
brothers
through these words. I ask no more from my brothers than that they
should pray
for me and offer me sincere advice (naseehah). May Allaah accept
the
repentance of us all.

The

danger of taking sin lightlyy

“O you who believe!
Turn to Allaah with sincere repentance…” [al-Tahreem 66:8].

Allaah has given us time to
repent
before the honourable scribes (kiraaman kaatibeen –
recording
angels) record our deeds. The Prophet (peace

and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The (scribe) on the left
hand raises
his pen (i.e., delays writing) for six hours [this may refer to
six hours
of 60 minutes as measured by astronomers, or it may refer to short
periods of
time during the day or night – Lisaan al-‘Arab]
before he
records the sinful deed of a Muslim. If he regrets it and seeks Allaah’s

forgiveness, the deed is not recorded, otherwise it is recorded as one
deed.”
(Reported by al-Tabaraani in al-Kabeer and al-Bayhaqi in Shu’ab

al-Eemaan (The Branches of Faith); classed as hasan by
al-Albaani in
Silsilat al-Ahaadeeth al-Saheehah, 1209). A
further
respite is granted after the deed has been recorded, up until the moment
before
death approaches..

The problem is that
many people nowadays do not
place their hope and fear in Allaah. They disobey Him by committing all
manner
of sins, day and night. There are those who are being tested by the idea
of
regarding sins as insignificant, so you may see one of them regarding
certain
“minor sins” (saghaa’ir) as inconsequential, so he might say,
“What harm
can it possibly do if I look at or shake hands with a (non-mahram)
woman?” They
think nothing of looking at women in magazines and on TV shows. Some of
them,
when they are told that this is haraam, may even facetiously ask, “So
how bad
can it be? Is it a major sin (kabeerah) or a minor sin (sagheerah

Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said:
“You do things which in your eyes are less significant than a hair,
but
at the time of the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), we used to count them as
things that could destroy a man.”

Ibn Mas’ood (may Allaah be pleased with
him) said: “The believer regards his sin as if he were sitting beneath
a
mountain which he fears may fall on him, whereas the sinner regards
his
sin as if a fly lands on his nose and he swipes it away.”

Will these people then
understand
the seriousness of the matter when they read the following hadeeth of
the
Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be
upon him)? “Beware of the minor sins which are often thought of as
insignificant, for they are like a group of people who stopped in the
bottom of
a valley. One of them brought a stick, and another brought a stick,
until they
had gathered enough to cook their food. These minor sins, if a person is
called
to account for them, will destroy him.” According to another report, he
said:
“Beware of minor sins, for they will pile up until they destroy a
person.”
(Reported by Ahmad; Saheeh al-Jaami’, 2686-2687).

The scholars said that when minor sins are
accompanied by a lack of shame or remorse, and with no fear of Allaah,
and are
taken lightly, then there is the risk that they will be counted as major
sins.
Hence it is said that no minor sin is minor if you persist, and no major
sin is
major if you keep on seeking forgiveness.

So we say to the one who is in this
situation: Do
not think about whether the sin is major or minor; think about the One
Whom you
are disobeying.

In sha Allah, these words will benefit
those who
are sincere, and who are aware of their sins and shortcomings, and do
not insist
upon doing wrong and adhering to their faults.

These words are for those who believe in
the words
of Allaah (interpretation of the meaning): “Declare (O Muhammad) unto
My
slaves, that truly, I am the oft-Forgiving, the Most-Merciful.” [al-Hijr
15:49]
and in His words “And that My Torment is indeed the most painful
torment.” [al-Hijr 15:50]. It is essential to keep this balanced
view in
mind.

Conditions for the

acceptance of repentancee

tawbah (“repentance”)
conveys a
profound meaning, one which carries great implications. It is not, as
many
people think, the matter of mere lip-service, after uttering which a
person may
then continue in his sin. If you ponder the meaning of the aayah
(interpretation
of the meaning): “… Seek the forgiveness of your Lord, and turn to
Him in
repentance…” [Hood 11:3], you will see that repentance is something
which is
over and above seeking for forgiveness.

Such a great and important matter must
necessarily
have conditions attached to it. The scholars have described the
conditions of
repentance, based on the Qur’aan and Sunnah. They include:

Immediate cessation of the sin..

Regret for what is past

Determination not to return to the sin

Restitution of victims’ rights, or seeking

their forgiveness

Some scholars have also mentioned more
details as
conditions of sincere repentance, which we quote below with some
examples:

The person who gives up his sin because of
its
negative impact on his reputation and standing among people, or on his
work,
cannot be described as one who repents..

The person who gives up his sin for reasons
of
health and strength, such as one who gives up promiscuity and immorality
because
he is afraid of contagious killer diseases, or because it weakens his
body and
his memory, cannot be described as one who repents.

The person who refuses to accept a bribe
because he
fears that the person offering it may be from the law enforcement
agency,
operating under cover, cannot be described as one who repents.

The one who does not drink wine or take
drugs just
because he does not have the money with which to buy them cannot be
described as
one who repents.

The one who does not
commit a sin
because of reasons beyond his control cannot be described as one who
repents. So
the liar who is robbed of the power of speech, the adulterer who becomes

impotent, the thief who loses his limbs in an accident… all of them must
feel
remorse for what they have done and give up any wish to do it again. The
Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Remorse is
repentance.”
(Reported by Ahmad and Ibn Maajah; Saheeh al-Jaami’,
6802).

(peace
and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “There are only four kinds of
people in
this world. (The first is) a slave whom Allaah has blessed with wealth
and
knowledge, and he fears Allaah with regard to them, and uses them to
uphold
family ties, and acknowledges the rights that Allaah has over them. He
has the
highest status. (The second is) a slave to whom Allah has given
knowledge, but
not wealth. His intention is sincere, and he says, ‘If only I had
wealth, I
would do (good deeds) like so-and-so (the first slave).’ He will be
rewarded
according to his intention, so their reward will be equal. (The third
is) a
slave to whom Allaah has given wealth, but not knowledge. He spends his
money
aimlessly, neither fearing Allaah with regard to it nor using it to
uphold
family ties nor acknowledging the rights that Allaah has over it. He has
the
lowest status. (The fourth is) a slave to whom Allaah has given neither
wealth
nor money. He says, ‘If only I had wealth, I would do (bad deeds) like
so-and-so
(the third slave). He will be punished according to his intention, so
their
burden of sin will be equal.” (Reported by Ahmad and al-Tirmidhi,
and
classed as saheeh in Al-Targheeb wa’l-Tarheeb, 1/9).

2. The one who repents should feel that his
sin is
repulsive and harmful. This means that if a person repents sincerely, he
cannot
derive any feelings of pleasure or enjoyment when he remembers his past
sins, or
wish to repeat them in the future. In his books Al-Daa’ wa’l-Dawaa’
and
al-Fawaa’id, Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him)
mentions many
of the harmful effects of sin, including the following:

Loss of knowledge – feelings of alienation
in the
heart – difficulty in all one’s affairs – physical weakness – loss of
the desire
to obey Allaah – absence of blessing – lack of success by the help of
Allaah (tawfeeq)
– tightness in the chest, i.e., unhappiness – generation of evil deeds –

habituation to sin – disgrace in the sight of Allaah – disgrace in the
sight of
people – the curse of the animals – the dress of shame – sealing of the
heart
and being included in the curse of Allaah – not having du’aa’s
answered –
corruption on land and on sea – lack of self-respect or honour – loss of
a sense
of shame – loss of blessings – incurring the wrath of Allaah – feelings
of alarm
and dismay in the heart of the sinner – falling into the clutches of
Shaytaan –
an unhappy end – the punishment of the Hereafter.

This description of the harmful
consequences of sin
would make anyone want to keep away from sin altogether, but some people
no
sooner give up one kind of sin but they fall prey to another kind, for
numerous
reasons, including the following:

They think the new sin is less serious

They have a greater inclination towards
it,
and their desire for it is stronger

Because circumstances are more conducive
to
this sin than others, which may require more effort; the means of
committing it are readily available and widespread

His friends are all committing this sin,
and it is too hard for him to separate himself from them

“Do you see me, O ‘Ataahi, giving up
these
amusements,,

Do you see me losing my status among my
people for a life of piety?”

The slave should hasten to repent, because

delay is in itself a sin for which repentance is required.

He should have the fear that his
repentance may
have been lacking in some way, and he should not assume that it has
been
accepted, so he cannot remain complacent or feel secure against the
Plan of
Allaah.

He should make up for duties that he has
neglected in the past, such as payment of zakaat which he withheld in
the
past – because it is due to Allaah and it is the right of the poor –
and so
on.

He should avoid the place where the sin
was
committed if his presence there will lead to him committing the same
sin
again.

He should shun those who helped him to
commit
the sin.

Fawaa’id
hadeeth qaatil
al-mi’ah (what we can learn from the hadeeth about the one who
killed a
hundred people), which we will quote below).

Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning):
“Friends on that Day will be foes one to another, except al-muttaqoon
(the
pious).” [al-Zukhruf 43:67]

Bad friends will curse one another on the
Day of
Judgement, which is why when you repent, you should keep away from them,
shun
them, and warn others about them if they do not respond to your da’wah
and
advice. You should not let Shaytaan tempt you to go back to them on the
grounds
that you want to advise them, especially when you know yourself to be
weak and
unable to resist this temptation. There are many cases of people falling
back
into sin because they went back to the company of bad friends.

He should destroy the haraam things in his

possession, such as alcoholic drinks, musical instruments (like ‘ood

– a stringed instrument - and mizmaar – a wind instrument),
haraam
pictures and films, worthless literature and statues. They should be
broken,
destroyed and burnt. This getting rid of all the trappings of jaahiliyyah

at the point of turning over a new leaf is absolutely essential. How
often
has the keeping of such things been the cause of their owners reneging
on
their repentance and going astray after having been guided! May Allaah
help
us to remain steadfast.

He should choose righteous friends who
will
help him, instead of those bad friends. He should strive to attend
gatherings where Allaah is remembered and where he may gain more
knowledge.
He should fill his time with worthwhile pursuits so that Shaytaan will
not
find ways to remind him of the past.

He should rebuild his body which has been
fed
on unlawful things, by obeying Allaah and striving to nourish it with
only
lawful things, so that it will become strong.

(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever repents before the
death
rattle reaches his throat, Allaah will accept it from him” (reported

by Ahmad and al-Tirmidhi, Saheeh al-Jaami’, 6132)
and
“Whoever repents before the sun rises in the West, Allaah will accept
his
repentance” (reported by Muslim)..

Great
acts of
repentancee

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him):

Buraydah (may Allaah
be pleased with
him) reported that Maa’iz ibn Maalik al-Aslami came to the Messenger of
Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said: “O Messenger of
Allaah, I
have wronged myself by committing adultery, and I want you to purify
me.” The
Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him)
turned him away. The next day, he came back and said: “O Messenger of
Allaah, I
have committed adultery,” and the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him)
turned him away a second time. The Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sent for his people and
asked them,
“Do you know of anything wrong with him mentally? Have you ever noticed
any
strange behaviour on his part?” They said, “What we know is that he is
of sound
mind. He is among the righteous people, as far as we can see.” Maa’iz
came back
a third time, and the Prophet (peace
and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) sent for his people too, and they told
him that
there was nothing wrong with him or with his mind. On the fourth day,
the
Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be
upon him) had a hole dug for him, and commanded that he should be
stoned. The
Ghaamidi woman came and said, “O Messenger of Allaah, I have committed
adultery,
so purify me.” The Prophet (peace
and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) turned her away. The next day, she came
back
and asked, “Why are you turning me away? Perhaps you are turning me away
as you
turned Maa’iz away, but by Allaah I am pregnant.” He said, “Then no (I
will not
carry out the punishment). Go away until you have given birth.” When she
had
given birth, she brought the child wrapped in a cloth and said, “Here, I
have
given birth to him.” The Prophet (peace
and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Go away and breastfeed him until
he is
weaned.” When she had weaned him, she brought the child, holding a piece
of
bread in his hand, and said: “O Messenger of Allaah, here he is, I have
weaned
him and he is eating solid food now.” The child was given to one of the
Muslims
to take care of, then the Prophet (peace
and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) ordered that a chest-deep hole be dug
for her,
and that she be stoned. Khaalid ibn al-Waleed picked up a stone and
threw it at
her head. Blood spurted out onto his face and he swore at her. The
Prophet of
Allaah (peace and blessings of
Allaah be
upon him) heard what he said, and told him: “Take it easy, O Khaalid! By
Him in
Whose hand is my soul, she has repented in such a way that if the
tax-gatherer
had done so, he would have been forgiven.” (Reported by Muslim)..

According to one report,
‘Umar said:
“O Messenger of Allaah, you had her stoned and now you will pray for
her!” He
said: “She has repented in such a way that if it were to be shared out
among
seventy people of Madeenah, it would be sufficient for them. Can you
find anyone
better than one who gives up her soul for the sake of Allaah?” (Reported

by ‘Abd al-Razzaaq in al-Musannaf, 7/325).

Repentance wipes
out
whatever came before it

One might say: “I want to repent, but who
can
guarantee that Allaah will forgive me if I do so? I want to follow the
Straight
Path, but I feel very hesitant. If I knew for sure that Allaah would
forgive me,
I would definitely repent.”

I would say in response that these feelings
of
hesitation are the same as those experienced by the Sahaabah themselves.
If you
think seriously about the following two reports, the feelings you have
will be
dispelled, in sha Allaah.

Imaam Muslim (may Allaah have mercy on him)

reported the story of how ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas (may Allaah be pleased with
him) came
to Islam: “…When Allaah put the love of Islam into my heart, I came to
the
Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be
upon him) and said: ‘Stretch forth your hand so that I may give bay’ah

(pledge of allegiance) to you. He stretched forth his hand, but I pulled
my own
hand back. He asked, ‘What is the matter, O ‘Amr?’ I said, ‘There is a
condition.’ He asked, ‘What is the condition?’ I said: ‘That I be
forgiven.’ He
said: ‘Do you not know, O ‘Amr, that Islam wipes out whatever came
before,
hijrah (migration for the sake of Allah) wipes out whatever came before,
and
Hajj wipes out whatever came before?’”

Imaam Muslim reported from Ibn ‘Abbaas (may
Allaah
be pleased with them both) that some people among the mushrikeen killed,
and
killed a great deal, and they committed adultery, and did it a great
deal. Then
they came to Muhammad (peace and
blessings
of Allaah be upon him) and said: “What you say and advocate is good, if
only you
could tell us that there is any expiation for what we have done.” Then
Allaah
revealed the words (interpretation of the meanings): “And those who
invoke
not any other god along with Allaah, nor kill such life as Allaah has
forbidden,
except for just cause, nor commit illegal sexual intercourse – and
whoever does
this shall receive the punishment.” [al-Furqaan 25:68]; “Say: ‘O My
slaves who
have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and
sins)!
Despair not of the Mercy of Allaah…” [al-Zumar 39:53].

Will
Allaah
forgive me?

You might say: “I want to repent, but my
sins are
many indeed. There is no kind of immoral act, no kind of sin, imaginable
or
otherwise, that I have not committed. It is so bad that I do not know if
Allaah
can forgive me for the things that I have done over the years.”

In response, I would tell you that this is
not a
unique problem; it is one that is shared by many of those who wish to
repent.
Let me give you the example of a young man who asked this question once.
He
began his career of sin at a very early age, and by the time he was only

seventeen, he already had a long record of committing every kind of
immoral act,
major and minor, with all kinds of people, old and young alike. He had
even
abused a little girl. Added to this was a long list of thefts. Then he
said: “I
have repented to Allaah. I now pray tahajjud some nights, and I fast
every
Monday and Thursday, and I read Qur’aan after Fajr prayers. Will my
repentance
be of any avail?”

The guiding principle for us Muslims is to
refer to
the Qur’aan and Sunnah when we look for rulings, solutions and remedies.
When we
refer this matter to the Qur’aan, we find that Allaah says
(interpretation of
the meaning): “Say: ‘O My slaves who have transgressed against
themselves (by
committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allaah,
verily
Allaah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. And
turn in
repentance and in obedience with true faith to your Lord and submit to
Him…”
[al-Zumar 39:53-54].

This is the answer to this particular
problem. The
matter is quite clear and needs no further explanation.

The feeling that one’s sins are too great
to be
forgiven by Allaah stems from a number of factors:

The absence of certain faith on the part
of the
slave in the vastness of Allaah’s mercy

A lack of faith in the ability of Allaah
to
forgive all sins

Weakness in one aspect of the heart’s
action,
namely hopee

Failure to understand the effect of
repentance
in wiping out sins

We will answer all these points here:

“…
and My Mercy embraces all things…”
[al-A’raaf 7:156]

It is sufficient to
quote the
saheeh hadeeth qudsi: “Allaah says: “Whoever knows that I am able to
forgive
all sins, I shall forgive him, and I shall not mind, so long as he does
not
associate anything with Me.’” (Reported by al-Tabaraani in al-Kabeer,

and by al-Haakim; Saheeh al-Jaami’, 4330)..
This refers to when the slave meets his Lord in the Hereafter.

(Reported by al-Tirmidhi; Saheeh al-Jaami’, 4338)..

(peace
and
blessings of Allaah be upon him): “The one who repents from his sin is
like
the one who did not sin in the first place.” (Reported by Ibn
Maajah;
Saheeh al-Jaami’, 3008).

For those who find it hard to comprehend
how Allaah
may forgive such an accumulation of sin, we quote the following hadeeth:

The repentance of
one who
killed a hundredd

(peace
and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: “There was among the people who came before you a man
who killed
ninety-nine people. Then he asked about the most knowledgeable person on
earth,
and was directed to a hermit, so he went to him, told him that he had
killed
ninety-nine people, and asked if he could be forgiven. The hermit said,
‘No,’ so
he killed him, thus completing one hundred. Then he asked about the most

knowledgeable person on earth and was directed to a scholar. He told him
that he
had killed one hundred people, and asked whether he could be forgiven.
The
scholar said, ‘Yes, what could possibly come between you and repentance?
Go to
such-and-such a town, for in it there are people who worship Allaah. Go
and
worship with them, and do not go back to your own town, for it is a bad
place.”
So the man set off, but when he was halfway there, the angel of death
came to
him, and the angels of mercy and the angels of wrath began to argue over
him.
The angels of mercy said: ‘He had repented and was seeking Allaah.’ The
angels
of wrath said: ‘He never did any good thing.’ An angel in human form
came to
them, and they asked him to decide the matter. He said: ‘Measure the
distance
between the two lands (his home town and the town he was headed for),
and
whichever of the two he is closest to is the one to which he belongs.’
So they
measured the distance, and found that he was closer to the town for
which he had
been headed, so the angels of mercy took him.” (Agreed upon).
According to a report in al-Saheeh: “The righteous town was a
hand-span
closer, so he was counted as one of its people.” According to another
report in
al-Saheeh: “Allaah commanded (the evil town) to move away, and
(the
righteous town) to move closer, and said: ‘Measure the distance between
them,’
and they found him to be a hand-span closer to the righteous town, so he
was
forgiven.”

What then can
come between a person and repentance?
Do you think that your sins are any greater than the sins of this man,
whose
repentance Allaah accepted? So why despair? The matter is even greater
than
this. Think about the words of Allaah (interpretation of the meaning): “And

those who invoke not any other god along with Allaah, nor kill such life
as
Allaah has forbidden, except for just cause, nor commit illegal sexual
intercourse – and whoever does this shall receive the punishment. The
torment
shall be doubled to him on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide
therein in
disgrace; except those who repent and believe, and do righteous deeds;
for
those, Allaah will change their sins into good deeds, and Allaah is
Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [al-Furqaan 25:68-70].

Stop and think about that
phrase: “… Allaah will
change their sins into good deeds…” [al-Furqaan 25:70]. This will
explain to
you the immense grace and favour of Allaah. The scholars have defined
this
change as being of two types:

Changing bad characteristics into good ones, so
that shirk is changed into true faith, fornication into
chastity,
lies into truthfulness, treachery into trustworthiness, etc.

Changing evil deeds that one has committed into
good deeds on the Day of Resurrection. Think about the words “…Allaah

will change their sins into good deeds…”. It does not say that one
bad
deed will be exchanged for a good deed (of equal weight). It could be
less,
the same, or more, in number or in weight. It will depend on the
sincerity
of the one who repents. Can you imagine any greater favour than this?
See
how this divine generosity is further explained in the following
hadeeth:

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
[another report states that a very old man whose eyebrows had fallen
over his
eyes (i.e., he had sunken eyes) came and stood before the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) supporting himself with a
stick] and
said: “What do you think of a man who has committed every sin, not
leaving out
any sin, major or minor [according to another report: if his sins were
to be
divided among all the people of the world, they would destroy them]. Can
such a
man repent?” The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) asked, “Have you become Muslim?” He
said: “I
bear witness that there is no god except Allaah and that you are the
messenger
of Allaah.” The Prophet (peace and
blessings
of Allaah be upon him) said: “Do good deeds and keep away from evil
deeds, and
Allaah will turn them all into good deeds for you.” He asked, “What
about my
acts of treachery and immorality?” The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Yes, (those too).”
The man
said, “Allaahu akbarr (Allaah is most great)!” and kept
glorifying Allaah
until he was out of sight.

(Al-Haythami said: a similar version
was reported
by al-Tabaraani and al-Bazzaar. The men of al-Bazzaar’s isnaad
are the
men of saheeh apart from Muhammad ibn Haaroon Abi Nasheetah, who
is
thiqah. Al-Majma’ 1/36. Al-Mundhiri said in al-Targheeb:
its
isnaad is jayyid qawiy, 4/113. Ibn Hajar said in al-Isaabah

4/149 that it meets the conditions of saheeh.)

At this point the one who is seeking to
repent may
ask: “When I was astray and not even praying, which meant I was beyond
the pale
of Islam, I did do some good deeds. Will I be rewarded for these deeds
after I
repent, or are they lost in the wind?”

The answer to this
question may be
found in the following hadeeth: ‘Urwah ibn al-Zubayr reported that
Hakeem ibn
Hizaam told him that he said to the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him):
“O Messenger of Allaah, do you think that I will be rewarded for the
(good)
things like giving charity, freeing slaves and upholding family ties
that I did
during the Jaahiliyyah (days of ignorance before Islam)?” The Messenger
of
Allaah (peace and blessings of
Allaah be
upon him) said: “You became Muslim because of the good that you had
already
done.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari).
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