Turn your sins into good deeds - By Repenting Sincerely
Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves Quran - Surah al Baqarah 2,222
Tawbah is one of the best deeds before Allah but what does Tawbah actually means? Have we really understood the term “Tawbah” correctly?
Tawbah is Arabic word which means to return or to turn back. For example, you are walking a path but as soon as you realize that it is the wrong one, you turn and change your direction (towards the right one).
According to Islamic Shariah, Tawbah means to leave the wrong path (that Satan has made attractive for us), to feel remorse for going astray, to beg for forgiveness for your wrongdoings and to making a promise to yourself and Allah to never to indulge in sin again. This act of leaving what Allah has prohibited and returning to what Allah and His Prophet (SAW) have commanded, is called “Tawbah”.
The Three Integral Parts of Repentance
- Feeling remorse over the sin (that you’ve committed) and to leave it, fearing Allah only; not because of fear of what people would say or because of laws, rules and regulations..
- Leaving the path of sin completely and immediately.
- Promising Allah not to commit the sin again. It should be your sincere intention to never commit that sin again, because if you have really made an honest intention to stay away from sin and you unfortunately commit it once again, then Allah would forgive you because of your intention and remorse.
The Rewards of Tawbah:
- Love of Allah
Allah loves those who repent. He declares the ones who repent as His beloved people. Allah says, “When I love a servant of mine, I become his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he holds (things) and his foot with which he walks”. In short, Allah protects all his abilities from committing sins and guides him towards His obedience. So, an easy way to earn the love of Allah is to repent over your sins and to turn towards the righteous path.
2. Pleasure of Allah
Allah is pleased with those who seek His forgiveness and turn to Tawbah. Imagine a person who has lost his camel in a desert, which is carrying all of his provisions; food, water, bedding etc. Having lost his camel, he has lost all his hope to survive in this desert and to return to his home. He searches for his camel frantically in all directions. In this moment of despair, suddenly he finds that camel, loaded with all the provisions, standing right before him. He takes hold of its reins and then out of boundless joy screams out: ‘O Allah, You are my slave and I am Your Rab”. He commits this mistake in his deliriously happy state. Allah is more pleased with His slave who repents than this man who has found his lost camel and another chance at life.
3. To be successful in both the worlds
Allah ﷻ has guaranteed success in both worlds for those who repents. Blessed are those, whose Tawbah is accepted by Allah.
Ka’ab ibn Malik (May Allah be pleased with him) was one of the companions of our Prophet, who delayed joining the Muslim army in the battle of Tabuk and were left behind. Allah and His Messenger ﷺ were unhappy at this. Ka’ab regretted his action and repented for a long time. When Allah ﷻ accepted the repentance of Ka’ab ibn Malik (May Allah be pleased with him) after 40 days, all the companions congratulated him and Prophet ﷺ said to him, “I give you the glad tidings of the most blessed day that you have witnessed since your mother gave birth to you as Allah has Accepted your Tawbah on this day.” Such is the reward of sincere repentance.
4. To turn All your sins into good deeds
Except for those who repent, believe and do righteous work. For them Allah will replace their evil deeds with good. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful. Qur'an [25, 70]
Allah ﷻ would replace the sins (that a person has committed) with rewards, if he has repented sincerely.
Prophet (Peace be upon him) said to Abu Dhar (May Allah be pleased with him), “I know the person well who would be the last one to be taken out of the Hellfire and the last one to enter Jannah. Do you know who that person would be?” Abu Dhar (May Allah be pleased with him) said, “Allah and His Prophet (SAW) know best”.
Our Prophet ﷺ said, “The person would be presented before Allah (before he is allowed to enter Jannah). Allah would Command the angels to conceal all of his major sins and to bring some of his minor sins. When the minor sins are brought before that person, he would be asked if those were his sins. He would accept that he had committed them rather unwillingly, as there would be no room for refuting them. (He would begin to tremble and think that these are only the minor sins, what would happen when the major sins are brought forward! He would be scared of being thrown back to the Hellfire) Allah would then Command the angels to count each (minor) sin as a good deed. As the sins are replaced with good deeds, the person would say, “O Allah! I also committed some major sins. I do not see them here!” (As his sins are being converted into rewards, he would get greedy to acquire some more rewards!)”
Abu Dhar (May Allah be pleased with him) said that after saying this, our Prophet ﷺ smiled widely such that his teeth could be seen.
This is Allah’s blessing for those who repent sincerely.
The Sinner Who Has Repented:
An important ruling about our attitude towards other sinners is not to make people ashamed of their sins once they have repented from them. Prophet Yusuf (Peace be upon him) forgave his brothers without making them ashamed for it. Prophet Yaqub (Peace be upon him) prayed for the forgiveness of his sons instead of being harsh and revengeful towards them.
How should our attitude be towards those who have not yet repented?
Treat them gently, give good advice, Do not taunt them. Umar (Allah pleased with him) was visited by a person from Sham on a regular basis. He was a leader of his locality. Suddenly he vanished for a few months. The Khalifa inquired for his absence. They said - He is always found to be drunk in alcohol den. He did not get angry but asked a letter to be written which began with the first three verses of Surah Ghafir - Ha meem, The revelation of the books is from Allah, The Exalted in Might, The Knowing. The forgiver of sins, acceptor of repentance, severe in punishment, owner of abundance. There is no god besides him and ordered to be delivered to him.
When the letter was dispatched, the Khalifa said - Pray for the guidance of your brother, may Allah give him Hidayah for Tawbah and forgive his sins. There was hope in the letter. The man read the letter and wept. He repented and the Khalifa was informed that the man had repented. The Khalifa said - Whenever you come across your brother involved in sins, dominated by Shaytan, do not taunt him but correct him gently and try to bring him to goodness and pray for his forgiveness and guidance. Pray that Allah guides him to repent and beware of pushing him to Shaytan.
If Allah forgives a person and Guides him to the righteous path, there is no reason you should look down upon him. May Allah make us one of those who repent and may He Accept our Tawbah. Ameen.