The Book of Repentance

Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah is happier with the repentance of His slave than one of you is with finding his riding camel after having lost it in a desert." Another narration reads: "Verily, Allah is happier with the repentance of His slave when he turns in repentance to Him than one of you who was on his camel in a desert and it got lost and was carrying his provision of food and drink. He, having lost all hope (of finding it), lies down in the shade of a tree feeling hopeless; when all of a sudden he finds it (his camel) standing before him. He takes hold of its reins and then out of boundless joy blurts out: 'O Allah, You are my slave and I am Your Lord!' He makes this mistake out of extreme joy."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "By the One in Whose hand my soul is, if you were not to commit sins, Allah would replace you with people who would commit sins and then seek forgiveness from Allah, the Almighty, who would then forgive them."

Abu Rib‘i Hanzhalah ibn Ar-Rabī‘ al-Usaydi, one of the scribes of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) reported: I met Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and he said: 'How are you?' I said: 'Hanzhalah has turned into a hypocrite.' He said: 'Glory be to Allah, what are you saying?' I said: 'When we are in the company of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), he reminds us of Paradise and Hellfire as if we are seeing them with our very eyes, and when we depart from his company, we attend to our wives, children, and business, and we forget much of that.' Abu Bakr said: 'By Allah, we do experience the same.' So I and Abu Bakr went to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and I said: 'O Messenger of Allah, Hanzhalah has turned into a hypocrite.' Thereupon the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'And how is that?' I said: 'O Messenger of Allah, when we are in your company, you remind us of Hellfire and Paradise as if we are seeing them with our own eyes, then when we depart from you we attend to our wives, children, and business, and we forget much of that.' Thereupon the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'By Him in Whose hand is my soul, if your state of mind remains the same as it is in my presence and you are always busy in remembrance (of Allah), the angels will shake hands with you in your beds and in your paths but, Hanzhalah, time (should be devoted to prayer and meditation) and time (should be devoted to worldly affairs).' He said this thrice."

‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: Some captives were brought to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). Then a woman from among the captives was seen pressing milk from her breast to feed [a child], and whenever she found a baby among the captives, she would take him, press him to her chest, and nurse him. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) then said to us: "Do you think this (woman) would throw her child into the fire?" We said: No, not if she can prevent throwing it. He (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, Allah is more merciful to His servants than this is to her child."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If the believer were to know what is with Allah of punishment, no one would hope to enter Paradise, and if the non-believer were to know what is with Allah of mercy, no one would despair of entering Paradise."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), narrating from his Almighty Lord, said: "A servant committed a sin and said: 'O Allah, forgive my sin,’ and Allah Almighty said: ‘My servant committed a sin and then realized that he has a Lord Who forgives sins and punishes for sins.' Then, he committed a sin again and said: ‘My Lord, forgive my sin,’ and Allah Almighty said: ‘My servant committed a sin and then realized that he has a Lord Who forgives sins and punishes for sins.’ He again committed a sin and said: ‘My Lord, forgive my sin,’ and Allah Almighty said: ‘My servant committed a sin and then realized that he has a Lord Who forgives sins and punishes for sins. Do whatever you wish, for I have forgiven you.'"

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Verily, Allah gets jealous and the believer gets jealous. The jealousy of Allah is when the believer commits what He has made unlawful for him."

Ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A man kissed a woman (unlawfully), so he came to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and told him of what he did. Thereupon Allah, the Almighty revealed the verse: {And establish prayer at the two ends of the day and at the approach of the night. Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds.} [Sūrat Hūd: 114]. The man said: "O Messenger of Allah, is this (verse) for me?" He replied: "For everybody of my Ummah, all of them."

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A man came to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, I committed a sin liable to a legal punishment, so inflict it upon me." As the time of the prayer came, he offered the prayer along with the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him. When the prayer was over, he said: "O Messenger of Allah, I committed a sin liable to a legal punishment, so apply the Book of Allah to me." He asked: "Have you offered the prayer with us?’ He said: 'Yes.’ He said: "You have been forgiven."

Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Among those who lived before you, there was a man who had killed ninety-nine people. He asked about the most knowledgeable person on earth and was guided to a monk. When he went to him, he informed him that he had killed ninety-nine people and asked if his repentance could be accepted. The monk replied in the negative, so the man killed him and made him the hundredth. After that, the man once again asked about the most knowledgeable person on earth and was guided to a scholar. He informed him of his hundred murders and asked if there was a chance for his repentance to be accepted. The scholar replied in the affirmative and said: 'Who can place a barrier between him and the repentance?' He advised him to travel to a certain land where people were worshiping Allah, the Almighty, and asked him to join them in their worship and not to return to his land, which was an evil land. The man listened to the scholar’s advice and set out from his land, when he reached the middle of the way death approached him. The angels of mercy and the angels of torment disputed over the man. The angels of mercy said: 'He came with a repenting heart to Allah, the Almighty.' The angels of torment said: 'He has never done anything good in his life.' Another angel then came in the form of a human being and they agreed to take him as an arbitrator. He said: 'Measure the distance between the man and the two lands and see to which one he is closer.' They did that and found him closer to the land he was traveling to, so the angels of mercy took his soul.” Another authentic narration reads: “He was one span closer to the land of piety, so he was considered one of its people.” The wording of another authentic narration reads: “Allah, the Almighty, ordered this land (evil place) to go far away and the other land (good place) to get closer and on measuring the distances, he was found one span closer to the village to which he intended to go and so he was forgiven.” Another narration reads: “He directed his chest towards it (the village he intended to go to).”

Safwān ibn Muhriz reported: A man said to Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father): What did you hear the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) say about the Najwa (secret talk)? He said: I heard him say: "A believer is brought close to his Almighty Lord on the Day of Judgment, and He bestows His Kanaf (concealment) on him and makes him confess his sins saying: Do you know? And he says: O Lord, yes, I know. He says: I have concealed them for you in the worldly life, and I forgive them for you today, and he is, then, given the record of his good deeds. As for the disbelievers and the hypocrites, they will be called out before all of the creation: These are the ones who lied against Allah."

‘Ā'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: Whenever the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) intended to go on a journey, he would cast lots among his wives and would take the one on whom the lot fell. Once, before setting out for a battle, he drew lots among us and the lot fell to me; so I went with the Prophet, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him; and that happened after the revelation of (the verse on) Hijāb.